HIGH BROW

I had applied the first of several doses of aloe to my burnt brow, and after a bit of cursing (and some lunch), I felt brave enough to venture out in the world.

After all, it was a beautiful day, and I could not pass up the possibility to explore the many nifty clothing stores of Newburyport. I hadn’t really had a reason before, and unlike many of my female counterparts, I don’t particularly care for shopping for shopping’s sake- except maybe for books. How I love books. But I digress…

So, I popped into one shop whose clothing I have been drooling over since Jeff and I first arrived in Newburyport. Well, everything I saw was indeed beautiful, but the prices were just plain ugly. I have realized since childhood that, as a tomboy, my clothes were bound to get dirty no matter how hard I tried to be neat and clean like all of the other girls/women. So, spending \$100 or so for a skirt that probably wouldn’t last me more than a season or two seemed a bit silly. Sigh.

I tried the consignment shop next door. Great selection, great prices, but a new problem. When I tell you, you will probably sarcastically remark, “Oh, I wish I had that problem,” but here goes. I took a handful of dresses to the changing room in the size I last wore only to discover: dum, dum, dum- they were too large. Not enormous, just noticeably big. (Small) sigh again.

Fortunately, there was another consignment shop in town. Unfortunately, they were only seemed to carry items that were: overpriced (many were as much or more expensive than the new clothing store), dowdy (lots of weird floral patterns and shoulder pads), or weird (a pair of suede-like cords). That, and I seemed to have walked into the middle of an employee feud. I did not need additional scars or any of their odd clothing, and so I fled.

I explored a few other shops, but just could find whatever it was I was looking for. Perhaps I should have thought a little bit more about what I wanted, or been a little less picky. Maybe I should have learned how to pick out flattering attire sooner, and could be more confident in making important fashion-altering decisions.

Or maybe I just needed an excuse to buy more yarn. I picked up a couple of skeins from Jo-Ann fabrics today, and plan to knit myself a scarf to go with something I currently own. The scarf will make its debut at the party, but will end up going to charity. I will post pictures as soon as the many multi- colored scarves are finished. But I digress again…