Yet Another Downside to Exercising...

Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping.
-- Bo Derek

OMIGAWD! Can I just say I now LOVE going shopping.

I have always loved going to stores... looking around, seeing what was new and unusual, it didn't matter which department. However, when it came to clothes shopping... forget it! All the great clothes were in the Misses department and forget looking there. I needed to head directly to the Women's department, which is always, always so much smaller in size than any other department in the store. Then you can discount half of what is there as K2 said to me today... "old lady clothes" (now, so not to offend anyone...let's say old lady as in 90+... is that okay?) But seriously you know what I mean... polyester... big floral prints. Then if I was lucky enough to find anything, I hated having to try it on on... was it going to fit? If it fit who would it look? Would it show all the rolls in my legs, abs (what abs?) and waist (again... what waist?)? Then invaribly I would find something I love and they wouldn't have any left in my size. Then how many times would I try something on doing the little jumping dance trying to get up and over my hips... then came the delicate part of pulling up the zipper... suck in the gut and wiggle, wriggle trying to get the zipper to slide up... leaving the side of your finger raw and red.

HA! This was so not the case today! I have a meeting with my potential new employer tomorrow morning. I am to go into the office to meet the rest of the staff and most importantly the two people that I will be working the closest with. Well, this means that I need to dress appropriately. I already wore the only halfway decent thing I own (and to tell the truth the pants were too big) to my interview/lunch. Plus, truth be told from what I gather it really was not "professional" enough for this office. At the very least, I needed new dress pants, preferably black. So the girls and I headed off to some stores after they got home from school.

Now I don't really want to spend a fortune on clothes. So I decided to go cheap first, which meant Dress Barn... not great quality stuff but I knew I would be able to find some deals there. Plus, they have always had a fairly decent section dedicated to the plus size woman. Now as what seems to be the norm with cheaper items... they tend to run smaller. So when I first went into the dressing room I took a size 16 in with me. And guess what... they were HUGE! So on went the 14... and there was no dancing, jiggling, wiggling, wriggling or bruised fingers. They went up and over the hips... the zipper glided easily into place and they looked fabulous! So I went thru the entire selection that I had taken in with me. It was so much fun to actually put things aside... not because they didn't fit but because I actually didn't like them. What a novel experience!

I ended up leaving that store with 4 pairs of pants (3 on clearance for 12.99), one skirt and jacket combo (pink and black though... but K2 said it looked great... but for $30, it was worth a shot) and one brown with ivory piping blazer (that again, K2 insisted that I needed to have... on clearance for $27). The only thing not on sale/clearance were the black dress pants ($30!!).

I still wasn't sure what I would wear tomorrow... I had some great pieces but nothing that necessarily went together well. So after dinner at Noodles & Co and an appearance at Family Night at school, K2 and I headed to Kohl's Department Store. Talk about a sale!! Most items were 50% to 65% off. I must have taken 20 items into the dressing room (I didn't see that sign that said limit 5 items at a time!). The only thing I took in to try on that didn't fit was a blazer which I had already suspected wouldn't fit.... while I have lost weight and inches from the top... I am still on the larger side up there. But that was okay... blouses and tanks that I took in at XL (instead of 2XL or even 3XL) fit... and in fact, one tank I took in I discovered was a L (a larger?!?! I haven't worn a L without an X or two in front of it for so long that I can't even remember the last time). I had so much fun trying things on... going out to the 3 way mirror (YES! My gawd...even the 3 way mirror was used!) and even better was not afraid to face Ms. Honesty herself, K2. I bought so many things(3 pants, 2 skirts, 6 tanks, a dressy shirt), then added a new purse, some boy short style panties (do they really not show panty lines??? Because they sure are ugly on a fat person! I hope they are worth it.), and some nylons, a denim skirt for K2 and so as to not piss off the drill sargent, a guinea pig t-shirt for K3. All in all... just over $200! Then to top it off... Kohl's was running one of their promotions... for every $50 spent, you received a $10 voucher on a future purchase ($40 for me!) And there was one pair of ivory pants that I really wanted but they were $80 on sale for $35 but I thought still too expensive so I passed on them. Now I can go get them if I so choose.

I almost can't wait to go dress shopping but as for that other seasonal purchase... the dreaded swimsuit... not sure if I am ready for that! But because I have always loved the water and having 3 kids who do as well, I will have to purchase a new suit (because my old ones are bound to be too big! hee hee!). But I think I will wait til I am a little more ready... not quite there yet.

Oh and the $30 black dress pants from DB are being returned tomorrow... because I got 2 pairs of black pants at Kohl's for the same price.

Hopefully, tomorrow I will look okay in my new duds or at least appropriate for this office, but gawd knows that I certainly will be feeling great! Exercising tonight was so easy with the incentive that I had today!

But wait... the what about the title of this post, you ask?? What's the downside??? Well, duh... not enough money to shop like I would now like to. It was easier to go to a store and not spend money when stuff didn't fit or I looked like crap in it... now it's a whole 'nother story. I will want to try stuff on and will want to buy, but won't be able to. Oh well, it will be fun just trying things on anyway!