Irresistible

I should know better than to go shopping when the after Christmas sales are on. Who can resist items that are 50 or 70 percent off? Not me! I had to get a new battery for my wrist watch, so I went to Penneys where I bought the watch. They couldn't do it right away, so the clerk asked me to come back in an hour. Could I spend an hour in the mall? Silly question! I needed new snow boots because the ones I wore in England for three weeks had developed splits in the fabric. (They are at least 10 years old.) I had patched them with duct tape (wonderful stuff), but the result is rather odd looking. Anyway, there wasn't much choice in snow boots, since we did have a huge snow before Christmas, but I'm not fussy about boots, so I found a pair, marked down from $100 to just $34! I LOVE bargains! Then I went wandering around the mall, poking into stores I never shop at - Ann Taylor, Chico's, Lord and Taylor's - and checking out all the bargains in the less expensive department stores. I resisted pretty well, until I hit the sales at Macy's. I ended up with slacks and zippered top in a lovely dark blue-grey. Here's the funny thing: they are advertised as being slimming, especially in the stomach. What they have is a stretch panel all around the waist. It looks just like the maternity trousers we used to wear about 40 years ago! No kidding! Luckily the top covers that panel. They are very comfortable, but I can't see that my stomach looks any flatter. Oh well, that's not really important these days. They were a bargain and I'll enjoy wearing them.

After I picked up my watch, I could have gone on home, but I needed to return a book to Target, which just happens to be in the same shopping center as JoAnn's. Need I say more? All Christmas stuff was on sale at 70 percent off. And notions and thread were also on sale - 50 percent off. Oh yes, and I stopped at Michael's along the way and picked up a few items there as well. In my house, after the holidays, I display black and white pottery and decorative items in silver. It's a nice change from all that green and red. So I got a few silver leafy stalks and some birdhouses for inside use only. And, I bought buttons and thread for future projects, like the ATC swap I'm participating in this year.