469: Hair matters.

Time for a trim.

Which has already happened, actually.

This is the before photo. (Thanks Baby Bliss!)

The "after" coming soon.

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468. Yesterday's outing.

One of the things I love most about home schooling is that it doesn't actually have to take place at home. Another is that everything we do every day is a learning experience of some sort.

Yesterday we continued our search for shorts for Baby Bliss. This time we ventured into a few discount department stores that shall go nameless.

I only went because we were on that side of town running errands and I'm determined to delve into every nook and cranny in this pursuit of warm weather britches.

Side note: If Value City were still open, I'm sure our search would be over. I was always able to exit their doors with a whole season's worth of clothing for the child, carrying bags and bags of inexpensive-but-sturdy-enough gear gathered in a few hours of browsing and trying on.

They also had interesting and tasty treats from nations far and wide. Shopping there was fun and exciting for the whole family. Alas, they shut their doors a few years ago; life has been dull since.

I don't know what's happening behind the scenes in our department stores but they both seemed to be devoid of substance. And the prices were horrendously high. Ditto the styles. Clearance racks were skimpy as were racks for regularly priced items.

Maybe we were just there at the wrong time of day. Or the week. Or the month. I dunno.

Department store #1 was a bust for shorts. But once again, the girl found a tee shirt she loved. It was too expensive for my tastes so I let her buy it with her own money so she could decide how much she really wanted it. And to let her budget her cash because she knew there was something else she wanted to buy at another store.

Department store #2 wasn't any better. Baby Bliss tried on a few things but nothing stuck.

While I waited for my daughter to finish in the dressing room, I observed a woman trying on a pair of black patent leather sandals. Cute but not my style.

During the 15 minutes I browsed the racks near the dressing room, I noticed the woman browsing near me. And she was still wearing the shoes.

Interesting.

As she headed to another area of the store, I watched her as she adjusted the anti-theft tag on the shoe. To make it more comfy, I guess. Okay...

But when we were leaving the store 10 minutes later, ole girl was still shopping and still wearing the shoes.

Alrightie then.

On my way past the registers, I notified a cashier. The cashier asked me to describe the woman and I pointed her out, as she had just turned into the closest aisle. Then we left the store.

I don't know what happened to grandma but I sure hope she still had her own shoes available to wear home.

Dog tired and disappointed with the lack of sufficient garments at the department stores, we were headed home when I remembered there was a thrift store a few miles from our place. I'd been to the store twice and wanted to check it out again.

But since home was between where we'd left and where we were headed, and we were kind of sweaty from the 80 degree temps, we made a pit stop at the pad to freshen up.

Thankfully, our trusty friend, Village Thrift, was closer than I anticipated. We limped through the aisles and scoured the racks on tender feet.

Long story short, Baby Bliss tried on six bottoms and we left with two. Bad that Village Thrift has no dressing room and the girl had to try on the bottoms over her skinnies. So yep, we got home and the bottoms didn't fit as well as we wanted.

Grrrrrr.

Yes, the search continues.

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467. When will spring arrive?

Living hundreds of miles below the Mason-Dixon line has been a mixed blessing but one advantage is an early spring. It usually comes at least a month earlier than back home and I get to rub it in.

Alas, this year, we're still waiting. Yes we've had a few intermittent days of delightful warmth from February until now but nothing consistent. Which makes me sad.

The days when it's been sunny but cold have been the worst for me. I love sun (and I'd rather it be sunny and cold rather than no sun at all) but I need the warmth too.

Tuesday was warm and sunny. Friday was sunny and the weather man promised warmth but I think we missed those few hours.

You see, when I woke up to sunny skies, I was anxious to feel some heat on my face and toes as well as run necessary errands.

Baby Bliss and I hit the streets as soon as possible realizing as soon as we stepped outside that it would be several hours before temps reached the 60+ degrees forecast the night before. Sunny sun-sun, yes. And thank God for cardigans to guard against the windy wind-wind.

Last week Baby Bliss reminded me of how she barely survived last summer with only a few pair of shorts. Soooooooooo in anticipation of warm weather to come, we hit our local Goodwill a few times. I snagged a cute denim skirt and and Baby Bliss found lots of cute tops but no shorts. *sigh*

Friday's frolic was a continuation of our quest for shorts. I figured since we've had so many cool days when it should be warm already, we still had time to find the 50-100 additional pairs of shorts my daughter would need to try on to find 5 or 6 pair that:


a. fit well for her shape and size.
b. are age appropriate.
c. we both liked.

I drove a few towns up the highway, headed to a few of our favorite thrift stores.On the way, I decided to stop at Rugged Warehouse to give Baby Bliss a chance to comparison shop. Not that she had said anything this time but there have been times in the past when she's wanted to shop at expensive stores, a practice I discourage.

We both saw items we liked but nothing that could coerce me into paying full price for it. Not when I know I can usually find better quality merchandise in thrift stores.

These are ideas I have shared with my daughter since she's been old enough to ask why we get our clothes from the thrift store. I guess I've been sharing effectively because we were in Rugged Warehouse less than 15 minutes when my daughter was ready to leave the store.

Yay!

On our way into the store, I had spotted a cosmetology school. Another "yay" because I'd been searching for one in our town to no avail. (Which was surprising because our town is a big one.)

I learned that Baby Bliss and I could both get two manicures or pedicures or facials for the price of what I would pay for one at a regular salon.

Cool!

That place brought back memories for me and on our way to the car, I just had to share with Baby Bliss how I would go to the beauty academy up the street from my job every week to get my hair done when I was a career girl in my 20s. Ten dollars plus a tip for the cutest hairstyles I could think up. And she reminded me that she's heard the story umpteen times already.

*grimace*

Friday's trip was more successful than our two previous trips to the thrift.

I found a few things for myself and a linen dress for my mom (a steal at $1.12). Baby Bliss once again got lucky with the cute tops. She also got a fantastic black dress (87 cents) that I forced on her because I remembered her extended rant about needing a black dress for funerals. This occurred after we went to a funeral and she felt like she was the only person inappropriately dressed for the occasion.

Now she has a black dress and she'll wear it to every funeral hence, until she outgrows it.

She also managed to put a tiny dent in her hunt for summer bottoms. She tried on eight (8) pairs of shorts and one made the trip home with us.

Great.

Four or five more to unearth and we're done. I'm thinking we'll hit the other two thrift stores I like here in town. It's been a while since we've been to either of them. Thankfully they're across the road from each other.

Friday as we were browsing the racks, I realized how Baby Bliss is changing and maturing. She was picking up clothing that was youthful and fun but not as trendy and... gaudy as the clothing she had previously been choosing for herself. I noticed but didn't say anything.

Eventually she remarked on it herself, saying she didn't know why but her taste was changing. She talked about it with each piece she picked up.

As we tried on our finds, I still had to remind her that we don't buy ill-fitting (read: too-small) clothing no matter how cute it is but all in all, she did well in choosing for herself.

My favorite finds were a purple 3-ring binder for Baby Bliss for 25 cents (purple is her favorite color) and a new skein of yarn for me for $1. The bonus was the size J crochet hook stuck in the middle of the skein.

Yay!

Which takes me back to why I think we missed the few hours of 60+ degrees. When we left home, the temperature gauge in my car read low 50s. By the time we left the first thrift store, it was mid-afternoon. I didn't notice the temperature reading but it still felt cool to me.

When we left the second store, it was after 7 p.m. and cool winds were blowing.

I'm guessing it must have hit 60 degrees just after we stepped into the second store.

Ah well. At least we were able to see the sun.

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