It stands to reason then, that I love to shop.
So when Leah said she needed a formal dress for her senior recital in November, I said I would be glad to go along to help find one. She had already looked at all the stores in our area, so we knew we would be making a trip to Northern Virginia.
That may not sound like a big deal, but that's because you don't live there. Washington DC, Alexandria and Arlington are numbers 2, 4, and 5 respectively on the list of cities with the most unsafe drivers. Every Friday during the summer, Northern Virginians host a huge block party for all the nice folks trying to head south for the weekend. It takes place on Interstate 95, and stretches from the Capital Beltway to about 60 miles south. Party-goers typically linger 3 hours or so, with only the lucky few escaping the fun in under 2 hours. So it is with fear and trepidation that we venture north, and only when we have to. Heading that direction on a Friday was probably not our best plan.
And yet shopping called.
We tried Woodbridge with the largest mall on the east coast. No luck. We ate lunch in denial that we would have to trek farther north, yet there it was. We were out of options. We gave in to our dastardly fate and drove to Tyson's Corner, home of Tyson's Galleria, the most expensive shopping center I have ever been to and I am not making this up.
Galleria houses Macy's, Nordstrom, Lord and Taylor, and Neiman Marcus, as well as a wide variety of seriously over-priced, hoity-toity boutiques full of fad-fashions whose "in style" shelf-life is slightly shorter than the attention span of a mosquito.
I have joked about sticker shock before, but today took the cake. Here's the tag on a dress I pulled off the rack in Nordstrom for Leah to try on:
I promise this picture was not photo-shopped in any way, shape, or form. This dress cost more than half a semester's tuition plus meal plan. Do you think she got it? Do you think she even tried it on?
No, but some good did come of seeing that price tag. When we went back to the first store to pay $180 for the first dress she found, it didn't seem so bad anymore.
Be thankful ~
Karen
2 comments:
if I add up the total for ALL of the cars that I've bought in my life it comes to about that price.
I too love shopping..! Thanks for sharing your shopping experiences. Nordstrom is my favorite.
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