Where have I been?

So, my step-daughter and I are looking for appropriate shorts for her at Marshall’s, that are not hoochie-phi-hoochie short, which I guess is next to impossible because that is all that there is for her age group. I’ve always had boys to shop for, and our biggest problem is having too many blue/brown/black/tan shorts. Even the little baby girls have the skirts with the little matching diaper covers. I mean shorts that tiny are cute when you still measure your age in months.

I’m not too much into trends, for one, I don’t buy myself new clothes that often, it’s hard keeping growing boys in shoes and pants (my 7-year old is tall, wearing a size 10 (adjustable waist pants) and size 2 shoes), so I’m not too worried about my clothes. I will rock the same outfits over and over again. Two, I’m 5’11, and the local stores don’t really carry the “trends” that will fit me. Gap Online is my only hope, since their clothes run tall. Three, I can’t wear just any and anything, you have to shop for your body type, which is why we were buying new shorts. She wants to wear what the kids are wearing, which is fine, except her father nearly had a stroke when she wore shorty-shorts. She’s tall too, and some things that look great on short people (I have a friend who LOVES her shorty-shorts but she’s like 5’4), don’t look so great with 10 miles of leg. Plus, she’s 14 and, no that’s it, she’s 14. And beautiful, so her father can only think about what he was thinking about as a boy at that age. Hence the stroke.

So we did find shorts, but when we got to the register, I nearly had a stroke myself. I saw a Dooney & Bourke Emma bag in orange from last summer. And then I looked up and behind the register were the Coach patchwork Christmas bags, (and I think they are quite ugly), but I hate Coach anyways, because we have an outlet here, and 2 year olds are carrying them. I like to not be like everyone else, so I love my DB bag that I have, because I rarely see other people having the brand. But when I saw they carry it at Marshall’s, a quick Google search informed me that you can find them at TJ Maxx as well. I got mine at Nordstrom’s, and it was the biggest purchase I’ve made for myself in years. There was like an ID check just to have them bring it from behind the glass. I actually have two, but they are only canvas, I couldn’t bring myself to purchase all-leather because I am a SAHM and my non-paycheck side was screaming at me. I will have this one one day.

When did Marshalls, Ross, etc. etc. started carrying such big-name stuff? Has it been that long, or have they finally trickled down to our area? I would expect it from Nordstrom Rack, another favorite store of mine, which I have spent many an hour digging through shelves. Don’t get me wrong, if it’s good quality, I don’t care where I get it from, but I am secretly a label-snob, when I can afford it, and if I get a designer label for like 80% off, I’m all over it. I’m all about quality, what good is spending $10 on a shirt and it dies the first time it hits the wash, or ponying up $30 for a shirt that will last for years? Since the little one’s clothes are hand-me-downs from brother, they have to last. So I do Osh-Gosh and Gymboree (and we have outlets out here too!) But I won’t go any higher than that. It’s kid clothes for pete’s sake, they aren’t wearing clothes that cost more than mine.