Saturday, July 18, 2015

Shop till you drop...and the truckers

?Recently I took some time to re-visit my mother's pile of costume jewelry.  She never had her ears pierced, so her earrings were/are all clip-on's.  But most were gold plated over base metal, and many years old, thus the finish is discolored and tarnished.   She hasn't worn them in ages.  And in their condition, I can't either.

I found one bright silver-colored hoop earring about 1-1/2" in diameter - which, unfortunately, was missing its mate.  That one was very comfortable, and I would have worn it in a heartbeat. Maybe the missing one will eventually appear?  I also found a pair of pinkish-red plastic button earrings - a rather unusual style.  I pulled them aside and will try wearing them with red blouses.  Downside is that I don't have any red necklace or bracelet!  Silver will have to do, I guess - until I find one.

There was also an unusual pair of pink earrings.  They're huge, and I do like them.   But they felt a bit uncomfortable.   I might be able to wear them with my pink floral blouse for short excursions, and maybe they will get more comfortable over time.  A picture follows:

Old clip-ons - interesting appearance

With my wife still out of town, I have a number of errands to run (including a couple just for Mandy) on the other side of the bay, including visiting the phone store with questions about my new phone.  Thursday was the day for the next one, and I debated the eternal question of "what to wear."

I was contemplating my denim midi-skirt with blue floral top, pantyhose and Mary Jane heels.   But I considered Pat's earlier suggestion about the pink floral top and shorts, with a knee length black skirt over the shorts.   Most likely it will be my summer weight denim skirt (without shorts) and the pink floral blouse.  I'll wear my flats for the first couple of stops (till about 10:30), then change to Mary Janes for the rest of the day.

Needless to say, I was leaving the house in a skirt and blouse, with all the accoutrements, and had concerns much the same as other day's, about being seen.  But since I can get in the car in the garage, then open the door, I decided to take the gamble.  And it paid off.  Nobody was outside.  It was an uneventful trip westbound...no traffic problems on the bridge.

At the mall, I was able to get a couple of pictures of my outfit for the day (As you can see, I settled on option 3 above!)

In front of the Macy's store...

Don't you just love well-placed mirrors?

And so, my little excursion worked out "almost" according to plan.  But not quite.

One of my chores was to find a solid black summer weight short sleeve blouse to wear with my red and black animal print skirt.  Surprisingly, nothing in solid black in my size was available at the half of the mall I walked in heels.  (Not bad for the first "real" day in heels, but my calves and arches can certainly feel it tonight!)  Though I sense that my gait is improving, and wearing them feels more natural, I still need practice.   Nor could I find anything suitable at thrift shops I tried around lunchtime.   As I was wrapping up at the last stop, ready to head back across the bridge, I heard on the radio that there had been an accident closing the eastbound side of the bridge, and eastbound traffic was backed way up.  This was NOT part of my plan.  And thank heaven it wasn't Friday night - it would have gotten worse all evening with eastbound beach traffic.

Being averse to sitting in traffic at zero miles per gallon, risking overheating (due to running the air conditioner), and with no reason to "have" to be home at any particular time, I made the executive decision to keep shopping for a while, as opposed to driving north to Wilmington and south on the Delmarva - a three-plus hour journey and well in excess of a hundred miles, also with two significant bridge tolls.   I located several previously unknown (to me) thrift and consignment shops in the area, and kept on shopping.

At my last stop, a Goodwill store, there was a simple blouse, for $5.00.  I tried it on (a huge advantage with thrift shops - no problem using the dressing rooms) and it fit loose enough that it should work.    I'd probably spend $35 or more (plus shipping) for something like it "on line," but with no guarantee I could even get into it, when it arrives.  Of course I may not like the fit when I get it home, but if that's the case, my expenditure is limited to $5 - less than the cost of returning the stuff I buy on line.   I'll try to get a picture of my outfit for the next chapter.

For my entire shopping trip, I was either addressed correctly or gender-specific terms were avoided.  My presentation was far from perfect, and it took me a while to get the hang of walking in my heels.  But the only way to learn is to "do it."  And that doesn't work nearly as well around the house.  At a mall, the floor is uniform, and there was nobody around who knew me.  Thus it was a wonderful learning experience, very worthwhile, and not hearing the dreaded "S" word at all was a real treat.  I'm ready to go again...and my prediction is that the chance will come next week. 

My trip home was uneventful - traffic had completely cleared.  Well, uneventful except for 18-wheeler drivers frequently looking down at my legs at every stoplight, or as they passed me.  In the car, that particular skirt rides up and shows over 6 inches of thigh.  And there's not much I can do about it...except blush. ( I did a lot of that while driving yesterday.)  If I pull my skirt down a bit,  it simply works its way back up again.  So I just gave up trying to keep my thighs completely covered.

Was I flirting?  Perhaps, but not intentionally...and the truckers didn't try to flirt either. They simply were "checking out the seat covers."  That's something cisgender girls get used to early in life...and I admit it was fun to know that I looked good enough for guys to actually check out!   (Or does that make me a "10-footer," like the '91 model car we traded in?) 
I decided to go get my nails done on the way home...but that's something for the next chapter.

More later...

Mandy   

5 comments:

  1. It seems like you had a great time out and about and shopping as Mandy with everyone accepting you as you were presenting.

    I would look to see if any of your mother's other clip on earrings can be salvaged. If so I think that would be good. When my mother in law passed about 5-6 years ago she left some jewelry. She never had pierced ears and my wife has pierced ears and she keeps the same hoops in 24/5/365. On one occasion when I did get dressed to go out my wife loaned me some clip ons from my MIL. I thought that was a very nice and thoughtful gesture.
    Pat

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    1. I've had some very positive comments regarding wearing my mother's jewelry, all from the ladies. They seem to think it's a wonderful gesture. One woman even went so far as to suggest that I should be wearing a different pair of her earrings every day of the week.

      Good thing that was out of earshot of my wife!

      So I'll revisit her jewelry boxes from time to time. As I recall, there were a couple of interesting pairs with "screw backs." Not sure about those...I need to try them before I decide.

      Of course, my wife would NEVER approve...LOL!

      Mandy

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  2. I agree with the woman who suggested that you wear a different item of your mother's jewelry daily. I think that with women wearing another's jewelry, especielly a family member's or an heirloom is a means of keeping the connection between the people. I know I feel that connection if I wear something that my wife has given me. Over the winter we were in Florida and went to a seafood festival and she liked an costume jewelry necklace that one of the vendors had on display so we bought it. The vendor then said that with the purchase of the necklace we could also get a pair of earrings. Since my wife wears the same pair of double gold hoops all day every day she picked out a pair of clip ons for me. I was touched.

    I woud give the screw backs a shot. I would think that you can control ear lobe pain better by adjusting the screw pressure than you can with spring loaded clip ons.

    Pat

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Did it again, entered the answer at the wrong post... See what I removed on my response to you in today's post above...

      I definitely agree with the woman, but finding something which will fly with my wife may be a challenge!

      The screw-back earrings are hopefully better than the clip on's - I'll try to find a pair that look decent and will work!

      Mandy

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