Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Out Finally

I made a promise to myself that as soon I was finished with physical therapy, I was going to have a girl's day out. My final physical therapy session was last Tuesday, so I checked my calendar and this Tuesday was open.

Lazy girl that I am, I did not maintain a clean shaven body all summer because I knew I was not going out anytime soon. So Monday afternoon I took on the task of removing a summer's worth of body hair.

The Philips Norelco Bodygroomer I bought last year made the job easy and in about an hour, my body was hairless again. Truth be told, my legs have been shorn so many times during the past 55 years that there is not much growing there anymore, so most of the hair removal was on my arms and torso and just a few tufts of hair on my knees and toes.

Tuesday morning, I shaved my face, showered, ate breakfast, watched Morning Joe, did my makeup and got dressed. I wore the Calvin Klein floral scuba shift dress that I bought last time I shopped at Dress Barn in the spring. I felt it was appropriate to wear that dress because one goal for the day was to go to Dress Barn and use my gift cards before they shutter the store forever.

The high heels I chose were loose and kept slipping off my feet. My wife warned me that my feet would shrink if I lost weight and I guess she was right. Thirty pounds lighter, I had to try on four pairs of shoes until I found a pair that was less prone to slipping off my feet.

The solution was a compromise because there still was some slippage and by day's end, my feet were tired from gripping my shoes all day long. I guess it's time to go shoe shopping. (I so miss Payless!)

I drove to the Dress Barn in a strip mall that is a stone's throw from my former place of employment. I shopped there so often that I knew the staff by name and the staff knew me in girl and boy mode.

I began perusing the racks and I was greeted by the store manager. I told her about my lost summer and we discussed the demise of Dress Barn. I mentioned that I received a letter last week that my Dress Barn credit card would be no good after October 31, so I thought that might be the day they finally close all the stores. She thinks that the last day will be December 24, which makes more sense.

You would never know that the store was going out of business. The racks were full of fresh fall fashions and I took three dresses to the dressing room to try on. All three were size 14 and all three fit perfectly and to make matters worse, all three looked great on me!

I was afraid to try on anything else, so I avoided the racks and made a bee-line to the store representative staffing the cash register and burned through my gift cards.

I took my purchases to my Subaru, then drove to WestFarms Mall where I thought I could do some window shopping and if I got hungry, dine at Brio Tuscan Grille or P.F. Chang's. I perused the racks at Macy's and found another dress to die for, but lucky for my purse, they did not have it in my size.

After window shopping for a half hour, I was a little hungry and my feet were a lotta tired, so I flipped a coin and went to Brio for lunch.

Not too much to say about Brio. As usual, I was treated like a lady and the food was delicious. The waitress said my dress was "beautiful" and she applauded me for wearing heels as I exited the establishment.

Back home by 4 PM, I was tired, but exhilarated by my girl's day out. I will have to do it again real soon now.




Source: Boston Proper
Wearing Boston Proper




Kazik Mazur femulates Alicja Majewska on Polish television's Twoja Twarz Brzmi Znajomo.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, Stana, you look fabulous in the floral dress. I can see by your arms how much weight you have lost. Careful not to put too much back on! And then to spend a wonderful day out shopping and dining, with total acceptance and compliments all around. You have plenty of feminine energy built up after your summer, spend it well and wisely!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think I like that dress on you better than anything else I have ever seen you in. Truly a winner!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Definitely say yes to the dress! Stana, as usual you look terrific, and SO glad that you are out and about again! Totally know the exhilaration – yesterday I had my nails and eyebrows done to start the day, then Sue and I spent a day shopping. Scored a Chico's dress and a Chico's wrap at our fave consignment shop. When Gail said "That dress really flatter you!" she cinched the deal. (Don't you just love it whan that happens?)

    Welcone back and here's to more! 👧

    ReplyDelete
  4. You look FAB Stana! One can sometimes find decent heels such as "I.N.C. Women's Zitah Pointed Toe Pumps" on sale at Macy's. Pricier than Payless but at least they're still around...

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG Stana you looking stunning, you are inspring, I have trying to find the words to describe how wonderful you look.

    You continue to evolve and show us all that this journey is wonderful and beautiful.

    You weight loss inspires me WOW your arms and legs better and better!!!

    Love the summer dress!

    ReplyDelete
  6. We're all sad about The Dress Barn, but we bigger ladies have just lost all the Avenue retail stores! "Back in the day", not all stores let us use the dressing room to try garments for potential purchase. But Avenue would always open their dressing rooms to us. Being used to buying items, trying them on at home and returning the ones that didn't fit, but the first time I was checking out at Avenue some 20 or so years ago I was asked, "Don't you want to try them on first"? Yikes! Avenue became my new favorite store. But no more, as I bought a few last items and took my last trip to the dressing room this past Thursday, their final day of retail store operation. They still have a mail order business, but that special feeling of trying on and selecting my Avenue clothes is no more. Fortunately, Catherine's retail stores are still open for larger lady business.

    Srana, I took a peek at the Philips Norelco Bodygroomen and found several different options. Which of these models do you use?

    And finally, you look fabulous in that dress! How good it had to feel getting Stana out and about again. Of course you were treated like a lady, you are one! Too bad about the shoes not fitting. Oh darn, guess you'll have to go shoe shopping. Ha! Have fun with your new, smaller feet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was how I felt about Dress Barn. I bought my first new dress there last October and was very sad to see that they were on the chopping block. Dress Barn was the first place I tried before I buyed!

      Delete
  7. Fabulous dress. That really suits you, Stana.

    ReplyDelete