Why I <3 online shopping

Today, I finally made it to London to visit Darin and Jenn and do some shopping. I need(ed) some new clothes in a bad way. Having spent two of the past four years in maternity clothes and the other two of the past four years in stay-at-home-mom grubs, it is time to seriously overhaul my wardrobe and start pulling myself together a bit better. A few weeks ago, I went to a local boutique I really like when they had they half-off after winter sale, and I stocked up on several pieces there. Then I went home, got ruthless with all the stuff hanging in my closet, Goodwilled a bunch of it, reorganized the rest, and even went so far as to make lists of my 'good' stuff and then go through piece by piece and create outfits. (Can I wear this with that? With these shoes, or these ones, or both?) By the time I was done with all that, I had a short list of items I needed to fill in the gaps: some brown pants, a blue cami, and some shoes. That was what I hoped to accomplish in London today. I had a full day to do it, after all.

Except that, even though I showered last night instead of this morning, I was still 20 minutes late getting in the car. And then I frittered away some time at Homesense and Chapters, looking for stuff for the house instead of for my closet. Then we went back to Darin and Jenn's for a snack and to play with their cats for a bit, and when we went back out, I went to four different childrens' clothing stores and bought stuff at three of them for the kiddos. After lunch and some more shopping, Liam and Mallory were beyond tired, and I was not able to find the pants I wanted during my 30-second foray into The Gap. I also did not look beyond the windows of the shoe stores. It felt like our time had come to an end and it wouldn't have been fair to the kids for me to start trying stuff on. So I packed them back up and we came home. I seriously don't know where the day went.

Neither Liam nor Mallory really needed much. Well, that's not exactly true. I'm looking for a blush pink cardigan for Mallory, and she also needs some summer sandals (Crocs don't come that small, right?) But I didn't find either of those things, either. I didn't find ANYTHING I went with intentions of getting. But I did come home with lots of cute stuff... like this, this, and this... and very nearly these... I am turning into such a sucker for cute little girl clothes! So much so that I guess I am doing it at my own expense. It will serve me right when I have nothing to wear to work...

I am planning a trip to Toronto in a few weeks' time, and I plan to be better prepared then. I am going to do some online research to narrow down which shoe stores to hit (in fact, that's what I told Chad I was doing on the computer tonight... and now I'm posting this instead. :}) I remember when spending a day at the mall was, well, spending a day at the mall, when I had the luxury of picking up a top here and then browsing several places until I found some matching bottoms there, and then going to a third place for shoes... but those days are long gone. Now, if I can't scout it out ahead of time on the internet, it's not likely going to get my business. I'm all about efficiency these days. Well... that, and staying away from the childrens' clothing stores!