shopping
When I'm feeling down and out, I shop.
Maybe it's the time spent to myself, or focusing my attention away from the cause of the problem, but it always manages to lift my spirits. I don't have to buy anything. Just looking around helps.
I bring this up only because I realized, as I was schlepping through Marshall Field's, that there are three things that I am always on the lookout for. Whether consciously or not, I'm continually searching for a) the perfect spiral notebook, b) the perfect black coat, and c) the perfect bag.
Notebooks are easy. I find MANY perfect notebooks. And unless they hit the $10 maximum, I buy them. My ideal notebook is spiral, of course, with heavy, chalky paper and college-ruled lines. Easy.
Finding the perfect coat is much more difficult but easier to control due to self-enforced price restrictions. The material must be thin enough for 180 degree arm rotation, thick enough to last through a Minnesotan December, and designed to make me appear at least four inches taller and ten pounds lighter than I actually am. It's difficult and easy for the very same reason; there's nonesuch coat that exists.
And the bag? With many additional requisites demanding to be met, it's an insatiable quest for the perfect accessory that upholds both design and function standards. The bag must be small enough to avoid cumbersome handling in tight quarters (like the bus) yet large enough to accommodate oversized folders from work. The design must be subtle enough to use as my every-day bag, yet unique enough for others to covet. The material has to be soft so I can squash it into tight, odd-shaped quarters, yet durable enough to protect my belongings. And it must withstand cat hair.
It's difficult because, quite obviously, the requisites are numerous. It's difficult because there is no price limitation I can put on such an essential item. It's difficult because I know, somewhere out there, this bag exists and I just haven't found it yet. But I'll know it when I see it. And I will be sated.
Then I'll need to find the perfect black shoes to match.
Maybe it's the time spent to myself, or focusing my attention away from the cause of the problem, but it always manages to lift my spirits. I don't have to buy anything. Just looking around helps.
I bring this up only because I realized, as I was schlepping through Marshall Field's, that there are three things that I am always on the lookout for. Whether consciously or not, I'm continually searching for a) the perfect spiral notebook, b) the perfect black coat, and c) the perfect bag.
Notebooks are easy. I find MANY perfect notebooks. And unless they hit the $10 maximum, I buy them. My ideal notebook is spiral, of course, with heavy, chalky paper and college-ruled lines. Easy.
Finding the perfect coat is much more difficult but easier to control due to self-enforced price restrictions. The material must be thin enough for 180 degree arm rotation, thick enough to last through a Minnesotan December, and designed to make me appear at least four inches taller and ten pounds lighter than I actually am. It's difficult and easy for the very same reason; there's nonesuch coat that exists.
And the bag? With many additional requisites demanding to be met, it's an insatiable quest for the perfect accessory that upholds both design and function standards. The bag must be small enough to avoid cumbersome handling in tight quarters (like the bus) yet large enough to accommodate oversized folders from work. The design must be subtle enough to use as my every-day bag, yet unique enough for others to covet. The material has to be soft so I can squash it into tight, odd-shaped quarters, yet durable enough to protect my belongings. And it must withstand cat hair.
It's difficult because, quite obviously, the requisites are numerous. It's difficult because there is no price limitation I can put on such an essential item. It's difficult because I know, somewhere out there, this bag exists and I just haven't found it yet. But I'll know it when I see it. And I will be sated.
Then I'll need to find the perfect black shoes to match.
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