Window Shopping

Today I had so many things to do like breathe, blink, walk, talk, oh yeah, and homework but I decided that the important things like breathing, blinking and talking are much more time consuming and crucial that I put homework on the back burner and decided to spend a day for me.

I unfortunately have a lot of time on my hands now for things to do for myself (weird how I say that when the kids were always around all I wanted was time for myself - funny how things work out huh?)....anywho...so today I decided to do a bit of window shopping at the local mall.

Boy did I feel out of place there!

You see, the local mall is in one of the ritzy parts of the area and well, there were the tell tale women with their Coach purses and sunglasses and slippers that all cost about two months worth of my salary and the teenage girls with shorts that would allow any gyno to perform an exam without much difficulty. Yes, THAT short!!

I was wearing a comfy sundress, sandals and as casual as can be drinking my iced latte and wondering - what planet have I landed on?

While I walked through the mall and the crowd of ritzy-prissy-money spending folk I window shopped.

I found the perfect pair of shorts at Abercrombie and Fitch that when I tried them on I was in love!! They fit perfectly and complimented me - do you know how hard that is for a hispanic woman?!?!?  Well, at the price tag of $50 they better compliment me and whisper sweet nothings in my ear and take me to dinner before screwing me! I about had a heart attack when I saw the price. So I graciously thanked the fitting room attendant and said they didn't fit (LIAR!!!) and walked out before I passed out.

Then it was off to Claire's. I love that place!!! I found the cutest earings and accessories for my girls. There were earings with happy faces and butterflies. Earings that dangled and glittered. Hair bows that were large and small, some that had elastic while others were plastic. I was in accessory heaven!!! I made sure to mark some key areas in my head to return when the crowds were smaller and the wallet was bigger.

Then I stopped by the usual stores of Macy's, Dillards, American Apparel, and the like. No wonder the economy is in the tank! Have you seen those prices? Who honestly pays $40 for a plain white t-shirt? Go to Target, get a 3 pack in the mens section, wash a few times with a few pair of jeans and they will weather and wear just like the ones on the rack!!! I didn't think window shopping would be this traumatic.

Then I found the play area - I saw the children running around and screaming. I saw the mom's yelling at them to get down from there and smiling when they did something cute. I saw the little girls in their little dresses with bows and the little boys chasing after them not knowing what the attraction they had to those curls and eyelashes really was about.

Then, a little boy and his mom walked passed me and I smiled - he couldn't have been more than four years old. He smiled back at me, grazed his hand across my dress as kids tend to do when they extend their hands and told his mom in spanish "She's very pretty....like a princess" - I smiled, it reminded me of Junior and how he calls me his princess.

I put my sunglasses on and began to walk toward the exit, hiding the tears that began to build up in my eyes at the marvel that is the innocence and beauty of children and how my window shopping experience showed me what I didn't realize I wanted......