I know people who go to New York for the fabulous shopping. Being a die-hard shopper, I was excited at the prospect of having some time to shop in the city. I had a couple of things I wanted to look for: 1)red ballet flats 2)a dress for prom--something attractive, but not too revealing, but not a dress that screams "Mother-of-the-Bride" .
Wednesday afternoon, we had time to stroll around the Times Square area. True to my fashion, I didn't buy anything on the first day, wanting to be sure I found just the right thing to buy.
Thursday, I had a little free time between dinner and
Mary Poppins in the garment district. Before dinner, a dress in a window had caught my eye. So, two ladies and I strolled back down to look at the gowns. The shop was a wholesale to public one, with no dressing rooms. I found the dress in the window in my size. One of the ladies with me, suggested another dress. Both were pretty. In trying to decide which dress, I was given individual prices. Trying to make the hard sale, Mark gave me a price for both dresses. I hesitated saying, "I don't need two dresses. Just one." He gave a lower price for both. I still insisted that I only needed one dress. The price dropped again. I had to buy them both. Pam, the theater teacher with me, bought two dresses as well--one identical to mine. Mark assured us that we could try the dresses on in our hotel and come back the following day between 11-2 for an necessary exchanges. So, two lovely beaded gowns accompanied me to
Mary Poppins.
Back in the hotel, I tried on the first--the one that beckoned from the window--it was beautiful, with a full waist, it is quite forgiving of little tummies. The second dress was lower cut that I expected, backless, and seemed to accentuate my little pooch. Pam called a bit later to say that her frocks were too large. We decided to bring our dresses with us for exchange on Friday. I carefully rolled up my dress to return and put it in my backpack before departing Friday morning. Back at the store, Pam quickly exchanged her dresses for a size smaller, while I chose a black dress made almost identically to the first dress. Knowing I could sell the dress on ebay or wear it made the purchase more fun.
Friday afternoon, I walked to Saks Fifth Avenue to purchase a New York City snow globe. Dave and I have begun a collection; we have Saks snow globes from Austin and Atlanta, as well.
Saturday, we spent a few hours in China Town. While I didn't fall for the knock-off designer bags, it's not that I don't love purses, it's just that all of these are so big, and I prefer small bags. The girls had a great time buying "Chanel", "Prada", "Coach", "Luis Vuitton", and other "designer"bags in back rooms.
I'm convinced the "back room" experiences of China Town are concocted to lure the tourists. As you walked through the streets, occasionally, someone would walk by quietly questioning "Prada"? "Gucci"? "DVD"? Evidently, cops crack down on Gucci and Prada knock-offs. The kids were smart and journeyed to the back rooms in groups. One group of five had the ultimate story. They traveled around a block with the leader to the back room, who was communicating via Nextel walkie-talkie to someone in the destination. Ascending three floors in a small elevator, they then traveled down a long, narrow, winding hallway to the room. There they were rewarded with "Prada" and "Gucci" bags. One girl declares that an area of the room had real Prada bags: the proprietor told her the bags were expensive ($250); she noted that the bags donned the real designer tags (the knock-off bags have no tags). Perhaps the bags were stolen?
While in China Town, I bought two pashminas, though I could have bought ten. I also bought three stone bangle bracelets. I considered buying a "Rolex" for Dave, but $50 seemed excessive for a watch that might not work and certainly carries no warranty. I was disappointed that there was no art work for sale in China Town. Many street vendors in the Times Square-Fifth Avenue area have cool prints and photographs for sale. I decided that I might get a better deal in China Town; I was wrong.
Saturday I found a Times Square photograph for Dave's office. I selected it specifically because a a billboard for The Lion King is prominent in the photograph.
I look forward to going back to explore fun shops in SoHo.
The spot we tailgated last year with Mike and Letha. 
Monkeys like to crowd surf.
We did have to miss Princess Peyton's Pink birthday party, but we recorded this for the Brown Eyed Girl. One day, she'll appreciate it.
The blog hasn't been updated in a while. Whenever that happens it's just because I'm busy--that pesky job has a way of doing that. Here's what a typical week has looked like lately--after work.
