A day of shopping…

OK, truth be told, I was not looking forward to this trip.  For all of the reasons I stated in yesterday’s blog, plus I didn’t have a chance to bring work along, and I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do to entertain myself for a couple days in Atlantic City while my husband was at the convention center in sessions.

Just getting to sleep late in the morning was a treat.  I didn’t have to get up and make anyone breakfast.  Instead, my husband and I had a leisurely breakfast in a cafe in Caesars, and then he went off to a seminar.  And I went shopping.  This time I hit the ground floor of the Pier Shops, which I wrongly said yesterday that they were built over the site of the old Steel Pier.  Well I was wrong, I found out later that the Steel Pier is still there, but about 1.5 miles down the boardwalk from Caesars.  I felt a little better.

As it turns out, I had a wonderful day.  Still would have liked to have shared it with a girlfriend, but I was able to focus on the task at hand, finding bargains, and seeing what fashion is out there, and I was wildly successful.  First, let me say I’m not a shopper.  I’m pretty cheap, and I’m pretty easy to fit, and have a wardrobe full of clothes, and because of the way I purchase separates, and coordinates, I have combination’s of classic clothes that can be put together with a handwoven jacket and I can always be in style. Or close enough for my tastes.  I look carefully for quality pieces that will last a few years, and my policy is that for every thing new I bring in, something old has to go.  So there is zero growth in my closet.  Which is important because 60% of my closet is all my handwoven garments and artwork, representing about 30 years worth of work.  It is a big closet, but not that big.

So, off I went to visit the first floor of the Pier Shops, and my first stop was to revisit Kenneth Cole and look at a vest I had seen yesterday, that I really loved for the styling and the detailing, and I thought about it all night. When I went back, I found it had been mismarked, and was instead, 50% off of $72, instead of $128.  OK, that was a find.  Next I hit Chico’s.  Always a dangerous place for me, I go right to the sale rack.  I tried on a couple dozen garments and ended up with five sweaters to update my separates wardrobe, all deeply discounted and I got an additional 25% off of the final price.

Next stop was Caché.  I’ve never shopped in Caché, but I thought I’d check it out.  I found a cute vest in denim, (I’ll take photos of the vest when I get home) on the sale rack in the back, marked down to $19. with an additional 50% off.  I also found a couple pairs of pants.  The fit was terrific.  So I purchased three items from Caché, each priced at $9.50.  Oh I’m going to have fun cleaning out my closet when I return!

I dropped my purchases in my hotel room, and headed toward the convention center, stopping at the outlets along the way, the first one I hit was Naturalizer.  I new I was in trouble as soon as I spied the size 10 rack.  First of all, I love the comfort of Naturalizer shoes.  Kohl’s carries some, but they don’t often have my size, which is a 10.  So here was a couple dozen pairs of Naturalizer shoes, in my size, from 50-70% off.  I bought five pairs.  And the total only came to $138.  So I lugged my bulging shopping bags to the nearest Starbucks, and sat with my Chai Latte, and actually decided that this city wasn’t so bad after all.

I met up with my husband who was returning from the Convention center, we dropped my additional purchases in the hotel room, and then set out on the boardwalk, to walk the mile and a half down toward the Trump Taj Mahal, where we had to attend a couple of additional receptions.  Instead of a pricey dinner, we got to munch on appetizers and get free drinks, and chat with people who are affectionately called October Friends.  Meaning we get to see each other only at School Board conventions in October.  I think the handweaving community has a lot of those types of friends.  There are the Convergence friends, the regional conference friends, etc.

The weather was really lovely for a long walk on the boardwalk. The seagulls were everywhere, with their shrill eerie cries.  I will say I adore the Jersey Shore after October 1st, the deserted beaches, the cold gray wind, the cries of the gulls, it is really like something from a Bronte Sisters Novel.  Except it isn’t the moors, it is the Jersey version, the dunes.

When we got to the Taj, we were enchanted to find the old Steel Pier, still intact, an amusment arcade, a shadow of its former glory, and I remembered that a fire in 1969 wiped out a huge portion of the pier which hung out way over the ocean.  It was like looking at a distant memory.

At each of the streets that Monopoly made famous, there was an enlarged placard that looked like a card from the Monopoly game, and gave some of the historical facts and features of that street/area.

Inside the casino, which has a definite Indian feel, we found a gorgeous 10 foot metallic embroidered fabric, mounted on the wall outside the ballrooms, I’m sure Indian in origin, but I so wish there was some sort of signage.

We head home tomorrow after my husband attends a morning session, I’ll head down to a quiet breakfast by myself.

I have actually enjoyed this mini vacation, there is a lot of history here for me, but I’m so rarely ever out shopping, that I am grateful for the time, and the opportunity and the very high end shops that were having some terrific sales, where I could entertain myself while my husband was doing his schoolboard thing.  I already wore one of my pairs of new shoes, and one of my new Chico’s sweaters, a shade of Paprika with a large cowl neck collar that can sit a bit off the shoulder.

Stay tuned…