Shopping, Sales & Adrenaline

I braved the post-Christmas retail insanity and decided to shop. My goal for this particular shopping excursion was to buy some new pants, a pair of brown boots, and a red cardigan sweater. I’m not a fan of shopping for clothes unless they are running clothes. I find shopping for boots and pants to be excruciatingly painful. Pants never fit me properly and my calves are too large to fit comfortably into boots. All of the running I’ve done has inadvertently made my life as a woman miserably difficult, well in regards to shopping. I’m not sure when the last time I seriously went shopping was but I know its been a while because the majority of my pants have rips or holes in them and the heel on my right brown boot is falling off. I also have several sweaters with holes in them. The one I am specifically upset about is my red cardigan. Since most of the time when I am not at work I just wear hoodies, race t-shirts, spandex, sweatpants, or shorts I rarely consider buying nice clothes. I have to look presentable at work and most days this presents a challenge because I don’t like to do laundry and what is left in my closet is either ruined in some way or not something I should wear to work. Since I only enjoy shopping when I can buy things on sale, I decided that going now would be a wise decision. Stores always have after Christmas sales going on and I had Kohl’s cash and an Old Navy gift card to use.

Since I had the Kohl’s cash I went there first. I didn’t find any pants that fit me but I found 4 dresses and 4 shirts. Check this out:

Each of the 4 dresses were $9.60. Two of the shirts were$7.20 and the other two shirts were $3.60. When the Kohl’s cash was factored in I only spent $30 for 8 pieces of clothing. Oh, when I find a piece of clothing I really like I tend to buy it in all the colors. I also really like stripes and polka dots–a lot of the clothing I own has stripes or polka dots.

After Kohl’s I went to Old Navy. I was hoping to find some new pants since I found one pair of pants there last year. I was not successful. Not every woman can wear super tight or skinny cut pants–at least I am a woman who can’t. All pants seem to be very narrow these days and I was getting increasingly frustrated when I tried multiple pairs of pants on. I think I tried on the majority of the pants in Old Navy. Why is it so difficult to find a nice pair of boot cut khaki or black pants in the correct size?? Instead of getting upset I just found some nice things that I really liked. I had a gift card for $25 and the 5 items I purchased were collectively $29!

From Old Navy I went over to the mall to continue my quest for pants. I went to all of the department stores and several other stores before going to JC Penny and finding pants that fit. Finally, nice khaki pants that aren’t skin tight and fit over my legs! The best part was that they were only $19.98 per pair. Since I had such a difficult time locating pants like this I bought them in black, tan, and blue. If these work out I may go back and buy a few more pairs. Phil also found some nice things at JC Penny, so props to them for being awesome and having things we needed at an affordable price.

My brother works at the mall so after I found the pants he bought me another scarf from the store where he works since I liked the one he gave me for Christmas so much. This was a really kind gesture.

The final thing I purchased was a new pair of brown boots. I spent $30 on these boots at The Shoe Depot. I don’t remember the original price but I know it wasn’t $30. These boots were definitely on sale.

I was able to find everything I set out to purchase today and much more. Overall, I only spent $124 + the $25 Old Navy gift card.  I think I was successful at shopping today. I also threw away all of my pants and sweaters that had holes in them along with my old brown boots. Believe it or not I am excited to wear my new clothes and I am looking forward to dressing a little nicer in the new year. My mother in law also gave me scarves for Christmas and my parents gave me a new pair of moccasins and I have been enjoying wearing these new items a lot. These gifts coupled with my new clothes really got me excited to dress nicely. I am making it a goal to wear real clothes when I go out in public in the new year. If you see me out in public in a hoodie and running shorts in a few months please remind me that I should dress nicely!! Today I was dressed nicely and I noticed that people were treating me more like an adult and not mistaking me for a teenager so this reinforced my idea to set a goal to dress nicer.

Additionally, I want to point out that I would have NEVER purchased any of these items if they weren’t on sale. I only like shopping when things are on sale. I feel like I won a prize, hit the lottery, or accomplished an impossible feat when I find a sale. Its the same kind of adrenaline rush I experience when I run a race, only much less stressful. 

Have you found any good sales lately?