With only 41 days until my trip to Scotland, the time has come to start getting some new clothes. I figure, if it fits now, it will fit in 6 weeks. I know I'll gain a bit on our first trip (July 3-16, if the waters go down in the Mississippi), and I'll lose that between trips, so I should pretty much be the same then as now, maybe down a few pounds, but not enough to change clothing size.
So, armed with my "wish book" from the catalogs I've been poring over since March, and knowing there was a 15% off everything sale, I headed to Talbots on Friday afternoon to meet with Esther, the Personal Shopper. Why a Personal Shopper? Well, for starters, I am CLUELESS when it comes to picking out clothes! Plus, since I needed pretty much everything for the entire trip, I knew I was gonna need help. And, since there's no charge for the service, I figured, what the heck, might as well!!
Esther had pulled lots ot things in the size I told her I needed--20W. Unfortunately, her taste and style was, shall we say, a WEE bit different from mine. She pulled lots of earth tones, warm colors, stuff I'd never wear. I'm more of a bright, bold, jewel-tones kind of girl. But I tried on some of what she put out, so at least we'd know what size I needed.
As the afternoon went on, she got very good at choosing things that were much more to my taste. And she did encourage me to step outside my comfort zone, which I did. I ended up with everything I needed (minus 2 things they didn't have in my size so we ordered online), in the colors and sizes I wanted. And I was delighted to find out that most of the tops, and even one pair of pants, were size 16W!!!! The rest were 18W. Not bad, considering I was a size 24W just 6 months ago!
I ended up spending 3 hours there, and a LOT of money (which I count as well spent, not to mention well deserved!) I got things like a navy jacket with matching pants, plus pants in taupe and grey, and several tops that will mix and match well with the pants and the jacket. I also got 2 pair of black pants--one casual, one dressier, and 2 twinsets to go with those. This was all pretty much stuff I'd picked out from the catalogs, or things we found in the store that I liked, that were "safe" and familiar. But what I did find that I NEVER expected to like, was a pair of brown pants (I NEVER wear brown!), a taupe shell, and a cardigan that has brown, taupe, ivory, black, and kind of a salmony red. Beautiful. Probably what I'll wear when we get on the train.
So off I went to home, knowing I'll be back in 10 days with Mom and Deb for another visit! Now what I needed was an outfit for the less formal dinners, that I could also use for the dressier nights on our river cruise. I searched and searched online, with minimal success. I did order one dress and one pants suit (which I cancelled today). Today, I decided it was time to give in and hit the mall. (I HATE the mall!) I printed out a 20% off coupon for Lord & Taylor, and off I went. I know my sister is wearing a black cocktail dress, so I figured I'd use that as a starting point in my search. I tried on several which were too short, too big, too "not me". Then I found it. THE dress! It's black on the bottom, sort of a pleated skirt, I think a matte taffeta. it's long enough that I can probably get away with knee highs instead of panty hose. The bodice is white with little grey dots. It comes almost off the shoulders, sort of sits on the shoulder caps. Fits great. Really really pretty. Size 18W. I hesitated about the sleeveless thing, since a) my arms are, shall we say, generously sized? and b) I don't know how warm it will be on the train. But I have a black pashmina shawl that will go fine with the dress, and will take care of both issues. I looked at a couple of other stores, jsut to see, but found nothing.
OK, so I have the dress, now I need shoes! I happened to walk past Easy Spirit, one of my favorite shoe stores, and there they were. A pair of black, patent leather slingbacks with a low heel. She had my size, they fit great, they are comfy comfy comfy, and they were only $39.99!! Woohooo!! The shoe search is over almost as soon as it began!
I am now totally ready. I even found a little micro-mini travel umbrella that will fit in my day bag. (it rains alot in Scotland...) Nothing left but the packing! And it's a bit early for that.
On a completely different note (the "side trip"), last night we had friends over for dinner and swimming (well, the kids swam). We BBQ'd burgers and dogs. I made a nice fruit salad, they brought potato salad and made a cesar salad right at the table--very fancy! Anyway, I put out potato chips soon after they arrived. I didn't plan on having any, since I had decided to have a baked potato with butter instead. But somehow, those chips just found their way into my mouth. And not just 1 or 2. I ended up eating at least 1.5 ounces, probably a little more. OK, so I skipped the baked potato, changed my food log, and was still only about 40 calories over for the day. But what concerned me was the almost mindless, out of control eating. I haven't done that in ages. But there they were, sitting in front of me, and I couldn't stay away.
I'm not beating myself up over this. it's not the end of the world. But I think it IS something to be aware of and to come up with a way to prevent a "next time". With 2 vacations coming up, food is gonna be an issue one way or another--less control over what I can eat, eating out all the time, etc. I know I'm going to have to pay really close attention, stay constantly on my guard.
And maybe sit far away from the potato chips.
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