I Went Shopping Today!

Okay, that's sort of not exactly true, but then it is true. Just stick with me for a couple of minutes. I'll have a point.

About a week ago, my boss told me that she'd like me to wear black or white capris or shorts with our company t-shirt in a parade we're going to be in on Wednesday. Now, I have no fewer than a gazillion khaki shorts and capris and I even have dressy pair of black capris, but I have no casual black or white capris or shorts and khaki would not work with the gray t-shirt I'm wearing, nor would everyone look the same, which was the goal of the black or white.

Frankly, I didn't want to go shopping and spend money. As I've mentioned previously, I'm trying to buy a condo so every single penny counts and I'm also 12 days from going to Watervale, another good reason to not spend money. Oh, and I hate shopping. HATE. Shopping to me is usually entirely ego deflating, even as my body has shrunk into new sizes. All week long I've agonized over this whole black or white capri or shorts requirement. How could I get around it?

Finally, this morning it hit me: what about all the clothes I'd collected for our upcoming garage sale? Did I still have them and would they fit? With any luck there might be some parade-appropriate capris or shorts in there and I'd be able to find them. When I originally packed them up, I was certain they'd never fit me again.

I pulled out the boxes of stuff marked for the garage sale and started sifting. Within seconds, I discovered two pairs black capris I last wore in 2002, a dress I hadn't worn in at least that long, a great pair of workout pants, 3 pairs of shorts (khaki, navy blue and red that may actually go back to the late 1990s), two awesome button-down shirts, numerous t-shirts, and 4 or 5 pairs of khaki capris (because you know if owning a trillion khaki pairs of capris could be turned into $1 trillion, I could personally solve the debt crisis), a cute sweater, a pair of jeans, and even a bathing suit!

Into my bedroom I went with all my finds. And item after item, almost all of the clothes I pulled out of the garage sale boxes fit. Some better than others, but I could get almost each item button or zipped without having to lay down and suck anything in. I did reject a few items that fit. My body does not need pleated pants or shorts. They just don't look remotely flattering. But the timeless, classic pieces, I held onto, and will happily fit them back into my wardrobe.

I'm not exactly sure how much I saved, but to be sure, I've saved money, and more than that, I got a nice ego boost realizing I'm wearing clothes I last wore almost a decade ago because I've lost so much weight. Win!