Score 4 - the Straw Hat Bonanza!


It's completely true that you don't know what goodies life will bring you. I decided to go to Victoria's Secret this afternoon for their big semi-annual sale. I was looking for a racer-back Ipex bra in my size. I didn't expect to find one, but you must aim high to get the things that are important to you, right? Visualize it as the authors of The Secret might suggest. I ended up buying four pair of $2.99 undies. Very utilitarian, the kind that mothers like most. Not one brassiere. Since I used my store credit card for probably like the third time in my life, I'm also thrilled at the thought that now I will likely get a catalog every week in the mail. That catalog is like a free magazine, kind of like Lucky with lots more skin showing. I really do get many sewing ideas from Victoria's Secret. Lame, I know, but true.

Then I cruised into H&M next door (we're talking downtown Chicago). I enjoy getting inspiration there, but I never buy clothes. Too cheap-looking, besides why on this green earth would I want to wear something another gal in this small city will likely have in her wardrobe? No way. But I do like buying accessories - particularly their big-hoop earrings. This time I wasn't pleased to see hoops that slip onto your earlobes sans a backing. I find I lose those kinds of baubles before I'm even half-way out the door.

Then I saw these straw fedoras piled book-deep in the back of the store. They look like something a guy would wear with their short brims, but the color - particularly the white straw and baby-blue grosgrain ribbon-trimmed number - are girly-girly. So I thought I'd buy two. They were only about $3. Two one, one black. Then I learned at the cashier that these toppers were two for one. So I ended up purchasing four hats, two in each hue.

The black one I embellished straight away at home with pins I'd completely forgotten about: White Castle, See Rock City, Lifesource and Operations Lifesaver. Now this isn't the extra-wide brimmed hat that my dermatologist would recommend, but it covers just as much dermis as the Eugenia Kim floppy hat that I've been wearing every day. Besides, I'm slathering on my Lancome UV Expert 20 Sunscreen like there are 15 tomorrows. I feel positively giddy about my new finds (the hats, not the underwear). I swear the summer is going to be even better now that I've got these lids to keep me stylishly covered when the sun beats down, and humidity index creeps up...