On man sweaters and tiny pea coats

Greetings world! And a very merry Friday unto you.

I am currently on a post-shopping spree high. It's a very strange feeling... usually, post-shopping spree, I am very, very low. But this time, I spreed (spred?) in just the right place. I've just bought myself 3 pairs of pants and 7 sweaters for the grand price of $23.50 -- thank you Salvation Army thrift store!!

I did, however, learn some valuable lessons. The most valuable being this: just because a sweater is on the rack in the women's section does NOT mean that it's a women's sweater. I learned this sad fact when I returned home to try my many purchases on. Two of my 7 sweaters are just *so* men's -- the shoulders are HUGE. And those two sweaters were so pretty, too: a nice russet crew-neck and a deep red number as well. Why do all the pretty colours have to be for men?!? Curse my manish taste!

The other valuable lesson is this: like the sale racks in GAP stores, thrift stores reserve allllll the good stuff for the size 2s and the petites of the world. This has always amazed me. More the first-run stores than the thrift stores. I had to buy a coat last year, right around New Years. Being that it was very cold, of course, coat-buying season had pretty much wrapped up, and the selection was limited. Except for the petites section. There were a grand total of 3 (non-petite) size 12 coats in the entire department store, but rack upon rack of every size, shape, colour, material, etc. of petite coats you could have imagined. It was like they hadn't sold a petite coat all winter... there they all were, still on their hangers. It was torture -- I'd see a coat, and I'd think YES YES YES, then I'd look at the tag and it was a 12 and I'd say "YES!"... and then I'd notice the P. I even tried a few of those little coats on -- desperately hoping that *this* time, three inches of my wrists wouldn't be left bare -- but to no avail.

I really don't think I can convey just *how many* petite coats were in that department store. There were 2 or 3 of each petite size in each colour of each style of each make of coat. I can count for one brand (London Fog) seven colours (pink, lilac, pale blue, red, navy, gray and black) of pea coat alone that were in that store Why, why, why would a department store go out and buy sooooo many petite coats in the first place? WHY?!?!?! Bastards!

Whoa; I guess that shopping high is gone. I'm sorry, I just really wanted a pea coat, and couldn't get one. I guess it's time to let that go.

Happy weekend.