12/17/11 -- 'Tis The Season

You’d never guess that I don’t really like to shop. But it’s really not a favorite pastime of mine, when I have everything I need already and malls just seem so, well, commercial. When I do shop, I prefer to patronize small, independent businesses and do so almost exclusively. When I do get to a mall, I’m kind of like a kid in a candy store. Since I rarely see all the sights and sounds of a gigantic commercial establishment like a mall, it becomes a fascinating overload of the senses for me. Especially at Christmas.

So in December I make time to go to a mall. Not because I really need to, since I tend to shop for people throughout the seasons and have purchased their Christmas presents all year long. But I can’t resist the spectacle that is the holiday season, especially at a mall.

For a day of shopping at this time of year, I donned my favorite pair of vintage red original button-fly Levi’s straight-leg jeans, saved from the mid 1970s when I wore them in college. They are very comfortable, very sexy, and the cheery red color fit my festive holiday mood just perfectly!

The red and black buffalo-plaid shirt is from NewportNews.com, Avon’s fashion apparel line, and the black tee that I’m wearing underneath is actually long underwear because the temperature was only in the low 30s today in Baltimore! My black leather belt belongs to my Park Ranger uniform and the black platform loafers are by Marc Fischer for Macy’s. On my ears I wore a pair of beribboned jingle-bell earrings which actually jingle when I walk, and I topped the whole look off with a perky "Santa’s Elf" hat I found in my Christmas décor box which was actually soft and comfortable and WARM when I tried it on as a lark.

Several people commented on my festive look while I out and about, which made my day. It really is a wonderful time of the year!

Cheers,

Lynell