SJ (I am not)

I started to type out the series of events that allows me to able to be updating my blog at 7pm on an average Thursday evening, but then I caught myself sounding like a whiny little housewife, describing the drivel and drabble of daily existance...and I thought "Who wants to read that???"

"Not I!!", said I.

So I stopped, and will simply say that fractured nap times do reap their rewards if one is wise enough to activate them. Wisdom prevailed, and we activated our very abbreviated bedtime routine at 6:15pm (clothes off, diapers changed, jammies on, kiss, kiss, prayer, prayer, huggie, hug, okee dokee, gotta go, see ya, bye!).

Thus here I am, about to share a little piece of my world with you, the kind soul who takes pity on the woman behind the door of the Coffee Cottage, taking time to read her ramblings (and she thanks you with all her heart for doing so. Pity, or curiosity, she'll take any camaraderie she can get).

***

Last Thursday my sweet mama kept my 4, 3 and almost 2 year old for the day, leaving me with just the twins. I had plans in the morning, but during the afternoon, I had a small window of time before needing to meet my husband. After an exhausting round of mental volleying between could and should, I landed on the side of "make a quick trip to the mall, since I only have 2 children with me and when will i have another chance before my cousin's wedding.

Now, I usually opt for Marshalls or TJ Maxx over the mall, but I had a "VIP Sales Pass" from JC Penny, which informed me the sale would not be open to the public 'til Saturday, and if I came NOW, the savings would be jaw-dropping. Thus, I decided to exercises my VIP powers amidst an unsuspecting 'general public'. Yet after I yanked out the double stroller in the 100 degree heat, loaded 42 lbs of combined chubby cuteness into it's bucket seats, hooked my purse onto my sweaty elbow and trudged up to the glass doors, I saw the signs for the same sale displayed front and center. I looked closer, but there was no tagline that said "This is not for most of you YET, but only our VIP customers who were sent exclusive mammoth postcards via mail. The rest of you will have to wait until Saturday".

Well, whaddya know?

My dear little tired and teething baby boys were in no more a mood to shop than I, but since I had already committed the energy to actually get to and get in the mall, I plowed through the dresses, doing a little song and jingle when they fussed.

Big polka dots? Ah...No.

Spaghetti strap? Better not.

Flirty floral print dress? Better left on the store rack, than draped on my scrawny one.

Nothing. Nada. I couldn't stand the thought of a wasted trip. Casting a quick glance at the clock, I decided to make a mad dash for my first and last best hope for looking like Sarah Jessica Parker at H & M {Penny's wouldn't have done it anyway, I just went there for the sale}. Let it be said here that I have never watched one episode of Sex & The City, but am with it enough to know she is a prominent fashionista, and since I've been only wearing maternity sacks the last four summers, I felt the time for me to break out the inner SJ was here and now. And there's nothing more 'diva' than to shop at H &M with a double stroller, sweat rolling down your brow and with less than 5 minutes to find the outfit that will secure your place in the new millennium (finally).

After narrowly squeezing through tiny rows of clothing, picking out and trying on silks and summer sweaters that made me look more like a frumpy Maria Von Trapp than a striking SJP, I surrendered to good sense and gave up on the notion that i 'needed' something new. I took my boys home, changed their soggy diapers and then met my husband for an evening out with the family.

Since then, I found a little black dress in the back of my closet, tried it on and remembered why it has survived many Goodwill purges. It fits nice, it's classic and it's 'me'. Then I thought about just how long it has survived and...{gulp!} 10 years!!!! I am wearing a decade-old dress to my cousin's wedding. A decade ago, this dress was one of many, many fine articles of clothing in my closet. There is nothing wrong with that...but a decade ago, I also would have not stopped until I found something new, and I am glad that is not 'me' anymore. There is a slow, but steady quenching of the lust for stuff, for 'new', for 'must have it' urges. This is good, for the more I know how little I need, the more I am freed up to give to those who actually do.

***

Last night we enjoyed a superb 'brunch for dinner' out in the cozy backyard Gazebo of good friends of ours. After dinner, as she was showing me the newest 'touches' to her home (something we both appreciate!), I asked her if she would happen to have a necklace I might borrow to update my dress. The moment the request left my lips, Janelle was flying from room to room, delving into her lovely jewelry collection on her bathroom counter (where she gathered the prettiest, sparkliest baubles!) to the floor of her closet where she shelled out shoes that will make my husband sit up and take notice. Her generous and kind spirit is going to be an accessory to my old dress, making it current, beautiful and something that H & M could not carry if it tried.

SJP I may not be, but I am growing into my own clothes, and that feels good.