shopping?!?!?!

i spent this entire afternoon wandering around the mall looking for a pair of shoes and 2 shirts for interviews. i know amanda will laugh at me, but this was my first time buying clothes since sophomore year. if you haven't noticed, the vast majority of my wardrobe consists of free t-shirts i have acquired over the years. everything else: my mom bought (insert laugh from amanda).

so, there i was, in the big mall, wondering where the heck i'm supposed to go for shoes. luckily, i stumble onto a shoe store right as i enter. i find a pair of shoes marked down to $30 from $120 and i think "what a deal!". unfortunately, they didn't have my size... so i was back to looking at shoes. i find a couple of pairs that i like, but i'm a bit confused as to whether dress shoes should be dull or shiny. or if yellow stitching is acceptable. time for a lifeline. i call amanda, but it goes straight to voice mail. so i'm off to look for shirts.

but i have no idea what kind of stores sell dress shirts. i go into an express store since i have some conception of them selling some kind of mens clothing (also, they had a sign that said 'mens and womans clothing!'), but after walking around the store a few times, it became apparent that this particular express store didn't have men's clothing. this became especially apparent when the lady manning (personing!) the fitting rooms glared at me while i was vainly searching for something i could wear. so after searching the entire mall, i finally walk into a nice looking establishment selling shirts and suits and things of that nature. a nice looking lady comes up to me and offers me some help. i explained to her my need for some shirts and that i had no idea what i was doing and the she mentioned that they had $20 off the second shirt you buy. i thought "perfect, i wanted 2 shirts to begin with" and allowed her to lead me to the shirts. she proceeded to measure my neck and my back or arm or something and then picked out a couple shirts for me. after much deliberation, i picked out 2, declined the ties she had to offer, and went to check out. the total? $100. i didn't think shirts cost that much... perhaps it costs extra to get yourself measured? or maybe i'm still living in the eighties. i'm glad there was the $20 discount at least, or else i would probably be going to interviews in my intel involved t-shirt.

i give amanda's cell another try, but no one picks up this time. since i'm getting tired, i just pick out the no-name matte black shoes for 50 bucks and go home. i couldn't find a shiny pair that i liked, but for some reason, i think they are supposed be shiny. perhaps the image of business people getting their shoes shined? someone tell me if dress shoes are supposed to be shiny or not.

i think i've done enough of shopping for another three years. at least, i hope so.