Busy in the City Playing Hooky

Ever notice that summertime in the city is nutty!?!  I feel like everything is kicked up a notch.  Woot!  Its fun, crazy, exciting and hectic all at once.  Today some of my favorite eWomenNetwork ladies and I decided to take a mini break, and soak in some summer fun.  We called ourselves “ladies who lunch” for the day.  We met at Ann Taylor on Michigan Ave at 11:30 am, and shopped for clothing that was way overpriced.  A suit that is not made specifically for your body should never cost $500+. Hello!!  We spent about an hour at Ann Taylor having a fantastic time trying on all sorts of new looks.

I would like to say that we coordinated going to Ann Taylor just because we wanted to go shopping, but we were actually there planning for an upcoming eWomenNetwork Event called The Ann Taylor Dress for Success Shopping Extravaganza that is on June 23rd from 8 am – 10:30 am.  Check it out here…  https://events.ewomennetwork.com/event/details.php?eid=15104

Cheri Boucher, Roxanne Carter, Jillian Holly, Reyna Hoerdeman and I are all modeling for the event.  It is probably the first and only time a size 6 or 8 5’2″ chick will get to model for anything, but hey I am gonna so rock it like I always have and its gonna be amazing.  Don’t you  know it.  Needless, we spent a quality amount of time mucking around in the fitting room trying all sorts of lovely on.  Oddly, I always remember the crazy things while shopping.  My 2 fav memories of our playing hooky at Ann Taylor are…

1) This lady who, you know, was top heavy and super bottom skinny, put on this crazy blue, green, yellow and black designed dress.

Check it out here for full vision assistance. http://www.anntaylor.com/ann/product/AT-Apparel/AT-Dresses/Floating-Estuary-Jersey-Print-Dress/256723?colorExplode=false&skuId=89551097&productPageType=fullPriceProducts&defaultColor=1973

She comes out of the fitting room and asks the 6′ blond Ann Taylor Associate to give her an honest opinion on if the dress was too tight.  Like was this lady born yesterday?  Not only was the dress too tight, but it was like f-ing spandex on her.  I saw every nook and cranny of this braud’s body and it was not sensuous. Let me tell you it was so bad it was shocking.  It was tight, loud and man was it bad.  Then the associate admits it was a little tight and offers to find her a larger size, because she thinks if she goes from a L to XL that the problem will be solved.  WTF!  I hate retail associates. I was one for 9 years, and the cardinal rule is  you tell the truth nicely and bring a different outfit.  I had to do everything in my power to keep my mouth shut.  All I wanted to say is Ma’am I am so sorry to interrupt, but let me recommend you this fantastic black and white ensemble that will look stellar on you.

Some key rules to any shopping.

a) If it is not a shirt it should not have S/M/L/XL on the tag.  No one fits in it if there are only 4 sizes for options. Same goes for One Size Fits all. That means One Size Fits most teenagers if they are lucky.

b) Forget whatever is in style and wear what fits your body type and personality.

c) Buy Spanx or a similar product. It does not matter how big or small you are suck it in and smooth it out baby.

2) At one point Cheri had to use the restroom and another fantastic Ann Taylor Associate says we do not have public restrooms.  She continues to say we will have to go to Marshall’s up the street to use the restroom. I would like to note here that Marshall’s is over 1 block away from Ann Taylor.  If you are going to sell suits for over $500+ you better have a john available for use.  I immediately got the manager, Heather, who is coordinating our eWomenNetwork Dress for Success Shopping Extravaganza Event, and asked her kindly if we could use the bathroom. Ol’ girl was like of course no prob.  Cheri proudly, chin high, snoot on walked pass Ms. we do not have a public restroom and showed her who was boss. That is what I am saying.  When we play hooky and “ladies who lunch” we do  it in style with bathroom breaks included.

We had a blast, bathroom and badly dressed bottom skinny top heavy lady and all, and left with huge smiles on our face.  I mean come on, we would never be out and about on Michigan Ave on a random Friday afternoon.  We headed on over to Rosebud for lunch where we ate way to much bread, parm and olive oil.  Roxanne had square noodles, and Marion, Cheri and I had Caprese Salad.  We kick started our weekend on an amazing note, and the rest is history.

*Image from http://www.chicandkinky.com/blog/2010/09/22/whats-your-body-type/