‘A Shopping We Will Go…

Not!

I hear about the rest of the world running from store to store at 3:00 a.m. looking for incredible Christmas deals and wonder if there is something wrong with me. There is no desire to join in on this type of shopping. I don’t deal well with large crowds and frenzied buying. Those individuals are made of much stronger stuff than I. As much as I love fabric or chocolate, even if it was being given away, you would find me snug at home listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter singing “Hot Buttered Rum.” The last few years have found me comfortably settled in at our desk, shopping online and loving those words – View Your Shopping Cart…Check Out Now? Or Continue To Shop? Because this method of shopping frees up so much of my time (yah, right!)

I can make another weekly loaf of bread…

Replenish our 3 girls  (shelties that is) raw food diet for the month…

And make yards of quilt binding -

The sewing room continues to be in a chaotic state and is an embarrassment to me if someone drops by for a visit. Mr. Outback has asked what I would like for Christmas this year – my reply came quite quickly – could you give me more shelving in my sewing room and add another section of track lighting? He has said “Sure” so we will venture out soon to look at what might be available – guess we will end up at a brick and mortar store after all – just not at 3:oo a.m.! I can picture the improvements all ready…and it is something that makes me happy. Do I need another object to dust when we have a lifetime of memories all ready? I am blessed with lovely dishes of our own and pieces handed down from family no longer with us. Mr. Outback enjoys carved birds from natural materials such as wood or antlers. We have found a piece here and there on our travels and it only takes a brief glance to bring back where we were at that time and place – one of the rare times we both actually “shop.” I was in a large, well stocked gift shop a few weeks ago and it was Christmas Open House – the colors and lights were dazzling with lovely things stacked everywhere…within 5 minutes I was overwhelmed and began to shut down. It was more than I could take in and could not justify even one item that needed to come home with me.  I did find a glass cardinal Christmas ornament for my Mom though. After purchasing that, it was a relief to walk out the door into the fresh air.

When I was little, my Grammy and Aunt Ruby would take my cousin Pam & I shopping as a special treat.  We would head to Baltimore and a grand department store which I cannot recall the name of. We were given the most wonderous treat of picking out a new dress and then taken to the big dining room on an upper level. It was reached by elevator and a real live person operated it.   Linen tablecloths covered each table which was set with china and heavy flatware. At each place setting, a glass finger bowl was placed to keep our little hands tidy. We felt so grown up. When I grew up and left college to find my first job, I would eagerly await each new paycheck and shopping became  a magical experience . Working in Washington, D.C. in the early ’60′s offered countless  little shops and boutiques to choose from in addition to large department stores such as Garfinckels,  & Woodward and Lothrop (“Woodies”) Once I stood quietly looking on from a distance while Ella Fitzgerald tried on fabulous hats in the Hat Department. How convenient it was for the shopper to be assisted in each department. The salesperson was usually knowledgeable about her own area and you completed your transaction right there rather than searching out a centrally located and impersonal cash register counter.  A Saturday trip to Georgetown was heavenly – Pappagallo’s for shoes and a lunch at some quiet little nook. My first car was a little yellow Corvair convertible with black interior…up and down M street over the old brick-covered roadbed (is it still there?) I felt like the world was my oyster. About that time, the cookie cutter “Shopping Malls” began to rise up out of the ground – overnight it seemed. Bulldoze old stands of hardwood trees, demolish rundown neighborhoods, put in new infrastructure to “make  your shopping experience more enjoyable.” And say goodbye to any hardworking independent business owner who offered one of a kind goods or services….I think that is when shopping began to lose its appeal and has never really returned. Where is the charm in entering a storefront and seeing dozens and dozens of the same item? Perhaps that is yet one more reason why quilting is so appealing to me. Oh, I may use a design such as log cabin, churn dash or 9 patch that has been around forever, but what I do with it represents me – how I place the pattern, the colors I choose and the realization that it is one of a kind. Now if I could just get into my sewing room to “shop” for what is needed in the next project that would be great!

Have a good week and wishing each of you a no-frazzled shopping experience in the days ahead – 26 shopping days left until Christmas…

Pat

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