Chirky

In preparation for leaving for the Philippines, I have been clothes-shopping. And shopping. AND SHOPPING. AND SHOOOPPPPPIIIIINNNNNGGGGGG!!! Just like that. With all those extra letters and exclamation points. The blisters on my feet prove it. I'm totally investing in some sort of squishy something that I can stick in the soles of my shoes, right under the ball of my foot. BECAUSE APPARENTLY IT IS THE ONLY PART OF MY BODY THAT TOUCHES THE GROUND WHEN I WALK. You'd THINK I'd have calves like Eddie. But I don't.

And did you know that leaving straight from work and fighting traffic to get to the Galleria and then walking around and around and around in high heels will not benefit the situation? Even though my heels are Aerosoles? It's true.

So I'm shopping for a one-piece swimsuit. And Lo! And Behold! Few stores carry them in January. Who knew? I've been to everywhere from TJ Maxx to Nordstroms, everything in between, and even a swim and resortwear boutique shop. I found only two from those that I like, and BELIEVE ME, when I tried them on I looked JUST like that swimsuit model on the right. We'd totally be twins, what with the jaunty expression and long hair and perfect appendages.

Last night I drove to my last remaining (is that redundant?) option - another swimwear boutique in Dallas - because I cannot possibly make a decision until all my options are exhausted. And it was closed! What kind of retail shop is only open from 10am to 6pm? Except on Thursdays, when it is open until 8pm, and they better be glad that I don't watch CSI on TV anymore and that I wait for it to come out on DVD because I like instant gratification and no commercials, or else I'd pitch a fit. Right there on their sidewalk.

So the shopping is prolonged and the packing is prolonged and are you aware that I am going to have to "practice packing" because there is a weight limit on suitcases? You mean I can't just pack my entire closet in fourteen different trunks? A girl needs options! Doesn't Asian Spirit airlines know that?

And now I am in a conundrum, the same conundrum that plagues me every night before I go to sleep and every morning when I stand in my closet, staring at my clothes, except this conundrum is on a much grander scale, because I have to figure out what to wear for a long period of time, and not only that, but you know how anal super-particular I am, and so I am going to have to make lists upon lists of clothes, and then match them into outfits, and then determine which outfit I will wear which day depending on that day's activities, and then I'll have to create a little clothes-calendar to put inside my suitcase so that I will know what I am supposed to wear and so that I won't get frustrated when I get there and open my suitcase and discover that I have "nothing" to wear. It's that much of a dilemma.

Can you imagine how I was in middle and high school, during the summers before school started, when I would spend days creating outfits and hanging them together in a certain order according to the date and week? Because you have to plan them, but they can't look too planned - you must appear as though you just threw on clothes and they naturally looked good together.

Don't scoff at me. You know that you do the very same thing.