in which we get blacklisted at motherhood maternity shops
on the way home today, we stopped at the duty free shop at the fort erie/buffalo border crossing to buy some hooch for justin's brother's upcoming wedding, at his dad's request. we went a little crazy. i got a new, groovy, orange watch, with little pinholes in a grid all over the band and a kind of skewed, dali-esque face, which i will wear every day for at least a month and then i may alternate it with my regular watch (a slim, steel mesh skagen) or my engagement-commemorating swatch (blue, with cartoonish depictions of international tourism highlights, including the "christ the redeemer" statue in rio, at the base of which justin proposed).
we also bought perfume, happy for justin and be delicious for me. i hope it works out for me, because i love it. the last perfume i bought was green tea in paris, and while it smelled great in the shop, after wearing it around for a while, it smelled awful on me. of course, it smelled fabulous on justin, so for two years he has worn my french perfume every day, dammit. as he puts it on, he prances around our bedroom a little and sings "i feel pretty". telling on him makes me feel a little less resentful about my perfume smelling better on him than on me. but i digress. the point is, duty free shopping is fun. there was also chocolate involved.
about the time we hit the ohio state line, the storm started. i love to go fast, as fast as possible, but at times visibility was so bad i could only go about 30 mph. at one point, i thought, well, at least we don't have a child in the car - that would make this even more nervewracking! and then i thought, well, we do sort of have a child in the car. and that made me slow down a little more.
we bypassed home to go to the tux shop on the far side of town where justin should have gotten measured for his brother's wedding before we left on vacation but forgot. he needed to get measured by today to avoid the rush fees (which are such a scam, because they act like you're rushing their tailors or something, but no tailors are custom fitting anyone's tux; they're just pulling components with each renter's particular combination of measurements and shipping them to the stores once a week en masse to save money on shipping). because of flooding near the mall, it took us about a half-hour to finally give up trying to get to the actual store and just park where we were and walk there. but when we got to the store (on foot) it was 6:25 - and they close at 6:00 on saturdays. what store in or around a mall closes at 6:00 on a saturday??? it's completely absurd.
so we cut through the mall (to try not to get too much more soaked than we already were) to get back to our car and while there consoled ourselves by buying season 6 of the simpsons, which (finally!) came out this week. across from the store was a motherhood shop, which normally i hate, but they had the cutest shirt in the window, and justin encouraged me to try it on, so i did and i loved it. it's scarlet red - my favorite kind of red, which is my favorite color in the first place - and justin said, let me get it for you. i love him for understanding that i needed this shirt, both because it is my best color and because i needed an exercise in hope for the day, but also because he is not by nature a material gift giver, so when he does something like this, it means the world.
at the register, the cashier asked me if i had bought anything there before. i said, no, not adding that i mostly hated this store. then she said, "last name?" before i could speak, justin gave his last name (which is not mine). then she said, "first name?" and justin gave her his. she paused a half of a second this time but typed in "justin", and i tried not to laugh because i knew she wanted my information to send me propaganda and justin was up to something. then she asked, "address?" i started to ask her why she really needed my address when justin leaned over the counter with his full weight and said something like, look, i don't want to be on your list. our first child died, and i had signed up for all kinds of lists and now i cannot get our names off of those lists and we do not want to be on your freaking mailing list. and by the way, don't support gerber, because they're the worst. he was like some mob lackey on "the sopranos", all quiet and smooth but deadly, dangerously, threateningly serious. it was beautiful.
to her credit, the cashier was really nice about it and said several times, "that's totally fine" and "i totally understand", although i'm sure it didn't make her day. she didn't look at me again after that moment. but that's okay because i will not be going back there. i am not a motherhood maternity shop kind of mom. most motherhood maternity shop moms do not have faux-hawks (which is what my latest haircut has become). i just got a cool, uncharacteristic-for-that-shop shirt out of it. and i will need to break it out in about 20 minutes because my belly is already protesting against anything remotely fitted. it's going to be really embarrassing if, at my wednesday ultrasound, they say, um, you're only about three weeks along, because i am this close to breaking out the drawstring pants.
we also bought perfume, happy for justin and be delicious for me. i hope it works out for me, because i love it. the last perfume i bought was green tea in paris, and while it smelled great in the shop, after wearing it around for a while, it smelled awful on me. of course, it smelled fabulous on justin, so for two years he has worn my french perfume every day, dammit. as he puts it on, he prances around our bedroom a little and sings "i feel pretty". telling on him makes me feel a little less resentful about my perfume smelling better on him than on me. but i digress. the point is, duty free shopping is fun. there was also chocolate involved.
about the time we hit the ohio state line, the storm started. i love to go fast, as fast as possible, but at times visibility was so bad i could only go about 30 mph. at one point, i thought, well, at least we don't have a child in the car - that would make this even more nervewracking! and then i thought, well, we do sort of have a child in the car. and that made me slow down a little more.
we bypassed home to go to the tux shop on the far side of town where justin should have gotten measured for his brother's wedding before we left on vacation but forgot. he needed to get measured by today to avoid the rush fees (which are such a scam, because they act like you're rushing their tailors or something, but no tailors are custom fitting anyone's tux; they're just pulling components with each renter's particular combination of measurements and shipping them to the stores once a week en masse to save money on shipping). because of flooding near the mall, it took us about a half-hour to finally give up trying to get to the actual store and just park where we were and walk there. but when we got to the store (on foot) it was 6:25 - and they close at 6:00 on saturdays. what store in or around a mall closes at 6:00 on a saturday??? it's completely absurd.
so we cut through the mall (to try not to get too much more soaked than we already were) to get back to our car and while there consoled ourselves by buying season 6 of the simpsons, which (finally!) came out this week. across from the store was a motherhood shop, which normally i hate, but they had the cutest shirt in the window, and justin encouraged me to try it on, so i did and i loved it. it's scarlet red - my favorite kind of red, which is my favorite color in the first place - and justin said, let me get it for you. i love him for understanding that i needed this shirt, both because it is my best color and because i needed an exercise in hope for the day, but also because he is not by nature a material gift giver, so when he does something like this, it means the world.
at the register, the cashier asked me if i had bought anything there before. i said, no, not adding that i mostly hated this store. then she said, "last name?" before i could speak, justin gave his last name (which is not mine). then she said, "first name?" and justin gave her his. she paused a half of a second this time but typed in "justin", and i tried not to laugh because i knew she wanted my information to send me propaganda and justin was up to something. then she asked, "address?" i started to ask her why she really needed my address when justin leaned over the counter with his full weight and said something like, look, i don't want to be on your list. our first child died, and i had signed up for all kinds of lists and now i cannot get our names off of those lists and we do not want to be on your freaking mailing list. and by the way, don't support gerber, because they're the worst. he was like some mob lackey on "the sopranos", all quiet and smooth but deadly, dangerously, threateningly serious. it was beautiful.
to her credit, the cashier was really nice about it and said several times, "that's totally fine" and "i totally understand", although i'm sure it didn't make her day. she didn't look at me again after that moment. but that's okay because i will not be going back there. i am not a motherhood maternity shop kind of mom. most motherhood maternity shop moms do not have faux-hawks (which is what my latest haircut has become). i just got a cool, uncharacteristic-for-that-shop shirt out of it. and i will need to break it out in about 20 minutes because my belly is already protesting against anything remotely fitted. it's going to be really embarrassing if, at my wednesday ultrasound, they say, um, you're only about three weeks along, because i am this close to breaking out the drawstring pants.
posted by laura at 12:58 AM
8 Comments:
Go Justin! Jaysus, what a thing to behold, a truly beautiful moment:)
I hope your stomach holds itself together long enough for you go search out some larger pants...it couldn't be two tadpoles could it??:D
Oh I got GOOD at telling those women at Motherhood that I wanted nothing to do with their mailing lists. They asked why? I didn't hesitate to tell them that it was their fault I was harassed by every baby product company in the world after my baby died. I got some really horrible uncomfortable looks, but hey, I get those anyway. I did try to most of my maternity clothes shopping online though. It made things alot easier then having to go into the store and hear all of the happy pg women in there.
Good for Justin for taking the initiative and saying it all for you!!
Ha ha! Good for you! I also told the lady at Motherhood that I didn't want to be on no freaking lists! But I wasn't that brave about it...I just made a reference to vague bad things happening. She was actually pretty nice about it...it's not really the salespeople's faults.
I want to see this cute shirt though.
vix, the shirt is pretty basic; i think they had it in aqua, too. it's just a knit, v-neck shirt with 3/4 sleeves, and empire waist, a tie in the back and a little tie at the point of the v-neck. i could do without the tie at the bottom of the neckline, but it's not too fussy; just a simple tie, not a bow or anything. it could be very, very casual, but it will also work for my business casual workplace or for dinner out with cute black pants.
Oh, I'm sooo glad you guys seem to have had such a neat time. I loven when Jim and I go out together and it all just seems to click...even the uncomfortable time at the maternity store...
I've only seen a couple pictures of Justin since I've been reading your blog. But for some reason, I can totally picture the scene. And I must admit laughed out loud...but about the poor saleslady's reaction...I'm a little afraid of Justin now. :o)
Justin sounds like a keeper to me, lol! I think it's a great sign that you're already "busting out". Maybe your feeling about twins has some merit :-)
Ann
justin IS a keeper, even if for about five minutes yesterday morning i wanted to throw him back. and yes, twins would be a lovely excuse for bulging out, wouldn't it? all would be forgiven.
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