wooo weeee it's hot!

It's been very hot here lately, in the 85-93 degree range. I went to the beach yesterday with some friends and their kiddies. It was a pleasant few hours sandwiched in between barfy (hmm barfy isn't in spell check) accounting and econ homework. I also witnessed one of the most endearing interactions I have seen in quite some time, which uplifted my spirits and raised my falling opinion of the 'general population' of parents-of-small-children (see shelf climbing and pee related incidences in previous post).

I saw a family with a baby and 4-5 year old daughter arrive at the beach. As soon as the mother and baby were settled under their umbrella, the father turned his attention to helping his daughter into her spring suit and then put his own on. They walked down to the water together hand in hand, surf board under the father's arm. They tested the water temperature with their toes and hands and watched the waves for awhile, taking things over. Then the he booster her up onto his back and paddled out into the waves. She rode on his back like a little duck while he used her child sized surf board like a body board and road small waves.

Today after work I went to the awful mall, the nearest one besides the outlet mall. I was on a mission to find some cute tee-shirts to wear with summer skirts and shorts. I saw some potential ones on the Gap website, but wanted to try them on and see the material. They were $15 online and $18.50 in the store. I asked the sales person if they had the promotions and she said no, but since I was there and only wanted 2 anyway (actually, kind of wanted about 8, but thought 2 would be a good compromise) and since shipping is $7 it would be the same, so I went for the instant gratification. Also, I resisted the lure of 2 tops that were pretty cute, but were more attractive because they were on sale. I just bought the two tee shirts that I really wanted and a silver belt that was on sale for $4.97. I am trying to modify my shopping behavior to buy quality over quantity, by which I mean things I really like over things that are on sale and just OK.

While I was at the awful mall I remembered that one of the girls at work, who I would also qualify as having 'the Barney's look' (something I have been said to have by many customers) i.e. a sense of personal style that mixes classic things with bits of trendiness in a way that is (mostly) never over the top, said that Express had the exact type of Alexander Wang-esq tee shirt she had been wanting AND they were $14.50 instead of $200!! Of course they are probably made by underpaid workers in another country out of some strange fabric blend (I just checked and they are 100% Modal and made in Macau, and hand wash only) and not as wonderful as the Alexander Wang tee would be, but we are trying to buy a house here... I feel it is important to point out that I have not been in an Express for about 3 years and have not made a purchase in one for about 6 years because most of their clothes are awful and made of yucky polyester. I did also buy kind of a nice purple-y magenta shirt for Shandiz which I hope he likes. And some tank tops to go under things, but those are just replacements for ones I had to get rid of because the elastic had worn out ( too much information?).

Now I am all set for summer with my tee shirts and my start on a healty level of tan, although I did burn my shoulders a bit and still need black sandles.