Big fish, small feet

I went out to a movie with a friend on Saturday night. Sarah's the girl who owns the house next door to the stranger I lived with, so there's a little weirdness about catching up with her. (She often goes for walks around the lakes and parks where they live, with the stranger and she's told him she catches up with me. I learnt that the stranger already has someone new practically living with him, just as A's mum and I predicted would happen. I'm glad to say I had a completely unemotional response to that news. I just feel sorry for the new girl....and A.) But I like Sarah and since she's one of only two single girls I know, (and can therefore catch up more spontaneously than my married friends) I'd like for us to keep in touch.

But that's not what this post is about. While we were having drinks after the movie, I was playing with the strap of my handbag and it broke. To a normal person, this wouldn't be much of a dilemma. For me, it was the realisation that I'd have to go back to the shopping centre for the second day in a row, and find a new bag. Yes, I only had one handbag. A small one that I don't carry a bunch of stuff in, but for essentials. If I can get away with a keycard and my mobile in my pocket, I'm even happier. I don't like having to carry stuff.

So, after my next door neighbour confirmed that the guys in the unit behind her were gay ("This is my partner, Gabriel." "Oh, are you guys in business together?"...then realised they lived in a 1 bedroom unit...), and said I made her feel bad for buying her a small photo frame for looking after my cats while I was away, I headed off to the bag shop.

Now, I have a very specific shopping style. I don't wander from store to store looking for the best deal. I usually know exactly what I want, will go to one store, get what I need, and get out. If it's not in the first store, depending on my level of frustration, I'll try one, maybe two more stores.

The bag shop I walked into was one of those stores where there's so little floor space, that there's stuff everywhere and it's difficult to sort the crap from the good stuff. Somehow I managed to hone in on a bag immediately. It was a bit more dressy than I wanted, slightly bigger than I needed, but the style was right. After I recovered from looking at the price tag, I noticed the price was half the regular price! The shop lady must have seen me almost pass out and offered me more of a discount.

Looking for something similar, but smaller (and cheaper!), I found another bag, almost identical, but material, not leather. It was a quarter the price of the first one. Lord knows why, but I bought both. I justified it to myself at the time.

An alien must have taken over me at that point. I have a favourite shoe store. It's the one store I can go into and find exactly what I want and their shoes are always comfortable, no matter what the style. I should have walked out after I bought those bags. That was what I went in for. Considering I'd bought two pairs of shoes in Perth only a week ago (bearing in mind that was because two pairs I had, busted), I had no need to look for shoes. But I did. A secondary reason I love this particular shoe store is that they always have 'buy one pair, get the second pair half price' sales. I bought two more pairs of shoes.... I think I'm still in a daze.

While I was in the shoe store, I made a discovery that, for me, is ideal. This particular chain does not operate in Perth. However, they have a website. You can order their shoes online and all it costs is $8 more for delivery. That little piece of information made my day. I luuurv that store, but I won't have to go there again! Ha!

Yesterday was really a day of me breaking out of my comfort zone. Not only did I brave the crowds of the shopping centre and shop way more than I intended, I continued from there into the city and braved the C0mmonwe@lth Games crowds (I hate crowds!) along the river to get some photos of the fish display that was there. You see, T has a thing for fish at the moment, so I had to do my loving girlfriend duty and go take photos for him. Realising too late that half the streets were closed for a cycling event and the closing ceremony, it took me a good hour more than I expected to find a parking space and hike back to the river. It's a good thing I like the boy so much!

I think I got some good photos. The battery in my camera died before I was finished, so I only got the photos uploaded to my computer after 11 last night. I'll post some here later tonight if I get a chance.

I'm in a weird mood. Melancholy, but I don't know why. There's other stuff I want to muse about, but this post is long enough as it is. I'll save the rest for tomorrow.