i'm dreaming of white house/black market

i have had some crazy vivid dreams during pregnancy.  well, actually, it's not unusual for me to have crazy vivid dreams and i almost always remember what i've dreamed the night before.  but in pregnancy, man, some of the stuff i dream just ca-razy.

i've always been big on clothes.  my closet is organized by item, season, and color (long-sleeved shirts, short-sleeved shirts, suits, long pants, short pants, skirts, jackets, coats, all in ROYGBIV order).  my mom thinks that this is a sign that i am nuts.  none of us have any idea where this trait comes from because mom and my sister aren't remotely as OCD.  i find myself foisting this obsession onto Princess.  she's not quite old enough yet to put up all her own clothes, so i'm still in charge of her closet, and it is quite lovely.  her clothes are so brightly colored that when they're all ironed and lined up in order it's a sight to behold.

/end hyperbole

but that's getting off topic.  one of the hardest things i've endured this pregnancy has been two whole seasons (an entire spring and summer) of no new clothes.  at least not clothes that count.  this is going to sound extraordinarily petty but i'm going to say it anyway: walking into the mall puts a lump in my throat because it's full of clothes that i can't wear.

so anyway, the other night i had a dream about clothes and i can NOT get it out of my head.  in the dream i was walking out of a mall and i was wearing this dove-grey wool-blend suit that i'd just bought.  the jacket was single-breasted with a low stance and one button, and the skirt was pleated beginning at mid-thigh and hit just at the right part of my knee to make my legs look slimmer (which is key when you're short), and i was wearing black stuart weitzman pointy-toe snakeskin stilettos and i had a thin, square, flat laptop bag that matched.

and then later in the dream i was wearing a 3/4 length burnt orange nubby wool sweater with oversize buttons and a knee-length plaid a-line skirt with brown suede boots.

there.  i'm glad to get that off my chest, because i can't stop thinking about those outfits.  i want them.  they don't exist but i want them.

this is why when i shop for clothes, i follow Melissa's Two Rules for Shopping:  

1.  always go alone.  this is because i shop at a furious pace and i get extremely impatient with people who want to try things on, can't decide if they like something, etc.  not me.  no no no.  if i see it and i want it, i will buy it unless it's truly cost prohibitive, and there is never a question of whether or not i like something - it's an immediate yes or no.  

2.  always leave the mall IMMEDIATELY once you've spent what you have to spend.  keep your eyes directed at the floor and head directly to the nearest exit.  otherwise i will see things that i want, and once i see them, I CAN'T GET THEM OUT OF MY HEAD.  it's like i have a photographic memory for clothes.  they will call to me in my sleep, and a few days later i will end up back at the mall buying them, zombie-like.  yes here is my amex please take it.

there is no point to this post.  i guess what got me started thinking about it is that i saw my cousin jasen today and he was wearing this really slick pressed white dress shirt with blue and brown pinstriping and i found myself thinking, "that looks like its from banana republic. oh lordy it has been so long since i set foot in there HOW DO I MISS THEE LET ME COUNT THE WAYS."  he has good taste in his genes, though.  last winter i saw his mom--my aunt--in this mid-length mid-weight wool [wool again!] overcoat in impossible-to-maintain-but-gorgeous winter white and dark tailored jeans and i *still* think about it.  i could never have a coat like that because i would immediately spill soy sauce all down the front or something - especially now that i'm entering the Tiny Grubby Hands phase of my life.  but if you knew my aunt - she can just pull that sort of outfit off perfectly.  it's like she was born in white wool.

so.  i am really excited for it to be fall (did you notice the "wool" theme running through this post?), and i am really excited to wear Normal Clothes again.  

/end self-indulgent blogging.