It's Not All Roses: Burlington

Burlington Coat Factory is basically across the street from my new office.  It's been cold so I haven't taken that walk yet, but last week I had an eye appointment and had arrived early enough so I stopped on my way home.  I allowed about an hour of shopping time; there are other stores like TJ Maxx very close by, if I had enough time to shop.

I was still looking for passable women's shirts.  I found one that was perfect ~ only in an S.  I'm several letters away from that.  I also found a really pretty dress; they had a lot of similar dresses but this was the only one I really coveted.  It was available in M, which was still the wrong letter (but only off by one).

I looked at pants and found two dress pants, one black, one grey.  Both were passable but in addition to what you can see there's a couple of intangibles: crotch room and hip shape.  There has to be enough of the former and not too much of the latter.

It was try-on time.

Women's is downstairs; men's is upstairs so I had to go up to try on the slacks.  I found the dressing rooms.  I also found the dressing rooms lacking.  There was no place to sit, and no hooks on the wall. They had saloon-style doors (which means someone can easily look over while I'm in my undies).  I tried a few different rooms.  How can you have a dressing room with no place to put down your clothes? 

The only variation was, one door didn't even latch.  I gave up and figured returns are an option.  I still had over a half-hour before I had to leave.

I continued shopping.

I had those new breast forms that were smaller than my usual ones ~ probably a 38B instead of a C.  I went to the intimates department where I found the area flooded with 38C's (which I have enough of) but only one or two 38B's (which I didn't like).

I did find an article of shapewear I wanted to try and I picked that up too.

Checkout lines weren't very long but they were very disorganised and it seemed shoppers were incapable of buying just a few items.  Carts were full, and after several minutes of not moving, I had an idea: upstairs, when I (almost) tried on my clothes, there were more registers.

I headed up.

One register was open.  One person was in front of me and they just had a jacket.

But at the register was a woman buying men's sneakers for feet bigger than mine.  It seemed for each pair the customer had to pull out her drivers license which the clerk had trouble scanning or checking (even though she just did it).  Then she'd struggle to get the shoes in a bag.  Then she'd do the next pair.  There were still several pairs and I headed back down.

Now, lines were almost gone.  One woman seemed to be finishing up and I would be next.

Except there was a man standing near the register who had a couple of suits that looked as if they came out of the cleaners (bagged).  The clerk took him.

I figured he was waiting and I hadn't noticed him.  I was at my self-imposed leave time, but one person, two suits....

It took several minutes to check him out.  But I'm next!

A woman was standing behind the guy with the suits.  She had a cart full of who knows what.  It looked like she was stocking a garage sale.

I dropped the slacks and left.

In spite of finding exactly the hard-to-locate items I wanted, Burlington is off my list.

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Nothing New

My trip to Maryland will be extended one more day, although there will be a few days back in the home office before I return.  The little utility I wrote for them manipulates Excel spreadsheets, but not the version they have so I have to tweak it.  One of the reports they require is different from how it was originally explained and will require some planning to implement properly.

Bottom line: I left their office around 1.  I was quite hungry, but put that aside for a bit of shopping.  The little shopping center has a Target, Marshalls, Burlington Coat Factory, Payless, Fashion Bug, and many stores I didn't go into.  My focus was on dresses, with an eye towards blouses and a glance at pant liners.  It was 70+ today so if I had one, I would've left it at home but... I Want One.

I found a few dresses I liked at Marshalls, but none I Like Liked.  Burlington is one of those stores with so many choices my eyes glaze over and I rarely buy.  Just looking is exhausting.  I found many long slips at Targe, and ~ yes! ~ a pant liner!  But it was a thin cotton.  That's just wrong.  I did not buy.  I did learn that Marshalls, at least the ones with the huge shoe department, do have some 11s.  I saw a lot of shoes I liked, some with higher heels and platforms than I've ever worn before, but none of those came in 11.  But I do know that it's worth looking now.

Marshall's now carries a brand called Dollhouse ~ here's a direct link to their pumps.  If I found almost any of these in 11, I would've bought a pair or six.  They don't let you filter by size, so I looked at some different styles and saw NO 11s.  Ah well.  One look at the skirts page and it's easy to see that I'm a teeny bit older than their target market.

I also reaffirmed something I've noticed before: if my feet were one size smaller, my wallet would be a lot emptier.

The next place I had to be was Alexandria at 4.  I had a "possible" in Falls Church, if she was home.  I called.  She wasn't.  My GPS told me the best way to go to my 4 o'clock was to go through Washington.  This is ALWAYS a bad idea, but it was ten miles shorter so I figured I'd give it a shot.  It actually wasn't that bad.  I passed a lot of small clothing shops, but didn't take the time to stop.  I just wanted to get through all of the traffic circles that are epidemic in DC, and the double-parked and left-turners that are in every city.

After I was committed to the DC drive, my Falls Church customer called.  I was thinking about stopping at the mall or TJ Maxx near my Alexandria customer ~ just to while away the extra time, of course.  But as I still had time, I detoured to Falls Church, did what I needed to do, and headed to Alexandria.

My wonderful GPS sent me past the thrift shop where I've done a little computer work.  I dropped in, looked at tops and dresses and shoes, found nothing exciting, and got to my next customer on time.

Driving from the customer towards my home I go right past a huge Salvation Army store but... nah.  The boys are home, I'm still hungry, and I have to make them dinner too.

I still want a new dress or two before I go to Richmond.

I have decided ~ if I can stop at a mall to change on the way (very likely, it seems) I'll stop and get a manicure and pedicure too.  It just finishes the look, even if the nail colour has to come off that evening.  Note to self: Bring Nail Polish Remover!

And if anyone cares, my travel from Maryland to Falls Church to Alexandria to home is here:

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No-one Notices ~ Try It Yourself and See!

Well, maybe the pink ones get noticed.


These are the socks I normally wear, except when I must wear dress shoes. My dress shoes are Aerosoles and a bit snug so I wear black trouser socks. I work with law enforcement, intelligence, homeland security and these are still my socks of choice.


A good place to find larger socks: dollar stores. I think they don't sell well in regular outlets so they end up there. But I've shopped the major department stores plus Marshalls (usually without luck), Burlington Coat Factory, Syms, factory outlets, and other shops. Even if all I can find are the "normal" sizes, many socks are stretchy and they fit and feel fine. I think women's socks don't last as long as men's; I'm not sure why.


It's nice to look down and see a little reminder of my feminine life.

As always, click on a picture to enlarge it.


ps to Shelby the Gap lady: please drop me a note!