Saturday At The Mall

Well, today my friend Erin and I went to the mall and I had to endure one of life's biggest indignities. Bra shopping. I don't know about you but shopping for a bra is almost as bad as shopping for a swimsuit or getting a root canal.

I remember the first time I had a bra fitting. I was shopping for a wedding dress as ZCMI (now Macy's). I was wearing a beautiful dress standing on a pedestal looking at myself in the mirrors feeling absolutely beautiful. My Mom was even a little teary, when a lady walked by my mom stopped her and asked: "Isn't she just beautiful?" The response: "She looks nice, I guess. But she'd look so much better if she was wearing a decent bra." I was shocked and a little hurt. Who did this woman think she was? Of course your supposed to say that any woman in a wedding dress looks beautiful. Didn't she know that?

Well, the lady then said: "Go back to your dressing room, I'll be right in and we'll get you fitted with the right kind of bra for your body type."

Well, that sounded innocent enough, so off I went back to my fitting room. The lady came back and measured me and disappeared. She came back a few minutes later with her arms full of bras that "would fit me correctly". The next thing I know she's telling me to take off my old bra. I was 18, my mother and my little sister were there with me in the fitting room and some strange woman (who wasn't even smart enough to say that I looked pretty in a $600 dollar wedding dress) and I'm supposed to take my bra off? Excuse me, but ARE YOU KIDDING? I remember just standing there thinking that I must have heard wrong, until my mother said: "Come on Jill, I don't have all day. Do what the lady says." I have to tell you that at that point of my life I was very, very shy about my body (still am, by the way). I didn't know who this woman was, but I'm supposed to take my bra off for her? After a few minutes and her telling me, "Think of my like I'm your doctor" (that didn't help at tell), I finally took off my bra, and the fitting began. I remember her telling me how to "put my bra on correctly" (apparently there's a right and wrong way and of course I had been doing it wrong).

I was mortified. Looking back, this was a very traumatizing experience for me. My mom still thinks it was about the funniest thing she ever saw. This was a terrible experience. After that experience, I promised myself that I would never have another bra fitting again. Unfortunately, being bigger chested and hearing on Oprah that 8 out of 10 women are wearing the wrong type of bra I decided that I need to have another fitting.

Like most things what I pictured in my head was a lot worse than the reality of what really happened. Why do we do that, imagine things to be so much worse than they really are?

Well, my mission was successful. I bought 2 bras that I think will work very well. When I got home and told Greg that I'd spent $130.00 on bras he about had a heart attack. I told him that it's an investment, he didn't believe me.

Having a big chest is something that I've hated about my body for as long as I can remember. I HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT!!!!!!!!!! My family and even some of my friends tease me and I'm so self-conscience about it. I guess everyone has something about their bodies that they don't like, and that's at the top of my list. I would even have a reduction if I could.

Well, all in all, I had a very successful morning at the mall. On top of everything else I got to spend most of my day with one of my closest friends. It was really nice, I haven't gotten to go shopping like that for a long time. Erin and I spent the day wandering around and talking. We talked about Greg, Jake (her boyfriend), work, family and stuff. It was great. I don't feel like I've got very many really close girl friends, and I never do things like this with the short list of friends that I do have. Everyone is just so busy. Being able to spend time with Erin like I did today makes me happy and relaxed.