Purchasing Power

Today, kt and i flexed our economic muscle.

Some of it was planned: Holiday shopping kickoff.
(Bench press: 3 reps of 10)
Some of it was spur of the moment: "But Katy, I really NEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed some new jeans and shoes..."
(Bicep curl: 3 reps of 10)
Some of it was inadvertent. Like when Subaru whistled over at us, "Show me what you've got..."
(Squats: 2 reps of 15)

What we had were 2 cars due for oil changes both of whose "check engine" alerts decided to light up as if they were the tree in Rockefeller Center. Two oil changes, 4 rotors, 1 set of brakes, 1 inner and outer CV/axle boot, 4 spark plugs and wires, 1 light bulb, and 1 drive belt later we had officially kicked off the season of spending...

While Suburban Subaru assessed the needs of our cars early in the morning, we ventured out on a day of shopping in style- we had a rental car from the dealer. They gave us a 2007 Legacy which they ended up comp'ing after I signed over my last 2 weeks take home pay for the parts and labor on our wagons. Katy damn near fell in love with the Legacy... she's like a fish around shiny, new objects.

Our first stop: Gap. Once again, they have changed all the color schemes in Gap. The new style is just what I've always loved about Gap- earthy, durable, cool.

Another (not-that-new) change is the "fit" rooms are no longer segregated by gender. THANK YOU, LORD! Just briefly let me expound on the several reasons this is a great move:
1. No more waiting in "women's" lines when there is no one in the "men's" line at the dressing rooms.
2. No more waiting for young boys to run out to show their mom's the outfits they are trying on.
3. No more waiting for women/men to run out and show their opposite sex partners the outfits they are trying on.
4. No more having to get sizes and advice from only the female sales reps, when the guys are getting all the great advice and help from all of the seriously talented and interested Gap-gay-boy-employees club.
5. No more seeing trans folk get dirty looks or harassment in the dressing rooms of one of the few places in the mall with a truly androgynous look.

The other really awesome thing about Gap right now, is the shop red campaign which supports fighting AIDS in Africa- They had us at 'hello'... then they gave us all kinds of large, glossy PR photos of hot (and often respectable) celebrities wearing the goods.
Inspi(red), Admi(red), Desi(red)

Since we were at Gap several hours before we were informed about the acuity of disease experienced by our vehicular children, we felt free to really spend ourselves silly at the clothing store. We needed to support the economy, didn't we? And some of it was for charity, after all! And let's face it, my ass looks good in a $50 pair of Gap jeans.

Once we broke the spending seal, we moved on toward our goal- Christmas shopping at "Bag Day" in North Hampton. This is a traditional gimmick to spur the local economy: you get a free shopping bag and you are allowed to take 20% off any item in pretty much every store in hero-township. A lot of the businesses do 20% off store-wide, just to make it easier. It was a perfect day to be in No-Ho: Not too wet, not too warm, not too cold. We dropped a couple bills in town and were eating at Teapot when we got the news our cars would both need surgery. I would highly recommend the setting and the food for any event, but for receiving less than positive news, it was ideal!