The Stuff that Matters

I did some shopping today. Some Serious Shopping! 

My partners-in-spending: Ashley, Megan, and Heather. 

My objective: buy a coat and a pair of shoes to go with my skirts for college. (preferably shoes of the flat sort, so my feet aren't killing me to walk to class all day.) 

By golly, it was so much fun! It must have been something in the air.... Some magic spark that just made it a grand day for a girls' day. Maybe it was the Christmas money bulging in our pockets, or perhaps it was the twinkling lights snaking up the trees as we braved the cold streets of the (Outdoor!!) mall.

 

The irony of the ridiculous windchill temperatures today is that I did find that coat I was so patiently pursuing. It's beautiful! Long, and sleek, and a deep green color (With its prominent black and white stitching it almost reminds me of a the colors and aura of an Scottish kilt.) I am beside myself with joy to have a coat now for those icy-cold days at school - when you spend so much of your time in Iowa, you want to have a coat that you feel like you look GOOD in, because you find yourself practically living in it!

Anyway, early in this promising day as I was hustling out the door, in sheer curiosity mom had inquired, "So about what time do you think you'll be home?".... 

Seven.

Hours.

Later.

...I stumbled back over the threshold, dumping bags on the first empty floor-space I saw. I had made it home just in time for dinner. (Mmm, lasagna and rolls tonight!) After relaxing with the fam to watch some good old major-fakey "reality" tv, I relocated downstairs to hold my own personal fashion show as I reacquainted with every item I had bought. 

Some things, I adored just as much as I recall from our fitting room introduction three hours earlier.  One or two purchases, I didn't like quite as much as I remember. No worries though, because I kept the receipts, and I might make a quick return trip tomorrow. (Oh goodness, I'm turning into my mother! Ahhh, the Return Queen has a Princess!!)

But here's the realization and the point to this account of my day....  

As I held up the outfits and admired them, it slowly dawned on me that "this shirt is just a piece of fabric. Nothing more."

What point is there to be caught up in the mindset of the malls and the materialism? This isn't the stuff that's gonna last. It's exactly the message of the Carrie Underwood song that happened upon us on the way to the mall - "This is just a temporary home." These things will pass away.

 If I'm not careful, I tend to get project-minded, instead of friendship-focused. I may think the coolest part of the day was a brand new jacket, or that this afternoon was wonderfully productive, but why? Was it because I bought alot, and I liked what I bought? 

It was a profitable day because I got to spend time with my friends. I learned something more not just about what their tastes are in fashion, but about what's in their heart and what's on their mind. 

That's what makes this day worth it. 

THEY made this day what it was. 

The coat was just an added bonus :-) A tangible memory of the stuff that matters.