Yesterday's shopping

So here it is October, and I don't have my Halloween costume ready, or even mostly ready. This just won't do at all. I had to go shopping.

I had been shopping earlier and found an interesting dress. I held up the dress and asked my husband who it looked like. He thought the same thing that I did. I tried on the dress, and while it fit, it would need some work. But it was only two dollars, so I decided to buy it anyway.

Nearly a month later, I've had no luck finding fabric to match the dress, and I haven't found a bra to go with the dress, and I'm running out of time to fix it.

I very much have it stuck in my head that I was going to go to the Halloween party as a certain character from a cable TV show that was on this year. The character died, so if I don't go as that character this year, I don't think I would try to do it next year instead. I can use the dress for something else, but I think that this is the only year that I want to be that character, unless maybe some other people want to go as a group as characters from that show, and then I might just tag along with them. But as for going by myself as the character, either it will be this year or else I just won't do it.

After looking at pictures of the character, it isn't like the dress I bought exactly matches anything that she wore. She definitely has a certain style, but I think I can wear something that doesn't exactly match anything and just act like the character.

In fact, the plan is to act like the character and see if anyone can guess who I'm supposed to be.

So yesterday I decided to go shopping, and then I would make a final decision. Either a.) find fabric to fix the first dress and find a bra and shoes to go with it, b.) find a different dress that will work for the same character, or c.) admit defeat and buy some black fabric so that I can be a witch or a vampire or something.

Before I started going to this party every year and got so competitive, I would find a witch costume or a black vampire dress and just go as one of those every year. I didn't do all of this fuss over the costume, it was already done, I just had to see which one fit better or if it needed repairs or anything. The witch costume I had shrunk, and I'm not sure what happened to my first black and red vampire outfit.

Anyway, that idea went out the window after I wore a different costume one year and won a ribbon. And at this party it is rare for people to wear the same costumes year after year. So I have had a different costume every year since then. But I have started to think that this is all taking up too much of my time and that I should just go back to having the standard witch or vampire costume ready to go and wear one of those most of the time.

But maybe not this year.

So I had all these places mapped out. The first place I went to was a thrift store, and I tried on five or six things. Now, I don't need another black dress. I like black dresses, but I have several, and I don't wear them that often. So I should stop buying them. As it is, I have already bought one that I haven't worn yet. But, as I was looking through the racks, a black dress spoke to me. The character tends to wear dark brown, not black, but would anyone other than me notice?

There was a dark brown dress, but it would need work, and I already have a blue dress that needs work. So I figured if I bought that I would spend the rest of the day still trying to match fabric. I didn't buy that one. The other dresses didn't work at all.

And then the black dress turned out not to be a dress but pants. And it didn't quite look exactly like the character, but, it did look pretty good on me. And it didn't need as much work as either of the other dresses, and if I do decide that it needs something, finding matching black fabric would probably be easier than matching brown or blue.

I also found a bra and shoes.

So, that settles that. I bought the black almost dress and the bra and the shoes. Now I will just have to make up some jewelry to go with it, and decide if it would look better with a belt and do I need to hem up the pants.

My not so attractive arms are still showing, but maybe I'll wear a shawl or something with it.

After that I went to Michael's, still hoping for either some glow-in-the-dark yarn, or something to make glow-in-the-dark yarn. I have found out why I can't seem to find the yarn, the kind I heard about last year has been discontinued. I don't understand why. I don't get the whole discontinued thing anyway, but if you are the only source of a really unique thing, why stop making it? So that sucks. I bought a very small bottle of glow-in-the-dark fabric paint, wondering if it might be possible to dye the yarn, but it probably won't work. I will just have to find someone who has some of the discontinued yarn (and pay shipping) or give up on the idea.

Next, I went to JoAnn's, and I'm not sure why. Just went there on autopilot I guess. I mean, I no longer need to match the blue fabric (besides which I think that I had already tried at that particular store), I didn't buy the brown dress so I didn't need to match that, and if I wanted to match the black I probably wouldn't buy it there anyway. It's too expensive. Even their clearance stuff is at least four dollars a yard, and for clearance stuff I usually only spend a dollar or two, usually at Walmart. I used to also buy stuff at Clothworld or Hancock's, but most of those have closed.

Anyway, I should have gone straight to Walmart, but I didn't. So as long as I'm there, I try one more time to find knitting tools to go with the knitting machine. And I find that the ten dollar pocket knitter has a single transfer tool that would probably work. I'm still out of luck on getting a proper size latch hook or getting a two or three pronged tool, but if I am ever truly desperate and need to get a transfer tool without having it shipped, I guess I can buy a pocket knitter.

While I was in JoAnn's I bought a bra extender. As it turns out, I paid almost twice what they cost at Walmart, but it is too much of an effort to go back and return it to save a dollar and a quarter.

And, as it turns out, I may not need the extender anyway. But it is good to have one, just in case.

I did not buy anything of interest at Walmart. After not finding any interesting fabric, I nearly left the store without buying anything, but remembered that my husband had asked for something that cost five dollars. So I bought that, and then I went home. I was too tired to go on to Hobby Lobby, and I was about out of money anyway. Besides, I got the main thing that I was after at the thrift shop.

When I get home, I regret spending the five dollars at Walmart. My husband didn't seem all that happy I bought it, and now I don't have enough left for all of the lottery tickets I usually buy on Tuesday. I'll have enough to buy two for today and two for tomorrow, but I usually spend sixteen dollars every other Tuesday. I don't have that much left. I'll just have to spend four dollars today and get the rest on Friday.

And there had better be money on Friday or I will be really mad.