Excited for Shopping

To know me is to know I hate to shop. I hate even looking for cute stuff. It seems my colors or sizes are either hidden away or in short supply. On the rare occasion when my style, my size, and my color all combine into one tempting piece, usually the price isn't right. I might love something, but not THAT much.

I have these probably arbitrary price points in my head and spending more than what I want to pay doesn't feel like an option. My "frugality" is partly a conservation of funds, but just as much a recognition that I live a lifestyle that is hard on clothes. I cook. Kids climb in my lap. Kids that have my cooking all over their fingers need me to carry them to get their hands washed, or get them down from eating. I can't pass my garden without pulling out weeds. I clean. I go on walks where dirt abounds. And honestly, I don't get out all that often to places where cuteness is required. So paying $35 for a top, or $60 for jeans just isn't going to happen.

These arbitrary price points of mine might send me to the thrift shops, in fact they do, but then you take the first problem of finding what I like and multiply it 100 times. Add a whole gaggle of kids along for the ride, and you begin to understand why shopping is an unpleasant chore I only do when I am forced to.

Now, I haven't shopped in Asia (Taiwan or China) with kids, but here is why I have loved shopping there in the past:

1) My size abounds! Things may have changed, but when I shopped in China last I wore a size LARGE. You know how racks here are full of large sizes? They are there too!

2) My colors abound as well! My dark hair and olive skin have made me look part Asian to Asian eyes, which I think is adorable. No, I don't have an Asian grandma in me as some have asked, but I do look good in the same colors as the bulk of an entire country! That means I don't have to wade through khaki, army green, creams, yellows, or gold! Sure, they sell those colors too, but not in the crazy volume we do in the Scandinavian Jello Belt!

3) It's all my price! Not ALL. Yes, they have malls and over-priced stores and all the brands that take themselves seriously. But that isn't my scene. I like the markets. One reason my clothes here come from Walmart is because I don't mind as much grabbing something cute as I pass on my way buy some shampoo. There, the market is outdoors, it's crazy, it's fun, it's fresher than Smith's market-fresh, and I can grab something cute on the cheap as I hunt down fresh fruit. And for the fruit or the clothes, if I don't like the price, I can offer a price that works better for me!

We'll see if much has changed, but I hope not because I'm filling my bags with clothes I wouldn't mind off-loading in favor of an amazing shopping experience in Taiwan!