Market Street Ho!

I did finally make it into Philadelphia this morning. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and it was windy but not wet at all. In fact, it would appear that beyond a quick random shower, we received no precipitation last night, frozen or otherwise.

I finally used that $100 gift card from Christmas at the Lane Bryant in the Gallery Mall. Much to my dismay, the winter stuff was already gone and the new spring fashions were largely hideous. What's with the gaudy, gauzy peasant tops and neon polyester button-down blouses? What is this, 1976? I want to wear sensible clothes I can ride around in, not yards of fabric that makes me look like the member of a gypsy caravan. Oh, and breathable fabric would be nice. I don't like shirts that gather around my chest, either. I try to de-emphasize that as much as possible!

Even so, I ended up spending the whole gift card and over $30 more. I wound up with two bras (my non-underwire ones are stretched beyond endurance), a really cute pair of cocoa-brown pants, a new plain white t-shirt (another too-stretched item that needed replacement), a heart-print cotton nightgown that was leftover from Valentine's Day, and a turquoise false-layered top with a Swiss lace undershirt. The last I bought mostly to get a buy a pair of pants, get a top 50% off sale. We'll see if I actually wear it.

I didn't have much money after that, and it was such a nice day anyway that I headed out to Market Street and down 10th. I stopped at my favorite used books and records store, Ralstoff's, to see what they had. I didn't get any records this time around, but I did find some more Calvin and Hobbes, Yukon Ho!. Reading Calvin and Hobbes reminds me so much of all the crazy stuff my sisters and I did when we were Calvin's age.

I stopped in a coffee shop by Thomas Jefferson Hospital a few blocks down from Ralstoff's and had hot chocolate and a very tasty Strawberry Belgian Waffle while reading Yukon Ho!. I had to work very hard not to burst out laughing and disrupt all the medical students around me. ;)

Since I was practically broke, I went straight home after lunch. I spent the rest of the afternoon baking gingerbread and cake for tomorrow, doing yoga, and watching this year's first Easter special, The Easter Bunny Is Comin' To Town.