I Was Walking through the Mall One Day

I answered a zillion questions about Evian water today.

Drove Figgy and her friend, A., to Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack, NY today. It took 35+ minutes each way, and finding a parking spot @ 2:30 P.M. after dropping the girls off was a major achievement. Kudos for me. I had to circle the lot a while, like a kitty calmly circling a mouse. Two blondes walked over to their car and I pounced.

The girls wanted to hit that mall b/c Figgy said the stores are so great [They even have an incense store, she said] and the place is enormous. I much prefer Garden State Plaza, Riverside Square or the Short Hills Mall, and the first two are far closer to home. I also love shopping locally, especially since Montclair has Williams-Sonoma, Anthropologie and tons of cute little independent stores.

This was a time and gas commitment, so I decided to stay while they shopped. I hoped to pop over and see Moey’s son, Kevin, too, home for the holiday from his freshman year at Syracuse, but the timing didn’t work out.

Didn’t know it would turn into four hours, as Figgy and A. stormed the mall. I stumbled upon some fun finds:

• Cool market research survey that made me $10 richer. A young man in a pink shirt asked if I had a dog, if I bought her biscuits, my age and what our family income is. Fussy Sug won’t eat dry treats, so that ruled me out. But I do buy bottled water, so he lassoed me for that. Come with me, he said. It will take about 15 minutes and we’ll pay you ten dollars. So off I went to C & C Market Research on the fourth floor. I was ushered into a room with grocery shelves lined with large and small bottles of Evian, Fiji, Poland Spring, Smartwater and Acadia. I had to tell a young lady taking notes what brand I would buy, and then go into another room and answer tons of Qs about the labels, the bottles, the image and the taste of Evian and Fiji. [They involved topics like is Evian stylish? Natural? For women? For men?] Evian has seemed like a stylish accessory to me since my first magazine job in the 1980s, when the very pretty beauty editor always had a bottle on her desk. I gather they’ve redesigned it now, but it’s still desirable and lovely, with pink and light blue accents and a picture of mountain peaks. I plan to buy a pour soon. I'm sure I will feel beautiful.
• Patsy in my pocket. Yes, my Patsy role model [my fit next-door neighbor who leads the boot camp I attend three mornings a week] was with me in spirit. I had a 10 percent coupon for any item at Häagen-Dazs and kept considering the chocolate shake. [That’s what coupons are—lures.] But instead, I got a grande latte at Starbucks, which I loved. I sat at the counter and read two great holiday magazines that I bought at Barnes & Noble. It was peaceful and felt good. I also texted Patsy to tell her, and used my quiet time to call Sis, leave a message for Will, and try to reach Dad at the nursing home, but he didn't pick up.
• Yankee Candle pleasure cruise. Learned that I can go in and  breathe those luscious scents and walk out without buying things I really don’t need. I did get one beautiful little glass candle holder for $6.99 but not the tea lights to put in it, b/c H. recently bought a big pack for us at Ikea.

Good night.