"Reet Petite, The Finest Girl You'd Ever Want To Meet"

I'm going to veer dangerously off into "Cathy Guisewite" territory here, and talk about shopping.

Dress shopping, of all things. Oy...I'm willing to bet I've just lost all blogger credibility here!

2 counties, 10 stores and 16 dresses later, I finally found something that looks great and fits well, but man, here's where my rant begins.

To "SteinMart" in Ocean Township: How can you possibly have only one dress in the petite department? Didn't you get the memo that short ladies need to dress up, too?

To "Nordstroms" in Edison: I know your semi-annual sale starts tomorrow, but no, I don't like that black one. I've tried it on, it doesn't fit and will you please stop telling me that with "a bit of tailoring it'll be just fine?" I'm not paying for any tailoring; I want it to just fit off of the rack, thank you very much.

To "Coldwater Creek" in Edison: Yes, it's lovely (it really was), but no, it doesn't fit. Yes, I love the color, but no, it doesn't fit. Please stop bothering me, really! No, really, I don't like that color, and may I just leave, please?

No, really, I don't want to see this in another size...you're all harshin' my mellow...really, I'm leaving! Will all of you please, just, go away? Yikes.

To "Ann Taylor" in Edison: Love it, but there's no bloody way I'm paying $120 for this!

To "Talbots" in Edison: Umm, no.

I'm not a fan of Macy's, and I shop there as little as possible...I really do despise how Federated is taking over all of the regional department stores and sucking the life out of what used to be central to everyone's local shopping experience (hell, I worked at Bamberger's at the original Menlo Park Mall way back in the '80's when Bam's was a destination store), but guess who still has the best petite department in my area? With the best prices, and guess where I found my dress...on sale, no less?

Rant off, I suppose...