Prettier Than Napoleon

Shopping blogging, ignore if you please:

This weekend my roommate and I took our lives into our own hands and went shopping again, this time with the goal of using some gift cards we received as a promotion from Hecht's during our last trip. Perhaps I misremember, but it seems that in previous times the experience of going shopping at a large department store held more charm. For example, it's been years since I received helpful, much less cheerful, service from the shoe salespeople in a department store. Instead of asking if you need help and bringing out alternative sizes and styles in the event that your desired shoe is unavailable, the personnel in every recent instance have required a flag-down to summon, even if one has been waiting patiently with your selections and tried to make polite eye contact, and has informed me in a surly tone that they simply do not have the requested size without further suggestions. (It's things like this that make me doubt the economy has not recovered, but then I am cynical.) Is there any reason for the apparent slump in quality of mid-range department store service and selection? Is it competition from discount department stores like Kmart and Target? I'm baffled and have sworn off going back to any May's department store for the near future.

Fortunately, however, we happened upon the Press Building Shops and their Easy Spirit store, which not only brought out several sizes and widths but also checked with another store and ordered the much needed feminine white sandals and permitted me to evade the hated UPS by shipping them to the Metro Center store to pick up on my lunch break. Kudos to the helpful employee there and fie on the entire staff of Hecht's at Metro Center, with the exception of the cashier in the handbag department.

Speaking of handbags, another great store is Fornash Designs in Georgetown. The store permits you to select the shape, size, handles and accents, and inner and outer fabrics and then sews you a custom designed handbag. Mine will have poppies on the outside and leopard print with monkeys on the inside. Every time I'll open my purse to pay for something, that should make me smile. Hurrah for shopping!