We
felt the best time to shop for cutesy candles at Earthbound was an hour before having
to spend the next four slinging chicken. (Note: New studies show that shopping
before work increases mindless conversations about said shopping and
occasional tardiness. I highly recommend it.) So we set off on what was the first of many malling adventures.
Right as we were rushing out the doors, I saw the striped jacket hanging so coolly from a mannequin in the window of a surfer-y shop. It was the perfect piece to transition me into fall, so I sprinted into the store and snatched the first one I saw off of the wood table. If I had known that it would take the sole retail worker ten minutes just to wrap it up I might have walked away and made it to work on time. But one never knows when they may be asked to a late night bonfire at the beach, so I patiently waited for the over-priced jacket to be neatly folded, wrapped, and gently placed into a bag while exchanging apologetic looks with Ana. Finally, we were able to leave and so starts the magical story of the traveling Billabong jacket.
The
jacket was left in a friend’s car before leaving. It was shortly returned to me, then left in
Rome. I was heartbroken. To my surprise, it returned to me a few months ago by a wonderful friend in Italy
who retrieved my dusty suitcases from a mysterious place where the Roman sun
definitely does not shine. I thought this is like the traveling jeans, except it totally wasn't. No matter, the beach-chic
jacket gives me warm feelings of friendship whenever I
wear it, which is all of the time.
