{ 0 comments }
Imagine this; not to be sexist, but this may be easier for women than men. You have a lovely wedding to attend tomorrow and you haven’t a clue of what to wear. The seasons are changing from winter to spring. You have been bundled in jeans and sweaters all winter and you are anticipating the warmest day of the year, and are feeling giddy about actually bearing your arms for the day. You come to the conclusion, “I need a new dress.”
Now I don’t come to this conclusion very often, so when I do it is quite urgent. I came to the understanding that I needed a new dress not too long ago on a Friday afternoon. Since I was working in the Kelseyville area that day, my thoughts were to hit one of the boutiques in Lakeport after work. I planned to leave Kelseyville at 5:00 and would surely be able to make one of the shops which must be open until 6:00 – WRONG!
I am not all that familiar with Lakeport, and if I am in need of a specific outfit, am one to travel out of the county to buy that outfit. Upon arrival at my first choice of shops, I found the business hours to be open until 6:00; however, the shop was closed at 5:15. So I headed to my second choice, which also had business hours posted until 6:00, but was closed at 5:20. Feeling a bit frantic now, I walked to my third choice and found the business hours posted that they were only open until 5:00. I must mention that I happened upon a lovely store with adorable clothes which was open – but the attire was not appropriate for a wedding.
I gave up and went home frustrated. That evening I spent 1.5 hours of my life searching for “the perfect outfit” for the wedding. I did find a couple of outfits, but they were not dresses and they had sleeves – I just want to go to the wedding in something that made me feel feminine. To make the situation worse, the weather prediction was for it to be a hot day for the wedding. I was not looking forward to worrying about creating sweat marks in my sheer but sleeved blouses, in addition to looking butch.
I woke up early Saturday morning knowing that my mood that day would be much happier if I had a new dress for the wedding. I had to work that morning, so I needed to get very creative with my day. I went in to work an hour early so that I could take an hour for lunch to try again to find a dress. I flew into Lakeport to choice #1 again only to find a sign on the door stating, “Sorry for the inconvenience, but we will be closed today.” WHAT?! – you have no idea… I am sorry for whatever drama was transpiring in the shop owner’s life to cause them to have to close for the day (and early the prior night), but I was really having a hard time feeling sympathetic at that moment.
That was when I quickly made my way further into Lakeport, praying that any shop was open. To my absolute delight there was a shop open. I had passed by the window many times and had been intrigued, but had not entered assuming this was a Sonoma-style expensive boutique – but perfect for wedding attire. By this time, I did not care what I spent to bare my arms at the wedding, and I needed shoes too. From the moment I walked through the door, I knew my world was good for the day. There were so many beautiful, spring dresses to choose from I was overwhelmed. Remember at this point I only had 30 minutes to find my dress and shoes.
The wonderful shop owner provided me with options while I threw them on and off in the dressing room. She was my personal shopper; I could not have done it without her. After trying on at least 15 dresses, I settled on two (one for the wedding and one because it was just too cute). Then I realized that I needed a sweater to cover my shoulders later in the evening – not a problem, with help from my personal shopper it was found. I was out of time by now, but still needed shoes. My personal shopper floated about the store bringing me shoes to try and the third pair was perfect – and so comfortable. OK, I needed to pack up and leave, Now. While at the counter, I spotted a pair of adorable sandals which were my size; I added them quickly to my pile.
So here I am; two dresses, sweater, shoes and sandals. I handed over my debit card to pay as I heard her tell me my final bill of $76. I thought to myself, “Well that was a great buy.” But it did not really register how great the buy was until I was on my way home. How did I get all of those beautiful items for $76, I surely should have toppled well over $200? That is when I looked over at the bag which contained my recent purchases. It was a wonderful purple bag with an adorable business card attached in the top middle of the bag. The card read, “Pieces Boutique – A unique resale shopping experience!” Unique! I’ll say, I did not even realize I was in a resale store!
Thus the topic of my Highlight of the Month. We have wonderful businesses here in Lake County who can use a bit more of our attention. Pieces is located on Main Street in Lakeport and is owned and run by Danna Bell – For more information, please visit her wonderful website at Piecesboutique.com. Even better than that, go visit her store at 115 N. Main Street, Lakeport.
~written by Lynnette Bertelli
{ 0 comments }
