I have no problem shopping retail unless my feet get tired or I am hungry. I can easily focus. But I can see I am in the minority. I should also add that I live in a rural area with zero shopping so when I do have lots of urban stimulation around me, it is a treat rather than a burden. After a few days of urban over-stimulation, such as in San Francisco, which has the benefit of being tasteful stimulation, I am usually ready to leave though.

Alicat - your little foster kitty is very cute indeed!

To get back to shopping, I try things on only if I am in the right mood - otherwise I bring things home and make up my mind there - I can think better, and try things on with my own accessories, shoes etc.

I've found that the older I get, the worse it is! I love to shop, but it just seems like there is SO MUCH to look at! I rarely ever go to the mall, but when I do, I always hit up Forever 21 and I always walk out 30 minutes later without feeling like I've even seen half of the store. Or even worse, I'll find some randomly misplaced item that I love that isn't my size, and even in the inventory system says it's in stock, the sales people can never find it. Strangely enough, I do most of my shopping at thrift stores and rarely ever feel overwhelmed there, even at the big ones. I think it has something to do with the anticipation of knowing I might find something great for a dollar. So it's more of a treasure hunt whereas the mall (for me) is a crap shoot

I could shop all day and night and the bigger the selection, the better.

Now, obviously with a "needs" list this amount of selection can be tempting and annoying at having to sift and sift for the perfect item.

Sometimes it is fun to go shopping for everything you want and nothing you need....within reason, of course.

Very interesting, Sara. I, too, can manage a thrift store. Part of it is the organization, with like items placed together; that makes it easy to sift through the stuff that doesn't interest me. Whereas in a big department store, the various designers stuff is all displayed in little boutique like areas...but there are so many, and I haven't shopped in so long, that I didn't know where to start.

Another issue I had, that became more obvious to me yesterday when I had a few minutes in the mall—much of what I saw was not going to be available in my size. I'm not truly petite but do wear petite tops and jackets better than regular sized ones, and skirts, too...and quite often there was nothing in a size that I could have tried on. Another reason to patronize a boutique, I guess!

Suz, I share this with you. It's good for my wallet though.