Venturing into the Unknown

This past weekend I finally had had enough of wearing t-shirts from Old Navy and decided to do something about it!  I grabbed my go-to shopping buddy, Katie, and we headed down to 34th Street (*shudder*) to Macy's.

I used to be deathly afraid of the Macy's on 34th because I would walk in and immediately get claustrophobic from all the insane crowds of people swarming and trying to take each other out over a sweater.  But Katie taught me about the Women's department up on the 7th floor and once I get up there I can breathe a lot easier.

This latest shopping trip was quite an eye opener.  I've shopped in the Women's department in stores since my senior year of high school.  This department has come a long way since then, let me tell you.  Back then all you could usually find was marm-ish type clothes that looked like they belonged on 75+ year old women.  Now, you have designer labels like Calvin Klein, DKNY, and Michael Kors all with plus size lines.  It's made dressing trendy for a "bigger" gal a whole lot easier.

Well, this shopping trip I discovered that I really don't belong shopping there anymore.  The smallest some lines come is a 1X and those are all just too big on me.  Sometimes a line will have a 0X (which is more like an XL or L in the Ladies department) and those will sometimes work on me, but finding 0X's up there was like finding a needle in a haystack.

So, I took a ton of clothes to the dressing room and probably ended up pissing off the people that work there because I certainly didn't walk away with as much as I think they were hoping (although I did spend quite a bit.)  Basically I was looking for some nice fall pieces that could transition into winter as well.  Since we aren't going to really have a horrible winter out on the road (with the exception of being in Michigan during February! BRRRRR!) I thought that some half length sleeves and some light sweaters or cardigans could fit the bill.  Anyway, after being disappointed that I didn't find much that fit me, it was also nice to realize that its because I've shrunken out of that department completely now.  I knew the day was coming, but I was still holding onto the familiar.  I was scared to let it go because I was literally afraid of the unknown and uncharted territory of the other floors.  But, there really isn't much of a point of me even going up there anymore.

On the way out, Katie and I decided to stop by the Ladies department to see if this particular Ralph Lauren dress was in that department (it was!) and I tried it on.  Everything about the XL dress looked better on me than the 1X dress that I had tried on upstairs.  It even made me feel better!

One of my new looks.

Today I wore one of the dresses (size 14!) to the office and I passed by a mirror.  My jaw actually dropped when I saw my waistline.  I've been hovering around the same size/weight for a while now and I think the work with the trainer is indeed paying off.  My stomach looks a little flatter, my arms are showing definition and my legs are looking more toned.  Again, this might be all in my head, or the changes might insignificant so that no one else notices them but me...  But I've discovered something else about my working out with the trainer is that I've become almost obsessed with working out now.  I went to the gym five days last week (the most I've been in a LONG time) and the only reason I didn't go on Friday was because my knee was acting up and needed a day of rest.  And that rest day?  All I wanted to do was at least take a walk, a jog, or something!  This is a great feeling to go into the tour with, I believe.

So even though I know I have asked this before (I wasn't really ready to move on before and I am truly being forced to now) where should I shop?  I know about the classics like Macys, Old Navy, the Gap, blah, blah blah... But where else?  I'm sitting at an L/XL 14/16 now (pretty much a 14).  I am going to be purchasing new items off while out on the road as well, so chains are probably going to be preferable.  But, if you have a great place in your town that you think I should try while I'm there, let me know about those too!!

I'm really excited about this week's weigh-in.  I think it should be a successful one!!