'Til We Drop

I think I am one of few Washington, DC residents who actually enjoys going down to Georgetown on a weekend day to shop. For some reason, there is something about the brick sidewalks and Federal Row-style shops that I find soothing. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that HT and I are pretty much your stero-typical preppy couple, but I think it also has something to do with the ease at which you can pop in and out of designer boutiques and chain retail stores with relative ease. Sure, navigating the sidewalks around strollers and foreigners can get down-right dangerous when there are busses and cabs whizzing past, but there’s something about the ten-block stretch of M Street NW that makes me feel very much alive.

HT and I have always enjoyed shopping together. Going to college an hour a way from retail heaven meant that when we wanted an escape from campus, we went shopping. We’d frequent one of those very artificial and expansive indoor/outdoor fake- town-square- type shopping malls in the middle of a mid-west cornfield. We’d eat our Cheesecake Factory or zip our Bar Louie beverages, check out the latest baubles at Tiffany, catch a flick at the 30-screen megaplex, and return to campus worn but refreshed from the time away.

So this past Saturday, when I returned home from the office worn and generally down on life, HT suggested that we take another such escape the next day. On Sunday, we woke up after a long, relaxing night’s, did a little bit of housekeeping, showered, and headed down to the Georgetown Waterfront for a long, leisurely brunch on the banks of the Potomac. We drank mimosas and bloody marys and people-watched the mid-day hours away at Mother’s day brunch. Toddlers in seersucker suits and sun-dresses; MILFs sporting their Tory Burch flats and couture sun-dresses; oversized sunglasses covering the awkward tween faces; all burning in the glistening late-spring sunlight. We watched the awkward embraces among inlaws and posed pictures among undergrads soaking up the final weeks of their protected youth, the terrace patio around us a bustling tapestry of society waving in the afternoon breeze.

Tipsy and satiated, we took to the streets in search of new jeans and outfits for the many weddings we have in store for us this summer. We laughed at sky-high prices; and dug through racks looking for good deals. HT bought a tie; I bought a dress; and we ducked in and out of new stores and old haunts; making sure to stop in to the boutiques with fresh-baked cookies and free bottled water to help us over the late afternoon lull.

As my feet started to ache from the trendy sandals I’d insisted upon wearing, we trudged slowly back to the garage to the car; weaving once more around churchgoers and tour groups, wedding parties, and valets. Having failed to find the suit he was seeking, HT and I headed north to yet another retail neighborhood—this time a department store, in search of more options in a single expanse. We closed out a few stores, validated our parking, and headed homeward.

After a few more errands on the way, we collected our wears and wandered, somewhat wearily towards our apartment. I whipped us up a quick salad, HT opened a bottle of wine, and we dropped, satisfied, onto our welcoming couch. Our escape -- a success.