Mirrors, Mirrors, On The Walls.

voltee ♦ December 20, 2010 ♦ 7 Comments

Item: Skirt Color/Fabric: Gold, polyester Designer: Simply Vera Where Purchased: Kohl’s Years Owned: 2
Tonight, a splendid evening. Such love. Such food. Such beauty and friendship. So many reasons to celebrate!
And I feel much more in the Holiday Spirit. But, still, tired. It will be a swift one tonight, I am afraid.
This skirt is an odd thing. I thought of it tonight because I received some lovely, lovely gifts from a very thoughtful husband today, purchased at Kohl’s.
I have mixed feelings about Kohl’s. I used to be very fond of it in former days, so much so that it was one of the places I registered at when I got married.
Now I hate them.
Maybe hate is a little bit too strong. My anger has slowly dissipated throughout the years, and now it is more of a mild, grey haze of dislike.
Kohl’s stole my wedding presents.
Ok, well, technically, some creep in a restaurant in Lansing stole my purse, which contained many gift cards from Kohl’s that I received as wedding presents. And even though I had been at Kohl’s that very day and there was a computer record of my gift cards, they did not have the capacity to cancel the cards, and so they would not generate new cards for me.
Please remember that we were but poor college students when we were wed, and those gift cards were the sun and moon to me. I was not going to use them for clothing; there were real, first home supplies that we needed and were unable to receive.
For a while this incident made me angrier than anything else that has ever happened to me. I even wrote a strongly worded letter to whom it may concern at Kohl’s headquarters. But I never got my wedding gifts.
I boycotted Kohl’s for many years. And then my curiosity was piqued when Vera Wang started her inexpensive Simply Vera Line there. There are always nice things in that line, and I have swallowed my pride to buy some of them. But I don’t smile at any employees. I’m very scowly.
This skirt is kind of weird, for sure. I could not even get it onto Trixie in any form that looked normal. But I like it. It’s great for travel. It doesn’t get wrinkled, and it is very compact. I brought this on my first trip to Europe, and wore it in Prague. Here is one of my favorite pictures, ever:

This is on top of Petrin Hill in Prague, which has a beautiful but steep climb up to a mini Eiffel tower sort of thing, an observatory, a rose garden with roses in full bloom, even in chilly autumn weather, and this strange Hall Of Mirrors.
The mirrors were definitely a tourist trap. I was expecting a maze, something to get really lost in. Maybe people running around in masks. Lots of disembodied laughter. I hoped to be afraid and disoriented and maybe even cry a little.
It turned out to be pretty lame.
What was not lame was the view from any where on the hill, especially in the tower. Spectacular.
The magic of Prague is not in any silly maze, or any building, statue, or artwork. It’s just the city itself. That’s what I felt in my heart on Petrin Hill.
And I did manage to have another upsetting incident at Kohl’s; I lost my favorite pair of sunglasses at the one here in Kingston. Stupid Kohl’s.

**Jury is still out on this skirt…