Denim & Holiday Red
Usually I try to keep my posts rather upbeat, though I admit there’s usually a heavy dose of sarcasm, but lately I’ve actually been trying to combat some post-holiday blues. It’s been nearly a month since Christmas; our tree is no longer dominating the living room and I miss it. The sunlight hours have dipped to around four hours a day, I really should invest in a sun lamp. And, to make matters worse, it seems that the generous, holiday spirit that’s so wonderful in the season has all but dissipated from the community.
Case in point: Yesterday I went to the store to replace the salad bowl I managed to drop and crack a few days ago and met a very angry soul who seemed to have run out of good cheer, and good sense. He was attempting to return a gift he’d gotten and he was angry that the store only offered in-store credit for returns – hardly the cashier’s fault, it’s store policy. This individual began shouting at the poor guy behind the counter; never an easy thing to witness. Perhaps unwisely, I decided to stick my ore in – the goal was to show him the obvious futility of being angry at the fellow behind the counter, or perhaps to embarrass him enough into not making as much of a scene, or at the very least to re-direct some of his anger away from the retail worker. If you’ve ever worked retail – and I have – you probably know this scenario all-too-well, and have horror stories of your own; I know I do.
Unfortunately for both of us, this customer was bound and determined to get cash back – and he began shouting for the manager. Because I needed to shop at the store, I offered to give him cash equal to his receipt in exchange for the store credit – it seemed like a win/win scenario, he gets what he wants, I get to use the store credit to replace my salad bowl, and the staff is relieved of the adult throwing a temper tantrum in their store.
Everyone wins.
He was so angry with the shop he couldn’t see the good sense in accepting my offer, and, as I left the store some twenty minutes later, he was shouting into a phone at some other blameless drone in the great consumer cog that had absolutely nothing to do with setting or adjusting corporate’s decision on in-store policy. Whether he got his money back, I’ll never know, but he had the opportunity offered to him, more than once, and chose to turn it down. More’s the pity.
In an attempt to not get bogged down in this gloomy state of things, I decided to perk myself up by re-invigorating my own holiday spirit.
I started small with a cup of Cole’s hot cocoa and some holiday music that I’m absolutely certain everyone else is tired of by now. Followed this up with popping on my delicate, lace blouse, a lovely necklace, and the jeans. I decided to go ahead and dress up a bit with a pair of stylish pearl heels and a festive, lush, red coat. I love the combination of feminine and rough denim – dressy enough for date night, and casual enough to still be worn day-to-day. Not bad, if I do say so myself.
It was actually snowing earlier today, I didn’t manage to get out there for photos before it turned into hail, followed by a steady drizzle of rain, and a lot of wind. The outfit, hot cocoa, and holiday music all boosted my spirits immensely and I’ve decided to fully embrace my holiday cheer again; I’m planning to bring hot cocoa and cookies – ahem, the variety from the bakery, that is – to the next owner’s association meeting.
As always, thanks for stopping by, and if you have any tips for fighting post-holiday blues, I’d love to hear them in the comments below.
