Shopping for Europe

I love to shop for my fall wardrobe. I always have. I remember going back-to-school shopping with my mother and we'd buy wool skirts, sweaters, boots, jackets, scarves, etc., and when school started I couldn't wait to wear my new stuff...even though it was still 80 degrees.

Now that I'm on my own, shopping-wise, I'm a little better at waiting. Of course, living in Dallas, we don't have a lot of stores offering winter wear until later in the season. Hell, it's almost October and we're expecting a high of 88 today. I'm thinking I'll be sitting out by the pool later, rather than donning a sweater.

This year, like a couple of years ago, I'll be shopping with an eye of spending a couple of weeks in Europe during the holiday season, on a river, and much farther north than we were last time. I've also lost weight since then (yay, me!), so most of the stuff I bought three years ago no longer fits. Last time in Europe I had "the biggest coat in the world" (a reversible coat - fur on one side, weather resistant on the other). I lugged that thing around from Budapest to Paris, on small busses, in crowded hotels and airports...never again. True it was warm and snuggly as could be, but a major pain getting on and off in tight spaces and just too much to carry along with purse, carry on, and two pieces of luggage. So I'm looking for a smaller coat for this trip.

The good news is that microfiber and some other new materials have made it possible for me to get a much lighter-weight coat with the same warmth and resistant properties as the biggest coat in the world. I just need to find one I really like. It's hard to steer me away from shearling and other fur coats, but hopefully I've learned my lesson. Stay tuned.