Friday, January 6, 2012

GARDEN OF GLITZ

Oh man... did I ever get a peek into Girly Girl Heaven. You can't even iMAGine what a thrill I had yesterday. Five of us girls went to Charming Charlie's  ... THE closest thing to a glitzy paradise you'll ever see, right smack here on Earth. I am telling you, if you've never been there before... GO! In fact, RUN!

I couldn't even exPRESS enough oooohs and ahhhhs and omggggggs as I walked in this store. It was nothing short of incredible. SO up my alley.

Turns out Charming Charlies is a women's accessory store. An understatement, to say the least. I had noticed it once, when walking towards the movie theater a few months back, in our most up scale-i-est shopping center in the city. I remember standing outside the window of the store, totally mesmerized by all the dazzle I was seeing inside. WHAT? WHERE DID THIS STORE EVEN COME FROM? HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN HERE? HOW HAD I NOT HEARD OF IT BEFORE? I'VE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN? HOW SOON CAN I RETURN TO EXPLORE THIS BREATH TAKING GARDEN OF GLITZ?

Okay. So as it happens, the store is HUGE. And, it's set up according to colors. You want ANYTHING blue? Boom. Go the blue area. Red is up your alley? Head over to red area. Only want purple? Get over to the purple area. Interested in pearls?? No problem.

Bingo. You get the picture. AND... they not only have about 42 million colors staged but also, entire sections of faux gold, diamonds or silver. You name it, they have it. As in: pins, hats, purses, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, wallets, tiaras, clothing, scarves, socks, ANYthing you can possibly imagine. As in: any accessory your heart EVER desired. And all magnificently filled with bling, no less. AND... nice and oversized, just the way I like my bling to be.

Naturally right off the bat, I headed over to the faux diamonds and gold areas. Those are my favorites. Silver? Sorry Charlie. That may have become THE metal to wear in the past five years, but ME? I'm sticking to the tried and true. Diamonds. Gold. Pearls. But... doesn't matter. It took me no time at all to get lost in seriously... ZILLIONS... of pieces of accessories. I touched them all. I tried on them all. I delighted in them all. 

Trust me... I wandered over to all the colored displays as well, but the gold and diamonds are my first love. In fact, while I was in the pink section, I saw a grandmother with her nine year old granddaughter. They were having a ball. I felt I owed to society to inform the adorable little girl that she is one mighty lucky young lady! Why?? Because when I WAS HER AGE, nothing like this kind of store was even REMOTELY around. But for her?? Whoa... is she ever blessed. She'll NEVER be lacking in a need to feed her desire for affordable glitz.  

And apparently nor will I, now. All of us immediately went our separate ways throughout the store, each eyeing all the delights that tickled our particular fancies. And, just for good measure when we saw something PERFECT for each other, we went nuts calling out each others' names. DID YOU SEE THIS? QUICK. CHECK THIS OUT. OMG... JUST WHAT YOU'D LOVE. Etc. etc. Which is why shopping with girlfriends is such an amazing adventure.

From the toddler stage on, we ladies seem to have the game plan all down pat. Shopping is like the most perfect entertainment ever. We women can bond so beautifully together while still expressing our individual personalities. Given the right store, we can easily kill an hour or more... just browsing, chatting, gossiping, connecting and delighting ourselves. It's like an innate sense that we girly girls are born with, knowing that somehow shopping can enhance any friendship. Actually, now that I think about it, shopping even has the possibility of almost bringing a whole new meaning to: pleasuring ourselves. Yikes. Who knew?

Anyway, you can bet your bottom dollar all of us traipsed out of Charming Charlie's with a bagful of stunning finds. I LOVE what I bought! I found necklaces, rings and bracelets which I can now add to my current collection of 893 uh... necklaces, rings and bracelets. Talk about never having too much of a good thing.

Bottom line to all this?? I love my girlfriends. I love Charming Charlie's. And I love my new glitz and bling. Man, life is good.



Gotta get Showtime. Gotta get Showtime. Gotta get Showtime.