“I feel pretty.  Oh so pretty.  I feel pretty and witty and bright!” - Music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

It’s not often that I feel great about myself.  These days my lack of resolution keeping, lack of working out, lack of keeping up with the laundry, lack of enjoying cooking, lack of sleep, lack of energy and just being a bit lacksidasical (had to spell check this one) leaves me with a bit of a doom and gloom perspective.  Have I lost any readers yet? BUT…….when I put on my snazzy blue trench coat (SBTC) with the ¾ length sleeves I am transformed.  It is the one item of clothing that makes me feel good about venturing out into the world.  When I put on that coat, I think, “hey, I actually look good in this”.  Unfortunately, I won’t be able to wear it for much longer – sadly, it doesn’t have a liner and it’s really more of a spring coat but I said to heck with conventional fashion, I’m going to wear my SBTC as much as I want to when I want to.  Ahhhh, I feel invigorated just thinking about it. 

I actually purchased the SBTC on a shopping trip to Easton in Columbus last spring.  Maybe that is why it has an allure over me.  I visited my good friend, Stacy, in C-Bus sans kids and we enjoyed the day shopping, having lunch and shopping some more.  We were joined by another girlfriend, Kelly, and the three of us headed to the Gap and bought the same SBTC, although, I think Stacy’s may have been a SCTC (snazzy choral trench coat).  It was a happy day since I not only got a great fitting coat thanks to my friends dissuading me from buying the next size up (I usually buy things too big and then it’s frump-a-rama time) and combined with the sale and the extra 30% coupon I had, I also got a bargain.  For anyone who knows me, I love a bargain.  So for $39, I walked away with the SBTC and a smile. Now I just hope the SBTC stays in style for another season or two (wishful thinking I’m sure).