IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT T-SHIRT

My typical summer outfit is a plain colored t-shirt and denim, black or khaki shorts or capris. Except this year I've decided to do skirts. I've always loved skirts and now is a good time to wear them since I've decided my thighs do not need to see sunlight until I've lost 5 or 40 pounds.

In the past I have bought my t-shirts at Kohl's.

Can I name stores on here if I'm going to say less than favorable things about their products?

Anyway, Kohl's t-shirts are usually like 7.99 and they have good colors and I like the neck lines and, of course they are cheap.

The trouble is, over the last couple of years, their quality has dropped dramatically.

Very dramatically.

If I dry them in the dryer they shrink up. If I hang them up to dry they lose their shape AND shrink up and I end up looking like Opie. They are fine t-shirts if you plan to wear them only once. You know? A disposable t-shirt.

So this year I have declared an end to the Opie shirt and I let my husband know that I am no longer buying cheap clothes that don't last more than one summer. Heck, these shirts don't last more than one washing.

"I mean it," I said. "I am not buying any more cheap shirts. I don't care how much I have to spend; it will be worth it to get shirts that last several seasons. I'm going to Talbot's."

I am woman hear me roar.

And he actually drove me there. Funny, though, while I was there, he walked to the wine shop. Now I know why that credit card receipt didn't make him have a stroke. I mean he seemed awfully relaxed that afternoon...

So I got to shop at Talbot's. And can I just say....Holy Fashion Plate!! Those are some beautiful clothes! I mean really beautiful.

If I was a working woman, and made, like...I don't know...any money at all...I'd be in there all the time. It's a good thing Talbot's is down town and I forget about it or I'd be the best dressed divorced woman in town.

So I bought myself some t-shirts and a 3/4 sleeve shirt. And a denim skirt that I absolutely HAD to have because...you know...the thigh thing, and I suggested to Paul that he not look at the receipt until...oh, he was like 60 or something.

And now, here it is Mother's Day and it's rainy and windy and cold and the t-shirts are still in the sack because I'm dressed in a sweatshirt and craving hot cocoa.

But I think they are going to last me a while; and I don't think I'll have the Opie look anymore.

Oh! And guess what!! My children got me a Talbot's gift card for Mother's Day. With 3 more just like it, I can afford that polka dot skirt I saw last week.
And they both got me really funny cards. Kayla is into the Hoops and Yo-Yo cards from Hallmark. They are really funny. She got me one of those and I have laughed all day with it. You can see Hoops and Yo-Yo at www.hallmark.com

And Paul punched me for mother's day....I mean he GAVE ME SOME PUNCHES for mother's day - a complete set of alphabet punches for my card making, which I had pointed out to him and put on my wish list.

Now Kayla is on her way to the mall with Daddy, and Blake is out on a hunt for a Wii, which we promised the kids we'd buy if we had a successful yard sale. Which we did. And I think I'm going to settle in for a rainy day nap.

Happy Mother's Day.