Remember Where You Are, Where You Came From, and Where You're Headed

I made the mistake of going to Macy's yesterday to shop for back to school clothes. Let's just skip the whole price thing for a minute ($70 cropped pants? Are they serious!?!?!) and talk about sizes. I have never shopped at Macy's before. I didn't know how the store was laid out. Of course I had to walk past the perfume counters and massive junior's section to get to women's but then it took me 5 minutes to understand I wasn't in the Women's section... I was in the women's section (which is usually labled misses, but whatever!). I was so confused since I saw 8's on the same racks as 16's and 18's. So I snagged me a sales lady and asked what the deal was. Looking down at me and through me at the same time, she said that there was a Women's section around the corner and at the end of the store. "But what about the 16's and 18's?", I asked. "The Women's section has those with W's next to them", she replied as she turned her back on me. Then you know you're in the right spot, the silence between us whispered. So I sulked off to the Women's section with a white size 16 blouse from the women's section just to see the comparison. Once there, I grabbed a good half dozen blouses, 2 pairs of pants and a dress, (all with the scarlet W on them), and went into the oversized dressing room. Besides the over priced crop pants (did I mention the adorable bows and lace trim?) nothing fit. Everything was huge and looked like a potato sack on my body! The same white blouse with the damned-to-hell W on it was a freaking tent! So here I was, reduced to trying on things in the Women's section that looked horrible on me (Punkin's one and only rule about clothes shopping: Whether it's $5 or $50... it must look absolutely fantabulous on me or I don't buy it. There will be no more hiding of my curves!), ticked off at not feeling good enough to stand up to the expectation that I scram out of the little people section, when I realized that the little size 16 blouse was the only thing that fit me (and very well, I might add). As I was changing back into my own clothes, I glanced down at the tag on my own jeans and it dawned on me: I was wearing size 14 jeans from the Gap. Remember the tightness of those 22/24's two years ago? Remember deciding to lose weight rather than go buy the more comfortable 26/28's? Remember?!?! I bought the smaller size 16 blouse and walked out the store with my head held high. Keep your stinkin' W's, I thought to myself, I no longer need 'em. Next time, I’m gonna shop the woman’s section and act like I belong there. Because I do.