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The Rise and Fall of the IT Girl Water Bottle

My water bottle is my best friend. She is the thing I cling to when I'm anxious. She is adorned with stickers of funny sayings, Sanrio characters, and charms hanging off the loops. She is more familiar with my mouth than any of my exes. She is an expression of myself, and I carry her with me everywhere I go.

I don't know about you, but I have a few best friends, and I've had best friends for different stages of my life. My childhood best friend is not my current best friend. In middle school, I had two best friends who hated each other. I didn't meet my high school best friend until sophomore or junior year, and while we were vastly different, we just clicked.

Now, I have two best friends. One I met in college and one I met at work of all places. When I think of all my best friends, they're different from one another but they each have traits that make them MY best friend at the time.

What makes a best friend? Best friends are durable, leakproof, well-insulated, and portable. You may be thinking it doesn't sound like you're talking about best friends anymore, and you'd be correct.

Let's talk about BIG Water.

We all know water, which is free from Mother Earth to us, has been commodified. What once was for hikers and athletes, excessive water consumption, is now for 9-5ers sitting in their cubical trying to hit 80 oz a day to meet their water goal. I have no room to judge, (even though I am) as the proud owner of three insulated water bottles and someone who strives to drink 80 oz of water a day, but let's talk about how we got here.

Picture this, you get through airport security and you're PARCHED. TSA made you dump out your freshly filled water bottle, there is no refill station in sight, and your plane boards in 10 minutes. Lucky for you, next to your gate is a Hudson, and you are met with this:

The questions on everyone's lips: why the fuck are there 10 different water bottle options and why are they all $9.00?

In 2024, humans around the globe drank more than 450 billion liters of bottled water. In the United States, it costs around 1,163 dollars a year to drink the recommended 64 oz of bottled water. I'm emphasizing bottled water with BIG anything, we're talking corporate, and in the case of corporate water, man do we have a waste issue.

In 1960 bottled water hit America by way of pharmacies as a niche health product mostly marketed to pregnant people. If you wanted water, you went to the tap, filled your glass, and went on your way. No Brita, no problem.

In 1976 a hot new bombshell entered the villa. Perrier. Always popular in France but new to America, the brand is marketed as "The earth's first soft drink" (honestly, this would have got me). Perrier hires the guy who took Levi from farm to fashion and in three years Perrier goes from 600 thousand dollars in sales to 60 million dollars.

Of course, with capitalism comes competition (or so they say), and Evian switches from Mommy and Me distilled water to a "lifestyle accessory" (more on this later). From 1976-1985, BIG Water transforms from a 1 billion dollar industry to a 5 billion dollar industry. Bottled water sales double, Chanel even makes a water bottle holder for their spring 1994 collection (which you can still buy for $6,861+shipping).

In comes BIG soda. Pepsi (1994) and Coca-Cola (1999) came out with what is still known as the worst water imaginable, Dasani and Aquafina. Here, they set the new and worst standard for water, purified water. Where Perrier and Evian are spring water from natural springs in France, Dasani and Aquafina (and most if not all purified water) is tap water, put through reverse osmosis.

Now, I'm not knocking bottled water. Countries, including this one, rely on bottled water due to poor water quality and limited access. Michigan has still not replaced all the lead pipes in Flint, they have been relying on plastic water bottles for 10 years to drink, shower, cook, and live. I don't think we're anywhere close to banning single-use plastic water bottles like that have in Bundanoon, but we should be conscious of how much plastic we use.

In 2018, Americans alone bought 71 BILLION plastic water bottles. Which is enough to stack to the moon 37 times. And these plastic bottles use energy to make, enough energy to fuel your car for 2 million years. 91% of plastic isn't recyclable and all 71 billion water bottles need somewhere to go and that somewhere is in the ocean, in the landfill, or shipped to developing countries.

According to current market projections, the global water bottle market is set to reach around 400 billion dollars. The reusable water bottle currently makes up $9.67 of the industry.

The IT Girl water bottle

We've done water history in America, BIG Water is a scam and excessive plastic use is bad, let's move on to the reusable water bottle. As Evian predicted, drinking water has become a lifestyle brand. Water bottles are beyond a vessel, they show your personality, your age, and, dare I say your values???

I want to talk briefly about each bottle.

Nalgene is the mommy of the reusable water bottle. Plastic, wide-mouthed, and affordable, she is popular amongst the athletic crowd. She had her moment from 1970-2015 when people decided they didn't want water stains on their shirts anymore.

Contigo: A simplistic queen, Contigo is like Nalgene on Ozempic. They still have a hard plastic shell but are slim and have a straw for easy sipping. Good for the field, but not a long hike.

Camelbak: A Contigo clone, Camelbak water bottles are still the popular corporate printed water bottle. I think Camelbak was the last of the outdoor/sports adjacent water bottles.

While all three brands are portal and durable, they do not fit my insulation standard. If I'm on a hike and my water is hot within the first hour, my hike is ruined. I will give these three major credit when it comes to suitability. They all have clear impact and sustainability statements on their websites and that's what reusable water bottles are all about.

S'well: The magnum opus of the IT girl water bottle. She is insulated, colorful, and makes a loud sound when it falls. Attention whore much?

Hydroflask: Sksksk save the turtles. The VSCO girl water bottle lives! Combining everything we love about Nalgene and S'well into one, plus they gave her a straw!

Yeti: Short-lived, for the IT girls who are also moms.

Stanley: She rose like a phoenix from the ashes, the Stanley made a name for herself amongst all the girls. Moms, 9-5ers, gym girlies, everyone wanted a Stanly cup (not me though).

Owala: The current it girl, Owala, and its free sip technology blew the brain of every water bottle lover. I would say she's the true mix between S'well and Hydroflask

Unfortunately, the introduction and popularity of the insulated water bottle drove overconsumption. These IT girl water bottles have all the traits that make for a best friend. Durable, leakproof, well-insulated, and portable (unless you're a Stanley). The water bottle transformed from a vessel into something of status and culture. You need to be rich to have a cup collection, you need to be "in the know" to get the special drops.

There are drops for holidays, and collaborations with corporations, I mean what if you don't get your ultra-limited edition E.L.F x Stanly cup?! This overconsumption leads to mass disposal when the next tread cycle comes around which creates significant harm. Iron must be mined and smelted, and if you think companies aren't using excessive exploitation, you're delusional. These processes cause damage to wildlife and generate CO2 emissions, not to mention shipment and packaging. Owala doesn't have a sustainability message on its website.

All trash needs to go somewhere and while you may think you're being a mindful consumer because "at least it's not plastic" know it all ends up in a landfill anyway. BIG Water has been scamming Americans since its debut. Being on trend is fun, overconsumption is not. In a time when corporations don't need to do anything but have pretty packaging to get your money, I urge you to think before you buy.

A few years ago, I watched an episode of History 101 on bottled water that BLEW my mind and is still the inspiration for this post.

[nyasbrain]

My obsession with Vampires. Past, Present, Future

My eternal love for vampires (vampyes? vampirs?) began when I saw him for the first time.

One of my first media-related memories is The Little Vampire (2000), largely forgotten by non-vampire-obsessed normies.

The Little Vampire follows Tony Thompson, a nine-year-old who moves with his family from California to Scotland. The Thompson family moves into a small castle (because there are only castles in 2000s Scotland). Tony gets picked on in school by his father's boss's son and begins having nightmares about vampires and comets.

One night, while dressed as a vampire, Tony is mistaken for one by Rudolph (pictured above) who attacks him and fails due to blood starvation. There starts the classic 2000s tale of friendship and adventure as Tony saves Rudolph and his family from the local vampire hunter and returns them to their human form.

In 2000 (or whenever I watched this movie) all my little sexually confused brain could think was:

Wow, that little vampire is hot.

In 2025 however, I can see the movie for what it is. Bad but formative.

To my surprise, The Little Vampire is not DCOM but I most likely watched it on my retro Disney princess CRT TV, which counts for something.

Speaking of DCOMs, Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire (2000) was likely my second piece of young vampire media.

As the title implies, the movie follows Lynette (mom) and her date with Dimitri (vampire).

Adam (13) and his sister Chelsea (16), think all is well until their brother Taylor (8) sees Dimitri (eternal) turn into a bat. There starts the classic 2000s tale of adventure and mayhem to save their mom from the vampire's thrall.

Before we move on, I want to talk vampire lore.

Modern vampires (or traditional vampires) are all the children of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). Of course, there is a long folk history of vampires pre-Drac, but Dracula adaptations popularized attributes such as fangs, vulnerability to sunlight, transforming into a bat, fancy coats, capes, and garlic repulsion.

The mommy and daddy of Stoker's Dracula are The Vampyre (1819) and my favorite, Carmilla (1872).

Let's start with The Vampyre.

In a short story by John William Polidori, Aubrey, a rich guy, meets the illusive Lord Ruthven at a party in London. Audrey sees Ruthven as a bit of an incendiary. He travels to Greece where he meets his (short-lived) lover Lanthe and tells her about the legend of vampires, which kinda sounds just like that Ruthven guy.

Lanthe is killed, Aubrey is hurt, and the whole town has vampire hysteria. While Aubrey is ill, Ruthven kindly (suspiciously) offers to nurse him back to health. Aubrey, feeling the 1819 catholic guilt, feels obliged to Ruthven and joins him on his travels.

Surprise, another attack, this time Ruthven is mortally wounded. On his deathbed, Ruthven makes Aubrey swear to not speak of his death for a year and a day (oddly specific) which Aubrey agrees to. Aubrey returns to London and finds Ruthven, alive and well.

Ruthven reminds Aubrey of his oath not to speak of his death, all the while he courts, marries, and kills Aubrey's sister, leaving her drained of blood.

My lesbian queen, Carmilla.

Laura recounts her eerie encounter with Carmilla, starting with a dream at age six, where she’s bitten—though there’s no evidence. Twelve years later, a carriage accident brings Carmilla into Laura’s life, and they instantly recognize each other from their childhood dream. Carmilla is weird for the average girl in 1872: she sleeps all day, sleepwalks at night, and avoids prayers.

As girls start dying in nearby towns, Laura dreams of a cat-like beast biting her. The truth is revealed when the General, a family friend, recounts the mysterious death of his daughter, killed by the same girl Carmilla, who’s really Mircalla, the vampire.

Carmilla's hidden tomb is found, they drive a stake through her heart, cut her head off, burn her body into ashes, and throw them into the river. Laura is forever changed by her encounters with Carmilla (she's a lesbian, but of course, you couldn't be a lesbian in 1872).

The man we know and love, Dracula.

Told through letters, journal entries, and news articles, Dracula begins with Jonathan Harker, a solicitor (lawyer), who travels to help Dracula buy a house in London. The locals warn him, but he goes anyway, only to get trapped in Dracula’s castle.

Meanwhile, in London, Jonathan's fiancée Mina travels to see her friend Lucy. When Mina arrives, a ship is wrecked on the shore, its crew missing and its captain dead, the only cargo is a set of fifty boxes of dirt shipped from Dracula's castle.

Lucy, sleepwalking and sick, has two tiny red marks on her throat which no one can explain. A rag-tag team of god-fearing Christians is formed including Dr. Steward, Mina, Professor Van Helsing, Lucy, and Jonathan to figure out wtf is going on.

Blah, blah, blah, Drac attacks Lucy. They try to save her, and a wolf breaks in (???) killing Lucy and her mother. They are convinced Lucy is not dead, but undead (gasp) and they find her feeding on a child (double gasp). They kill her (again), returning her soul to "eternal rest" and pledge to do the same to Dracula.

Everything is going well until Renfield, Dracula's assistant (???), lets Drac in and he feeds on Mina. Mina starts to turn, and the men sterilize the dirt forcing Dracula to flee. They track him and drive a knife through his heart, killing Dracula and freeing Mina from his curse.

Following? The following family tree of vampires looks a little like this.

So, when did vampires become vegetarian? Unclear.

People seem to think Interview with a Vampire (1976) was the first depiction of vegetarian vampires with Louis feeding from animals rather than humans.

Vampires who drink animal blood are not as strong or fast, and they don't heal as quickly as traditional vampires. When a vampire drinks blood, they are consuming life and the essence of life itself, something you just can't get from animal blood.

Vegetarian vampires are popular these days. I like to think of this as the family-fication of the modern-day vampire. Count von Count possesses only a thirst for numbers. Count Chocula a craving for chocolate milk. And while there are vegetarian vampires who possess the urge to drink human blood, they are "good" and remain "strong" due to their restraint. Which I think is a bunch of purist bullshit.

Vampires are supposed to be hot and irresistible. If not, they are nauseating and off-putting. They are immortal, frozen at the age they are turned (often early teens to late twenties), and possess control over humans WHICH NO ONE IN MEDIA TALKS ABOUT ANYMORE! Drinking human blood is an inherently sexual act, but drinking animal blood is about as sexy as eating a steak.

Where am I going with all this?

Twilight (2005)

The year was 2005. I was nine years old reading at an 11th-grade level. Getting my hands on this book was like drinking water (or blood if you're a vampire) for the first time. I don't know what about these books gripped me, but have I been sat since.

You know the story of Twilight. Bella Swan moves from sunny Arizona to cloudy and cold Forks, Washington with nothing but a cactus and a dream.

She's immediately the new hot girl in town (because no one moves to Forks) but she doesn't want the other boys, she wants Edward, a vegetarian vampire who reallyyyyyyy wants to drink her blood.

Twilight vampires are not like the other vampires I've described above. They aren't hurt by sunlight, they sparkle. Animal blood doesn't make them weaker, it's just harder to resist the urge. No fangs, all their teeth are piercing. Super hard skin. You get it.

My favorite part of Twilight is how deeply unserious the Cullens are. Vampires are the ultimate predators. They look like us, talk like us, and sometimes even go to school with us, but in Twilight they never act as predators.

Edward's whole thing (besides purity because, Mormon) is if he tastes one drop of Bella's blood, he will drain her dry. In the first book, Carlisle says "bet" and MAKES EDWARD TEST THE THEORY, which is wild, especially in the room with everyone else.

In the New Moon, Bella gets a tiny cut on her finger and Jasper nearly kills her, but wasn't he in the ballet studio when Bella was bleeding out???

In Breaking Dawn, the Cullens bring 100 VAMPIRES to Forks and not a single "wild and barbaric" vampire kills anyone in town because they all respect Carlisle too much.

We aren't even going to dip our toe into the racism disguised as a vampire-werewolf feud, but we will talk about the problematic nature of the book.

Stepanie Myer says Black vampires can't exist in her world because the venom eats their melanin (brunette vampires exist so...).

Jasper was in the Confederate Army (and proud of it).

Rewriting and appropriating the culture of an existing Native American tribe.

Making Jacob a literal pedo.

So much misogyny.

And honestly, this is just the start.

Stephanie Myer (mormon) does not use any of the above for her Twilight inspiration. She instead uses Jane Eyre, Lincon Park, and My Chemical Romance as her literary muses, which okay??? I wouldn't be me if I didn't bring up the connection between My Chemical Romance, 9/11, Twilight, and Fifty Shades so, here ya go.

Other vampire books I've loved and consumed over the years include:

House of Night Series by P.C Cast (I read these between Twilight, and they are so bad but this is my vampire history recap so I had to mention it).

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

If I'm being honest, I'm only scratching the surface of my vampire obsession. I didn't talk about watching True Blood at an insanely young age, Vampire Academy, Vampire Diaries, Blade, Supernatural, how I missed Buffy, and still think about how cool I would have been if I'd seen it air live.

So, let's talk about what I want to see as a 60-year-old vampire fan girl.

I hope we can return to why humans are so drawn to vampires in story and IRL.

Bring back hedonism. The teen vampire is played out (maybe because I'm 28), I want to see adult vampires on screen being sexy.

Deep, emotional vampire stories are back with Nosferatu (2024). Nosferatu is not just a vampire; he's a metaphor as was Carmilla and Dracula. Ellen Hutter speaking of Nosferatu says "He is my shame. He is my melancholy. He took me as his lover then, and now he has come back." Vampires are more than the heartthrob, they are death, desire, fear, and addiction.

Most of all, I want to see more lesbian vampires.

If this wasn't enough vampire lore, watch Monstrosity & the Vampire: A History by Jess of the Shire. She did 4 months of research; I just watched her video.

Here is a very short list of things I'm into this week:

Reading: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I'm not really a mystery girlie, but I can see why Ms. Christie was popping off. What I don't understand is how she wrote almost 80 books in her lifetime.

Eating: Mezze Family Style

It's restaurant week in the city and I highly recommend dressing up, going out, and gossiping with the girlies.

Playing: Interview with the Vampire

I'm watching Interview with the Vampire (2022) for the first time and holy shit why didn't anyone tell me about it?

This show is everything I want to see in the future of vamp media. Gay, sexy, scary, and funny with commentary on race, class, human curiosity, community, and mortality. My only complaint is everyone is so mean and uncharitable to my queen, Claudia!

Obsessing: Vampires (Duh)

A large portion of my week has been spent doing this. I've been writing, reading, watching, and dreaming vampires for 6 days. Honestly, I'm not mad about it.

Recommending: Valentine's Patterns

If you're making things for Valentine's Day, start now!

I leave you with this because this album is still on repeat.

[nyasbrain]

Tumblr in 2025?

Hey...is this thing on?

As a long-time tumblr fan and advocate, returning to the app (everything is an app, even if I'm writing this on my laptop) was not on my 2025 bingo card.

What was on my bingo card, however, was a fairly vague "crafts & DIYs" square. I'd like to think of this as a craft of sorts.

I'm not great at sharing through pictures and videos, so while I'd love to get on the recently resurrected TikTok and yap to the camera, that is not an option. Lucky for me, I've always been good at yelling into the void.

Everyone is on Substack these days, which is like tumblr for serious people. As a 2013 vet and self-proclaimed unserious person, I've always seen tumblr as a void. I could post and reblog whatever I wanted without fear because no one I knew was on the app, despite my constant advocacy. So here I am again, in 2025, asking for tumblr to be the same space I needed in 2013, where I posted my horrible Wattpad stories, discovered Frank Ocean, and explored my style via the NYC influencers I wanted to be just like (where are they now?).

Now into the weekly brain dump:

Reading: The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest

After being sucked in by Emily Henry last year, I became a BIG romance reader. It's by no means my favorite genre, as the formula for romance is super predictable. The two love interests are introduced, form some relationship through a popular trope (enemies to lovers, fake relationship, or in this case, secret identity), miscommunication causing the (always hated by me) third act breakup before everything is resolved and they live happily ever after.

The romance book formula is why so many people love the genre and why romance books are perfect when I'm between something heavy or don't know what else to read. Before we get into it, this is my rating scale, for reference.

☆ Worst thing I ever read ☆☆ Something to talk about ☆☆☆ Cute, fun, hot, interesting ☆☆☆☆ Hooked, giving you a play by play  ☆☆☆☆☆ Burned into my brain, will never get over 

The Neighbor Favor is the first in The Greene Sister Series. Since I got into romance, I've been on a mission to read all the popular romance series, especially by Black authors. So this being a letdown was just as sad for me as it is for anyone who loves the book.

Stage 1: The two love interests are introduced.

The FMC Lily, an assistant at a non-fiction publishing house with dreams of being a children's book editor, deliriously emails the author of her favorite fantasy book on a hot summer train in NYC. That one email turns into months (maybe a year) of back-and-forth between Lily and the ~mysterious~ and charming author. After several emails, flirting, and imaginary dates, the two mutually agree to FT (or Zoom? Skype?). Lily is sat, waiting on the call for the full hour before getting an email back from the author saying, "I'm not who you think I am," and disconnecting his email altogether, which I thought was VERY dramatic.

Months later, Lily moves in with her sister Violet (yes, all of the sisters are named after flowers) and runs into the MMC, nicknamed "fine as hell neighbor" Nick, in the elevator, who is giving a pep talk to his other neighbor Henry about how to get a girl.

Stage 2: Form a relationship through a popular trope.

Lily, who is described as shy and reserved, enlists Nick to help her find a date to her sister's wedding after an electrifying kiss, which Nick runs out on. The two begin the forced proximity, wingman trope.

Of course, Lily and Nick want to be together, but Nick has some "I'm unworthy" complex that I frankly hate in a character, especially when it is unwarranted.

Stage 3: Third act breakup

If it wasn't apparent, the mystery author and Nick are the same person. Nick uses a pen name, N.R. Strickland, has no author photo, and says he's British in his author bio (more on this later). Nick reveals this to Lily after kissing her the third time (he actually does nothing to help this woman find a date besides taking her to a party), and Lily admits her feelings for him.

Post-reveal, Lily feels (rightfully) betrayed, Nick feels guilty AF, and gives her a stack of emails he has written to her since he ghosted her, then proceeds to buy her some (practical) gifts. Nick apologizes, says he'll never lie to her again, and grovels for approximately five pages before...

Stage 4: Everything is resolved

Lily forgives him and agrees to begin building a relationship. Blah blah blah, Lily goes to her sister's bachelorette party, some stuff happens with Nick's family, and he fucks off to NC for a week before he comes back for an author wrap party at the publishing company and reveals that he is N.R. Strickland (GASP).

Stage 5: Happily Ever After

With all that, the two go to her sister's (not) wedding together, and they live happily ever after.

Now, here are my issues with the book.

1. So many tropes. You've got mail (the first quarter of the book is told through email) x forced proximity x wingman x secret identity x friends to lovers. Girl, give it up! I only have the tolerance for maybe two tropes a book without it feeling forced.

2. Nick's woe-is-me attitude is so insufferable. I understand he's had a hard family life, but one of his big reasons for not wanting to reveal himself as the author is because he lied about being from England, and when I say nobody cared... NO ONE CARED!

3. Pacing? I don't know; it was just weird for me. The amount of times they kissed and then tried to be friends? No tension, IMO. What makes a romance is the HEA, so while I know they will always end up together when the third act breakup comes, I want to at least think they won't.

Overall, I gave it two stars. It's something to talk about (clearly), and I will read the rest of the series; I would not recommend this as a stand-alone.

Eating: Yogurt Bowls w/ Apple and Cinnamon

idk, this is just a hyper-fixation meal that carried over from fall to winter. I'm not good at buying fruit, but somehow when I go to the grocery store, a bag of apples always ends up in my cart. Mix that with some yogurt and a dash (one of my favorite metrics of measurement) of cinnamon. That gets five big booms from me. 

Playing: Imaginal Disk by Magdalena Bay

What is on my bingo card for 2025 is listening to 30 albums. I'm a chronic listener to my liked playlist, which I have been saving songs to since I made my Spotify account. This year, I'm rejecting modernity (listening to curated Spotify playlists) and returning to my roots of discovering music on my own.

How I haven't heard of Magdalena Bay before this week is beyond me because

1. I'm obsessed

2. They have 3.5M monthly listeners.

The album gave me the same feeling I had when I listened to Nurture by Porter Robinson (one of my favorite albums of last year) , which is: wow; I love everything. I love music. How I have I never heard this before? Can I hear everything else by this artist immediately?

Angel on a Satellite is one of my favorite songs on the album, mostly because it makes me feel how I felt when I watched POSE for the first time. I will not explain further.

Reccomending: Making things with your hands

I've become somewhat of a fiber arts evangelist, as my friend Nia described it, in the past month. There is something so fulfilling about making shit with your hands.

Having a "hand hobby" outside of going on your phone is a lost art. While I firmly believe scrolling is a hobby, making tangible items with your hands is unmatched. There is no better feeling than crocheting a sweater or knitting a scarf and saying "Thanks, I made it" when someone compliments you.

I've known how to crochet for years. The first time I learned was in middle school, where some cool girl taught me on the school bus in the morning (I hope she is being hot and thriving somewhere). Since then crocheting has been on and off for me and the first garment I made was in December. Something in me unlocked. Knowing I could make clothes out of yarn??? I felt like a witch! Since then, I've been spreading the good word about making shit with your hands.

I watched this video on the politics of feminism and fiber arts, which I don't have anything smart to say about, but thought was good.

But that's not all. I've also been super into junk journaling this year. My junk journal, which is mostly a collage of shit I've collected, has brought me so much joy. I'm yearning for old magazines and craft supplies so I can create more spreads. I've never been good at regular journaling, but this feels like a way to reflect on the things I've done. 

Treating: Very expensive jeans

I'm not one for buying expensive shit, but last week I spent $200 in 30 minutes, which, frankly, I think should be illegal.

I've been playing with my personal style lately, trying to find clothes that SCREAM my name and outfits I can create interesting silhouettes with. So last week, on an adventure to find barrel jeans, I walked into Madewell. Naturally, I went to the sale section, and where I wanted to find barrel jeans; I found wide-leg black jeans, a staple that was missing from my closet.

I did the normal find a size, try them on, and when I say I could not leave the store without them, I mean it. Thankfully, it was 50% off sale, which meant these normally very expensive jeans would be $69 instead of $138.

WRONG!

The sale section, one room in the back of the store, is "split" into two sections. Sale on the right and non-sale on the left, except it is not split, it's just clothes in a room. So after I tried them on, and decided I couldn't live without them, I ended up spending $138 on jeans, which I'm vowing to NEVER do again. And as a writing this, the jeans are now on sale...

That's it for now. Thanks for being my place to scream into the void.