The Outside World

Lo and behold, I left the house today! I've been a bit of a hermit lately between work, Basic Trouble edits and synopsis and query creations, and Nano. Getting out of the house was fast becoming mandatory, if only so that I would have something to chat about on the blog other than my dry eyeballs and cat poo. (I'm just thinking of you guys. Aren't I sweet?)

Cody and I went to the mall. The trip was not completely for pleasure. In fact, it was mainly for research. Madison 2 involves a lot of scenes at the mall after Thanksgiving (in none of which does Madison actually get to shop), and I wanted a chance to capture the flavor of the mall without having to actually be out in the crowds on Black Friday.

The trip was made even more delightful by the mall's recent expansion. It was like touring a brand-new mall, with an entire new wing and stores, only this wing is a nice, big, curving loop, and I do like curves in my architecture. (That sounded weirder onscreen than it did in my head.) Things of note from today:

• There's a gelato store in the mall. The bins of various gelato flavors were larger than some turkeys. I will definitely be going back.
• There's a popcorn store in the mall. They sell fresh popcorn with your choice of toppings, including white and dark chocolate! Another place to go back to.
• I held my first Louis Vuitton shoe today. It was this cute, understated little gray pump with an open toe and a small silver flower on the fabric that arches across the top of the foot. The heel was too high and thin for my taste, but for the right price, I could have worn it on special occasions. I flipped the shoe over and actually dropped it, without meaning to, when I read the price tag: $853.00! I should have guessed, since the men's much more comfortable-looking shoes were in the high $500s. It was a cute shoe, but not that cute!
• Strollers, especially ones with infants and toddlers still in them, are not battering rams, folks! I don't want to hurt your child, but if you shove your stroller into my shins, it might happen by accident. Think of your child, people. Please!

We managed to escape without purchasing anything, which was the goal, and had a lovely lunch at a local cafe rather than at the mall (though there were some vendors at the mall that looked as if they might actually have had some quality foods). All in all, it was a highly successful outing--I got over a page of notes and some fresh air. Hooray for the contemporary, convenient settings of Madison! Hopefully later in the series Madison will need to go to Europe, and I'll be forced to go on a research trip there, too.