Let me preface this by saying that I have a love/hate relationship with the Mall of America.
I love that there's a store that sells only magnets.
I hate that there's always a rotunda full of teenyboppers fainting over their latest teen idol.
I love Ruby Tuesday's
megarita (seriously, a margarita as big as your head).
I hate that you can't turn a corner without running into a Victoria Secret (how many Victoria Secrets do you
really need in one mall?).
I also have a love/hate relationship with H&M and Forever 21.
I love some of the designs.
I hate that most of the good designs aren't even original.
I love that it's one-stop-shopping for when I'm in a hurry.
I hate that the clothes are cheaply made.
I hate that the clothes generally fall apart in under a year.
I hate that I don't know what kind of conditions the clothes are produced in.
I guess that's more of a hate/love relationship than a love one...
Because of this said relationship I have been trying not to buy anything from either H&M or Forever 21 since August. I didn't make a pact with myself or anything - I just wanted to try to make my shopping habits a bit more sustainable. (Check out the amazing
Suburban Queen blog for a great
post regarding this same dilemma.) Now it's December and I've only bought one $20 basic black zip-up hoodie from H&M since August. I'm pretty content with that.
Anyways, the other day I was at the megamall (do all Minnesotans call it this or was this just my mother's weird nickname for the beast of all malls???) with my friend from Chicago, Reba. Long story short I ended up buying a cute dress off a clearance rack from some random store called
Heritage. Later that night I was checking my bank balance online and I saw a charge for $13 for Forever 21.
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
They duped me. Dammit.