Forever 21

Today I realized why Forever 21 is very appropriately named. 26 year olds should NOT attempt to remain 21 when they are 26. Just as I longed to be of drinking age for several years before I actually turned 21 years old, the people who shop at Forever 21 also long to dress like they are 21. At age 21, not only was I a poor college kid just looking to have fun, I was more concerned with fitting in than being myself. Forever 21 is an attempt to provide cheap, poorly made clothing that is super trendy to girls who long to look grown up... you know, mature... like Paris Hilton.

Anyway, back to my story. Since the school district was nice enough to give us the entire week of Thanksgiving off, I decided to head to the Galleria to get some Christmas shopping done. I shopped for several hours with very little success and so began to kind of think about some shopping for myself. I wandered into Forever 21 thinking I might be able to find a cute, trendy, top to wear this weekend as I saw some old friends from high school who are back in town for the holidays. While I was slightly embarrassed to be shopping in such a store, I picked up a few things. As I was turning to head toward the dressing room I heard "Hey Mrs. (insert real name here)" ~CRINGE~ "You have got to be kidding me" I thought to myself as I flashed a very fake smile and greeting to my students who had just entered the store, one that they are very appropriately shopping in. Mortified, I exited the store as quickly as possible with a new lesson learned... In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am so very thankful to be forever past the age of 21. I am no longer as concerned with fitting in as I am with being myself... even if that does mean shopping at the GAP.