Love that Shopping Rush...

My husband thinks I’m being funny when I say I get a rush from shopping, but honestly, it’s true. When some people have a rough day at work they hit the bar for a few drinks, and others go for comfort food. Not me. When life gets rough, nothing is as soothing to me as shopping.

I was thinking back on different shopping moments that stand out (there are a lot) and I thought of one in particular that was pretty fab-o. We were planning another trip to Paris (we lived just a few hours away in Germany, so these trips were often) and my friend Angela was giving me some pointers on places to hit while I was there.

(Just a side note – Angela has an amazing Euro shopping blog if you want her scoop…).

So Angela very casually asked me if I had ever been to the fabric district in Paris. As the words rolled off her tongue, I suddenly felt light-headed. The FABRIC DISTRICT in PARIS??? Why hadn’t I thought of that? Talk about combining the best of both worlds – I’m a fabric collector (or as my husband would say, a “fabric junkie”), and any kind of shopping in Paris is always a dream. Magnifique!

So, I carefully copied down the metro directions from her and made plans to squeeze in a fabric moment while in Paris. I have to pat myself on the back that I actually navigated the Paris metro with ease – this was a major accomplishment as it was the first time that I was playing along the streets of Paris on my own.

As I exited my last metro stop, I walked through a few streets and found some clothing stores, but no fabric. But then I turned the corner, and the waves of fabric were there greeting me. Oh my. Lots and lots of fabric stores, with oodles of fabric everywhere. I stood there for a moment, taking it all in and I swear I felt woozy for a moment because I was so overwhelmed. (ok, maybe he is right – I’m a fabric junkie…).



Besides trying to figure out what and how much to buy (I had a bazillion projects rolling through my head…), the toughest part of this adventure was attempting to place my order with the cutters. People were buying in a frenzy and no one spoke a word of English. I can find my way around with a little Français, but making sure that I was ordering two meters and not twelve was a little unnerving.



This little trip ranks as one of my most favorite shopping feats as:
1) it was a fun Frenchy venture, and
2) because it was one of those moments that I probably will not repeat very often (although I have frequented the fabric district twice since then!).

Some people enjoy shopping Paris because of the hoards of designer labels, but not me. I love shopping Paris to find the funkiest off-the-path kind of shopping ventures. This was definitely an off-the-path experience that ranks top in my memories. If shopping is your go-to rush, what’s one of your high ranking buying triumphs? Do tell!


Update: I'm linking up with Happy To Design's Sunday Favorites! Find your favorite oldie and link up with us!