Okay I give up!! I am a dismal failure at any shopping that does not involve pearls.

Andi, Polly and Meredith look so great every night in their beautiful outfits they buy on their travels. Shopping is not a talent of mine at all and I really do not like shopping however, I decided I would try and buy a top of some kind locally. I need Ken to take some pictures of them in their stunning outfits.

So I decided to "shop" a quite foreign experience to me I thought there was only one store in the world Chico's!

First shopping expedition was in Phuket where I wanted a Thai silk jacket. That ended up in a marathon trip looking for the Jim Thompson Outlet. Of course I knew nothing about Jim Thompson but I had the queen of shopping with me, Meredith was going to "assist". Our driver did not understand and took us to another area, then to a Jim Thompson shop (not the outlet) then finally we found the Jim Thompson outfit. The shopping expedition did not work as they did not have even ONE Thai Silk top it was all cotton and not many tops at all. Oh well I loved spending time with Bo, Meredith, Jerry and Peggy so it was still a good day.

Now we are in Cochin. Andi came back from her tour last night with stories of great buys in Jew Town. Okay I decided, we are in port overnight so tomorrow I try again. Ken and I paid $20 for three hours (standard rate for a taxi in Cochin). Nice air conditioned car with Anthony who spoke excellent English. Off we went on a determined search for the perfect top so I could sit with the GIRLS and have a unique "non Chico" top. If they can do it I can do it.

Anthony suggested a few shops and while they had beautiful things nothing worked. We started at more expensive stores and moved to lower end local stores. We went to Jew Street was almost completely closed due to the Hindu Festival we did check the few stores that were open.

Problems persisted, too high or too low a neckline, too tight at the top or too huge at the bottom, too see through, something was wrong with them all. One shop keeper said in his delightful Indian accent "you have too many problems" I had to laugh and agree! I grew more frustrated with each store remembering now why it was not so easy for me to just "buy" an item and why I avoid shopping in the first place. How quickly we forget.

So we returned empty handed and the "desire" to turn up so beautifully adorned has faded. I think Chico's and I will be friends for life and it may be several more years until the "shopping" bug hits me and I will remember Cochin and wear my Chico's with pride.

The only place I have successfully bought anything was when I was not shopping and it just happened. Once in St. Paul De Vence, France I saw a sweater in a window it was perfect. Put it on and it looked great I love it. Same with a coat in a small town in Germany in the window. While waiting for the Pearl Market to open on Nanjing road in Shanghai I stepped into a sweater shop to fill in time. Instantly saw a top bought it, fit great and love that too.

So I think my shopping days are over, I will wait until things hit me in the face in the future. Much less stressful!!

Okay up to play scrabble with Jennifer, everyone else is on the backwaters for Kerala today.