How Far Would You Go to Get What You Want?

For my Coat of the Week, I’m going back a little bit in time to 2008 for a fun little story of how I got my beautiful teal coat. 

I saw a version of this jacket on ASOS and loved it.  I would have purchased it for the £70 they were asking for at the time because I was attracted to the color, shape and ruffles.  Then as if it were fate, I received an email  update from Catwalk Queen (see my Blogroll), reporting that Primark had the same jacket for only £25.  I sadly discovered that Primark does not have does not have an online store, which meant that I had to actually go to a store to purchase it if I wanted the great price (click the picture for a link to the Catwalk Queen 2008 blog entry about the coat).

As luck would have it, my husband and I already had a trip planned to see the San Diego Chargers vs the New Orleans Saints game at Wembley Stadium (yes, American football).  This meant that I could get my coat in person and try it on! 

Once in London, we made the trek to the Primark on Oxford Street because we tried one in Wembley near our hotel and they didn’t have the coveted jacket.  Not knowing just how far it was up or down Oxford Street Primark was, we hopped off of one of the Tube stops on Oxford and ended up walking many, many blocks before actually getting to the Primark store in question (I was just reminded by my wonderful and understanding husband that it was eight blocks or so).  At five months pregnant on a cold October evening, I must have been very determined to get this coat to have walked that far.

We arrived at the store about 30 minutes before closing and almost didn’t find the coats because it was a madhouse, apparently due to a huge sale.  My only worry was not getting the fit that I wanted because I was showing and I would definitely want to wear it many times after pregnancy.  A wonderful thing about this coat is that it is very forgiving and roomy in the waist area, which was discovered after a very quick try-on.  This meant I could get my regular size and still have it roomy enough while pregnant.  We were not about to try to come back again the next day so we had to rush to the register, passed the crowds of people doing the very same.

After my triumphant purchase, we headed outside only to discover that a Tube stop was only a block away on the opposite side of the street.  Whilst heading to said stop, a chase had occurred right outside of Primark where a well dressed security guard tackled a would-be shoplifter and dragged her back across the street and back into the store.  On the way back, we stopped at New Look and then a small department store (I think called BHS?) where my husband purchased one of a few remote control mini-helicopters.

All in all, a very eventful day.  There are so many details I can remember and the memories all come flooding back each time I wear my beautiful teal coat.