Thrift shopping and its joys.

Lately I have been bitten by the shopping bug and much to the dismay of my parents, I love it.!

After abstaining from my previous spendthrift ways for almost a year, its good to be back on the shopping bandwagon.

My travels through different markets plaguing the city have taken me from the old yet well stocked malls of Gurgaon to skeleton replicas of the same in West Delhi, from cheap flea markets to the university shoppers' haven, knags.

Every shopping trip of mine has been a well planned execution of the day's budget, travel time, friends and pure shopping joy.

One memorable trip was when I spent seven straight hours shopping with my sister and A. Right after the end of the college year, we spent hours scrounging the market for clothes."A" wanted to buy an outfit for this wedding she was attending and we rose to the task. Looking at extremely costly traditional wear in famous shops, trying out outfits and pretending to be oh-so-smart and experienced at such shopping by talking about the make of the cloth and design a la our mothers. But I still suspect that no one really believed us but we did end up buying a really awesome black dress suit.We even tried a shady looking empty restaurant where there was just one guy playing multiple roles, the chef, the receptionist and the waiter. Despite the slow service the food was good and the entertainment, hilarious( a couple sat in front of us and ensued much amusement and laughter.)And this was the trip where we walked around for seven straight hours(Yes, I counted) and by the end of it, my wallet was literally empty, having spent the last 20 bucks on the rickshaw.This was also the day A decided that FMS was not for her as the building was too small. Don't know if she has changed her mind or not.I have always loved shopping with "A", every time I am sad, its a cure for me.Shopping and a good dose of "A".

The next trip was on a hot day with my cousins. We had a fixed budget and a fixed item to buy.But I digressed from the plan(damn!). But it was good fun, we speed shopped, buying T-shirts and tops at random, filling in our bags.It wasn't our fault, really, there was a discount and the stuff was really good, ask my sister.And then, the heat got to us and we ran inside a noodle shop.Tasty, it was and we were back home in a record 4 hours.!

To cure, me of my flea market shopping spree, dad took me to the nearest mall and let me loose.He wanted me to buy "quality" stuff. But after spending so less for so more, it really gets hard to break the habit and ended up just doing a recce of the place and checking out the latest fashions, much to the disappointment of dad.:D:D

The next few trips were tame, shopping at "respectable" stores, buying "respectable" stuff. At least my dad was happier, despite a lighter wallet.

Last weekend I met my school friend after a long long time. Love you, E!! It was awesome despite a perpetual threat by my other idiotic friend.That was the day, I finally managed to get my hands on 2 awesome pairs of shoes and at a discount at that!! That shoes store made me fall in love with Gurgaon malls. Good stuff.

And the latest trip was once again in a cheap place for cheap roadside shopping. A day spent window shopping and buying anything that caught my fancy.

Thrift shopping has filled my wardrobe with a number of clothes, shoes, bags and accessories.And my wallet is happy while I can pretend I am shopping at a trendy fashion label(The clothes do look similar if you squint your eyes.)