So yesterday I paid an overdue visit to the mall.

{And by overdue, I mean it’s been about a week}.

So yes, there I was at the mall, browsing through several stores

and this thought overwhelmingly hit me:

My God, do these stores just suck!

Now friends, this isn’t the first time I have thought this,

but it never stops me from going into these stores thinking,

This time it will be different!

(Isn’t that called insanity? Doing the same over again, expecting different results?)

I used to love Forever 21, H&M, etc. when I was younger

but as I get older, I have more requirements other than cute clothes.

No, the shopping experience expands for me as I age.

I want all of my senses to be engaged now.

My surroundings are just as important to me than what I am buying.

In fact, if I am not comfortable with my environment,

I will leave.

Just last weekend, my friend and I went to a cute Italian bakery in L.A.

but when we were greeted with a major attitude by the staff,

you better believe I got up and left.

I have a new set of standards.

Back to the mall, I picked up several dresses from H&M and kept saying,

this looks like something a 20 year old wears, not me.

I can’t wear any of this.

I officially can no longer shop at these stores.

But once I arrived at Anthropologie

(which by the way, if God is a woman and wears clothes,

She so would shop here, I’m convinced),

I realized why Anthro wins hands down above the rest.

The 4 reasons why Anthropologie makes me a mall snob:

  1. When you walk past Anthro, it doesn’t make you immediately begin to smell like a baby prostitute and choke from over-consumption of fume inhalation. Breathing is a right when shopping. Anthropologie respects this.
  2. The staff at Anthro are actually *happy* to work there. Imagine that. I have yet to be given the eye roll or treated rudely because I have interrupted a co-worker conversation.
  3. Their clothes actually fits my curvy size 6 body type. In fact, their sizes are true to what a woman’s body is. So when I pick out a shirt that’s XS/S, it is actually XS/S. I don’t need the figure of a prepubescent boy in order to look good in an outfit.
  4. Absolutey none of this loud, obnoxious music crap. Only soft, mellow, and inspiring songs played over the speakers at Anthro. I mean, I love a good rave song just as much as anyone else but if I  have to ask myself  to repeat what I  just said to myself  because I couldn’t hear myself  think, there is no way I am of sound mind to make a purchase.

You can find these buttons everywhere on the internet. What I found to be the common way to make these was from a simple icing recipe. So I used Rachael Ray as my guide, and veered a little to the left. 

Homemade Candy Buttons Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 c. powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp Ener-G egg replacers + 2 Tbs warm water
  • food coloring

DIRECTIONS:

  1. With an electric mixer, froth the Ener-G and water together until frothy and begins to stiffen. Add powdered sugar until combined and thick.
  2. Place icing in separate bowls with food coloring (as many as you want).  Stir until color is perfectly mixed in. Place each color in individual Ziploc baggies with a a small slit cut out of the corner.
  3. On a piece of paper, drop out buttons in color combination of choice. Do not use parchment paper. Take my advice. I learned the hard way–they all popped off.

Allow the buttons to set for several hours until hardened.

I really have no tie in with the candy buttons

despite the fact that it is what this post is about after all…

Maybe I can say that as I have gotten older,

my standards have grown in my tastes for candy?

Where I once loved melted sugar in the shape of buttons and tasted like paper,

now I crave the finer adult candies like Ring Pops and sugar in the shape of lipstick.