WEEKLY WEARS: LET'S ALL GO TO THE MALL

The theater we saw The Grand Budapest Hotel in is an all but abandoned mall.  In its heyday, this mall was the place to be.  It had all the cool shops at the time.  A Mr. Bulky's, County Seat, and Sam Goody.  Never heard of these stores?  Well, that's because they didn't make it and are now just unlit neon signs in a mall that has been long since forgotten. 

I'm not sure when it happened.  How does something so populated with rowdy teenagers and bustling shoppers turn into a tomb?  Granted there are still a few shops here, but the main shop keeping this place somewhat alive has decided to close its doors.  Now it's just a matter of time before it's torn down.  Before it gets turned into a Wal-Mart or cluster of chain restaurants, though, I wanted to take one last stroll down memory lane.

This food court in particular holds so many memories for me.  I was pretty little, but I remember how cool we thought this area looked after they redecorated it in the latest mauve fashion of the early 90s.  I would whine and cry every time we came to the mall for my mom to buy me a corn dog.  Ah, the good old days.

This fountain still holds a special place in my heart, too.  My brother and I would always beg my dad for pennies and then try to throw it all the way into the top basket.  I still have a lot of wishes left in there.

My fondest memory, though, was a local ice cream shop called Topsy's.  After every movie we would see during the summer, we would go to Topsy's, and I'd always get the same thing, a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream.  There are other locations in the area, but I'll never forget running down the hallway, pushing my brother out of the way, and trying to be first in line.  Everything was perfect.  It was summertime, I was completely carefree, and hanging out at the mall with my favorite people. 

Truthfully, I was a bit melancholy walking around this place.  There were so many wonderful memories here, and I wanted this place to continue to exist so that I can revisit them whenever I want.  I wish we would keep older buildings around instead of just tearing them down and starting over.  Some may say it's a testament to the progress we're making, but sometimes I think we just keep stripping away our foundation. 

On the bright side, I did complete a project I'm pretty excited about.  Recognize the skirt I'm wearing here?  I wore it a few weeks ago.  Well, I've been on the hunt for a jumper for a while now and haven't been able to find any that I like.  So I made my own detachable suspenders!  Once I work out a few of the kinks, I'll post a DIY of how you can easily make any of your skirts into a cute jumper.

So I guess the moral of the story is that change is inevitable, whether we like it or not.  Even if this place is torn down tomorrow, at least I have my memories of walking hand in hand with my mom, begging for that corn dog. 


Shirt: Gap outlet (similar) // Necklace: J. Crew Factory (clear crystal is sold out) // Skirt: Banana Republic (old) // Shoes: Aldo (old) // Suspenders: Made by me