Category Archives: Shopping/Malls

Meeting in California

I’m supposed to go to a meeting in California but I’m not wearing any pants. I stop by a mall kiosk that sells yoga gear and plan to buy any pants I can. I’m happily relieved to find a pair that’s on sale, because otherwise I would have spent quite a bit of money. Once I’ve picked out my pants I notice that they’re selling a scarf that’s on sale, so I decide to buy that too. I also grab a bottle of water.

I take my items up to the register and hand the salesclerk my wallet. She rings up a very large dollar amount and I express my surprise; I know the items I’ve selected don’t cost that much. She shows me that she’s rung up a whole list of items that appear on a receipt in my wallet. I explain to her that I’m not buying those items today, and point out the date on the receipt. It’s nearly a year old.

Once I’ve resolved that issue and have some pants on, I go to my meeting. My job is to construct a train. There are some train pieces made out of wood. I add some additional cars by taking pieces of cantaloupe and melon that are in the fruit salad provided as a snack for the meeting.

Wedding in London

I’m in a city like London because I’m going to get married. My family and many of the people I know are there to see the ceremony and wish me well.

My mother says that Jeff is the doctor who delivered me when I was born. She says we was a very good doctor and he did a fine job. When we see Jeff and try to talk to him about it, he says he doesn’t remember being a doctor and doesn’t think he ever did that.

I meet up with my faceless groom and he’s wearing khaki pants and a polo shirt. Evan asks him “you couldn’t even wear a real shirt?” We look around a store trying to find him some better pants and a button-down white shirt.

Once I’ve gotten him settled trying on clothes, I run across the street to another store to try on some makeup. I realize that in all the excitement around finding clothes for my groom that I haven’t put any makeup on.

Grandma’s Possessions

My mother tells me we are going to have brunch with my family — her brothers and sisters — on Saturday morning. She tells me that brunch is at 8 so I should wake up at 7 or even 6:30. I tell her that’s not brunch, it’s breakfast, and it’s too early. She gets annoyed with me and insists that I go.

The following morning we get in the car and drive, but instead of getting breakfast, we stop at a store on the side of the road. Inside, all of my grandmother’s things have been arranged like it’s a store, and my family members are going through them all, looking for things they want. My mother tells me that I should look through her belongings and select some things that I want.

There are many beautiful things in there and I want to spend some time looking through them all carefully. But my mother is impatient because she’s already been through the items and she doesn’t want to stand around. I feel anxious and pressured to choose things quickly. I’m trying to find some items that I can remember my grandmother by.

Shopping for Aprons

I’m in an industrial type building, kind of like a warehouse and kind of like a school. The rooms all have old doors on them, like in a classroom or a library.

I’m talking to Kristina about how I first became an IA. I feel a sense of urgency, like I need her to understand how and when I started working, but I’m also embarrassed, as if I think it’s unseemly to call too much attention to myself.

We have stacks of books that we have to take back to the library. I ask Susie, Jake, and Randy for help. They are annoyed at the inconvenience. They make fun of Kristina’s enthusiasm for what she’s doing.

Then I’m in a grocery store, it’s like a Dean and Deluca, with prepared foods and kitchen supplies for sale, but very large. I head to the back of the store because I want to buy an apron. I pick out a red apron that has racist iconongraphy, like cartoon representations of black people, but they’re so tiny as to be invisible to the naked eye. I also pick out a blue apron. The rack that holds the aprons is long, like the entire width of the store, and there must be hundreds of aprons to choose from.

When I try to remove them from the rack and take them to the register, an alarm sounds. The rack has an electionic sensor with a screen, and it shows me that I’ve done something wrong and security is on the way. I wait around for the security officers to come, but I’m bored and not worried because I know I didn’t do anything wrong.

My mother comes to meet up with me and we browse around while we wait. Finally the security guards arrive and they confirm that I can take the aprons to the register.

The subway is never the way it is in real life

I meet Josh at an office where we’re supposed to do some work. I’m planning to take the train home but he lets me share a black car with him.

The next day I go back and meet some other people in the office. There is a tall Scandinavian man working in the office and I flirt with him. He flirts back and says he thinks he might want to marry me. Turns out he is already married to an Asian woman and they have an infant. I sit with them in the cafeteria and hold the baby for her.

When I’m ready to go home I go over to the subway. The station is attached to a shopping mall and is served by a couple of different lines. I get on the N train but it is going the wrong direction, and I wind up at the end of the line. I go to look at the map and realize how far out I am. I try to plan my trip but I can’t figure out if the N/R/Q or the B/D/F will get me home faster.

The company is supposed to provide transportation but my Metrocard either isn’t working or they’re expecting me to use my personal card. I call someone in customer service and she’s rude to me and then hangs up on me. I stare at the time on my phone, shocked that she just hung up. When I call back she is angry with me in return. She says I should just use the Metrocard that I have and it won’t be a problem.

Big Love

I’ve been married into a polygamist Mormon family and I’m trying to escape. The lecherous father keeps coming after me.

I pass by Chloe Sevigny in the hallway and avert my eyes like I don’t know her, and she looks offended. Later I see her again and apologize, saying that I know we’re working on a project together. I explain that I’m a nobody and she’s Chloe Sevigny, a famous actress and international fashion plate. She laughs and we become friends, and we go shopping for hideous clothes at the department store.

A Visit to Seattle

I’m in a city that looks like London but I think it’s Seattle. The streets are all narrow and cobblestoned and dark, and the old buildings are shrouded by trees. There are lots of charming stores and coffee shops. But I still say that I don’t like the vibe and I prefer New York, even though the city is very appealing.

Sherri says she is moving her family from Seattle to San Francisco. We are browsing through shops and moving between spaces. We sit in a large group in a circle with a bunch of other people, in a space that might be a cafe but it seems more like a children’s store. My chair ricochets out of place and I slam into someone else, almost like bumper cars. I apologize profusely as I’m sure it hurt to be hit like that.

Ellen S. has a very young child and then gives birth to twins less than a year later. She must have gotten pregnant again immediately after giving birth to the first. I wonder how she and her husband are going to care for three children who are all infants.

I run out of money and I need to go to the ATM. When I go I have to take out a loan. I am left with the understanding that this is all the money that will be available to me, there isn’t any more. While I’m anxious about that, I’m also strangely relieved.

Clothing designer

I’m involved with a project for a client where we’re designing a line of clothing. Kevin also has part of the project and seems to be more closely involved with the client than I am. The client is a black woman.

I am asked to review samples of the clothing line on racks. The clothes are both urban/street wear and girly at the same time. I look at a pinafore styled dress, and at a pair of sandals that are pink and green and seem to be made out of rubber.

I really like some of the clothing and I ask my client if I can buy some of it it. She says I have to call in the order.
We go over to a phone bank that is made up of old rotary dial phones. They are all black phones, some are from the 40s like the phone that was in the sewing room when I was a child, and some are newer but still black rotary phones.

I’m nervous after I place the order that the clothes will be very expensive. They do wind up to be more than $200.

At the client location there is a rally for the Reverend Al Sharpton to be president. My client attacks him and tries to strangle him with a telephone cord.

Steve Jobs speech

I’m riding in the Google jet with the founders. Someone is trying to blow the jet up. I get yelled at for using an ad blocker.

Liz is donating some used sweaters, and I try some of them on.

I go to see Steve Jobs speak at a restaurant and bar. Everyone is excited to hear him and solicitous when he arrives. But the man speaking obviously isn’t Steve Jobs, he looks like a blow-dried marketing executive and he isn’t wearing a black turtleneck and blue jeans.

I’m looking at racks of clothing and I try on a denim skirt. The skirt is in a large size and it’s all ripped and frayed around the bottom, and it has some decorations on the front. It’s really not my style. But I tell the woman I’m with that I plan to buy it and she says it’s cute.

Trying on dresses

I am trying on dresses in an expensive boutique. They have a sale rack where things have been marked down. I try on what’s there but nothing is very attractive or fits very well.

I keep checking back and finally find a trove of items that I like. They have a whole series of skirts and dresses that are embroidered silk in bright jewel tones.

Zachary sends me a message at the store or tells the store something about me.

Kittens!

I’m walking through a big suburban department store with long curved aisles. I’m in the linens department but they don’t have very much stock on the shelves, most of the displays are empty or only have one or two things in them.

I meet a woman named Eleanor who has short black hair worn in a bob. We become friends. Later, I am watching TV with my mother and we see a crime program that says that Eleanor is dangerous. I am suspicious of the program and I think she’s been framed for the crime.

She and I are living in the same building. She brings her cat over. There seem to be a number of cats around and possibly a dog or two. Her cat starts having kittens. The cat doesn’t give birth to the kittens so much as extrude them, like putty from a tube. Once the kittens are born they immediately start running around on the floor. I notice that the kittens that were born first have a lot of orange and black color, but the later kittens are white with only a little bit of orange and black. I tell Eleanor about the kittens and we try to corral all the cats.

We go on vacation to a resort with Helen. The resort doesn’t have rooms for us and they are trying to get us to stay in tents. Helen says she has been to this resort before and refuses to accept the tent option as a solution. We ask them if they have even one room available for us.

After we sort out the room situation, we walk along another long curved hallway to visit the ladies room. There is a row of stalls along the back wall, and the room is crowded with women. There is a terrible stench coming from one of the toilets and everyone flees. Outside in the corridor we find a security guard and complain about the condition of the restroom. He doesn’t do anything about it, instead he threatens to have us thrown off the property or arrested for bringing it up.

German Department Store

I’m in some part of Eastern Germany and I am going to a department store. The store entrance is located at the end of a dangerous-looking and rundown alley. There is a big sign in 1920s style Bauhaus typography that lists the store directory and shows which items are on which floors.

It seems that instead of entering on the main floor and going up, everyone takes the elevator to the top floor and then works their way down. There is a group of young men who are all running down the alley to get to the elevator. I follow them.

I get into a really old, scary elevator with two boys who are about 13 or 14. When the elevator starts I am thrown up against one of the boys. It feels something like centrifugal force. I struggle against it to move away from the boy and go back to where I was standing, but I can’t break free. I’m terribly nervous because I think the boy will perceive my leaning against him as a provocation. Instead, he shows me that I  need to stand against a different side of the elevator, perpendicular to where I was standing earlier. I sink against the wall and am now standing between the two boys.

I think we are going to the top floor, which is the 14th floor, but the elevator lets us out on the 13th floor. I start looking around for the way up to the top floor but I can’t find it, all I can find are escalators and staircases that only go down. The department store has an Art Deco feel, lots of shiny black lacquer and chrome.

I pull a shiny new gold coin out of my pocket and look at the back. It has a design of flags and swastikas on it. I think to myself that it must be terrible to be Germany and have made the mistake of putting swastikas on your money, and then even though the symbol was later seen as being evil, to still have to have it on your coins because there was no way to pull the money out of circulation.

Doctor’s Office/Antique Store

I’m waiting in a large doctor’s office waiting room. The practice seems to have many different check-in counters on one floor, each for a different specialty. Hyo recommended this clinic to me and I’m afraid I’ll run into her in the waiting room.

The waiting room is also a store that sells antique and vintage housewares. There are many areas or rooms that focus on different types of home items, and these areas are integrated with the reception areas for the doctor’s office. I visit the doctor multiple times and have the experience of walking through the store many times.

On one visit I’m there with Scott. He’s really cheerful about what he’s doing there or what we’re looking for.

On another visit I’m there with my father. We’re browsing through an area that sells antique benches and booths. My father points one out to me that is in the same style as something we had when I was young. It’s brown leather or fabric and has brass rivets and some other decoration on the edges.

There is a guide or a radio program that informs people about changes in the waiting room/store. One of the segments covers the parking lot. It says that even though there is a whole section of handicapped parking, one of the spots in that section is a regular (not handicapped) space so people should look for it.

Japanese Restaurant

I’m eating with a big group of family members at a Japanese restaurant. We have to wait a long time for a table. While we’re waiting, some of us visit the sauna. After we get out of the sauna the restaurant gives us clothing to wear. I put on some shoes and some earrings along with a robe, and I’m trying to figure out if I can steal them and not get caught. I figure I can always say I forgot I had them on if anyone asks.

My family has two big tables in the restaurant. We eat a huge feast and I pay for it with my AMEX. When we leave and are driving around Minneapolis, I’m afraid that someone from the restaurant will see that I’ve stolen the earrings and shoes, and so I slip them off so no one will see them.

Information about my shoes

A woman with heavy arms is standing by the side of a pool. She asks me where I got my shoes. My shoes are over one year old but I still remember where I got them. I turn to a page in my notebook, and it already has information about my shoes on it. I had written down the information about the shoes for someone else. I’m surprised by the coincidence.

Coffee Dates at the Mall

I’m in a mall where there’s a big McDonalds with about 8 or 10 lines that are all at least 6 people deep. I’m on a date at the mall and we go out for expensive coffee drinks. I like the guy well enough. He says the next time we go out we’ll have coffee at McDonalds. While we’re standing there talking I see Harry waiting in line out of the corner of my eye — I feel a shock of recognition. My date asks who I’m looking at and I decide I don’t want to get into it, so I say I thought I saw someone I know.

The next night I go out on a date with someone different, but we’re in the mall again. We’re standing overlooking a railing on the mezzanine. My date notices my hearing aids and then shows me that he has them too. He pulls one out and I comment that we wear the same brand. He passes it to me and tells me to be careful, but I just laugh and say I know not to drop it. And I don’t. I can feel myself falling in love with him, I want to be with him so badly.

My date comes from a large family and I go to meet all of them. One of his sisters is getting married. It’s chaotic, people everywhere, all grabbing and laughing and yelling. I wonder if I can marry into this family because I don’t have siblings. Bob Lord is helping me clean up in the kitchen, it’s a huge mess. We’re talking about people making video resumes, he tells me that’s how everyone applies for jobs now. I say I’ll never get a job again because I could never make a video about myself. Bob and I are very friendly, there’s no awkwardness. I have all my cosmetics in a plastic zip-lock bag, and I’m afraid I’m going to lose it. The father in the family comes through and tells us to throw out everything that’s unnecessary.

Microsoft Campus

I’m visiting the Microsoft campus with Jai and Ryan. It’s really big and confusing. They have a small airport with a bunch of private planes, almost like in a parking lot. I comment on how many rich people must work there to be able to fly planes to work.

I’m in a department store in a mall with Stephen and Josh T. It’s sort of like Knollwood. I’m walking through it looking at cosmetics and other girly items. This store is supposed to have the best values. I pick up some free samples of some kind of serum. I feel excited, like I’m going to find a bargain. I tell them that I want to go shop for lingerie and maybe they shouldn’t go with me. I give Josh a hug.

Suicide

I’m supposed to commit suicide. I’m in my grandmother’s bathroom and there’s a grainy brownish clump of stuff I’m supposed to take that will kill me. I’m torn about whether I should take it or not. I know I’m expected to. I eventually decide not to and it makes everybody happy, even though I feel like I’m cheating.

Then I go to a sale in someone’s apartment. Everything is for sale, I think because she’s dead. People are swarming over the stuff for sale. I see some shoes that I like, but I can’t go back later for anything because people have bought up all the items.

Anxiety about moving forward

I ask my mother and another woman (like an aunt) if I should get pregnant. They slowly nod their heads and agree that I should.

I’m walking through a mall, trying to find how to get upstairs to the second level.

I’m with Harry and my mother trying to get onboard a plane. Harry gets on ahead of us, and then my mother and I can’t board.

Swimming in a pool

I’m swimming at a pool in Brooklyn with David F.

There’s a jewelry case where I’m looking to pick out earrings. I see some tiny garnets, four in a row. They remind me of a pair I had when I was in college. I decide I want to wear just a single tiny garnet earring.

Now I’m swimming with Adam M. The pool is dirty and cold.

Connecticut Realism

I’m with my father in our backyard on Prescott Drive. He takes me to see what’s tormenting him.

It’s a story in a book. It’s my grandmother. He has to pray with her. She’s very religious. He has to pray the story in the book every day and he hates it.

I look in the book to see the other stories, to see who the other stories are written by. I try to show him the other stories in the book.

I tell him that the authors of the other stories are all prominent members of a school called "Connecticut Realism."

We visit a shop that sells uniforms. All the clothes are displayed on mannequins and are sold in plastic packages.

I see a beautiful cashmere top and pants. I try to buy it, but the actual clothing in the packages is much cheaper fabric.

Forgotten birthday

I am supposed to be taking care of some plants, but I don’t water them and one dies. Several others are very thirsty and I can see them wilting.

I buy some candy and it’s very expensive. A piece of hard candy and a flower costs $50.

I forget Jonathan’s birthday. In my dream it’s July 3. I decide to give him the candy.

Lovely store, ugly store

I’m walking along a sidewalk from work to a store. The store is large and filled with wonderful food and kitchen products. The food is all sets of small treats and hors d’oeuvres. They’re beautifully arranged, bounteous, and can be sampled.

Liz D. is there and I comment that I haven’t seen her since Thanksgiving. My mother is also there and we decide to have lunch in their café. The store sells clothing too and a salesgirl helps me pick out some pieces for me and some for my mother. There is a green top that is made from beautiful fabric. All the pieces are kind of hippie granola. Later, I look at the green top and the fabric isn’t nearly as nice and I want to return it.

I am walking with a man and my aunt Brenda. He says he likes her. She has a hairbrush that expands open, it’s really high-tech, almost robotic. Brenda talks about losing weight and it appears that she has lost some.

We go into another store that has stuff on sale. It’s one of those stores in Uptown on Lake Street that never did well and were always going out of business. All the stuff in this store is junky and badly displayed. There seems to be a lot of stuff being sold that you wouldn’t really want.

Memphis

I’m in Memphis, driving around with a man who’s either my uncle or someone from work.

We go to a print store that also sells bags. I see a red leather backpack that’s on sale. The straps were kind of messed up, one was black and one was brown. Other people wanted it. We’re browsing the prints but my uncle says he doesn’t want to cause a racial incident.

We have shirts made. The shirt is nice because the facing on the placket is the selvedge.

We get coffee from a shack-type place that’s supposed to be amazing. I order decaf cappuccino and they laugh at me. They look in the back and it turns out to be a warehouse for a big bag of decaf beans.

Party in a store

I’m in a store looking around and I see an expensive handbag that was $5000 marked down to $159, so I buy it. I ask why it’s marked down so much, and the salesclerk says that it’s the only one like it they have, though they have unfinished ones in the back. The bag is brownish-tan leather.

A bunch of people come into the store and I realize it’s a party. I get a note in the mail and it’s a card from Liz that she made by sewing puffy fabric on the card. I see all my friends there, everyone I know — Jai, Ross, Susie & Jake. Susie and Jake want to stay outside and play hockey. Chad avoids me.

Walking through the party, some people comment on my sweater and ask who made it. It’s by Balenciaga but I don’t know how to pronounce it, so I show them the label. The label falls off and I give the label to one of the people who asked.

I say I sometimes dress as a tranny, which is an inside joke in reference to a comment that someone made earlier. At the time it seemed hilarious.

Across the room, someone points out the guy who owns the store. I want to meet him.

Cell phone vending machine

It’s night and I’m standing on a platform like a train platform. There is an expensive, fancy, round vending machine. In the vending machine there’s a Treo for sale for $300. I think that it would be dumb to buy a cell phone from a vending machine.

Later I come back and see that the phone is gone, someone bought it and left all the manuals behind. I discover that Chad bought it. He’s running around, acting like a maniac, tossing the phone around. I get really annoyed at how stupid he’s acting.