My mother loves J Jill (she is 66) and I do too, their clothes are elegant and classic but comfortable. Many pieces go together with many other pieces, and they even have a free personal shopper to help you in the store or online. And best of all, if you call or place an order in a shop in your mall you get free shipping! I agree with you, many department stores leave the over 50 set without a lot of choices. Here is a link that might be useful: J Jill

jt...that is a worrisome description you give of your friend. The combination of eating the french fries and then describing how thin she is and the condition of her teeth leads me to think that she is purging by vomiting, known as bulimia.The stomach acids eat away the enamel on the teeth. It is very very common. I ran with a friend that did it. I finally confronted him after hearing him in the bathroom. We would eat lunch and he would have all of this stuff that one wouldn't think a runner would eat. Then he would always have a reason for going to the bathroom. i followed him and listened. So sad. He also would stop by the trail to supposedly urinate but he was actually vomiting the snacks/lunch we had eaten. He was able to finally get it under control. As an aside he is a clinical psychologist Phd. My DD had a friend in high school who also purged. Her Mom found glass jars of vomit in the girl's closet. Really really sad. The Mom is an MD and did seek help but it was very hard for this gal to accept help. She had to go away to a facility in order to get well. The disorder is extremely addicting and consequently very hard to get over. Here is a link. c Here is a link that might be useful: bulimia and famous people

Ha! Yes! That is the mall that I fondly remember. We saved our allowance and babysitting money and lived for the weekends when our moms would drop us off and just let us wander the place for hours. I remember crushing on the cute boys who worked at the pizza place (a giant slice of pizza and a Dr. Pepper was always a must) - oh, and then a box of Karmelkorn and an Orange Julius. That was back in the day when Pier 1 was, as you say, BB, "junky". But what fun it was! Lerner's was a popular store for teen girls, and I unloaded quite a bit of my teenage cash in there! I remember spending hours in Musicland, the record store, then going next door to the t-shirt shop where you could have your choice of iron-on transfers applied while you wait. (I bought an ELO shirt there. ;-)) We were generally well behaved kids, but I do recall one time riding the elevator in Penney's and screaming all the way up. As the doors opened onto the second level, we were met by a very irritated security guard. We were mortified, and so worried that they were going to call our parents. Back then, we still believed that something like that could "go down on your permanent record." Ah. Nostalgia.

Lori, so sorry about the vertigo. I hope some of the advice here helps. I also am sensitive to scents. It tends to go in cycles, getting worse when my immune system is on high alert (meaning my sensitivity ramps up and shortly thereafter I get sick with a cold or flu). When it's bad, it seems like everyone is wearing cologne, even though I know that I'm probably just smelling the same soap or lotion or shampoo that they use every day. I once found myself following a woman on the sidewalk who I could smell from half a block away. It usually shows up as either post-nasal drip (and the subsequent throat-clearing and coughing) or as lightheadedness and an inability to concentrate, depending on the particular chemicals in the scent (I think). For me, it started in graduate school with powder fresh deodorant (my own). After I fainted a couple times in shops like Bath and Body Works, I learned to avoid them. I buy unscented products when I can get them and check the scent of other products (like shampoo) before I buy them. I'm pretty proactive about telling folks who I can't avoid (office mates, other members of my choir) that I have a problem with their lotion (or whatever) and they have been very good about cooperating. It's the strangers or folks I see only occasionally where I get into trouble (and don't feel okay bringing it up). Banning perfumes is on my "queen for a day" list (along with reforming social security and the US income tax system).