Hello all,

Sorry for the long delay since my last visit to XMarks. This wedding planning stuff is a nightmare. You'd think that all the work which goes into a wedding would be enough to make people avoid divorce simply so that they don't have to go through it all again!

Anyway, back to my real reason for posting. Nopadon took me to the Irish Shop in Occaquan, Virginia, today. It's a great little store and jam packed with clothing, collectibles, and anything else imaginable that is related to Ireland or Scotland. Even better pretty much every item of clothing I saw was made in either Ireland or Scotland - a real big plus in my book!

They used to have a kilt-rental business but have stopped that and were clearing out their stock of rental clothing. Among the items for sale at 50% off the "used" price were PC jackets & vests, Argyle Jackets & kilts. I didn't have a black argyle yet and was quite pleased when they had one in my size, so of course I bought it. I tried on several kilts, but only one was the right size for me. It was a blue on blue "lion rampant" kilt. Normally I don't like those newcomers to kilt making, but it grew on me and I bought it. Finally I got a new kilt belt.

However, what shocked me was that Nopadon decided to try on a few kilts too! He wound up getting 2 kilts (one Gordon Highlanders and the other a Red on Saffron Lion Rampant) as well as a pack of kilt hose, sporran & chain, & kilt belt. So now my honey has decided to join the legion of kilt wearers as well! He doesn't yet have enough to go full time, and his job won't let him do it all the time (damn police uniforms) but he's at least fitted for weekend and evening wear when he pleases.

Tomorrow will be the first Sunday where we'll both go to church kilted. :rolleyes: Nopadon said that since he would be joining my family and clan (he's decided to take my surname after the wedding) that he'd better get into a kilt at some point. I think he's just tired of me getting all the attention when we go out in public. Plus he's heard me comment far too many times on how comfortable these things are. And even during the short time that he wore a kilt while trying them one today, he could tell that they were very comfortable. The only thing that got him was how high a traditional kilt is worn, but I told him that he'd get used to it.

So add one more man to our legion.

Oh, and in case anyone is interested, the shop is right by the pier in Old Town Occaquan in the multi-store building across from the tourist info center. Not only do they have some great sale prices right now and several nice heavy-weight Lochcarron kilts at incredibly low prices ($250 or less) but they have chosen to take the option offered by the Commonwealth and extend the sales tax holiday to all clothing purchases, and not just those for school and under $150. So you can get yourself a decent kilt or jacket or irish sweater tax free tomorrow if you get there before they close at 5 PM.

I'm just so happy to have not only gotten a new kilt today (which was totally unexpected on its own) but also to find that my honey is getting into kilts too.

Too bad that we're different sizes, otherwise it would be really easy to justify a new kilt purchase!