Institution Chic Becomes A Reality

Today for about 15 minutes I went legit crazy.

I decided that I needed a pair of pants that wasn't jeans or white jeans so I decided to brave the crowds and go shopping at the Grove. For those of you not familiar with the Grove it is a huge outdoor mall here in LA. It looks like a movie set and has a massive fountain in the middle. Tons of restaurants, expensive shopping, cheap shopping (or as I like to refer to it Part Time Paycheck Shopping) and even a movie theater.

The garage for the Grove is massive and has 7 levels, lucky for me I found a spot close to the elevators on level "4." I navigated my way through the crowds at the Gap and found my awesome new pair of corduroys for super cheap. Awesome. I was done shopping in under 20 minutes. I made my way back to the garage and riding up the elevator I was thinking, I'm on level 4, I'm on level 4, that woman should not be wearing that skirt, I'm on level 4.

I exit on level 4 and walk to where I parked my car. It is not there. Ok I think, I'm not the worlds most with it person so there is a HUGE possibility that I forgot where I originally parked, no big deal. So I start wandering around level 4 of the parking lot. Now anyone who has parked or has tried to park in a busy lot knows that the best bet when it comes to finding a spot is to follow a person walking to their car. In under 15 seconds I had developed quite the following of cars. Of course I am their biggest nightmare because I am wandering aimlessly between the aisles, basically the biggest parking spot tease of all time. Finally I start to panic when I realized I have checked all the aisles near where I thought I parked. So I decide to set off my alarm and follow the sound to my car. I am relieved to hear my alarm start, confirming my car was not stolen. So I start to walk towards the sound, I turn the alarm off and wait to see my blue jeep with MD plates. It does not appear. So I set my alarm off again, and again I hear it. So I walk back towards where I hear it. Now at this point I am really really starting to get pissed off with myself, I mean how out of it am I that I cant find my beeping and blinking car. So I go into full search mode, waving off the line of cars following my every mood I start walking up and down the aisles. I locate the loudest spot with my alarm beeping and once again turn it off. Once again I still cannot find my car. At this point I am almost crying. I am about to rip my hair out, I am convinced I am going crazy. I hear my car, but I cannot see my car. I set my alarm off again. I hear the beeping loud and clear, and no car. I am feeling so defeated I throw my hands up and in that moment through the openings in the ceiling I see red blinking lights coinciding with my beeping car.

I had parked on level 5. My car was above my head the entire time.