Glamour Shots -- the end of THAT story

Yeah, so, I made Glamour Shots redo the photos because of the little speck on one of them.  (And they're both on the same piece of paper.  That's right -- you buy two 5 x 7s and the cheap weasels won't even separate 'em with a nice paper-cutter for you -- they leave you to it with your scissors.)  Photos were ready on, uh, must have been Thursday.

So I go to the mall to pick them up after work on Thursday.  I get there around 7:00.  I have two hours before the place closes.  I need to pick up a frame because I'm going to see my mom on Saturday and it would be nice to give it to her all framed and stuff.

On my way over to Glamour Shots -- inside the mall -- I pass a Carlton Cards store.  They have a bunch of frames -- including a decent one with lots of open curlicues on it, except it's in a matte pewtery sort of color, and I'm really looking for bronze to set off the sepia.

Here's a tip:  if you ever think, "Gee, what a lovely sepia photo -- I think I'll buy it," first put a little thought into where you're going to get a frame for the damn thing.

I get the photos at Glamour Shots.  I hobble on over to Macy's at the other side of the mall, thinking I'll get a nice frame, then grab some dinner in the food court, then head on home.

Riiiiight.  I stand there in Macy's for about a half hour, holding my little photo up against all the frames in there.  Silver?  No.  Gold?  No.  Black? ...ok, MAYBE Black, but the black has a little bit of silver or gold on it, and what we really need here is bronze.  Trudge out of Macy's in disgust. 

Go into "Things Remembered," thinking I might get a frame I could even personalize to mom there.  Wood frames?  No.  Silver frame?  No.  Shiny Blue frame?  No.  Shiny Red frame? .... ok, MAYBE shiny red.  (Shiny red as in reddish chrome, not shiny red as in nail polish.)  Except they've only got shiny red in 8 x 10 and 4 x 6.  I go up to the lady at the desk and ask if they've got shiny red in 5 x 7.  Now, she can't just look at her stock; she needs to get the product number to type it into her computer.  So she starts flipping through pages in the "Frames" section of the inventory book.  She goes right past it.  I can see this from the other side of the counter, even though I'm looking at the book upside down.  She finishes and says, "I can't find it."  I end up walking her back through the book to find it.  (That page is silver, turn the page; ok, black, turn the page; ok, blue, keep going.  See!  Red!  Now, look at the one in the middle of the page.  Between the 8 x 10 and the 4 x 6.  Yay you!)  So she finds it, types it in.  No 5 x 7 shiny red in stock.  Sigh.

Off to Hallmark.  Off to JC Penney.  Nothing and nothing, although I spend quite a bit of time in Penney's since their frame section is so disorganized.  (A 50% off sale will do that to you.)  Finally, I realize it's about 8:45 -- dinner is totally out, and I better get a frame and get the heck out of this mall before I get locked in.

I go back to the very first store -- Carlton Cards -- and buy the pewter frame.

Friday night, I'm out to dinner with friends, who suggest I go to Aaron Brothers.  (We got an Aaron Brothers?  Yeah, apparently within walking distance of my condo.  Who knew?)  So, on my way to the airport on Saturday, I stop off at Aaron Brothers.  Success!  A 5 x 7 frame with all the open curlicues in bronze.  Hooray!  I reframe the photo right there, throw the pewter frame in my trunk, and head off to the airport.

Can't show you the frame 'cause mom has it now.  Here's the pic: