Favorite Shirt
When I was in college I was a thrift store maniac. I had virtually no budget for clothes, but loved having unique stuff. Naturally thrift stores (and clearance racks) became my best friends. My favorite shirt cost me a $1 at a local thrift shop and even now, 10 years later I get all ga-ga and weird when I see this shirt. The label is in Chinese, but it is marked with an "L" (for "little", obviously, because I am an "L" now and this shirt definitely no longer fits me) and says "hand embroidered". I remember being in the thrift store and breaking out into a cold sweat until I bought it, because I was sure an employee would take it and say "Oh! That wasn't supposed to go out here!"
I haven't been able to wear it in years, 
but I don't care. No matter what I wore it with I always felt pretty. I probably like it so much because it reminds me of when I was younger. It's one of those things that I look at and have a slight bittersweet feeling.
I remember my first love and all the pain that surrounded that, my best friends and how we couldn't imagine life without each other, and meeting Aaron, falling in love with him and knowing that he was the real deal. I remember what it felt like to live at home, being an adult but having no real freedom. I remember deciding to move out on my own and just doing it, even though I had no idea what I was doing. When I look at this shirt I remember being 19 and uncertain at where my life was going and what I was going to be.
I don't remember specific times wearing it, but it certainly embodies a time in my life where I learned a lot. I don't think I own anything else that evokes that kind of memory. I was really 
suprised at the people and places that flooded me when I picked up the shirt and started looking at it. I'm sure 10 years from now, I'll be going through my kids stuff and find a toy or book or peice of clothing that will instantly bring me back to 2007 and this house, the friends we have now and the funny things my kids are doing. If I'm really lucky it will be something that I made by hand that will trigger the memories.
