No to Navy Blue, Green, Brown or Gray

Last Wednesday Michael and Jacob turned 13. For their 12th birthday we got them their first suit since they would be Deacons at church. I wish we would have measured how tall they were at 12, so we could have seen how much they have grown in one year. Michael is at least 6 feet tall and Jacob is probably an inch or two shorter. Well, those suits we bought last year are too small now, so we told the boys for their birthday we would buy them another suit.

Last Tuesday night we got a babysitter for the girls and went out alone with the boys. We had a fun dinner at CB Potts. The service wasn't quick, but it didn't really matter because we only had the boys and they can now behave when we go out to dinner.

After dinner we headed over to the Flat Irons Mall. We thought for sure we could find a suit at one of the major department stores. We went to Dillards first. The very helpful salesman measured the boys. He said that both of the boys measured as a size 36R. Unfortunately, they only carried 36S (short). I guess most companies think if your a size 36 you're also short - not my boys! The salesman suggested we check out Macy's. We walked to the other end of the mall. The helpful saleswoman said the same thing we heard at Dillards - no 36R just 36S. She was a quirky lady that said all her life she had a hard time finding clothes that fit so she started to make her own. Rex replied, there you go, Bek, why don't you make them a suit? I don't think so. The only thing I sew in the clothing department is Halloween costumes because it's dark when you wear them and people can't really see how well you sew. The quirky saleslady suggested we go to Nordstorms. Wouldn't you guess the last store we go to and they have two 36R suits? One was gray and one was sort of green. Jacob tried one on and it did fit quite well. The salesman left for a moment and I asked Rex how much they were. He turned the price tags over - one was $795 and the other $895. What?! We weren't about to spend that kind of money on two suits that our sons would probably wear for less than a year. Have you ever been in this situation? You find out how much something costs and you know it's well out of your price range? You know you need to get out, but how? We turned and left. We just kept walking.

Luckily, I was headed to Utah to scrapbook last weekend, so I suggested that I just pick up two suits at good old Mr. Mac's. We could get them altered here in Colorado. So that's what I did. The boys gave me explicit instructions, "We want black suits, plain black suits."

Mr. Mac does have LOTS of 36R suits. Since Michael is a bit taller we decided to get him a 38R so the suit would last a bit longer. I went to the Mr. Mac in Salt Lake thinking they would have a better selection. Can you believe it? They didn't have a single solid black suit in 36R or 38R. I called Jacob. "Jacob, which would you prefer a navy suit or a black one with pin strips?" He answered very quickly, "The black one - no navy." Unfortuately, they didn't have any black suits for Michael - no solid black, no pin stripes. So yet another trip to Mr. Mac's in Bountiful. Yes! They had a 38R plain black suit for Michael. Who would have thought it would be so hard to find two black suits?

Oh, and if you've had a hard time telling Michael and Jacob apart, now you know: Michael, plain black and Jacob, black with pin stripes.