It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole year since Mint opened. I remember it like one remembers every single word of a really terrible song. No, that’s not right. I remember it like I remember the time in third grade that I threw up four times in the school cafeteria but got to stay home the rest of the week.

Hm. That’s not the image I’m going for, either.

Let’s just say that I remember it with mixed emotions. So, so proud of and happy for Anna after working really hard to open that store, yet so, so FREAKING OUT that I was losing my hair dresser. Bittersweet… but mostly sweet. Yes… maybe that’s what I should have said in the first place.

Can we just start this post over?

I’m happy for Anna and my hair misses her.

Her store, Mint, is just awesome and quintessentially her. Brandy and I went there recently to browse. I had my kids with me, but that’s okay because Anna’s equipped: she’s got Legos. That bought us a good twenty minutes to drool over the new arrivals for spring. The variety in the store is fantastic. Not only does she have an array of dresses, skirts, and tops (sizes, styles, colors, and “levels of fanciness”)–which I appreciate because I am so weirdly shaped–but she also sells jewelry, handbags, shoes, and a random collection of bizarre oddities.

Like coin banks that say “Saving for Therapy.” And the always-classic Vinnie’s Tampon Case. Greeting cards. Wine bottle stoppers. And sticky notes that say “Just wanted you to know: something smells/this sucks/check your teeth/you rock.”

At this point those twenty minutes expired and Cal threw an Angry Bird across the store (“but he wanted to fly, Mom!”) and hit the earring display. Ohnoyoudidnot! And I had to put him in time out, which bought us another five minutes.

         During this time, the three of us had an attack of girliness and I was coerced–no, FORCED, to try on some items. So I hunched over in the dressing room, and squeezed and tugged and even laughed out loud… although I really do like that feather dress. (Anna later told me I chose the “short person” dressing room. It was sort of like being in Alice in Wonderland, you know, where she grows really big and gets her head stuck in the ceiling thing.) I tried on these:

On our way out, we saw half-price winter hats! I ended up buying mine…

… and later I doubled back and got the other one for Brandy, along with a pack of “something smells” sticky notes. Just so she knows. And since then, we went back to Mint to see Denise Kanter Allen’s art on First Friday (post forthcoming!) and I picked up that feather dress.

Visit Anna at Mint on West Market Street in the Union Station building. She’s open Monday – Saturday, 11 til 6.