The Joy of Window Shopping.

Maybe I'm part of a dying breed but I still love to window shop. Remember window shopping? That thing you used to do with your parents when you were walking in a commercial district? You would walk from window to window looking at toys and stuff that caught your fancy and maybe, just maybe guilt your parents into buying something for you? Yeah, I still enjoy doing that.

Now that I'm older I've replaced toys and dresses with titanium rings and wood furniture, but it's still a joy. Maybe it's trying to reclaim a bit of my childhood but it's just something that I enjoy doing either with my family or by myself. There is just something so nice and calming about it, walking from window to window going "Oh, that would be cool to buy". Of course, being an adult I could go in and buy the product (which I do sometimes), but to me that's not the point of the whole experience. For me it's more about picturing the product in my apartment on in my car. It's like the last bit of fantasy us adults have. I'm convinced that's why the moment I got older I started enjoying the Home and Garden TV Network, the idea of "Ooo, we could do that". By imagining what you would do with said product in said window you are using your imagination, that thing that you abandoned the moment you realized you had to work for a living.

My favorite places to window shops are either streets lined with antique shops or long touristy avenues in resort areas (pricy but they always have nice stuff on display). Antique shops are almost a no brainer as they have some of the most interesting items on the planet. There is so much more personality in a table that has been around for several generations then one that was just taken off of an assembly line. Antique shops always have the most interesting stuff in their windows because, frankly, they put as much stuff as will fit big, medium and small.

Resort areas have a tendency to have long streets full of stores that try to lure customers in with elaborate and expensive window displays. Everything from mom and pop stores to large chain stores display products which are, depending on taste, either wonderful or forgettable, but never boring. I can spend a hours walking up and down the streets with a coffee in hand just looking at the products and dreaming about where to put them. Maybe it's just me, but there is something quite magical about that experience.