Birthday gift multiplies in post-Christmas spree

Some girls have all the luck.

Kayla Noddin of Milford is one of them. For her Sweet 16, her mother, Jennifer Rossignol, threw her a luau party AND gave her a giant shopping spree. Since her birthday falls right after Christmas, it was a joint gift, but a generous one no matter how you slice it. And to top it all off, Mom recruited me to join in on the fun with a letter that began: “My daughter … and I love your column!!”

How could I refuse?

Kayla is a sophomore at John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, which has a fairly rigid dress code – no cargo pants, no short skirts and (this would kill me) no blue jeans. While some teens would hate the constraints, Kayla enjoys the chance to dress up for school. She also loves to dance, and she recently joined her school’s cheering squad.

Her needs were simple: pants that are dressy but not fussy (and not black or khaki), a few skirts and some unrevealing shirts for school, and warm-ups for extracurriculars. But while it sounded easy, there were a few pitfalls – if you’ve ever tried to find a decent-length skirt for a teenage girl, you know what I mean. Plus, I’m nearly twice Kayla’s age and I have a hard time finding dress pants that don’t look matronly – imagine how she feels. But we were both up for the challenge.

Marden’s recently received a giant shipment of drastically discounted Gap clothing, so we started there. And we hit the jackpot. After 10 minutes, we had our cart filled to overflowing, and since Kayla’s a wisp of a gal, everything looked great on her.

It took a good half-hour to try it all on, but in the end, she wound up buying a silvery-pink cardigan ($16.79) with a knit camisole to wear underneath ($6.49); a pair of wintergreen corduroys ($12.79), a pair of faded red corduroys ($19.79) and a pair of rose-colored velvet pants ($19.79); blue yoga pants ($12.79); and T-shirts in green and brown ($7.49 each). The whole shebang set her back a modest $108.59, with tax.

Next, we set off to T.J. Maxx ‘n More in Bangor, where clearance was the word of the day. Again, we loaded up a cart with jeans to wear when she’s not in school, cardigans, pants, skirts and shirts. Again, she headed to the changing room and didn’t emerge for a half-hour or so.

There were a few surprises – a maroon sweater she thought she’d hate wound up being one of her favorites, and at $7, who could blame her? None of the skirts was long enough. And for cheering, she found a black velour hoody from Express on clearance for $10. Bargain.

She also picked up a black V-neck from Express for $7.99; a soft, fuzzy white sweater for $16.99; and a cute pair of L.E.I. jeans for $16.99. The grand total there was $72.41.

By this point, Kayla was starting to get a little tired. I’m a marathon shopper, and I’ve been known to wear out even the most dedicated of bargain hunters. But Kayla pressed on, because she needed a tote to haul all of her cheering gear in. So off we went to Burlington Coat Factory. The tote was a no-go, but she did find a pair of velour warm-up pants on the clearance rack for $10.

The pants were sweet, but Kayla was beat. As we got into the car, she looked dazed, but happy. Then she turned to the bags in the back seat and said, “I can’t believe how many clothes I got. … I don’t know what I’m going to wear tomorrow.”

I’m sure she figured it out. And since she only spent $191.50, she has more than $100 left over for that cheering bag, or a few skirts – if she can find them.

ShopGirl would love to hear from you! Send questions, comments or suggestions by e-mail to: kandresen@bangordailynews.net, by U.S. mail to: Kristen Andresen, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329, or by fax to: 941-9476. Tune in to ShopGirl at 5 p.m. Fridays on WLBZ-2.