Some of you may know that I recently took a job at the local outlet mall in the Chico's store. I do so love Chico's, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make a little steady cash, get out of the house, socialize and get some amazing clothes at a discount.

Sounds good in theory. The truth is, I hate crowds and I deal with quite a bit of anxiety on a regular basis. What the hell was I thinking when I decided to work at one of the most crowded retail environments around - the outlet mall?! Long story short, I nearly had a nervous breakdown over Labor Day weekend and told my new boss that it would be a tremendous waste of time to continue with the training only to have me go through panic attacks on a regular basis. So I left my short-lived retail career behind me.

I actually used to work at that mall in college. I can't say that I loved the job, but the crowds didn't get to me the way they do now. I'm not sure what has caused that. Perhaps it's the solitary life I lead. I went through this a bit after I left a job as a house parent at a residential facility for juvenile offenders. I had lived at work, with not much need to leave the familiarity of my home or the facility's campus. Venturing out into the world when I left that job took a lot of time and effort.

So I've decided to stick with my writing job, designating once a week at least to go out in public to work. We have a fabulous local coffee shop, and there's Panera nearby as well. I can visit with friends and do a little shopping while I'm out, but I will get out. I can't spend my life feeling anxious and sticking around my home.

Deep down, I'm actually happy with my decision. The costs of daycare and gas would have negated much of my retail income, anyway. Now I have even more motivation to work on my writing career, where things are actually going quite well, I might add.

In the mean time, since I'm going to be doing all of this getting out of the house and such, I need some new clothes to wear. I'm just playing around with ShopStyle to get some ideas of what my tastes are. Another favorite tool for this is Pinterest, where you can "pin" visual representations of the things you love.

What do you think of this outfit I put together? Yes, that's a Kate Spade bag. Way out of my price range, but I'm just looking for ideas here, people! Where are some of your favorite places to shop? I'm particularly interested in great plus size clothing. I'm really liking TJ Maxx and Ross right now. What do you suggest?