erin mccann |Verified account

A week or so ago, I popped into Loft to buy a dress after work, something I've been doing for, oh, a decade or so, the frequency ebbing or flowing as their quality has. (Less so lately because ugh can we please have shoulder fabric again already?)

I bought a cute cotton dress, didn't try it on because Times Square and, also, I know how their stuff fits me. Tried it on at home and woah howdy was that one ugly dress on me.

So I threw it back in the bag, kept the receipt, went on about my busy life. On Tuesday, I was coming into work a little late and thought "oh great I'll stop and return the dress!" Put it in my messenger bag, put my computer on top of it, headed to work.

Trains were dumb, so I just went straight into the office. Ok, fine, I'll just pop over some time when I have a minute, I thought. Tuesday was a late night, so I took a cab home from the office. Same setup: put my computer back in the pack, roll straight from the door to bed.

Wednesday morning rolls around, sooner than I'd like. I'm up after 4 or 5 hours of sleep, because body clocks are dumb. Do a bit of work from the couch, go grab a coffee, head back into the office.

It's only, like, 3pm yesterday that it dawns on me that my bag is light. The dress isn't there.

I have, since then, checked under my couch. In every drawer at my desk. Inside my mostly empty bag at leas four times wondering if there's a Mary Poppins situation happening.

Nope. Nada.