pajamas Archives | PastaQueen

I went to the Country Music Hall of Fame when I was in Nashville, because I was a tourist and it seemed like a tourist-y thing to do. There were some weird things there, like this taxidermy band made of squirrels that Hank Williams shot himself, which I definitely didn’t want:

Squirrel band

And this oboe clarinet lamp, which I totally did want:

Oboe lamp

I wonder if you can blow through the light bulb socket and make it play?

Of all the items at the museum, the one that stuck with me was a pair of Hank Williams “cinnamon-orange silk pajamas.” I didn’t take a photo of them because…I didn’t. Sorry, live with it. First off, it seems odd to me to describe pajamas as cinnamon colored because it makes them sound edible. I’m 99% sure they were not edible. But secondly, it made me wonder, at what point do your pajamas become museum worthy? My pajamas—not currently museum worthy. However, if I were to put my pajamas in a vacuum-sealed container for the next 1000 years, I bet they would be considered museum worthy by our descendants. They might not even wear pajamas in the future! They might all be living naked on the moon! The pajamas of a 21st century, middle-class woman would be considered a relic, just as the pajamas of a 11th century, serf would be museum worthy today.

But Hank Williams is not 1000 years old. His pajamas are in a museum because…I really don’t know why. Do country music fans really care about his pajamas? I guess if you’re a big Hank Williams fan you might be interested. If you consider Hank an icon, seeing his pajamas humanizes him and makes him seem like a real person who wears bed clothes like the rest of us. They’re the pajamas behind the persona. So, within that particular subculture, Hank’s pajamas are museum worthy. However, they’d never make it to the British museum or the Louvre. I mean, the Louvre doesn’t even display textiles, do they? Maybe they do. It’s a huuuuuuuge place and I don’t care enough to look it up.

So, that’s what I got from visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame—a pajama puzzle. I’m weird, I know. As for the rest of the museum, it really wasn’t that big so I didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth. But I’m not big into country music either. The sound design of the museum was rather cool though. They had directional speakers hanging from the ceiling so you’d hear different songs at different spots in the building. I wouldn’t qualify the place as a must-see though, unless you’re really into pajamas.

I opened my mail and saw the Kohls 15% off coupon at the bottom of the stack. That’s when I knew. It was time to buy some pajamas.

I needed winter pajamas, not my flimsy summer pajamas that keep me cool in the summer months. The pink hearts and polka dots are cute, but I needed pajamas that would keep me warm enough under the covers that I could turn the heat down to 60 degrees for the night. That’s because I am becoming my mother, a woman who kept the house at 64 degrees during the winter to save on heating bills so we could afford to pay the mortgage. (Hi, Mom!)

At the time, I was not happy that I had to pile on comforters when I watched TV and that I had to wear layers of sweaters to keep warm. I would beg to turn up the heat a degree or two, and she would usually oblige. But now that my electric bill is creeping up and the stock market has crashed down, I’ve decided my mother was a smart lady and that the cost of a thick pair of pajamas will save me money on electricity in the long run.

These are the pajamas I got, Simply Vera Wang microfleece, except they have polka dots instead of a checkered pattern. They also don’t float in midair on their own, so I obviously got a defective pair. They are comfy and warm and will probably pay for themselves in a month or two.

I’ve been trying to think of other ways to cut costs. My job is safe for now, but I don’t know what 2009 will bring. There are always unexpected bills. I try to use coupons, but frequently I get coupon anxiety coupled with coupon guilt. I got my oil changed last weekend, but felt stupid that I’d forgotten to bring my dollar off coupon. The worry I felt was not worth the $1.00 I would have saved. I go through my coupons in my billfold occasionally and feel guilty for every expired coupon I forgot to use because I have not saved as much money as I could have. It is like life is a game and I’m not scoring as many points as I could. I will never get my initials on the high-score list this way.

Has anyone else been doing things to save money? I hear Goodwill is doing good business. I’ve cut back on buying new clothes unless it’s necessary. I’m not buying the new TV I was going to get before the recession. These are not drastic choices and aren’t anywhere near the sacrifices other people are making, but I wonder how everyone else is managing.

Filed Under: pajamas

The pajama question

Vera Wang will save me money

Filed Under: pajamas

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