Deja Vu in Punta de Mita

We did a little afternoon excursion to Punta de Mita yesterday - a beachside town north of Bucerias.

It's obvious there is money in Punta de Mita. Don't ask me why or how I can tell (I would sound like a total snob if I listed the factors I use to deduce the presence of serious money). But, the beach in Punta de Mita is quite small and very rocky (in front of the town anyway, maybe not within the gated and guarded Four Seasons mega-resort that I can't get access to!).

The town is quite small, but cute, with the requisite beachfront restaurants and shops - all very charming. I would get bored staying there for any length of time, but it's great for an afternoon. Okay, maybe I have to modify that bored statement somewhat...I could probably spend a very happy week or so ensconced at the "Hotel des Artistes" at the end of the beach. It's quite luxury/chi-chi, especially for Mexico. My husband and I always joke that, just given a chance, we'd make great rich people. But we do okay, and somehow manage to craft as many champagne moments as possible into our beer budget life.

I freely admit that I am a shopper, and I like nice clothes. The Puerto Vallarta area has a serious lack of decent women's clothing and stores. There is a market here for higher-end/designer resort wear, but nobody's tapping it. It's pretty much all cheap T-shirts, pareos (beach wraps) and beach dresses that are fringed, tie-dyed and have bodices that are simply elasticized smocking. Liverpool department store in PV is pretty good, but the prices are high and the selection is limited. I exhausted the Liverpool option a couple of weeks ago and needed fresh territory.

Punta de Mita seemed like the answer because it has a boutique specializing in "La Perla" clothing/bathing suits and resort wear, with a lovely interior design/art gallery nearby to keep my husband entertained.

I had been to the La Perla boutique last year and remember I didn't buy anything. This visit reminded me why. The prices were still ridiculously high $400.00 - $500.00 for bikinis...but it was the same saleslady this year who drove me out of there last time.

I didn't remember her at first, but it all came back to me within minutes. Upon entering the store, she took one look at me (I am 5' 10" tall and currently about 163 lbs) and told me everything on display and on the racks is a "Medium - a small medium" which is about a size 8, but that she has larger sizes in the back if I want to try anything on. Fine - no problem.

Then, as I browsed, she watched from across the store. If I lingered on anything, or took it off the rack for a closer look, she would call over that I'd need a larger size and to let her know if I wanted her to fetch the big stuff. Maybe she was trying to be helpful. But, being essentially shouted at 10-12 times in the space of a few minutes that I'd need something bigger is NOT good sales psychology, and started to really piss me off - especially considering some of the stuff I was looking at on the rack definitely would have fit me. But not in her mind!

I remembered this was exactly the experience I had in that store last year - the incessant and loud reminders that she thought I was too big for this line of clothing. So annoying! A saleslady with body dysmorphia disorder re: her customers - how does she sell anything? Once more, I walked out of there without buying anything and now don't plan to ever cross their threshhold again.

However, John had hit paydirt at the gallery, and we did our bit to "keep Punta de Mita green."

Todo bien. (It's all good.)