The next day of Jane’s visit, we went to the Pentagon City shopping mall.

It was funny; for the first hour we were there, I had this funny feeling that I had been there before. But that couldn’t be — I knew for certain that I had never come this way while I was living in DC, had never even gotten off at the Pentagon City stop. I visited the Pentagon itself, sure, on a class trip earlier that semester, but I simply passed by Pentagon City without so much as a glance.

As we walked around and shopped (including spending $200 on Express clothes for a sponsored Instagram post — thanks, Express!), I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had been there before. There was something about it that looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

It wasn’t until I looked up at the ceiling that I realized why I felt like I had been there before — it was because I had, but not during this semester in DC. No, I was here back when I was in 5th grade on a trip with my parents to see New York City and Washington DC. I hadn’t been able to recognize the mall until I glanced upwards and saw the distinctive geometric shape of the four floors reaching up to the glass sky.

Funny how memories like that work —  I wonder how many other times I’ve gotten the feeling that I’ve recognized someone or someplace but I haven’t been able to place them because I was overlooking a particular detail that would have reminded me of who/what they were? There are probably people and places we’ve been that we’ve completely forgotten, that we’ll never be able to remember again on our own unless something triggers the memory — and even then, there may be some memories that can never be triggered again. Like, you can’t disprove that those memories exist because you can’t remember them…but they’re probably there.

There, make that your sequel to Inside Out, Pixar.

That’s about it for today. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in the next one with more updates on my life this semester in Washington, DC. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Bloglovin, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com!

Blouse: Express

Trousers: Express

Headband: Express