As for my retail therapy today...
It was all purely window shopping. I was tempted by a few items, but I never made it to a cash register with anything in hand.
What was fun was looking at all these people getting out their cars dressed to the nines - men in tuxedos, ladies in ballgowns - and then proceeding through Pentagon City mall to the subway to take the Metro into town for the Inaugural Balls. The entrance to the Metro is through the Food Court, and it started to look like a Fellini movie with all the various forms of dress on display. -There were also a lot of groups at Pentagon City who had just come back in from the Inaugural Parade. And there was also something going on at the Ritz Carlton next door - lots of limos.
Thankfully, the trip in to the theatre was painless. A little slowdown at the end of the 14th Street Bridge - it was closed off so that you could not proceed onto 14th Street - but, otherwise, it seemed like a very light rush hour. And, apparently, it was a very light rush hour. Most people took the day off, and/or took the Metro in for the events during the day.