Last Friday, my roommates and I decided to fill our empty day with a trip to Syracuse. Though our trip was planned, I initially insisted on driving to Pyramid Mall first to say “Wow! This is severely lacking. Let’s go to Syracuse!” My tendency to run very late led my friends to prohibiting me from doing this and 100 percent completing #128: Go to the Pyramid Mall (or, Shops at Ithaca Mall, as it’s now officially called), realize it is severely lacking, then drive to Carousel Mall in Syracuse.

As it was, I managed to get rather disoriented on Dryden Road prior to leaving Ithaca and ended up arriving at the mall a good half hour after the other car in our caravan.

My intention in going to the mall was to purchase two things — a backpack and a cell phone cover — and ride the carousel. I was quickly distracted, however, by my first step inside Lord & Taylor.

Before this trip, I had assumed that the department store was comparable to the Ithaca Bon Ton, but I was amazed at the selection of overpriced cosmetics before me. Three lip glosses, six annoying salespeople and 30 minutes later, I was ready to step foot in the actual mall.

I should mention that I have a completely irrational fear of large enclosed spaces, malls in particular. Walmarts and Costcos cause me to hyperventilate; I once started hysterically crying in an Ikea because I couldn’t find my way through the maze of fake living rooms to an exit. The five-minute Ikea scene in the movie (500) Days of Summer was enough to make me shudder in memory of this horrific experience. I knew I was in a race to squeeze in as much shopping as I could before going full sprint into the parking lot.

The poorly lit abyss was filled with kiosks and reeked of Sbarro’s. I figured out where a cell phone cover stand was and attempted to walk straight there, only to be distracted by J.Crew. After trying on an assortment of extraordinarily unflattering hair accessories, I headed to the dressing room to try on a bunch of clothes I didn’t need.

When I was finished, I stood there looking around and calling out my friend’s name. When she didn’t respond, I began knocking on her dressing room door. The Syracuse freshman who opened the door was less than amused when the salesperson told me my friend was already waiting in the checkout line.

My mall-induced vertigo was starting to set in, so I tried to make it to the cell phone covers yet again. I was stopped in my tracks by a perfect pair of sunglasses calling my name from the Sunglass Hut booth. I quickly brushed off the salesman suggesting I try on nearly every other pair, purchased my glasses (thanks, Dad!) and headed on my way.

I’d had my fill of the mall. Seeing how close the cell phone covers place was to the food court — I nixed the idea and sprinted to Sports Authority to find a backpack.

After wandering around aimlessly and seeing the seriously weird hunting section, we asked a salesperson to point out the backpack aisle. As cute as I would look walking into Olin in a camouflage camping-size backpack, I couldn’t find anything that suited me and ran to the safety of the parking lot after a quick pit stop for caramel corn.

All in all, the trip was a failure. I wasted hours in a complete state of neurosis, only to come home and online order all the stuff I needed. While Ithaca may be lacking in the shopping department, I realized Upstate New York is much more pleasant without the giant mall in the center of town.

The worst part of the whole ordeal? I completely forgot to ride the carousel. From now on, I’ll be sticking to Amazon.