My wonderful hubby is always encouraging me to go out and take breaks and he’s right, I should. But I usually don’t because I never know what to do… but last week, a dear friend was in town from Michigan and we got together and went out. You know I don’t go out often enough when I get questions from Carter like, “Why are you so dressed up?” or Fletcher who noticed I painted my toes and he asked “Why Green, Mommy?” – except they were red.
We had a great time! We met at the fashion mall at 4 o’clock – time to do some serious damage before dinner! And damage we did. At least, I did. The hubby had given me a budget and encouraged me to have a good time, so I did!
We started at Crate & Barrel and I used up a gift card left over from Mother’s Day – shows you how infrequently I go to the mall! And then to a store she knew of from Michigan called “Hot Mama” – we both bought stuff there, how could you not?! Then, after a brief obligatory stop at Kid’s Gap, we spent about an hour at Athleta walking around telling stories and laughing and touching all the clothes and accumulating piles of things to try on. She put a cute scarf around her neck first thing and wore it the rest of the time we were in the store! I found a fun hat and several other items I couldn’t live without. We left with full bags and new resolve to stick to our workout routines, now that we would look cuter doing them! Further damage was incurred at Ann Taylor while Amy was texting my hubby “Budget Schmudget” and “Good thing you have a big closet!”
I confessed to Amy that I haven’t ever done this – a girls shopping trip. The hubby said it was about 8 years over due. But that’s the thing about a friend. Shopping is just another task unless you have a good friend to share it with. Then it becomes an outing, an event. It was about so much more than the clothes we bought or the bags we carried.
We finished off the evening with a leisurely dinner at the Cheesecake Factory – YUM! We both had salmon dishes and after dinner I was perusing the dessert menu and their list of hundreds of cheesecake concoctions. But the one that jumped out at me was Godiva chocolate brownie sundae. When I asked her if we should get it and split it she replied, “I don’t know why not!?!” Exactly. A perfect dessert to end a perfect evening!
But the other half of the story was the report I got from Daddy-O when I got home. After he enjoyed the fashion show of my new wardrobe he told me about the line of questioning he got while he was grilling up grilled cheeses for the boyz dinner.
Sounds like it went something like this:
Numerous boyz asked: “Where’s Mom?”
Daddy-O: “Out to dinner with Amy.”
Numerous Boyz asked: “Why?
Daddy-O: “Cause Mom needs a break.”
Carter: “Where did they go?”
Daddy-O: “To the Cheesecake Factory”
Carter: “She’s eating dinner at a FACTORY?”
Daddy-O: “It’s a restaurant”
Kiefer: “They make cheesecake in a FACTORY?”
Much laughter by all!!!
The hubby said it was apparent that I needed to do this more often. (But probably with a smaller budget next time!)
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| Evidence of the “Damage” 🙂 |
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| I said to Amy, “Who knew they gave out these nice reusable bags now? Show’s how long it’s been since I’ve been to the mall!” |
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| “They make cheesecake at a FACTORY?!” |
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| “Dessert?” “I don’t see why not?!” |