See, today we ventured forth to the Big City to get some Christmas shopping done. By "we," I mean the girls, my parents, and myself. Eric opted to stay home and brew some beer. And then bake a cake. But we'll get into that later.
The main point of the trip? My parents wanted the girls to pick out their own clothes for Christmas, and they wanted me around for backup. I should probably mention that my family is horrible about surprises. Perhaps we're just overly practical. Maybe we find the unknown unsettling. (I'll let you come up with your own theories. I've got a blog to write, and I'm having a heck of a time pounding this one out. Which is funny, because I have the words. They just don't want to line up.)
I had a few things on my list, too... I was hoping to find something for both of the girls, as well as my parents and my brother Tim. Everything else I plan to give away, I canned this summer. There's nothing like going shopping in your own pantry to cut down on stress, I tell you what, but unfortunately pickles can't solve all my problems.
First stop: Gymboree at the outlet mall. Johanna is all about leggings these days--because she can roll around better in them, plus if she gets hot she can push them up past her knees and pretend she's wearing shorts. Johanna has her own little style, so it's easier to just let her pick out what she likes rather than guess yourself. She found some leggings, and some cute shirts... and a skirt. Um, what? But it's absolutely adorable. She worked out a deal with Grandma--she's going to wear the skirt, a shirt and leggings to her winter program, and then give them back to be wrapped. Grandma is a sucker for these kinds of deals.
We came, we saw, we conquered, we went to lunch. We were feeling slightly cocky, if you want to know the truth. It was an easy stop.
Next up: The mall. Abby wanted to hit various hipster stores, where the lights are dim and/or the thermostat is cranked to simulate California and/or the music is too loud and really, really bad and/or a thousand people are running around trying to find the deal of the day.
But first we spent an eternity cruising around trying to find a parking spot, and just when hopelessness was starting to set in, Mom was like, let's try parking at Sears, because no one shops there. Sad. But you know what? We found a spot. So thanks, Sears.
Our mall experience is just a blur at this point. We covered a lot of ground. Because of the sales, Abby was able to stretch her Christmas dollar fairly far. She was feeling pretty cute, if you want to know the truth. Well, I'm biased, but that's not hard to fathom. She is cute.
Johanna spent most of her mall time tap dancing in the various stores. Each one had a new surface to test, I guess. If there was a mirror available, even better. Not surprisingly, she got pretty tired before we were half way through. I was like, Johanna! Pace yourself! And she'd sit down for a minute, and then she was up dancing again.
She got a lot of smiles. Johanna just makes everyone feel better about life in general. And wish they had that sort of energy.
I did manage to sneak into an Eddie Bauer, where I found a gorgeous gray sweater that my parents got for me. And then I got a white tuxedo-type shirt for myself to go underneath said sweater. Because I have a disposable income now. Merry Christmas to me! (Ah, commercialism. Thou doth break my heart, and yet, I so love clothes shopping.)
At the eleventh hour, Mom found a pretty purple sweater that she really liked, so I got that for her. The sales lady was like, wow, that's an interesting way to Christmas shop, and Mom and I were all like, yep, we're awesome. The sales lady conceded we probably had less exchanges by doing it this way. More justification! This just gets better all the time.
P.S. Those prices coming up on the links? Yeah, we didn't pay those. Sales everywhere and all.
Unfortunately, I didn't find anything for Dad or my brother Tim, even though I do have ideas. And I came to the conclusion that Johanna is set on clothes now for a while, which means I need to get to a computer and find those Monster High dolls she's been talking about. I have yet to figure out Santa or stockings. Well, I still have two weeks. What's the rush?
So we got out of the mall--after about four hours!--tired and hungry and ready for Plan B: Johanna's early birthday party.
See, Johanna turns seven on Tuesday... but that's going to be one crazy day because her winter concert is that evening. There's no way we can party like it's 2004 and do it right in the hour between dinner and her concert. So we decided to go get a couple of pizzas, invite my parents over (my in-laws couldn't make it) and have a bash tonight. Eric made a yellow cake (from scratch, I might add. I'm very proud) while we were gone (I told you we'd get to that part later. It's later!), so I just needed to whip up a chocolate frosting. Easy peasy. Then Johanna added the umbrella embellishments she'd found at the grocery store back in October (in the liquor aisle. I think these are for mixed drinks. Who cares? She was happy). We ate pizza, we ate cake, we sang Happy Birthday, we watched her open presents.
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| Umbrella Cake. |
And then Mom dyed my hair, but that's another story, and anyway, I just feel like being done.
Ray Conniff again, "The Christmas Song." Even as a kid, this song sort of confused me. It starts out all, hey, Christmas is about Jesus! Don't forget! But... there are other things too. And then everyone starts singing about Santa and reindeer and chestnuts and cold weather and turkey. Well, I suppose all those things DO make the season bright. But still. Why not just sing about that, then? Weird.
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