The Girls

Ladies we have lift off. Men you will never understand. Today I got up early (I set the alarm clock!!!!) and drove to Salem to meet my mom. We rode to Portland together and met up with my grandma at Nordy’s in Portland. She didn’t hear us creeping up on her in the makeup section so I got to run up and give her a little pinch, hehe. After telling each other that we look really cute and trying on some lotion we headed over to shoes (detouring through handbags we wanted but resisted). Man oh man, God was on our side. I got these awesome patent leather white pump slip ons with rows of circles on the band around the lower foot (good description? I couldn’t find them online to show you!). My mom got them in a suede turquoise (thanks for the misspeller’s dictionary Bill!) and they are hot! I also got a pair of deep cherry red kenneth cole flats, kind of mary jane style but with a pointy toe. My mom scored big time two other pair, and my grandma got cute red pumps. Did I mention we got all this on the SALE RACK!!! Yes we did. I learned something about Grandma today: she does not like tennis shoes, hmmm. So while we were trying on shoes the sales lady asked me if I was with those two (mom and grandma) I said yes, they were my mom and grandma, and she said, “You are the youngest looking generational group I’ve ever seen.” Nice complement thanks!
Okay we headed up to petites and “intimates.” This is where I had my revilation. {back story} I hate to shop for bras. I find one that I think fits and buy two and call it good for a while. It was time for an intervention. I had been measured for a bra when I was like 13 and got my first one (that my mom couldn’t help but hide in her pocket and bring it out at my grandma’s exclaiming how cute it was), but not since. So after a little maternal urging I asked for help. MY GIRLS HAVE BEEN SUFFOCATING!!! I was like a size and a half off. Geez. Apparently what I thought was a little pudge was actually part of my boob, whoops. So now I’m good to go. The amazing sales lady (she had a kind of exotic name, but I can’t think of it, maybe Sapphire?) also ran over to B.P. and found me some cute camis, so I stocked up. I upgraded my nightgown as well to a little capsleeve shorter style. It is made of terry cloth and looks like a tennis dress. So cute. When I showed it to Bj and told him I was retiring this other one I had (that had accidentally been left in a KOA bathroom in South Dakoda on our trip, subsiquently bleach and returned by mail) he was so happy (hey if you didn’t like it why didn’t you say something!!). 🙂
Enough with that. We left to go eat after Grandma found the cutest pair of pants in Petites, that department is really starting to come around (good thing since I’m the tallest of our bunch at 5’3″ and I think Grandma’s only 4’11”). We went to Henry’s in the Pearl and it was so yummy. We all had half a meal, their portions were huge! I had so much fun talking at lunch. I found out a little bit about Grandma as a girl living in backwoods Virgina. When she moved west at seven she had never seen a resurant or indoor toliet! Grandma told me about her scariest moment as a mother, when my mom fell out of the car when she was very little and Grandma was driving 45 mph. Grandma said she felt like she was floating above her body when she lept out of the car to go run and find her (she had rolled into a kind of sewer ditch). She also said my mom fell out of her highchair onto her head once. My mom then goes, “and look at me now,” LOL!! I love my mom and grandma they are so cool.
We headed out to Anthropologie, which Grandma had never been to. It was crazy! The first day of a four day sale. I got a super cute white skirt and some green pants (Bj, “Great, more green pants”). They’ll have to be hemmed, but a score since both were already on sale and marked down an additional 25%. Our last stop was Peet’s for coffee (mom) and tea (Grandma and me). And if you make tea for Grandma make sure you only leave the bag in for as long as it takes to sneeze because apparently she likes her tea extremely weak. Then I took these pictures, they didn’t work quite so well, but you get the idea.

We took Grandma back home since she rode the Max in. I practically plowed over my uncle Robert trying to get to the bathroom at her place after three cups of tea. He has the coolest color hair now, that salt and peppery grey you know? Anyway Grandma is known to be one of the best decorators/incredible deal finders in the world. And that combination is quite cool (why didn’t I take a picture, ugh). She built this little koi pond in the back under a deck, so it looks like it goes all the deck, cool. She found some cool stuff at thrift stores, and man does she get lucky. She got this little side table that was all dinged up. When she sanded it down she found that it was made of a couple kinds of wood, inlaid and everything. It looks so amazing refinished. And how many people do you know that have an old library table as their dining room table? Grandma does (“oh sis that only cost $85” how does she do it!).
My mom and I stopped to visit my Grandpa’s mom, my great grandma Frank, on the way out of town. She was happy to see me since we keep missing each other at family events. Then someone commented that I was cute (she was sitting at her little table getting ready for dinner with two other cute little old ladies). So I asked them how old they thought I was and one said 15, the other one gives her this look and then says, “I say 16.” I told them I was 24, then g. grandma goes, “Oh honey, no one thinks I’m 92 either.” I love her! I think I am really lucky to have such a great family. I went home and my mom and I made Bill look at our shoes. I hope he doesn’t feel too left out, we would take him, but guys and girls shoes don’t get along. case and point: I had to laugh at a woman with her husband in the shoe department. She was looking at slides and he said, “but I don’t understand, you have a pair of slipons already, are they broken, do we need to take them back?” She’s all, “No these are different.” Men.

2 replies on “The Girls”

  1. you are soooooo cool Amber, I loved your e-mail and I can’t believe what a memory you have. You make my heart and soul sing and you are part of what I live for. You are forever in my heart and preyers. I hope you never lose your zest for life . I know that God has a real purpose for you in this life. Love and Kisses—Grandma Arlene

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