July 28, 2008

Extravagant Generosity

My husband and I have both been blessed to be born into such loving, generous families. And both of our families have managed to be generous with us, while never neglecting to teach us the value of good, old-fashioned hard work and diligence. Ok. Now that I've laid that foundation ... let me tell you about a wonderful, extravagant, splurge of generosity I get to experience annually:

Annual Shopping3


Remember back-to-school clothes shopping back when you were a kid? After I graduated college, Mom and I just morphed that concept into the annual Nordstrom's Pre-Fall sale. And now that I'm a mature (??), grown-up, 40-something mom with kids of my own who need to be taken on their annual "back-to-school" shopping expeditions (which really should be a blog post of its own. shopping with boys is NOT like shopping with girls...) ... well, Mom and I still head out annually and I buy lunch for us, and Mom buys everything else. :-)

Here are a few photos from our delightful afternoon last week:

We start with yummy lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. We've gotta have some sustenance to build our shopping stamina, after all...
Annual Shopping1

And we're off. Such a pretty mall this is. See, here's the skylight I photographed right as the security guard came over and told me to stop.
Annual Shopping2

Here's my Mom (isn't she cute?) out on the bridge over to the other gigantic part of the mall (the designer part, where you're supposed to dress the part. I don't ever go there. It's not my style. Or my spending preference. But, hey, we were on an adventure, eh?). Mr. Security Guard didn't tell me I couldn't take pictures outdoors; nonetheless, I snapped them fast and packed away the camera.
Annual Shopping4

We finished our outing with fish and chips by the harbor. 'Twas a fine, fine afternoon.
Annual Shopping5


Thanks, Mom (and Dad!) for a fun, fun tradition!

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9 comments:

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Don't you love moms?! I have a very generous mom myself. But I have to make sure to emphasize to my girls that they cannot expect her to do her shopping sprees each and everytime we go somewhere...

Rhea said...

I agree, fun tradition!

What's up with the security guard saying no pictures?! That seems a little extreme to me...

Isn't it in one of the ammendments that we have the right to take pictures whenever our hearts desire?

Leslie said...

ummmm but the question is did you find anything good???

How stinking darling is it that you do this togethor...

ohhh and that food made me hungry and just the pure mention of fish and chips...

Anonymous said...

How many words WAS that?

Skeller said...

Leslie-Yeah! I got a website and Lumapix ;-)

Anon - Way more than I like to use. But, like, I had a story to tell...

Mom2Da'Gorgeouses said...

That sounds like a wonderful tradition! I always loved the BTS shopping sprees & continued them when I started working as a teacher.

I'm looking forward to the day I take Da'Gorgeouses out, I can imagine all the fun we'll have & DrillSgt. already promised we'd take them to the oulets in Vegas! Woohoo!!

You're mom is a cutie & looks like she enjoys your shopping sprees just as much as you do.

Hugs & Blessings!

Teri said...

How fun that shopping trip looks. And I am curious - why in the world would Mr. Security Guard care about you taking pictures? People take pictures everywhere these days, especially at the Mall. Hmm.

Skeller said...

Rhea/Teri - Mr. Security Guard said something to the effect of "architecture ... blahblahblah ... can't take photographs." M' Big Dude said it probably had more to do with security/terrorism measures than plagiarizing architectural design...

Mamachanga - Vegas!! Sounds like you and DS already have fun plans in place :-)

Meliss said...

So it takes a security guard along with the rules to get you to stop? ;D
I like the skylight picture.