On Monday Hannah turned 14. Rachel and I had planned on taking her out on the Saturday prior for a little birthday date. The bad news was Rachel got hit with a stomach bug that is going around. So despite her getting ready and telling herself she was not going to get sick, she got sick anyway. That left just Hannah and I for the date. Hannah was very let down. I am not what one would call a shopping enthusiast. I loath the whole shopping mall concept. However, her look of displeasure didn't get me down. I took that as a challenge to show that little girl the gosh darnedest best time she ever had, by golly!
Instead of going to the usual mall the kids loiter at, I thought I'd step it up and take her to the posh mall up in Scottsdale. What she was not aware of is that her Dad has spent alot of his work days building up that swank part of town and I know my way around. She showed a little grin as I weaved through the side streets of Old Town Scottsdale and with swiftness landed our vessel in the parking garage next to the Nordstorm. "Nordstrom? I like the way this is going." she quipped. I escorted my princess into the store telling her that she could get whatever she wanted. That put a little pep in her step. As she was flipping through dresses I casually and slightly effeminately pulled one out and pretended to look at it. In reality I was trying to get a glimpse of the price range of these dresses. $235 dollars? That must be a misprint. I pulled out another one, same misprint. I gasped so hard I nearly swallowed my tongue! Bless my little girl heart for being finicky. This bought me some time to think of a way out of this. "Okay, if you were not aware, the first rule of mall shopping is never buy on first glance. After you've found a few things from a few stores you can compare and contrast and make a rational decision." She agreed. What a relief. She finished her assessment of their $165 per sq. yard of fabric dress selection and we moved on.
a side note-I have a thing with mall shoppers. I know that I paint with real broad strokes but I think anyone over the age of twenty-three who mall shops must be dealing with some issues from their past. Let me say that going to a store in the mall and purchasing something and leaving is not the same as thirty-something gal walking around a mall in clothes that she thinks makes her look 20 years younger, laden with bags from every store she 'conquers', seems to the casual on-looker like someone has self-esteem issues or something. And from my perspective thirty-something guy doing the same thing probably got beat up alot when he was younger. So for me it's disheartening to see such a sorry bunch of people.
Okay--- we leave Nordstrom and now we are in the throws of this pretentious, superficial wasteland. I let Hannah lead the way. We go store to store..she is navigating this mall much like I navigated the side streets to get us there! Here were some of the stops along the way:
Instead of going to the usual mall the kids loiter at, I thought I'd step it up and take her to the posh mall up in Scottsdale. What she was not aware of is that her Dad has spent alot of his work days building up that swank part of town and I know my way around. She showed a little grin as I weaved through the side streets of Old Town Scottsdale and with swiftness landed our vessel in the parking garage next to the Nordstorm. "Nordstrom? I like the way this is going." she quipped. I escorted my princess into the store telling her that she could get whatever she wanted. That put a little pep in her step. As she was flipping through dresses I casually and slightly effeminately pulled one out and pretended to look at it. In reality I was trying to get a glimpse of the price range of these dresses. $235 dollars? That must be a misprint. I pulled out another one, same misprint. I gasped so hard I nearly swallowed my tongue! Bless my little girl heart for being finicky. This bought me some time to think of a way out of this. "Okay, if you were not aware, the first rule of mall shopping is never buy on first glance. After you've found a few things from a few stores you can compare and contrast and make a rational decision." She agreed. What a relief. She finished her assessment of their $165 per sq. yard of fabric dress selection and we moved on.
a side note-I have a thing with mall shoppers. I know that I paint with real broad strokes but I think anyone over the age of twenty-three who mall shops must be dealing with some issues from their past. Let me say that going to a store in the mall and purchasing something and leaving is not the same as thirty-something gal walking around a mall in clothes that she thinks makes her look 20 years younger, laden with bags from every store she 'conquers', seems to the casual on-looker like someone has self-esteem issues or something. And from my perspective thirty-something guy doing the same thing probably got beat up alot when he was younger. So for me it's disheartening to see such a sorry bunch of people.
Okay--- we leave Nordstrom and now we are in the throws of this pretentious, superficial wasteland. I let Hannah lead the way. We go store to store..she is navigating this mall much like I navigated the side streets to get us there! Here were some of the stops along the way:
- Juicy Couture- I hesitated because I don't know what that name means. I naturally assume it's some sort of inappropriate innuendo. I sceptically walked through and I could not find anything other than the 'industry standard' immodest clothing that would suggest that this was some kind of kinky store. It seemed like a whimsical Gap store. Nothing of redeeming value.
- Abercrombie and Fitch- We passed. I felt sick just looking at this store. Ironic that a clothing store has mannequins who wear hardly any clothes. "Mr. Fitch, you could buy half as many mannequins if you fully dressed them with pants and shirts" What's worse is I think my kids have shirts from this place! How did they get them? The nearly naked posters in the windows should have deterred them right? Sheesh!
- Louis Vuitton- This was something else. This store sells luggage and sunglasses. Things you might need on a trip, I suppose. But wait, if I buy the bags and shades from Sweet Lou, I won't be able to afford to go anywhere. I won't even be able to pay for gas to get home from the mall. Good grief! The lanky, gaunt, pseudo-euro sales guy was the real highlight of that store. He and I knew without saying one word to each other that there was nothing either one of us had to say to the other. So there was no greeting, just simple glance of "Look pal, I don't want anything from you, and you're not getting anything from me." And that was that.
- Charlotte Rouse- A-HA! This is where the kids go to get their ratty looking clothes. It looked like a store full of Goodwill cast offs! All the teeny boppers in there were slovenly dressed. It felt like a teen homeless convention. Surprisingly, no good dresses in there.
- Rosetta Stone-"Hey Hannah, let's learn Mandarin!" She grinned, but kept on walking.
- Bath and Body Works- Hey, my nose works too. And, drum roll please, Hannah found something she wanted! I was so excited I broke my own first rule of mall shopping and bought it right then and there. A bottle of perfume. Sweet.
- Williams & Sonoma- Hannah indulged me and let me peruse this gem of a store. It ranks up there with Brookstone.
- See's Candies- We both agreed that we could find something we like in there, and we did.
After See's we were both done with the mall. Even though I have a sour outlook on the whole mall scene. I sure was glad that I was with my girl, talking, getting her to laugh, and realizing that my days of her being just mine are going to be up sooner than I want. I was so grateful for her goodness and her sweetness. I am so blessed to have her in my life.
