In my late teens and early twenties, fun usually involved
things like: drinking, clubs, dancing, concerts, parties, and staying up until
the wee hours of the morning. These
days, fun usually involves things like: watching television or movies at home,
having one or two alcoholic beverages a week, sleeping, leaving the house
without the children, and getting to talk to other adults. Moms and Dads often have to alternate with
each other in order to maximize the amount of fun (and funds) able to be had. Yesterday was my turn to hang out with some
girlfriends for a “Mom’s Day Out”.
Most of the time my friends and I like to aim for a night
out, but if something peaks our interest enough, we may make the extra effort
to venture out during the day. I myself am not a lover of shopping, like many
women are, unless it involves the word “vintage” and “sale”. So, off we went,
at 7:30am to drive an hour and a half to a craft and vintage items barn sale! We had never been to this particular event and
had no clue what to expect, but it didn’t matter because we were leaving the
house without the kids, during the day, and on a Saturday!
Our first stop was, of course, to Starbucks because we were
all wondering what the heck we were thinking, getting up so early on a Saturday.
Once we were properly caffeinated, we were on the road again, completely
oblivious to the hour and half drive ahead of us, because we were in a car
talking to adults! We talked about life, marriage, goals and aspirations, and
of course, our kids, because we are moms. We also had a discussion about using
Google Maps versus using Apple’s new “maps”, due to some confusion in navigating
to our destination. Talk
Amongst Yourselves
We finally arrived at our destination: the fairgrounds of a
medium sized city, where the sale was inside a barn named after a farm animal.
It was much smaller than we had anticipated, but we were way too excited to get
out and explore anyways! We got out of the car, put our purses on cross-body
style, paid and received the free shopping bag that came with the price of
admission. We had to walk past a Mexican food truck in order to enter the barn,
and I know we all bookmarked that into our heads for future use.
There was homemade jewelry, signs, clothes, soaps, lotions,
and all things repurposed. There was even a live band playing a variety of
modern songs including David Guetta (Featuring Sia)’s song “Titanium”, which
may seem a strange song choice to sing to a group of ladies (some with husbands
and children) shopping for homemade soap and jewelry, unless you have
experienced it yourself and know that being “bullet proof” is necessary in
order to make your way through the crowds of women trying to make shopping
decisions, children in strollers, and husband’s staring down at their cell
phones waiting for it to all be over.
Forty-five minutes later one of my friends bought a wooden sign
that read, “I’m sorry for the things I said when I was hungry”, and we all
decided it was time to eat. We headed
for the Mexican food truck to fuel up on our “pre lunch” of tacos and tamales,
sit down for a minute and regain our energy for the second half of the barn. The second half ended up only
taking us about twenty minutes as we all realized we were tired, our feet hurt,
and we were in need of an alcoholic beverage. During our car ride conversation
on the way to the barn it was found out that two of us (one being me) had never been into a
Sephora before and that I had never been to The Cheesecake Factory, so off we
were to a nearby mall so the more “experienced” girls could initiate us into
the world of mall makeup and gigantic serving portions.
After a thirty-minute wait full of lunch selection
discussions and saying we couldn’t wait to sit down because our feet hurt, we
were finally seated. We immediately ordered our alcoholic beverages and entrees
because we were parched and ready for our “main lunch” lunch. The initiation began for me with a large
Bloody Mary, the tastiest Greek salad I have ever had in my life, and an
enormous plate of Thai Lettuce Wraps I had to create myself. We took pictures
of our food and pictures of each other with our food and things went silent for
about ten full minutes, until our eating slowed and we had to come up for air.
We picked at our food for the rest of our time there before we asked for boxes
and decided to come back for dessert after Sephora.
I have to admit, I was a little nervous about entering
Sephora, it looked quite intimidating for a girl who buys most of my makeup at
department stores. I had heard about
Sephora before, but being as I wasn’t a regular mall shopper, and that I am
cheap, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Within about five minutes I understood the
allure, you can TRY ON THE MAKEUP before purchase! An hour later, with my arms,
face, and hands full of glittery makeup and perfume, I walked away with one
compact of blush, because, like I said, I’m cheap.
At that point, we were all exhausted and ready to head out
on the hour and a half journey home. But first, we had to stop back in to The
Cheesecake Factory to get our “post lunch” lunch, to go. With cheesecake and
makeup in hand, we searched for our car in the parking lot and headed home. It
was quiet again as I’m sure we were all thinking, “I hope the house is clean
when we get home”.
Twenty years ago, a day out with friends would have involved
a twenty-ounce coke half filled with whiskey and wouldn’t have even begun until
eleven at night! Hell, I used to mosh, crowd surf, and play street hockey with
a bunch of guys! But for now, in my intermediate years spent raising a family,
I will wear my Sephora blush, while I eat cheesecake in bed, after the kids are
asleep (so they don’t ask me for any), while watching Dateline NBC and fall
asleep dreaming of times gone buy. Or of murder, because that is what I ended
up dreaming about, because you should never fall asleep while watching Dateline
NBC. I'm
Bullet Proof by David Guetta Ft Sia
