This past Friday was Catherine's turn for date night. Well, if I am going to be honest, it was actually Graham, her twin brother's date night. But at the last minute I had some changes with the sitter that weren't going to allow me to take him where we had planned. So instead, I decided would I do an essential errand I had been trying to get done (return an item of clothing to Bloomingdales) and make that in to date night. That was going to be a hard sell with my son, admittedly, but I was pretty sure Catherine would think that was splendid and she did.
We headed over to Bloomingdales, in Friday evening traffic, but got there surprisingly quickly. We enjoyed the ride over, her in her car seat in the very back of my very long car. We chatted about girly things and enjoyed the noticeable absence of testosterone overload that we have both grown accustomed to.
When we arrived, we headed to the cafe, which I always love, to have dinner. Eating at department store restaurants always reminds me of happy times with my own mom. I loved going shopping and to lunch with my mom. Growing up in Los Angeles, one of our favorite spots was the original and iconic Bullock's Wilshire. We would go shopping for the day and have lunch in the quintessential tea room. The tea sandwiches were my absolute favorite. In addition to Bullock's Wilshire we enjoyed going to I Magnin Robinson's, all sadly gone now. In later years we enjoyed Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, both have lovely restaurants and shopping.
As I sat with Catherine and we enjoyed our dinner (I had fish tacos and she had scrambled eggs and fruit, otherwise known as breakfast for dinner), those times with my own mom were very much in the forefront of my mind. Only having one daughter and rarely having the opportunity to have "girl time" alone with her, makes me really appreciate those special times, both with her. I had so many of them with my own my own mom, not being one of four children or the only girl.
After dinner we decided to browse the store, which she found to be so exciting. We quickly realized that animal prints (leopard, snakeskin and zebra) seemed to be all the rage this season. We also saw lots and lots of sequins, which are always a favorite of 7 year old girls. There was a sizable presence of feathers and fur trim (some fake and some real), as well.
Unlike when I go shopping by myself, which is most of time, I enjoyed experiencing all the beautiful things through her eyes. She marveled at the simplest things. She picked out dresses and shoes that she thought would look good on me and gave me her honest opinion in the dressing room, which you don't always get from the sales person, as we all know.
As hard as I try to not mix work and play, as a busy mom of four, sometimes I have to. On that night, I was able to turn a routine errand that I needed to run, into a magical evening with my daughter.
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