I heart shopping with my mom

My mom's birthday was yesterday- Happy Birthday Mom! My dad's birthday is 1 week before Christmas, and my mom's is 1 week after New Years, so growing up we always had 4 "Thursdays" (or whatever day Christmas and New Years fell on) in a row of festivities. Here she is, putting Odessa to sleep at a Christmas party

A couple of days after Christmas while we were in Boise, I said I wanted to go look for a pair of black pants and black boots and my mom said she would go with me. I knew the rare opportunity to go shopping sans children (and in Boise) would not come often. I know the stores better in Boise than I do here or did in Chicago- and knowing your territory is winning half the battle.
A couple of you (ok, maybe just Nic) have been shopping with me and know what a chore it can be to find my "special" sizes. All pants must be talls and shoes a size 11- a rare thing indeed.
My mom has 4 daughters. She has logged in a LOT of hours shopping with us. But amazingly, of the 3 of us- I seem to be the only one that really enjoys shopping! As in, I don't mind going for hours and hours and "the hunt" is truly thrilling for me. Maybe it's because my sizes are more rare and so it's more exciting? Who knows? But my mom is the BEST companion. She keeps a good, practical head about her shoulders, not jumping on deals or encouraging too crazy of purchases, she's seen the best and the worst, and she knows a good color and fit when she sees one.

So we headed off to the outlet mall- my mother admitting she had not been there for months and months. I know my sources- Eddie Bauer is one good place for tall pants and they had an Eddie Bauer outlet. Well, one thing led to another and soon we found ourselves slipping (it was really icy in their parking lot) from store to store, trying on clothes that had been drastically marked down post Christmas. I found myself torn between TWO pairs of tall black pants, so my mother wondered if I needed a different color in one as well? : ) So true!
I told her from the dressing room that when I told Stephen I wanted to do some clothes shopping he had said "Yeah, I felt bad you didn't get any clothes for Christmas". My mother's immediate reaction: "well, lets take advantage of his sympathies while we can!"
We spent the WHOLE day soaking up the sales, discriminating between the truly worthy and the just good enough items. When we finally made it to the shoe store (which was supposed to be one of two planned purchases), we were laden with bags. I found the section of black boots and immediately got excited. Some size 11's!! When sales clerks came by and asked me how I was doing, I would say "I'm great!! You have 5 pairs of black boots in my size!!!" They would go away a little embarrassed for me and my giddiness. When the 3rd clerk to come by explained to me that the boots were 40% off and then 40% off of that, I nearly kissed him! It was a euphoric moment. FIVE pairs of black boots for 40% and then 40% off! You have to know, I usually am lucky to have one pair to chose from in the style I am looking for, not 5.
Well, after all the agonizing and trying on of boots, my mom finally helped me decide on a pair and we went home supremely satisfied with our purchases. And that's why I love shopping with my mom. She didn't once say "no, you don't need to try on one more pair of those same pants" and she didn't say "could you make up your mind on those boots, my feet are tired" and she didn't once say "you didn't come here to look for pajamas". And when she got home, she told my dad (my biggest shopping teaser) and Stephen (my silent budget enforcer) "it's amazing the deals we found, I can't believe the clothes Tara got for how little she spent". Gotta love that woman.