Shopping with The Moms

For the first time in what seems like forever, my mom agreed to go shopping with me (like beyond just a Walmart or Target run), as she had yet to begin her Christmas shopping, claiming the idea of Black Friday scares the bejesus out of her.

So the plan was to meet between 8 and 8:30 a.m. today at my apartment, before heading out to breakfast. Here we are:

Oops, too much zoom

There we go

After a yummy breakfast at one of my favorite spots, Avenue Grill, we headed out. We were going to head to Stockton and hit up the malls and Trinity Parkway. We did not take into account that it was Sunday, so most mall stores didn't open until 9, 10 or even 11. Um, helloooo mall people...it's the Holiday Season...people want to take care of business in the morning, ASAP, not halfway through the day, thank you very much.

Anyway, so we wandered through Barnes & Nobel and that's all because everywhere else was fucking closed. Boo.

Then we headed over to the other mall to Best Buy and wandered some more, while I showed mom a number of things I'd love to have. As the clock crept closer to 10 a.m., we approached the entryway that connects Best Buy with the mall, where the mutant at the door (is that all they hire there? And FYI, it was a different mutant than the Black Friday one) explained that the mall didn't open until 11 a.m. Boo. So accepting defeat, we headed out of Best Buy to the Petco next door to look for gifts for our respective dogs: Mom's mini schnauzer, Max, and my blue nosed pit, Sirius. (For the record, the one time that these two met, Max immediately turned tail to Sirius, essentially cementing the fact that Max would be Sirius' bitch. LOL)

That done, we headed back to the other mall, which we knew opened at 10 a.m., in the hopes of being able to spend the JC Penney gift card I received last year when I returned a Christmass gift sans receipt. One Little Black Dress later, we headed to the Bath department, as my mom was in search of the perfect set of rugs and towels to decorate their newly refurbished bathroom. Note to self: Black velour track suit + new towels and rugs = Fuzz-o-rama

Back to the other mall (Again. Boo.) since it is now after 11 a.m., where besides looking in every jewelry store window (her) and coveting the M.A.C. counter in it's entirety (me), I showed mom more gift ideas and hit up Bath and Body Works ($6 Wallflowers!).

Time for some lunch. Since we were heading in that direction, and mom hadn't been there before despite our rave reviews and noshing on leftovers past, we stopped at my absolute favorite pizza place ever -- Dante's California Style Pizza. There we indulged in some salad and a California Combo.

Needing to walk it off, we moved on to Trinity Parkway (AKA 8 Mile), where we did some damage at Bed, Bath & Beyond, before heading to Target to do the same.

So let's review, shall we? (Think 12 Days of Christmas)

1 LBD...Gotta love the clearance racks...$80 dress, 1/2 off, gift card for $29 and change...total cost to me: $13.50.

2 Yummy meals (plus a snack at Sonic)

Mmmm...Onion Rings

3 Potty breaks (No pics here, pervs)

4 Rude/Stupid cashiers. The girl at BB&B couldn't even muster a "Thank you and have a nice day"

5 M.A.C. Lipglasses!

6 Times I had to discourage Mom from buying clothes for Max. Or Sirius, for that matter. (What is the deal with that, anyway, all these "ensembles" for dogs? Dogs shouldn't wear clothes!!)

7 Gift ideas (Which, in case she forgot, I'll review here: 1. Garmin, 2. Wii Remote Charger, 3. Wii Music, 4. Printer/Scanner/Copier, 5. Speakers for my iPod/iPhone to plug into, 6. Uggs, and 7. Macy's gift card (so I don't have to covet anymore))

8 Million different shades of light, dark and navy blue. And we looked at every towel, hand towel, wash cloth, and rug imaginable.

9 Full minutes spent in the Target Toy Department before I gave up. And then I found it.

10 Shopping bags. (Don't get too excited. 3 things I bought were big enough to necessitate their own bag)

11 Cigarettes smoked. You think I'm kidding. Well you asked for it...

After Breakfast Cigarette

Before Barnes & Nobel

After B & N

Here I am, patiently waiting...

After Best Buy

On our way to JCP

After JCP

Me, not so patiently waiting

Mom getting irritated with all the pictures. On our way to Bath & Body

Me, trying not to choke

After Lunch

Before Bed, Bath & Beyond

Ambushed, post-Target

Post-Sonic, entranced by her 1/2 price drink

12 Screaming children...in each store we went into.

Thank god my holiday shopping is nearly done