Beth took me to this fabulous outdoor mall called Crocker Park. It’s wonderfully stocked with every store imaginable, including a wine bar, a cupcakery and lots of restaurants (even the Cheesecake Factory! Yummm!) I was most excited to experience “Charming Charlie's.” Beth could not stop raving about it. It’s mainly an accessory store. If you don’t know me, then you probably don’t know that I am all about the accessories…purses, jewelry, bling. I gotta have it. (And I’m sorry for all you boys out there reading this…all my talk of shopping is probably causing you to break out in hives right about now, but just hang in there, you might enjoy the story.) My friend, Cheryl, calls me the “Accessory Queen.” Well, my loyal subjects were waiting. I needed to take my tour of the magical land that is “Charming Charlie's.”
We walked through the glass doors and I swear I heard a choir of angels sing. It was the like the heavens parted as sun streamed through the windows, glistening off of all of the sparkly jeweled and bedazzled bobbles on display. Oh. My. Gosh. I never wanted to leave this enchanted place. They had every color imaginable in every style imaginable of jewelry. Silver, Pewter, Gold, Black, Copper, White, Purple, Brown, Green, Red, Turquoise…you name it, they had it. Bracelets, cuffs, necklaces, chokers, rings, headbands, earrings, purses, scarves, sunglasses, hats…and it was all in color-coordinated sections. They even had some clothing there too. Almost two hours and $120 later, we finally left with our parcels. I joked that I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. (When she got pampered at the stores, not when they were mean to her.) I even spit my wad of gum defiantly out on the sidewalk (which made Beth almost choke with laughter on hers) while I gaily swung my packages. Now, I am normally quite frugal when it comes to shopping. But I specifically saved up for this special weekend and I was gonna blow every single dime in my wallet. We had worked up quite an appetite at the heavenly Charming Charlie's and by the time we left we were famished. Italian sounded good. We got ourselves a table at Brio, a somewhat swanky little Italian place. We both ordered the luncheon specials…Beth ordered the shrimp and scallops risotto and I ordered the sweet potato and roasted chicken risotto. (They both sounded very Gordon Ramsay/Hell's Kitchen-ish gourmet...don't ya think?) When our meals were placed in front of us, I looked down at the measly serving and annoyingly said to Beth, “I didn’t realize I ordered the Lean Cuisine version of the dish.” She laughed. I think there was about four ounces of risotto in the tiny little bowl they placed in front of me. I then complained, “Thirteen bucks?!?! I paid thirteen bucks for this measly appetizer-sized meal?” Well, at least we’ll have room for cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. Although every bite was a scrumptious explosion of flavor in my mouth, there were too few bites. Oh well. It was tasty while it lasted.
I suppose the five savory bites of the enchanting dish were worth my $13.00. This must be what it’s like for rich people. You know, they spend hundreds of dollars on a tiny little jar of escargot…or fancy truffles from France. (I mean the mushrooms, not the chocolate. Although, I’m sure they spend lots on chocolate too.) It was fun to play for the day…to be a lady of leisure, as I like to say. I think we all need a little pampering once in a while. Some might say it’s unnecessary or frivolous. It probably is. But the sense of joy and contentment for my soul was priceless. It’s not like I would (or could afford) to make a habit of such a way of life. But to feel like a child again, playing dress-up in an imaginary world of wonder, was fantastic. We laughed and splurged and shopped and ate. We filled our souls and our shopping bags. It was devilishly fun.
Too often, as adults, we get stuck in our roles of responsibility and our duties of being what we deem to be respectable, reliable, grown-up professionals, parents or siblings. But nobody can do that forever. Nobody can be the same thing, day in and day out, all the time. Change it up. Don’t get stuck in the doldrums of your day-to-day life. Find something you wouldn’t normally reward yourself with, and make time to enjoy that reward. We are all worth it. Life is about creating happiness and memories. Spice up your week. Be something you aren’t for a day. Play dress-up. Become Julia Roberts. (Or Richard Gere for that matter.) And laugh, and shop, and eat, and sing, and dance your day away. (Or, for the boys out there...pick up a game of basketball, play some laser-tag or Call of Duty and shoot some spit-wads.) Walk in a world of imagination every once in a while. It’ll do wonders for your soul.