Getting a jump on things...

I talked to my mom earlier in the week and we decided that Saturday we would spend the day together. We hadn't had just a "two of us" day for quite some time, so we agreed that it was long overdue. The original plan was for mom and Grandma to head over to GC to the fitness center and for mom to be home by 11:30, with us leaving for DSM shortly after. Now, anyone that knows my family is fully aware that our plans are anything but set in stone until we start them. On that note, at about 1:00, Mom and I left the house on our way to get some of my Christmas shopping done. I decided that this year would be different from all of the others. I have made it a habit to wait until the last minute, and usually end up having to re-gift something to some unsuspecting family member to ensure that they have something to unwrap. Not this year!

After a F-A-B lunch of Bleu Ribbon Burgers, onion rings, and garlic parmesan fries at Red Robin (yummm), we decided to head over to Jordan Creek and scope out the sales. Mom knew that Whitehall Jewellers was having a huge liquidation sale and so we decided to check it out. We had been browsing for her sake for awhile when it hit me: gift idea!!!! Holly (hereafter referred to as roomie) turns 21 on the 25th of this month, so I figured that I would get her somethin' purdy. After much deliberation, I decided on a lovely amethyst necklace set in 10k white gold. Loves it! A little more browsing and Mom stumbles across a necklace she loves. After her debating it in her head (and me being the little devil guy hovering over her shoulder saying 'do it... do it...') we head to the register and both walk out of the store as happy campers with our purchases.

After walking around the mall (which, p.s., was filled with a sh*tload of people who were IN OUR WAY and nothing else) and each getting a Starbucks (loves it) we decided it was time to get the F out of dodge and head over to Wal-Mart. At this point, I only had Holly's birthday present bought and NOTHING for anyone for Christmas. Great.

When we get to the Mart, I figured that this would be as good a place as any to scoop up something for Cade. After some more browsing, I settled on a pair of Tom and Jerry DVDs for him, as the little man has apparently grown obsessed with them. Who would have thought... a classic like T&J taking his interest more than some cartoon on Nickelodeon. Go figure. Mom and I then go on the hunt for a nice pair of gubs (gloves, to those of you who aren't fluent in Cade) and end up finding her a cute gub/scarf matching set. Precious! Head to the checkout and we're out of the Mart by about 6:45. Not doing too shabby thus far - one bday and one Christmas present down, many to go. Next is a quick stop at Costco for some discount gas ($1.69!!) and we're on our way to Valley West, the redheaded stepchild of the Greater Des Moines mall system.

We park outside of Von Maur, which is quite possibly one of my favorite stores, especially at Christmas time. Mom decides she would really like to find a cute wallet to go with her recently acquired Fossil purse, so we head upstairs to take a look, but not before we stumble across the softest leather jacket you've ever felt... $630 worth of soft leather to be exact... F! Anyway, we get upstairs and I'm like a kid in a candy store, except replace kid with "label whore" and candy store with "men's accessories." I make a beeline for the most AMAZINGLY AMAZING cashmere Burberry scarf, and it's even in the wonderful sage color palette that I wanted. A quick look at the pricetag ($265) and my dream of fancy scarf ownership was beaten, molested, and left for dead. So after a peek in the clearance shoe room for mom (which was a hot mess), we're off to handbags. We're doing some browsing when Mom happens across a cute with a capital Q red Fossil bag, similar to the one she bought. She assures me it wasn't there when she bought her purse or she would have come home with it instead. After I talk her into it, we attempt to exchange her used, three-week old purse without tags or receipt for the new-found red one. The counter lady could not have been more helpful, and since the red purse was actually cheaper, I got a credit of $30 to my Von Maur card - even though I didn't actually buy the purse to begin with! Yay! New purse in hand, we head out of VM into the mall.

I knew exactly what I would get Lindsey when we got here (which will not be posted because then she'd know, silly) (oh, and Holly doesn't read this to answer your next question) and within 5 minutes I had gotten it. But then I was thinking, this (item) really is kinda small... lets get one or two more little things to top it off. After a quick stop at (store) I got her a couple more cute, practical items. All is well. Then a quick run upstairs to Vicki's and Holly's Christmas present is now also purchased! Next is a quick stop at another store and BAM! Jerry's present is done! I'm starting to get the hang of this... At this point, we're getting pretty shopped out, so we stop for a quick cheese rite each and share a jumbo Pepsi. We browse thru Younkers quick to scope out the wallet situation, and we're out the door.

Now it's about 8 and we're headed to SuperTarget for some needs. I get razor blades (which, incidentally, cost more than the GOD DAMN RAZOR!) and Ma grabs some stuff for herself too. We look at the wallets here too (which were all yuck) and call it a day.

All in all, I have to say, I had a pretty great time :) Mom and I don't get to spend as much one-on-one time as we would like, so on this rare occasion where we both ended up with a day off at the same time, I'm glad we got to hang out together :) Love ya mommy!!

Hope everyone else had a great Saturday!!!

cjk