16 Mar It was a MOBster Mash!
Oh, I do love Free-For-All-Friday! I love jabbering away about whatever I want. And today I want to talk about a couple of friends, two of the lovely ladies of literature, in fact, and a wee road trip we recently embarked upon.
I’ve spoken of KP before, she of the kind heart and flair for warm and inviting decor. She’s a refreshingly honest person with a great sense of self-effacing humor, a wonderful sense of fun, and a deep love for her family and friends. Her heritage house is often brimming with visitors and ever the hostess extraordinaire, KP makes frequent runs to Costco to stock her fridge with bulk loads of fresh fruit and veggies, not to mention the liquor store so the wine cupboard is never bare. But one of the things I love most about my dear friend is her passion for all things she cares about. And one of the things she cares about is shopping.
And since her lovely and brilliant daughter is getting married in May, a knock em’ dead dress was in order, not just for the beautiful bride to be (already acquired) but for the mother-of-the-bride. And that’s how KP and me and our dear friend, Sheila–interior and garden designer and wedding coordinator extraordinaire & yes, another passionate woman–took to the road in search of something special. Our mission: find the mother of the bride the mother of all dresses. It was a MOBster mash.
Here I include a photo of KP with the bday gift Sheila (also gift wrapper extraordinaire) gave her.
And here we have the lovely Ms. Sheila Estephan.
So, loaded with enough caffeine to fuel the car across the country line, we headed for Bellingham and Tulalip, touring the outlet stores and Bellis Fair Mall. Food being another shared passion, we ate as much we shopped, indulging in everything from potato chips to chocolate (I won’t speak of the cinnamon buns). Both Sheila and I had secretly packed picnic baskets filled with yummy treats (I will wrangle Sheila’s amazing muffin recipe from her and post it on the LOL recipe page), and of course, wine, champagne, and more wine.
We talked, we laughed, we cried…we tried to concentrate on our mission but got sidetracked by our silliness and the next meal. Finally, as the final day of our fun was threatening to draw to a close, the snowy Coquihalla Highway urging us to cross the boarder back into Canada, we determined we had not eaten a single vegetable that wasn’t fried (save for the celery that came with my chicken wings) and stopped for lunch at a fabulous eatery in Bellingham. Somewhat frustrated by the lack of pizazz in the bridal salons we visited, not to mention the fact we’d found everything but an appropriate MOB dress at Macy’s (oh, the jewellery was SO tempting and don’t even talk to me about the boots, on clearance everywhere we went), we pulled into the parking lot. And there was yet another opportunity to laugh. Judging by this sign, posted above a space, Americans can be as polite as Canadians. Since they said please (and since there was plenty of other parking), we opted for to park politely in an appropriate spot….but that doesn’t mean we obeyed the law. Distracted due to our deep concentration (and maybe conversation) as we sought a certain bridal salon, we turned down a one-way street–the wrong way, of course. KP saw the red and blue lights before Sheila and I, but what could the young state trooper do, with three giggling, simultaneously babbling about bridal wear women? We pointed out our BC plates and took the fall as crazy Canadians. With a grin (and possibly a shake of the head), he let us go.
So, so, so fun. But when all was said and done and we were safely home, KP was still without a dress..until yesterday…when she found the perfect MOB dress, right here in Kelowna.
Join me on Monday, when I will get back to the book because this is, after all, a book club blog. Let me tell you, I am loving the Kitchen House! Pick it up! Have a great weekend.
Cheers!
Shannon