The Tate-Ellis roadtrip across the great southwest was perhaps too aggressive, which we discovered about 48 hours into the trip. In hindsight, we have great memories of the things we saw (the Grand Canyon, rainbows over Sedona, fresh produce in November), the things we heard (Sadie's anguished cries in the car, the sounds of a Las Vegas casino, snow tires grinding through Flagstaff), and the things we ate (Cracker Barrel biscuits, thousands of pretzels and puffed rice on the road, and a pluot from the outdoor market in LA that brings tears to my eyes to remember). I will sort through the pictures and post highlights when I get organized. Come to think of it, however, that may never happen, because with the trip now behind us, we are staring into the deep abyss of ABOUT-TO-HAVE-A-SECOND-BABY-NESS and I can't string two thoughts together very coherently.
Yes, tomorrow is December 1, which means Baby Boy Meatball Ellis is due is about 2 months. I am going to need an oxygen mask as the weeks close in and I think about what that really means. This morning I made a to-do list and it all looks manageable on paper, but the minute I step away from the notepad, I start to hyperventilate thinking about the curtains, the crib, the clothes, the little issue of the VBAC I am dreaming of, the bottles, the pumping, the diapers. Even now, if I was standing up, I would swoon.
But, before I leave the subject of our trip out West and dive face first into panic about being a loving and sane mommy to two beautiful children who deserve my love and attention (and sanity), let's talk about a highlight of the trip that was all about Mommy. Mommy and her BFF, Tory Burch. It all started on Thursday when we showed up at the family Thanksgiving gathering to celebrate with great food. The minute I walked in (after one of Jeff's aunts greeted me with "Hey, Chubby!" which, I have to say, may have been warranted) I spied my sister-in-law JoJo wearing the CUTEST EVER Tory Burch ballet flats. They were shiny. They were colorful. They were from the outlet mall only 15 minutes away from our Friday night plans for Hannukah.
Hmmmmmmmmmm.
Only 15 minutes.
Well, you can see where this might be going. I happened to google the outlet malls in Camarillo, CA and see that they happened to be open until 10:00 p.m. on Friday. I may have mentioned that to Jeff. Then, when we got to his cousin Lisa's house on Friday night (only 15 minutes from the Tory Burch store at the outlet mall) I saw JoJo had on ANOTHER pair-- these more colorful and happy than the ones the day before.
I won't mention that Sadie was screaming her head off from the time we set out from Lisa's house to the the moment we hit the outlet mall perimeter. It started out as one of those amusing, "Can you believe our baby cries so dramatically when everything is fine," but it ended up as "I am pretty sure I am abusing my daughter so I can get some (still) overpriced pink flats at an outlet mall." But, I was swept up by the support of that shoe-temptress JoJo and Jeff, who drove the get away mini-van. And, even though I am a very committed shopper, I have never done any black Friday extreme shopping until 2010. We got to Tory's store at about 8:30 p.m. ish. The entrance was roped off and a security guard told me I had to wait until someone left before he could let me in. In about 2 minutes JoJo and I made it in and cased the joint for colorful patent leather flats. They just happened to have my size in the magenta ones pictured above. There were tourists in there from foreign countries running up tabs to the tune of $758.00. Thhe woman in front of me barely spoke English, but she spoke fluent fashion because she appeared to be buying "one of each."
I am proud to report that while it would be fun to also have the orange, gold, blue and green shoes, I limited myself to the pink ones. The best news of all is that Sadie had fallen asleep by the time I got done and doesn't appear to be too scarred from the tragic ride from Lisa's to Tory's. The next day she shuffled around our hotel room wearing the new shoes, which I took as a blessing from her. I am sad she had to learn at such a tender age that one must suffer for fashion. But, damn, those shoes are cute!
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