Family Ties

I have a friend/cousin visiting from out of state and thought I'd share our story. It's really kinda cool. And as I'm sitting here typing this I'm realizing that this fits in nicely with the Colleen's Flashback Fridays that I have abandoned lately...so I'm joining back in this week.

Back in ancient civilization, when I was in 5th grade ;-), my family moved from one city to another at the tail end of the school year.

My brother, who was in 2nd grade, and I were called out of our new classrooms by the woman who worked in the media center. We stood before her as she interrogated us...."Is your last name such and such?"...."Was your Dad's name C?" (in past tense because he had passed away 5 years prior to this)...."Is your Mom's name P?" Anyway, to make a long story short we discovered that this woman's father was my Paternal Great Grandfather's brother....or my Grandfather's Uncle. I have a very unusual....or should I say uncommon.....maiden last name, so when she saw the "new girl's" last name....which was HER own maiden last name....she new there was a relation. And, as it turns out she had 2 children of her own that were the same age (within a year) as me and my younger brother also attending that same school. We figured out that we were 4th cousins.

Michelle and I became friends and hung out regularly. We lost touch for a few years during our college years but ran into each other during our first pregnancies (we were both pregnant at the same time) and have remained friends ever since. Our lives are strangely similar and parallel to each other's. We both have 3 children and were always pregnant at the same time. We both have the same and exceptionally good taste =) and always end up buying the same things.... unintentionally.

We would talk on the phone for hours every day. We would joke that we'd be the old widowed ladies living together one day. I can't tell you how many times I'd be on the phone with her and one of us would be sharing our latest find from the store only to realize that the other had found the same "find". It sorta turned into a joke. Sometimes we'd get together only to discover that we were wearing the same thing. One time we were at a party she threw for her husband's birthday. Her husband was opening the gift she bought him and we discovered that she had bought him the same shirt that I had purchased for my own husband the previous week. Things like this were always happening.

Our husbands look very much alike. Even more so than her husband's ACTUAL brother. We swear they were brothers in a previous life. Same hair color and texture same height and same baby face. Same personalities and temperament. Our husbands also share the same career path and are both the "superstars" of their jobs. She and her family have since moved to Arizona and she is now back visiting. We both love to shop. So we spent our day together last week at the mall. And that's it. There's no moral to this story.

A couple years ago I was visiting my Grandma and going through old photos of family with her (one of my FAVorite things to do) and we came across the photo below. It's a photo of my Grandpa (in the middle) with his arms around his Aunt and Uncle (Michelle's Grandparents). I just thought that was the coolest thing in the world. That picture was taken circa 1943. Who would have thought (when that photo was taken) that 65 years later their Grandkids would be such good friends.

Here's me and Michelle during our visit to the mall last week.....doesn't she look a lot like her Grandmother?


And our daughters.

So, between last week at the mall with her and this past weekend at the mall with my husband I've gotten my shopping fix for the summer.

So, Kate, the rest of this post is for you....you asked what I bought....so I took pictures....=)

I bought TWO fabulous pairs of sun glasses. One for every day use.......

And one pair for running.....aren't they slick!?

And I got this lovely shirt at 50% off.....

And I bought these capris for my daughter....they were 50% off of the CLEARANCE price and an additional 15% off THAT!! WOOOOO! I also got some other fabulous finds when I bought these for my daughter but they're a gift for a certain pregnant friend of mine and she's nosey....so I can't post the pictures of those....LOL!

And I bought this super comfy and snazzy summer dress...

And these super cute tops...

And this outfit....

And these bottoms....

I don't get to go shopping often....but when I do? LOOK OUT!