she shopped till she dropped

a few weeks ago, the ILs made a date with the teen to take her out shopping. at this age, it's just way easier to let her pick out her own presents, and they always have a great time together on these trips. the teen's always a little hesitant at first, feeling a little weird about just scooping stuff up here and there, but the ILs just laugh and egg her on to pick up whatever catches her eye.

i always get to go, and i have a blast watching her go from store to store, excitedly choosing things she's been coveting, and maybe doing a little shopping of my own here and there. this year, we headed out to victoria gardens out in the IE, because the teen's favorite store these days is urban outfitters - "the one out at the V.G. is ah-may-zing, mom." indeed.

while she scampered into a fitting room to try on the stuff she'd picked up, i wandered around the store and checked things out. i picked up this book:

and i had oodles of fun with it. i couldn't stop laughing, and i shared my amusing findings with the teen when she emerged triumphantly after trying on her loot. i kept looking around to be sure the ILs weren't standing behind me as i read the creative phrases out loud and then cackled with laughter:

at the register, i found more things to giggle at.

i liked these, too - "yes, we candy." haha!

the bean was along for the ride as well, and i cringed and snickered as i realized that the ensemble she was rocking was horribly mismatched. the poor thing looked like she'd gotten dressed in the dark: pink leopard-print pants, cream long-sleeved tee, red flowered shoes (granted, she chose these and refused to let me put any other footwear on her), and a green and purple polka-dotted fleece jacket. yikes. the hub would've killed me had he gotten a gander at this:

we capped off the shopping spree with dinner at cheesecake factory, and then everyone fell asleep in the car on the way home. given the option to take everything with her or pluck a few items out and have the rest wrapped to open on christmas day, the teen selected a few choice pieces, gave sleepy hugs and thank-yous, and headed off to bed.

my newest quest is to find disney movies on DVD in tagalog. the bean's obsession with them leads us to believe that versions from the homeland might very well be quite helpful in teaching her to speak the mother tongue. if you have any tips on how i can find such a thing, let me know. random, i know, but hey - it doesn't hurt to put it out there!

salamat po. that means "thanks for your help, yo."