You Say Tomato...

Funny story about last week.  As you all know, it was Mother’s Day last Sunday.  So, being the wonderful daughter that I am, I went to get my mom flowers.  And because I know my mom so well, I bought her favorite roses: the orange ones with the reddish tips.  I gave them to her and she was happy and loved them and all that, but here’s the best part.  She had gotten me the same ones! You see, I am a dancer and I had shows all of last weekend.  After the final one on Sunday afternoon, my mom handed me the roses, and we just burst out laughing.  It was too perfect.  Which got me thinking.

My mom and I are a strange pair, let me tell you.  We are both ridiculously similar and different.  Let me start with the differences.  Number one: Cleanliness.   I am very clean when it comes to hygiene and all that good stuff, but I am something of a pack rat, and… I don’t want to admit it…a messy person.  Not like I spill on myself or have stains on my clothes (Ew!) but I leave things EVERYWHERE.  And this year it has gotten worse.  On Sunday nights I pick up all the clothes on my bedroom floor and hang them up, but Monday the buildup starts.  It starts with a few T-shirts next to the closet, then the jeans, slippers, socks, sweat pants, dresses, outfits that I thought would look good but realized I didn’t want to wear five minutes before leaving for school, and by Sunday night my mom is walking by saying “You’re room is disgusting.”  I think that is a little harsh.  Bacteria under the bed is disgusting.  But some clothes? Not that bad…right? 

My mom, on the other hand, is the shoe Nazi.  She has this no-shoes-in-the-house policy, and I swear she can hear the sound of rubber soles hitting tile from miles away.  She could be drifting in and out of sleep upstairs in her room when my dad comes home from work and she will sit up and yell, “Paul! Take your shoes OFF!”  Once she was out of town and my dad and I told her that we were running around the house in our shoes, having a shoe party, sleeping in our shoes.  I think she almost had a heart attack. 

But let’s get to the similarities. And at times, it scares me how similar we are.  Exhibit A: the roses.  We both love orange roses, and our favorite flowers are gerber daisies.  But it gets weirder.  Our favorite shoe store is called City Soles, and we both have a weakness for Chie Miharas.  So one day we were at the shoe store and I picked up a pair of flats.

“I love these!”

“I already have those…”

But I bought them anyways.  We are just extra careful to never wear them on the same day.  We really have the same style in general.  Over the summer, she decided to clean out her closet, and I gladly took handfuls of shirts and jackets to my room. And those just add to the belts that I have already stolen.  And the dresses that I borrow.  And the shoes that I wish I could fit into. And the jewelry that I admire…oh lord.  

But one thing that we have the EXACT same style in is bags.   So when my mom started the business, and she was designing, the two of us would sit there cutting strips of vinyl and piecing together color palettes.  And what did we end up with?  The fabulous bags that are right here on this blahg!


-Emma