The posts haven’t been as frequent in the past week as I’ve been busy playing tour guide to my cousin and her daughter. They visit me several times throughout the year so it’s not like they are visiting for the first time but I still manage to spend all my free time taking them places.
Lucky for me they also love going to the bookstores, and we spent several nights out last week at Half Price Books and Barnes & Noble. We gather books and magazines to peruse, order frou-frous drink at the café and sit around enjoying our stacks. Occasionally, we interrupt one another to point out some interesting fact whether on health, fashion or celebrity gossip. Okay, mainly it’s to do with fashion after all there is a teen with us.
My teen cousin looks through Cosmo Girl with the same intensity I had when I read Sassy at that age. Her mom is into home décor and you can see her eyes glazing over when she reads the latest Martha Stewart Living. Meanwhile, I’ve got guilty pleasures such as Glamour balanced off with Bitch magazine.
But the best part is when we get ready to leave and my 16-year-old cousin argues with her mom that she needs a raise in her allowance effective immediately so she can afford that one extra book. This happens every single time we go to the bookstore.
Meanwhile, I stand off to the side smiling and thinking, that was exactly me at that age. And, of course, rooting for my teen cousin hoping her mom will give her the raise so she can get her book, and knowing perfectly well that if her mom doesn’t buy it for her then I will.
Fifteen minutes later and everyone is happy. The teen is at the register with books by Francine Pascal and Lurlene McDaniel, her mom treats herself to one home décor magazine and I’ve added more books to my to be read list.
Now if only all family visits were like this.
