put me in COACH!

If I have to predict which day of this trip will be Holly's favorite, this was probably it. She's been dying to go down to the fashion district since last May when I returned home with the cutest knock-off COACH purse she'd ever seen. I tried talking her into going on a day when we'd have more time, but she wanted to go as soon as possible. So, we had a few hours to kill this morning, and up into LA we went. It wasn't very busy, because we got there right as they opened. That was nice. When Santee Alley is too crowded, I get claustrophobic, and don't think it's a good place for kids. The whole family came, so it was good to go at a less busy time. It didn't take us long to spot a few purses, so we bought two for Holly's friends back in Minnesota who gave her money to buy them one. Then we met a woman named Deanna. She had no purses displayed at her store, but I remembered buying two from her last time we were there, so I asked her if she had any. She looked around to see if there were any police nearby, and then took us through a closed door and up to a storage bin. It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. Probably twenty locked storage units where the vendors kept their merchandise, and a woman locked in the storage bin organizing the purses, sunglasses, and clothing. Locked in there. We couldn't believe it. Either way, we each bought two from her, bringing our total of purses to a record high of 6! What a morning.

We had to get back to Torrance by 1:15 for a meeting, so we grabbed lunch and high tailed it back and I made it just in time. I need to learn what I can do to best prepare for long meetings. After 3 hours, I was exhausted and wanted to cry. When the meeting was over, Kevin picked me up from church in a clean van! Holly, Jason, and Kevin vacuumed, detailed, and washed the whole thing! I bet Bob will be pleasantly surprised to receive his strawberry smelling van next week! My challenge for the day was do leave work at work and not bring it home with me. Once I got home with the girls, it made it easier.

I wanted to give Presley and Madison a second chance at loving the beach, so we went down to the Avenues and walked on the beach, took a few pictures, and got even more tar on our feet. Seriously, huge gobs. Madison was so cute trying to walk in the sand, because she's barely stable on hard ground. She kept tipping over. Kevin and I practiced our Cirque du soleil routine again in the hopes that when we drive back through Vegas on our way home, we'll get discovered! Presley was busy building sand mountains, collecting shells, and wandering around. She's definitely an introvert. She enjoys playing alone. Once we finished scraping the tar off our heels, we went down to the Redondo Pier for supper at a Mexican Restaurant. I personally thought it was disgusting, and so did Holly. I prefer more Americanized Mexican food, like Chipotle! We took a quick pass around the pier and about froze to death. Good thing they brought warm hats and jackets. It's been a chilly week so far! On a happy note: Presley has given me lots of hugs since she got here, and once when she hugged me Holly said, "Presley, where's my hug?" Presley replied, "But mom, I have to hug and kiss Auntie a lot, because I didn't see her for a long time!" Fine by me.