let us loose underground.....

This weekend my Mom and I headed to the big city for some QT time, shopping and a little business for me! We had so much fun.........we arrived late afternoon on Sunday, just enough time to make a stop at Ikea.........ahhh you know when you have a project in mind...that store is the best....I certainly started the redecorating of the cottage....oh so many fun ideas!! I can't wait to get started!!

So we closed Ikea down for the night and carried on to our hotel. Had a glass of wine, chatted and then walked over to a nearby restaurant....good food and lots of chatting...so fun!

This morning we were off to the ABA...which is the biggest "hair event" of the year.....the rest of my staff was meeting us at the show so Mom and I decided that we would just take the subway downtown......something that we are both comfortable with. Especially my Mom who lived in the city for 4 years, not that long ago when she was getting her masters........so off we went!!! Grabbed a Timmy's for the ride and sauntered off to the subway station.......then the fun began!!Our first mission was to get some tokens....so we ventured up to the wicket and there was a bit of special going on for today it looked like...lol 5 tokens for 11 dollars...not bad........I know we were only going to need 4 tokens for the day but this was a deal so I asked the nice man for that....gave him my money, he gave me my change and then nothing....we waited....I wasn't really sure what was going on and clearly neither was he.....finally he noticed that the little machine that is supposed to automatically drop your ticket to the underground world was broken...so he fiddled with it and within seconds out popped our tokens.........carry on.....

I did right through the gate........in the back of my mind I was thinking hmmm funny where do you pay.....I can't remember...is there a man at the door of the subway waiting for your token....well that would be really dumb...but that must be it because I am in and I haven't paid......I look back and there is Mom right behind me...........we get to our waiting area.......after a quick noncommittal look at the map....( you don't want anyone in the place to know that you don't really know what the hell you are doing now do you), and she blurts out as she looks in the palm of her hand......."oh no I forgot to pay"....mystery solved, you are supposed to pay at that little wicket.....opps.....well I guess we're getting a free ride today!!!

We get to our destination and head out..........now I am sure most of you are familiar with riding the subway.....but this is the part that I find so funny every time.......that crazy unfamiliar feeling you get when you hit ground level again...........you walk up the stairs with this blazing bright light almost blinding you, you place you feet on the pavement.... slowly look around and realize yep you don't have the foggiest idea where the hell you are!!!! Well that was us...........we even asked a few people..which exit we should be taking to get us to such and such a place....they really didn't care....waste of my breath...they just shrugged there shoulders...

that's when this guy enters our story...........a very concerned taxi driver...........haha yep he could spot us a mile away...lost ladies....tourists.....he yelled over with his thick accent "where do you want to go"...we told him, he smiled....would you like a ride over......smooth very very smooth.....we jumped at the chance..........so 10 bucks later for what turned out to be about a 6 min walk(we did manage to find our way back by foot) we arrived at the show!!! whew....

The show was great....lots to see....had a short impromptu meeting about some salon software...watched some great new trendy stuff.....after a few hours Mom and I looked at each other and said alright now lets get down to business.........back to the mall...time to SHOP!!

Well you know what that means..........high tale it back to the sub station...........

This time we did remember to drop our tokens in and ran down the stairs so not to miss the next train.............just as we are boarding I noticed that both trains were heading north.........what??? So I said to Mom are you sure this is the one we want....yep yep this is the one...okay we sat and got comfy...we had a bit of a ride...........well I don't know why but I just was having this feeling that this was not right.........so after about 2 stops I said.....ummm I think we are heading to the other north because by my calculations and this map above our heads we are on the wrong train.........sure enough we were.....hehehe......

okay so time to regroup....well thank goodness we caught our mistake in time....quickly my teenage lessons from my Uncle came flooding back...all the times I would stay at his place in the summer and he would hand me a subway map and let me loose....I made these kinds of mistakes often.........so off we get, run to the opposite train and got ourselves back onto our proper Northbound train.....ahhh too funny..........damn the TTC sure didn't make any money off of us today....we put alot of miles on those 2 tokens......we had quite the underground tour of the city .....subway stops are quickly becoming very attractive these days....the days of grungy graffiti are gone people...one station had a stunning mosaic treatment done on the walls!!! lol

So we finally made it back to the mall...........and we shopped and we shopped and we walked.....OMG...........my poor poor feet.........seriously.......unfortunatly my choice of footwear was more about impressing my colleagues than thinking about how many steps I would be taking today.....so you can get a visual here I had the highest pointiest black boots on.......aghhhh so stupid....by the end of the day, I was dying.......at one point I was walking behind a nice man that was pushing his elderly Mom in a rented wheelchair from the mall and I contemplated pushing them over and taking off with that shiny set of wheels......:)

AHHHH where are those "Grandma Shoes" when you need them!!!

All and all it was a great weekend.....lots of laughs as you can see....it is great to be able to spend time together......I remember the first time we did that type of weekend...it dawned on me that we had hit a turning point in our relationship.....my Mom although always my Mom had also become my friend....someone you can have fun with.....I'm glad the tradition has continued and can't wait for the next one!!!

m:)