First off my plan was to get home early from work and take her to Olive Garden for dinner. She loves Italian food and I guess I have to admit that she told me shortly after returning from Malaysia that they had the AYCE pasta bowls back again and that may have had something to do with the decision to go there. None of this first part worked out. I didn't leave the office until 6pm anyway and then when I got home Rosie said that Laura had taken her out to Italian for lunch. 0/2 so far. So as she was telling me the story of what had transpired for lunch she mentioned that she had seen an "English Pub" near the place they ate.
The 3rd part of the "Birthday Plan" was to go to Coach to buy her a bag. People that know Rosie know that she loves her bags and really loves the Coach bags. Crazy about them! I can not overstate this fact. So with the restaurant idea aside now we headed to Coach at the San Tan Village to make sure we at least made it there in time to get her birthday gift.
She still didn't know we were headed there until we got out of the car and started walking in that direction. As I opened the door for her to the store, she looked at me and whispered, "Are you sure you want to do this?" It was then that I stopped breathing. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm as cheap as Dad. Pennies have nothing on us when it comes to squeezing the copper out of them. Or is it zinc? Anyway, cheap, that's me.
Rosie makes a beeline for where she thinks her bag of choice will be and then finds out from a store associate (or whatever they call them there) that they don't have her bag there.
I must fill in here that I had taken her there with a bag in mind. I almost bought her a bag in Singapore on my way home from Penang, but thought better of it. As it turns out she liked the bag that I almost bought,but the cheap in me came out and I figured it would be cheaper in AZ. And I was right.
I found the bag that I had in mind and Rosie liked it, only it was the leather version of what I had picked. Rosie put it on her shoulder and pranced around a bit to see how it looked on her or maybe how she looked with it, I'm not sure which. Then she went and looked around the rest of the store.
Now here is where it gets interesting. She started looking at key chains & little trinkets that apparently you can put on the bags or something. A key chain seemed to catch her eye that when you buy it they give 20% towards finding a cure for Breast Cancer. For some reason I couldn't understand, she said, "What if I just get this?" :0
She left the store with no bag!!! No BAG! You see we are planning for her to go back home to spend time with her mom who is recovering from surgery and she said that she wants to save the money so she will have money to spend on family while in England.
I've always known the kindness of her golden heart. It was one of the first things Aiden told me about her many attributes when we first met and started dating, but to see this put her into a whole new realm of thoughtfulness (have I stated how much she loves Coach bags?).
We left the store and I started to breath again and the color returned to my face. I was so surprised and impressed with Rosie.
We then went to the "English Pub" that Rosie had talked about and she had her Bangers & Mash (you can ask her about that) and I had a Cornish Pasty. They weren't as good as England but all in all it seemed to satisfy Rosie's desire for Bangers.
We returned home with gift and leftovers in hand. I will post a picture of Rosie with her birthday gifts later (she received other gifts from Friends and Family).
I was a happy 0/3 with my plans for her birthday but I don't think I could have been happier with how things turned out and Rosie seemed happy though the rest of the night she kept saying, "I left Coach without a bag?! I'm a muppet!" I have to admit after we got back in the car, leaving the Coach store, I checked her temperature.
Rosie, I love you!
