This is the first chance I've had to write out my night out with Josie on Sunday: Dinner, a fashion show and dessert out.
Josie spent an hour fussing over her clothes and mine. Settled on her dress weeks before--a layered chiffon with matching scarf, very floaty--mostly focused on me. 
We finally agreed on my pink salwar kameez, always a good choice because it's dressy but comfortable--no pantyhose! yay!
Dinner was her choice: Sushi. Not your average 8-year-old. Got to the fashion show, which was local designers and boutiques. Waited. And waited. And waited some more. She nearly lost her cool, in fact she did lose her cool, but not many little girls are good at being patient and we had to wait nearly 2 hours for things to get going.
We had great seats, right at the corner of the runway. Every time a model came down the runway Josie would gauge how much cheering she was getting, and if she felt the model wasn't getting as much as usual she'd cheer harder so the model wouldn't feel bad. This resulted in many smiles and waves from the models, which made Jo's night.
The big moment was when the last model from Magpie hit the runway--she's the one at the bottom of the linked post above, described as "Mad Max-meets-My Little Pony banana girl." yeah. Well, she had a bag slung over her shoulder from which she began pulling citrus and at one point she looked Josie square on and handed her a lemon, which Josie still has, Magpie banana girl wherever you are. The last fruit she pulled out was a banana, which she summarily peeled, stuffed into her mouth in one bite, and then put the shoulder bag on her head to show it could be worn as a purse.
Magpie also won Josie's vote for best dress, a pretty pink spaghetti strap scrap of a thing designed by Nicole Flood that Jo would look fabulous in. (Look for the picture of a young woman with a large plume in her hat.)
Then we went to dessert at the quirky Rimsky-Korsakoffee House, which I cannot believe I hadn't gotten her to yet. It's an old house with no signs in front that contains one of Portland's most venerated institutions. When I first came to town more than 25 years ago I was taken to three places: Rocky Horror at the Clinton Street Theater; Powell's Books; and Rimsky's. So that just leaves Rocky for Jo, and frankly, her mom is not the person to take her to THAT.
A fun night. I hope she always remembers it, because I sure will.
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