When Love Takes You In (Jennifer Lawrence)

Shopping Day

"Here we are ladies, the Jefferson Mall.  My favorite mall in all of Louisville!"Jen exclaimed.  I smiled as we pulled up.  I remember passing this mall when we first moved here.  I had asked if we could go there for school shopping, but since we were moving to California, the weather would be different there.  "Now, we are just gonna buy some basic stuff.  We'll go real big shopping when we get California." Jen told us.  I was fine with that.  I wasn't really into being girly and shopping a whole lot.  I had more of a sporty style.  I also liked country.  I had lived in the country all my life.  I lived on a horse ranch and cow farm in Ohio before my dad got transferred to Louisville. 

"So, what are your guy's styles?  Like girly, sporty, relaxed?  What?" Jen asked.  "She's girly all the way, with a hint of a country girl.  Right Stella?" I said.  "Yeah!  Like the Carrie Underwood song!  A beautiful, wonderful, perfect, All-American Girl!" Stella sang out.  "Dang kiddo, you got a voice!" Jen complimented.  She was right, I got the artistic abilities from my dad, and Stella got my mom's voice.  "What about you G?" Jen asked turning around in her seat.  "Half and half.  Sporty and country.  I play sports a lot and I like workin' with animals.  But I can be girly." I said, my drawl coming out a bit.

"Alright, we got ideas in our heads.  Let's go shopping!" Jen said and we undid our seat belts.  Jen and I linked hands, and in the other hand she held Stella, who was balanced on her hip.  we got into the mall and I remember the last time I went to a mall.  It was right before we moved to Kentucky, since we were moving a little further south it was gonna be warmer.  But now, we're moving to California!  Which is even warmer!  I missed my mom and dad like crazy, and even some nights I still cried about them.  But I was excited for all this new.

"Alright, so what we'll do is get clothes that you can wear for the next week or so, until we get settled in back in California.  I actually have some of my friends setting up your rooms as we speak.  Nothing fancy, just getting a bed set up and the basic stuff.  You guys can style your rooms the way you want when you see them." Jen said as we got to the first store.  It was Old Navy, one of my favorites!  "Okay, let's go over here by the girls stuff.  We'll see what we can do for girly and sporty." Jen said pointing to the sign that said, 'Girls'.

I went over to the girls active wear section.  I found a few shirts that I liked.  They had pictures of sports balls or running shoes and said things like: 'Fast-Never Last', 'I Play Like a Girl', and my favorite "Dare to be Bold!'.  I liked the 'I Play Like A Girl' shirt the most so I picked it out in my size, a girls size 10.  I started looking at leggings, capris, and shorts.  There were tons of different colors and styles.  The colors on the t-shirt had the gray back and the orange basketball with the black words.  I found a pair of black shorts with the orange side lines, a pair of black leggings, and pair of light jeans.

Jen came over with a shopping cart that was filled with clothes and Stella.  "Girl you can pick out more than that!" she said looking at my small pile.  "But you said-" I started.  "Ah forget what I said.  We can pay a little more for baggage.  It's not big-e." she said.  "Okay." I said shrugging my shoulders as I handed her the clothes.  "What about that, sissy?" Stella asked and pointed to the walls of clothes.  I turned around to look and saw she was pointing to.  It was a black, plaid, pullover dress.  Kinda like am over sized cowboy shirt.  "That's cute.  With some boots or leggings and flats." Jen said.  She picked it off the rack and held the first dress to my body.  After that she put it in the cart without a word.

We ended up leaving Old Navy with three big bags full.  We skipped the stores that we obviously didn't have to go to.  "So what sports do you like?" Jen asked me.  "Uh, cross country, basketball, soccer, softball, and I did karate for a little while.  I got all the way to my green belt." I said proudly.  "Wow, you're pretty outgoing." Jen said as we came up to the next store.  This one was Justice.  I had a feeling that Stella would have more fun here than me.  Everything here was...pretty girly.  I'm a little girly, but not this much.  This would make a rainbow unicorn vomit!

We went to a few more stores, buying at least a bag full every time we went in.  I ended up with ten shirts, two dresses, a sweatshirt, four pairs of jeans, three pairs of leggings, five pairs of shorts, three pajama sets, socks and underwear, four pairs of shoes, my own huge suitcase, and we were making our last stop...Toys R Us. "Whatever you want guys." Jen said as we came in here.  I was overwhelmed.  I couldn't do that to Jen, she was already being so nice to us!  "It's okay G.  Billion dollar actress here honey!" Jen said.  Oh, crap.  Did I say my thoughts out loud again?  Shoot.

"Come on Gen!" Stella said as she pulled Jen and I over to the princess dolls.  I already knew where this was going as soon as I saw the Frozen dolls.  "She like Frozen?" Jen asked, leaning into my ear.  "Oh yeah!" I said, laughing.  "Jenny?  Could I get these?" Stella asked shyly.  As she pointed to a set of Anna and Elsa dolls.  "Of course sweetie." Jen said as she reached for the set that Stella was pointing to.  Stella hugged Jen's leg and squealed a thank you.  "Your welcome princess." Jen said as she laughed.  I wasn't really sure how to react to Jen calling Stella 'princess'.  That was my dad's thing.

"How about you Genesis?  See anything you like?" Jen asked as she finished laughing.  "No, I'm fine." I said.  "You sure?  It'll be a long flight?" Jen asked.  "Nah, I'm good.  But could I get some books or something?" I asked her.  "Yeah.  It's not in the mall, but there's a Barnes and Nobel close by.  There is also a Tractor Supply Store near by.  We could get our cowgirl on." Jen said as she did a little dance, and I couldn't help but laugh.  "Come on, lets finish up here and then we can finish up." Jen said as we made our way to the check out.

On the way out, I saw Jen get two iPods from the electronics center.  I think it was supposed to be a surprise, so if it is...I'll just pretend.  Or maybe I'll tell her.  I don't know.  I was actually starting to feel a bit greedy.  Jen kept saying it was fine and she wanted the best for us, but I kept feeling she was going a bit overboard.  I don't know.  Maybe I'm just over thinking.  I was raised a country girl, so I try to give more than I get.  I didn't ever really like accepting a whole lot of stuff.  So this is real new, it all is. 

***

After going to Barnes and Nobel we went to Tractor Supply.  I love Tractor Supply!  I always got my boots from there and it's where we would get horse stuff.  At Barnes and Nobel I got like ten books!  The books that I think I'm going to enjoy the most are 'Smile', the '39 Clues' books, 'The Lightning Theif', and 'The Giver'.  After Barnes and Nobel, we went to the Tractor Supply store and Jen got me some of the coolest pairs of boots!  I said she didn't have to, but we came out with eight pairs of boots.  Totaling to about a thousand dollars!  I got four pairs, Stella got two, and Jen got herself a pair.

My four were the coolest.  I got one pair were pink Western boots with rhinestones, a pair of camo rubber boots, a black pair of Gypsy Cowgirl boots, and some fringe boots.  I was really excited about them all!  I just didn't know how we would get all this stuff back to California!  I made sure to thank Jen about  million times.  She kept on saying it was nothing, but I wanted her to know we were thankful for everything she's done for us.  She said tonight we were going to her parent's house for dinner and then tomorrow morning we would fly home.  

It was gonna take some getting used to, calling California my new home.