The Gift

I wasn't in a rush for the first time in a long time on a late December morning at Macy's. I was wandering through the purse section at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. It's a sprawling mall with upscale clientele, so I'm never really in my element there. I shop Macy's, not Balenciaga, Dior, Bottega Vineta or Escala. I want my STAR points and WOW passes. I was browsing purses, confused and out of my element. They are not my thing. I'd really like to put a tube of lipstick, my driver license, a 20-dollar bill, and a credit card in my pocket (I don't always even have a pocket) and leave the purse at home. But, my daughter-in-law loves them. So I wandered through the Patricia Nash section (I got her one of those last year and it was a hit) over to Dooney Bourke and ended up admiring a rose gold cross-body beauty by Michael Kors.

"I'm not following you," I heard someone say.

I looked around and there was this darling woman smiling broadly at me. "It's a good thing," I replied, "since I'm hunting in unfamiliar woods here. I'm not really into purses."

"Oh, I am," she laughed. "I love them."

I hoisted the rose gold Michael Kors on sale at half price and I could use my WOW pass for extra savings purse for her to see. "What do you think of this one?"

"Ooo," she cooed. "I love the color." Then she reached across me to hold aloft a larger purse, same color, same shiny leather. "And there's this one."

"Well, now you've confused me," I said with a wistful smile. "I will be forced to choose between the half-priced cross-body or the full monty big old purse you can carry your television set in."

She laughed at me as I clutched the monster purse that is almost half the size of my tiny daughter-in-law and headed toward check-out. "Aren't you going to buy one?" I asked.

"No," she said. "I don't have time to look, really. It will take me a few minutes to get my son from school."

"Oh, do you live far from here?" I asked casually, making conversation.

"Huntington Beach," she said.

"Oh, me, too!" Then I realized that might be a stalker question, so I said, "I'm in real estate, so I'm always interested in where people live."

"Really? Oh, my gosh, I need to sell my mom's place in Irvine. Do you sell out that far?"

Do babies need diaper changes? "Of course, I do. Where does she live in Irvine?"

We established that her mother was moving out of that fabulous (btw) Irvine community to move into an over 55 place in Huntington Beach. I told her I'd send her comparables so she'd know how much her mom's place was worth and we agreed to wait until after Christmas to talk again as she was in the throes of moving her mom and Christmas preparations.

As soon as I got back to my office, I sent her the information she requested. Kept in touch with her on the current sales and listings in the community and just took the listing on her mom's property this week. AND, she and her mother are awesome. I feel so blessed to not only find a new client, but to meet some really lovely people.

So, it was a gift...shopping that day for a gift (which my daughter-in-law returned for Joe's jeans, but whatever. I told you I wasn't very good at the purse thing).







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