One of my favorite traveling/shopping
buddies is Coral Beach. She is not only a writer like me, who published a book
about her parents living on a sailboat for twelve years (Happy Hour in Paradise), she is creative, fun, and adventurous.
But one of her strongest
traits is her passion for research. Whenever we plan a road trip, she spends
hours online mapping our route, finding the perfect lodging, and generating a
lengthy list of potential restaurants, local attractions and unique retail
shops to visit. I’m just along for the ride—and it’s always a thrill when she’s
in charge! That’s Coral with me in the photo above, taken on our trip to the Texas
State Railroad (read the post: All Aboard!).
Now that I’m on the go most
of the time, checking off items on my bucket list, and my days are filled with flying and dancing lessons, shopping, eating
out, traveling, and other fun activities, I recently complained to Coral that I just didn’t
have enough room in my purse to hold all the extra paraphernalia required for
my busy lifestyle.
She patiently took me
shopping to boutique after boutique, looking for just the perfect bag, but,
while I found bookoos of clothes to buy there, I simply couldn’t decide on a
carry-all that suited my needs. And that’s when Coral took matters into her own
hands.
For our trip to Old Town
Spring, she arrived at my house at the appointed departure time, carrying a
huge gift bag. It was a surprise
birthday gift for me—a brand new purse that was the perfect size, color, and
style. I couldn’t have picked out a better one myself!!
Here I am in the photo at
left carrying my new bag. It holds everything I need—not only my wallet, keys,
phone, eye glasses, make-up, protein snack bar, and meds, but my dancing shoes,
a bottle of water, sunglasses, flying visor, and pilot’s log book. The only
thing that won’t fit is the booster pillow I need for flying because my legs
are too short to reach the rudder pedals—but I’d need a purse on wheels to hold
that, too.
Thanks to Coral, it’s all in
the bag, and I’m always ready to go—ANYWHERE!
But now I need to add “personal
shopper extraordinaire” to her list of talents because—SHE’S HIRED!!!
Thanks, Coral, for the best
birthday gift ever!
