Reaching your inner-diva

I took my mother Saturday to Kohl's so she could spend her Kohl's Kash before it expired. We used the wheelchair this time, which meant we would get around the WHOLE store and she could push the wheelchair when she wanted to walk and stretch her legs.

Now my mother knows how to tap into her inner-diva, I don't mean diva as in prima donna, but a woman of distinguished taste. She doesn't look distinguished as she lives on a tight fixed income and wears her favorite Wal-mart blue denim skirt with assorted blouses and comfortable corduroy black loafer slippers everywhere, but she could if the financial resources presented themselves.

This is a woman who has and does subscribe to Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle, People, Southern Living, Guideposts and more. She could be a reporter for just about any media organization as she has a vast cross-section of fashion, Hollywood and current political knowledge. Politics concern her, but fashion and Hollywood are her passion. She raised us on Rona Barrett's Hollywood, Silver Screen, and got my older brother hooked on Famous Monster's From Filmland at 10 and she has never been west of Louisiana. She is currently obsessed with Craig Ferguson and her bucket list includes going to his show and shaking his hand on the same day.

During our shopping adventure she was very interested in all things Vera Wang. She wanted to look at what the women's wear line looked like. She bought herself a $40 hot pink bag (her signature color) with her gift cards and managed to find some equally pink and pink-patterned knit tops and was totally disappointed that Kohl's didn't stock skirts. I did concur.

There must be a market for retail skirts. She doesn't shop online, so it's always disappointing that we can't find stores where she can look and touch and try on the patterns she likes. I may attempt to make one for her.

Anyway, she inspires me with her outlook on quality. She has always said it is better to have a finely made garment than several cheap ones. As a young woman, she looked like Grace Kelley and she hasn't mentally aged past 50. She refuses to do what "old people" do. She would much rather talk about Lady Gaga than Lawrence Welk. In fact, she likes Lady Gaga quite a bit. She told me that Lady Gaga was a good person, because she cares about her dad.

So I find myself borrowing her fashion magazines, tabloids and random gourmet publications to view the world from her eyes and I like what I see. I feel her inner-Holly-Go-Lightly as I thumb through the bold designer ads and society pages and I can see her having Breakfast At Tiffany's.