When I was growing up down there in Raleigh, NC, I had a Chinese American friend named Brenda Tie.....one of the funniest, most interesting people I knew. We probably knew each other since Junior High times but became good friends in high school, and then were part of the same zany group of friends....FOMAS....Future Old Maids of America, when we were in college.
For several years I worked in the restaurant that her parent's owned, the Canton Cafe. (Where I told many customers that, no, I wasn't really Chinese. Or sometimes when they commented that I didn't look Chinese, I'd assure them that indeed I WAS. Hahaha, still makes me laugh).
Anyway, I kept up with Brenda many years after that too, sometimes seeing her when I went back to Raleigh to visit my parents.
Oh! And plus! PLUS! Brenda was one of the friends that invented the High-Five with me!
When my own girls were little, we lived in the woods of Virginia far far away from the leading edge of style and fashion. Besides that, we were more rough and tumble types....sneakers, hiking boots, blue jeans, corduroy....nothing fancy. And really knew nothing of leopard print.
At that time, Brenda's family, she has a husband and daughter, lived in Atlanta. Though certainly not NYC, it definitely far outpaced our neck of the woods, fashion-wise.
Our families exchanged Christmas cards for many years. They always sent those cards with a photo of their family. One year the card came with Brenda and her daughter completely decked out in leopard print. My daughters...and me...were completely boggled and amazed by all that leopard. We'd never seen the like of any such thing! Certainly not in Shifflet's Hollow, or Free Union or even in Charlottesville. We were completely in awe of this fashion statement. And thus it became known in our family as Brenda-Tie-Wear.
Anytime we'd see leopard print, we'd always point it out...."there goes some Brenda-Tie-Wear!" It was exciting......whenever we saw it.
We've made Brenda-Tie-Wear a part of our vocabulary, sometimes giving one another leopard print just for the joke of it.
About a week before Christmas this year, Steve and I were in Target having a fairly important and serious conversation with someone when we both spotted it at the same time. A whole display of Brenda-Tie-Wear! Hats! Mittens! Scarves! We could barely contain ourselves and strained not to go dashing right over, though in the end managed to maintain composure like grown-ups are suppposed to do.
Oh the joy! The whole rack was on sale too. 40% off. Bonanza! So we bought 7 pairs of mittens and 7 hats. One of those sets was for me. Yes, I wrapped my own hat and mittens and put them under the tree for myself. I didn't want to be left out of this very exciting Brenda-Tie-Wear moment. And yes, Curly Shirley, Steve's mom got mittens and a hat too. Of course.
I mean, really, don't we all look just so cute......uh, uh, FEROCIOUS!
Stylin' ferocious women (from bottom and left to right): Anna, Lucy, Ariel, Gwendolyn (Alyssa's friend), Alyssa, Curly Shirley, and myself.
Hooray for Brenda-Tie-Wear!
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