Article Content
Moms Connecting at Orland Square Mall’s Spring Fashion Show
Over the weekend I attended my first tea party in years, Orland Square Mall’s Dressed to a Tea. Tea service while watching a fashion show, brilliant idea! It was like dinner theater in the afternoon, over tea and lighter fare. At this sweet semi-formal affair models from Aéropostale, Alex & Ani, Brighton Collectibles, Hot Rags, J. Jill, Swarovski, and Justice walked through the sea of mothers, daughters, and friends. After their initial walkthrough the models stopped at each table to answer questions about the clothes and accessories they were wearing. My favorite looks came from Justice, probably because my six and a half week old baby girl was on my mind, but also because I’ve always been a mermaid fan and the tween mermaid t-shirt and backpack with fins caught my eye.
A representative from Orland Square Mall had invited me to attend Dressed to a Tea as an influencer back when I was still pregnant with Eileah. I wasn’t sure at the time if I’d be able to attend the reservation-only event, but my network encouraged me to say yes. I still haven’t reached that point where I want to be away from my baby, but I’m so glad I took a little time away from her and went to this event.
Aside from the fashion-show, delicious tea sandwiches, assorted pastries, scones, cupcakes, and teas, moms connecting with other moms was the cherry on top. If you scroll through some of the photos from the Instagram posts I’ve embedded from Orland Sqaure Mall‘s and the Tinley Park Mom Instagram accounts, you’ll see mothers and daughters having fun with their peers, socializing, and having a ball.
It’s important to go out and take advantage of local mom and family targeted events like Dressed to a Tea. You won’t know for sure if you really clicked with someone until after the event when one of you reaches out to try to hangout, but even if someone fakes you out, that doesn’t mean you should give up on trying to make mom friends. Just like how feelings get hurt on the dating scene, so too do they in trying to make mom friends. It’s a shame really, but take comfort in knowing that whether you’re 8 or 58, no one has the secret to getting people to like you and want to be your friend. Friendship has to be natural in order to work and none of us moms should feel obligated to hangout with a mom we don’t want to. Just be yourself, don’t be afraid to make the first move, and if a mom rejects you, forget about it. Unless you have a terrible personality and a bad character, keep being you because you’ll attract the right mom friends that way.
The Uncanny Thing That Happened at this Tea Party
I have to share about this. So when I arrived to check-in to Dressed to a Tea I met these two moms who were representing Southwest Chicago Momco. Their two daughters were so adorable, the love they showed to one another was off the charts heartmelting. When you see two little girls in spring dresses hugging, it’s like watching the closest thing to what world peace would look like if it happened.
One of the little girls was like seeing a future Eileah at age four. She wore a turquoise seashell print dress and a mermaid charm bracelet. It was uncanny, the little girl was a mermaid fan just like I had been as a little girl (and which I hope Eileah might be too). This little girl was the life of this tea party it seemed to me and I of course had to compliment her dress and tell her how I too had a mermaid charm bracelet that I add relevant pieces to. When I shared a photo of Eileah in her mermaid themed nursery with this little girl she lit up. Maybe she was delighted by the strawberry blonde/ red hair my baby girl shared with her, like seeing a baby version of yourself. Or she could’ve just been wowed by the collectible plush dolls of Ariel and her mersisters around Eileah in the crib. Regardless, connecting with this little girl for a few short minutes and connecting with her mom and other moms at the event was fun.
Just to show you how uncanny life is, I talked with another mom who like me has a redhaired daughter. Yup, toally serious. There were three of us moms at this one event with red-haired daughters and we sat next to eachother at the same table. How rare is that, right? So this older mom shared with me how she has been trying to get her college aged daughter to dress up like Ariel for Halloween for years, but her daughter always refuses despite how much she looks like a real-life Ariel. Of course we were all sharing pictures of our kids, and so she showed me a recent picture of her daughter sitting next to Ariel in Ariel’s Grotto at Disney World, and I have to say that her daughter looked more like Disney character of Ariel than the female Disney cast member dressed up like Ariel did. I hope Eileah likes mermaids like I do.??♀️ Mermaid fins crossed. Hhhmm, come to think of it, since this was part tea party, maybe I should’ve looked into my tea cup at the time and tried tea leaf reading. Oh well, you live and you learn. ?
However my daughter changes and whatever she loves, be it mermaids or race cars, I can’t wait to bring my baby girl out with me to events like this where we can both connect with our peers and have a great time.
0 comments