When I was growing up, there were two shopping malls in our area: Eastgate, in walking distance from my house, and Northgate, across the river. We did most of our shopping near home; but when my Dad needed something from Sears (which Eastgate didn’t have), we made an evening of it and went to Northgate, usually having dinner at the Piccadilly Cafeteria. Since hubby grew up closer to Northgate, his family did a lot of shopping there too.

As malls are dying out, largely being replaced by big box stores and online shopping, we decided to do our part by spending our Valentine’s date (this year on the 13th) at our old friend Northgate, buying our gifts to each other there and dining at our new favorite spot, Cava. Hubby chose a Rush double album from a vintage record store, and I chose a lovely pair of Brighton heart earrings from Colony 13, a longtime Northgate staple owned by longtime friends. It was a great celebration of love and heritage.

My celebration continued the next day at work with a special drink from our artisan coffee shop, and treats from coworkers.