Bella Novella

  I was Utterly embarrassed! Grandma Lynn had made me try on nearly every dress in the shop! now I stood on display   in the dressing room clad in a light lavender hoop skirt dress with puff sleeves, drenched in frills; waiting for her to retrieve more dresses. Good thing this was a woman's department store, I thought as I nervously fiddled with a lose ribbon. It was lunch time and I was uptight, from hunger and fatigue.  I couldn't wait for this part of the day to end. I sighed.
"All right, now which one do you absolutely love?" grandma Lynn asked my with a sparkle in her eye.
"Well lets see?" I said. Oh how was I to tell her that I absolutely hated every dress she had given me to try on? It would break her heart! I quickly scanned the racks for a inexpensive alternative dress, that was a little more modern. That's when I saw it! A white sun dress with big yellow sunflowers on it. It was the perfect, with it's modern potential and a vintage twist! I practically raced to retrieve it from the rack, as if I were competing for it.
  "Grandma. I love this one!" I held it up as Grandma Lynn inspected it with her blue-gray eyes.
"Why that's lovely! great selection Taralynn!" She cooed. I wanted to jump for joy! I wouldn't have to parade around in some Mary Poppins uniform.
   After we purchased my dress, we went to a fifties themed diner for lunch. Grandma Lynn ordered a salad with sweet tea. while I ordered a corn dog, with French fries, and a cherry coke.
"I almost forgot." grandma suddenly stated as we made small talk. "What is it grandma?" I asked.
"Well, something very exciting will be taking place tomorrow." Grandma excitedly explained. I could tell she was mighty excited by the way she was shivering and giggling. "What is it grandma? whats going on?" I asked impatiently, for I didn't like surprises. "My good friend Betty, Is bringing her granddaughter over tomorrow afternoon for tea. and she's just your age. I can imagine that you two will have loads in common!" grandma said.
   Excitement buzzed through me! A new playmate! During summer days in Pennsylvania, I would wined up bored. But if I had a friend I wouldn't be bored even for a minute!
"Whats her name Grandma?" I asked. "Amanda Marie, but most people call her Mandy Marie." she stated. Mandy Marie, I couldn't wait to meet her!

"Taralynn, its time to wake up!!" called grandma Lynn as she shook my weary body from it's half dream state. "Come on honey, we're going to town after breakfast...so hurry up!!" she said as she left my bedroom. I forced my heavy eyelids open to read the time on the clock by my bed. 7:00 A.M!! this was barbaric! I sat up in my warm bed. Nearly every summer mom would send me away from my city home in new Jersey to spend a month with my grandma Lynn and papa on their dairy farm in Pennsylvania. One of the horrendous things about living on a dairy farm is that you must be up at an unsaintly hour of the morning! I rolled out of bed to meet the cold hard wood floors of their 120+ year old Victorian styled house.


After I got dressed and washed my face, I went down the creaky stairs to join papa at the table for some of grandma Lynn's favorite butter milk pancakes. Grandma Lynn's pancakes were the best pancakes in the whole world! not only did they taste fantastic, she always made them in unique shapes. this morning my shape was a T and a heart. Papa got a cow, and she made herself regular circles, she called them"silver dollars"

After breakfast was consumed, and the dishes had been done, Grandma Lynn sent me back up stairs to fix my hair. She had always said one should look her best when entering a civilized area. But luckily their home on the farm was almost completely surrounded by a great, leafy forest that was especially beautiful in autumn when all the leaves turned orange. I called it the orange kingdom.

I entered the bath room or "washroom" as people in Pennsylvania called it. with it's claw foot bathtub, and floral wall paper one back in New Jersey would call it vintage. but the people in this part of Pennsylvania called it modern. I thought about the huge difference between Pennsylvania and new Jersey as I combed my straight blond hair out and fastened the front part with a sparkly Beret letting it flow lose past my shoulders. "Taralynn it's time to go!" called Grandma Lynn. So I skipped down the old stairs and hopped into their old blue pick-up truck ready for an eventful day in town.