Now that I’m married and Isabella has to share me with Justin, it’s important that I spend some quality one-on-one time with her every once in a while, just to give her that undivided attention that she was used to having for the past eight years. Justin had to work yesterday, so I saw it as a fitting time to have a spontaneous mommy/daughter day.

Once I announced this to Isabella, we excitedly started brainstorming things to do. “Let’s get our nails done!” I suggested, thinking there’s no way my little tomboy would go for it. But:

“Yeah! Mom, yeah, let’s get our nails done!!” she said. I was shocked.

We decided to go to a nail salon located inside the mall, which upped the girliness of the day by a gazillion. Let the female fun begin…

Stop 1: Nail Salon

Isabella’s favorite color is blue, which is why she chose this electric shade. And we splurged on the white swirly designs that only look cute on girls under the age of 10.

As for me… I rarely ever wear colored nail polish, so Isabella implored that I pick not only a colorful shade but a completely unique one—”not something boring like red or pink.” I’ve noticed that Kim Kardashian wears black nail polish a lot and it looks fabulous on her, so I thought I would try it. What I hadn’t considered is that KK has bronze Armenian skin and I have pale white skin, which is only further illuminated by the black nail polish. So, not the best pick, but Isabella got her wish for mom to be outside the box.

Stop 2: The Trampoline/Bungy Jumpy Thing

Isabella used to be terrified of anything that a) launches her high into the air, and b) puts her on display in front of gobs of people, so when she asked if she could go on this apparatus, I was so excited about the overcoming of her fears, I couldn’t say no.

Look how high she jumped!

Stop 3: Claire’s

When we walked by this signature mall staple, the litany of pink sparkly things drew us in. We spent a good half hour in the store, just trying things on and having fun. Here, Isabella proudly claimed the throne of Rock Princess.

I’m pretty sure we tried on every single pair of sunglasses in the store.

Stop 4: TGI Friday’s

After spending a little more time shopping, we worked up an appetite and ended the day at TGI Friday’s. I love going out to eat with Isabella because she gets just as excited about food as I do. Particularly cheesecake…

This girl loves cheesecake more than anyone I’ve ever met. I love that about her. What 8-year-old kid likes cheesecake? This one, that’s who. And to say she talks about it every single day is not an exaggeration. I rarely indulge her desire for the expensive treat, but today, it seemed the perfect way to end a perfect day.

Both our tummies and our hearts were full as we drove home. My wallet, on the other hand…