Evening in Paris

I know that I'm getting old when I start a sentence with: "Those of us of a certain age ..."

Well, those of us of a certain age will remember Tangee lipstick and Evening in Paris parfum.

When I was a little girl, my brother and sisters and I saved our money and bought our father Old Spice cologne and our mother a little bottle of Evening in Paris.

It was in Sierra Vista, Ariz., which was the small outside the main gates of Fort Huachuca, where my father was stationed. The old 5-and-dime, which may have been a Woolworth's -- I can't remember -- was part of what we'd call a strip mall now. It was the one and only shopping center in Sierra Vista.

That was many, many years ago.

I'd been sick Friday and I really wasn't in the mood to leave the house Saturday. But my mother wanted to go to K-mart, so I got in the shower and got dressed. We went to K-mart, where she couldn't find anything she was looking for. We went to TJ Maxx and as always, I went straight to the perfume display.

So imagine my surprise when I found a bottle of Evening in Paris!

My mother was even more surprised. We had not seen a bottle of the stuff in so long.

I can't remember how much that tiny little bottle cost in Sierra Vista, but it couldn't be more than a couple of dollars.

This bottle we found was $19.99. The regular price was $40! Can you believe that?

We had to buy it and it was the first thing we opened when we got home. We both sprayed ourselves and it smelled just the way we remembered.

It brought back so many memories.

And during the holidays, isn't that the best thing?