First

Probably nobody who reads this will already know that I come from a family full of women who have never pierced their ears. As children, my three sisters and I naturally begged for pierced ears because everyone had them and earrings were so pretty and grown-up looking. 

But at some point the begging stopped and life moved on without little holes in our ears.

I honestly never think about my ears these days.

Well, my youngest and soon-to-wed sister has been thinking about hers. With her wedding just around the corner, she recently decided she'd go for it.  She's become the first one in the family to do it. It feels like a big deal and it feels mundane at the same time.

In the photo she's about to have her ears pierced. She's talking it over with the sales girl who will do it.

Meanwhile, my girls were completely taken in with the consumer wonderland aspect of the shop.

They had just about every kind of dress up thing a little girl could want.

It all went well and only a few minutes later we were at the other end of the mall where my sister selected some makeup, just another finishing touch for the big day.