I'll Take the Fake

I love Manhattan. The husband and I used to go several times a year. His job situation has changed over the years but I still make sure I get to go at least once or twice a year. I have my favorite restaurants and my favorite haunts. I love the ambiance and I love the fakes.

I know several teenage girls who have serious designer purses. ($1000 and up!) I have never owned a purse that costs that much and I never plan to. I can find the knock-off in Chinatown. If you want to spend several hundreds of dollars on sunglasses with the label, that is your right. I will buy the knock-offs. (I'm going to lose them anyway.)

My home has many silk plants. They're pretty and I can't kill them. I'll take the fake.

Thanks to my parents and the husband, I own some beautiful jewelry. I also own a lot of fakes. I have lost more earrings than I care to count so with the fakes, I don't sweat it.

Several years ago, we were all in Mexico. I'm terribly afraid of needles so I would never get a real tattoo. (Even with the needle thing, I don't think I'm a tattoo kind of person.) I got a fake one that said, "Princess," and I wore it with pride.

Here's what you can never fake: A family that loves you and the cocoon of love that comes with friendship.