The Misadventures of a Native New Yorker

So, it appears that my boyfriend, Mr. "did that guy just hit a touchdown?", is going to the Yankees vs. Baltimore game tonight with his friend. Said friend is supposedly in possession of really awesome seats.

I'M NOT JEALOUS, I SWEAR. >< There is no pulsating, pungent, piercing jealousy in these veins. No sir.

Still, I'm having dinner with dotfic, which will be EVEN MORE awesome.

I am also having lunch with the truly awesome Coworker V today, so that's an added bonus. And tomorrow, I'm going to be touring the new Brooklyn Bowl before it even opens. So nyah.

But in other exciting news, I found a dress yesterday!! After some debate, it was agreed it was just the thing. I'm not going to stop looking on the off chance I fall across something else awesome, but I'm pretty happy with what I came up with. It just needs a tiny button replacement in the back. But for $35, I could have done MUCH worse. Hooray Syms!

Anyway, back to forcing myself into productivity. All I want to do is go hang around outside in the sunshine, and not work.

Wanted: a flattering, size 12 cocktail dress w/scoop, sweetheart or square neck that's not orange, yellow, puke green or any variant thereof (coral, lime, etc.). Would also prefer to avoid black or white, as dress would be primarily worn at weddings. Dress must be A-line, and flattering on a woman who manages to eat more than diet coke and cigarettes on a daily basis, but is not what is commonly referred to as "plus-sized."

This has proven so difficult to find that I'm honestly expecting to find a winning lottery ticket and a diamond necklace sewn into the hem of the damn thing when I do track it down.

So far I have been to Bloomingdale's North and South, Macy's, Bergdorf's, Lord & Taylor, Saks, BCBG, Ann Taylor, and more. I have been viewing websites (Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Overstock.com, JCrew, Trashy Diva, ModCloth, you name it) and have found NOTHING.

The new plan of action is Syms at lunch today, then possibly Loehmann's Manhattan after work tomorrow. I also have to figure out how to cram in time at Century 21 and/or Daffy's.

New Orleans Girl suggested that I should start looking in the consignment stores, which I will do. The clothes the last 2+ seasons have been pretty awful, so I'm hoping even OLDER clothes will cooperate. Hopefully I can find something classic.

Everything in the stores now is awful, awful, AWFUL: bubble skirts and super-short waists, what amounts to an unstructured slip, or hippie gowns - all in colors that look positively rotten on me: orange, yellow, lime/puke/neon green, turquoise, beige, coral (might as well be orange). Everything has ruffles. (I think if you're over the age of 7 you have no business wearing ruffles, but that's my own prejudice). What doesn't have ruffles appears to be a glorified caftan. (Designers: if this is your idea of size-inclusive design, UR DOIN IT WRONG.)

*throws up hands* The wedding is in two weeks. I'm starting to freak out. Worst comes to worst I could try to have the zipper on the not-quite-there Nanette Lapore dress fixed, wear the even less-there dress I wore for Carly & Tim's wedding (it has beading and a cowl front. I don't know either), or the possibly-inappropriate New Year's Eve dress. Because I have no other options.

For years, I passed by racks of beautiful evening dresses, because I had no reason to buy one, since I had nowhere to wear it. Now? I HAVE a reason. I have places to go. And the racks look like the wardrobe room on Three's Company. I'm starting to wonder if I'm in hell.

This was my lunch break today:

1. Enter Bergdorf's.
2. Ride elevator to "Evening wear" department.
3. Ooh and ahh at dresses
4. Look at price tags.
5. Have heart attack
6. Hasty Exit.

Why am I looking, you ask? Well, after going through some of my clothes a few nights ago, it would appear that though I am to attend a wedding in Boston in a little under a month, I don't really have anything suitable. The dress I famously wore to the wedding of teany and selftoken no longer fits my body nor my personality anymore (as Tim Gunn says, what works at 25 doesn't necessarily work when you're nearly 30). So, I now have to find a dress.

Problem is, this season is probably the absolute worst I have seen for women's clothing in time immemorial. I don't know what's worse - the cut of most of the dresses out there, or the horrendous color palate (no, really. Puke green, orange, teal, and the one color in the berry family that does me no favors. All bad on me. There's also white, but I'm of the school that believes you do NOT wear white to a wedding. EVER. And I really don't want black, if I can help it.)

I'm due for a proper formal dress anyway - I have three weddings to go to (well, two definitely, another possibly) in the next 12 months. That requires a proper dress. I would usually run to some place and get something cheapish. But I kind of want to invest in something classic and somewhat unique, something that I know will be there when I have a formal-ish occasion to go to and need to look good.

So far, I have tried: Bloomingdale's, Macy's, and the afforementioned Bergdorf's all in person, and J.Crew, Ann Taylor, Trashy Diva, ModCloth, Talbots, Banana Republic, and the eleventy billion different retailers contained in my twice-weekly Shop It To Me email online. All have been swing and a miss. Ann Taylor, Bloomie's, and J.Crew had some possible ones, but nothing that stood out. I am concerend about looking too Bridesmaidy. I'm probably going to have to make plans to hit Lord & Taylor at some point, because I'm not sure where else to look at this point. Do I just wander boutiques in the Slope/Carol Gardens/Nolita/9th street? At the very least, I'll check out Flirt and Teddy and see if they have anything.

Who in hell knew that a decent cocktail dress would be so goddamned hard to find?

Happy Birthday dkellergrl!! I hope it's a lovely day filled with many squeeable things. :D

Oh, what a great weekend. Really, it was stellar. Top notch. Almost no low points. (Well, except for how long it takes the F train to show up sometimes. Seriously? I think I spent half the weekend at the Broadway-Lafayette station waiting for that stupid metal tube to make an appearance. Ugh.) There were good times with good people, karaoke, and shopping. Oh, Lord. Was there every shopping. Seriously? When teany and I hit the town together, dangerous, dangerous things happen. However, we *did* get some really cute stuff, both at the BUST Craftacular and the Young Designer's Market. (I got a super-cute purse and a pair of earrings. The earrings were entirely teany's fault, but I really do like them a lot. They're made of pennies!)

I met a lovely young woman at the YDM this weekend (the designer of the penny earrings) who lives in Kensington and is trying to organize a one-day craft fair for artsy types on June 9th, which is the same day as another event of some kind. The flyer is at home, but if any of you crafty types out there have any interest in peddling your wares in Brooklyn this June, holla and I'll get you the info when I get home later.

And I finally picked up my dress, and they finally fixed it properly. I'm hoping I can wear it this week, but we'll see about the weather. It really is so very cute.

Otherwise? Eh. Monday. Eh, work. Eh, freezing cold. Eh, rain. For some reason I am all bubbly. I say bubbly because no matter what I do, the good mood keeps bubbling to the surface. I'm pretty much Kerri Russell in that scene from Waitress when she's walking around with the wide smile for days on end. I think people are disturbed, but I'm too cheerful to tell.

So, as some of you know, I am seeing She & Him tonight with teany. I am stupidly psyched about this. I dressed today in a fashion I hoped would take me straight from the office to the show and still look cute. I think I really did a good job, too!

Only problem was the pair of black flats I put on. Purchased on my very first trip to Kohl's many moons ago, I'd worn them nearly constantly for 4 months, as many of my other work-appropriate pairs of work shoes just weren't working for me. I didn't think they were so worn out until I tried walking off the subway train and they started to hurt. Badly. I knew that there was no way in hell that I could work in those shoes AND go to a show after work, so I decided to see if the Aerosoles on 6th avenue (the one that opens at 8am) had a comfortable pair of black flats that I could use to replace these and the other pair of decrepit black flats that are about to stop functioning. And they did!

So, I'm relieved, comfy, and the owner of a rather spiffy new pair of black flats (they look at lot like this pair I was lusting after in Ferragamo last year, but didn't buy, because they were OVER $350. Just, no.). Not a bad morning. Also, kudos to Aerosoles for having the forethought to open that store at 8am. I was speaking to the woman who helped me and she said they get a surprising amount of foot traffic. Women who have broken their heels, or left their shoes at home, or people in my situation all seem relieved to see their doors open.

(I also got another pair. I have these shoes in red that I totally love and wear so much that I had to have the worn-down heel fixed. They had one last pair, in black, in my size, on super sale. I got those too. Which is good, because my only pair of work heels not only are ugly, but they hurt too!)

Yeah, so. Shoes.

At some later point I'll talk about the crazy hurricane of a weekend I had. But now, I must go and be productive.

After a flight of rather annoying work shenanigans this morning (just when I think it's nigh impossible for certain departments to have an even more inflated sense of their own entitlement, they find a way. It's amazing), I needed a break at lunch. And I got a great one!

First, I was able to finally replace an eyeshadow trio from Clinique that I love more than life itself. It's not the exact same one, but it's close enough. And, since I had a Sephora gift card, I was able to do this for $3.25. :)

After that, I went on a mini-search for a new shirt. I'm going to an event tonight and I realized that what I was wearing wasn't going to cut it. I love the shirt, but I love it more when it's clean. Silly rabbit, getting ready while half-asleep and all! Anyway, after unsuccessfully trying out Gap and Esprit, which had stuff that will be cute in 3-4 months from now, I finally found what I was looking for at Zara. It's one of those perfect shirts for those moments of "I want to look nice, but not too nice." I got one in a dark grey and another one in white. I'm not 100% sure about the white one, but the grey is made of win and I adore it. (The white is the exact same shirt, but it's a size larger, since my only options were one size up or two sizes two small. It was a different look in the larger size, but not a bad one. I just need to put it before a panel before I can finalize my decision).

And now, off to said party. I'm just so glad to see the end of this week, I can't even begin to tell you.

I just met someone at work (via email) who is named Arwen. She said that if her parents ever had a son, they would have named him Bilbo. And this is before the movies ever came out. 0.o

Not that I had any plans to name my offspring after any of my fandoms, but at least pick ones that the kid can live with! Granted, I never read The Hobbit, but what's wrong with Sam or Tom? Or at least something that can be shortened into something semi-normal. Sheesh.

Although shortening does have its own problems:
"Okay, what's Ron short for? Ronald?"
"Elrond"
"What?"
"Elrond."
"What the hell kind of name is that?"
"Elvish."
"Shoot, boy - I didn't know that you were named after Elvis!"
*facepalm*

I just have issues with this. I know someone who named their daughter Fallon, after the character on Falcon Crest. I don't approve.

Tonight quasisonic, our mum, and I are all going to see a George Gershwin musical at Laura's swingin' Y. Before that, we're having dinner at Shima. (yahoooo. finally I can get some Asian food and stop twitching!)

I just came back from a most satisfying lunch break. It began with a stop at the library. I haven't taken books out of the library in quite some time, but I indulged myself today. I got Shampoo Planet by Douglas Coupland (so traces can stop hyperventilating ;D), Le Mariage by Diane Johnson (the sequel to Le Divorce, and I liked the book better than the movie), and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (I didn't want to read this for a long time because I was sulking about how Eggers figured out the Best Title Ever before I did.)

I also remembered to grab one of those "Take out, give back" envelopes. The New York Public Library has been the victim of massive budget cuts, so they're asking for donations. They're encouraging small ones, saying that $17 can buy one book, and if you can only give that amount, then great. I'd like to give a bit more than that, but I have to consult Ye Olde Budget first. I really respect the no donation too small opinion, too. I hate it when I get something in the mail from a charity, and it seems like a good charity, and I think that maybe I'd like to send something, and then the smallest donation they're asking for is a really high amount. As in: "If I had that much to throw around, I wouldn't be living at home right now." *sigh*

Further on the subject of throwing money around - since the Gap loves me oh so very much, they sent me a birthday card with a $15 off coupon inside. So I went, and got some really great things - all on sale! Except for one really really cute pair of pants, and a lovely blue cardigan ($20!) everything was TEN DOLLARS. Squee!!! I'm not 100% sure on the pants, but I liked how they fit and will put them before the committee (mom & sister) later to see if I should keep them or return them.

I ♥ the Gap on 54th street. I really do. It puts all other Gaps to shame. :)

I just figured out how on my version of MS word, you can change an MS word document into an Adobe .pdf file.

In my department, this is akin to changing straw into gold. And I didn't even have to give up my firstborn to do it!

I don't get many moments of geekitude, so I'm savoring this one. I know it's not the same as building a linux-based OS with your own two hands, or even writing a program, but hey, this is a banner day for yours truly.

I also took some time in the sunshine (wheee!) and nipped into the Versace store to see the Sex & the City dress. It's not as ugly as Gothamist thinks it is, I personally thought it was sort of fun, but I wouldn't pay 40 grand for it.

I made stops in H&M and Banana Republic on my way to buy myself a very small treat (a small cup of Ben & Jerry's. Oh yum), and I think I'm going to be spending some money there later in the week, especially as I seem to have no plans for Friday night. I need to do some shopping, so it seems like an ideal occasion to engage in that. I could even do some shopping and then some Eternal Sunshine, perhaps. Anybody interested?

Saturday is Carly & Tim day, so I have to call Carly and try to make out what she's saying on her craptastic cell phone. *sigh*

And I need to get back to work, as I need to leave ON TIME or early today.

Edit: Before I forget, everybody should go and look at Lex's beautiful Celtic Jewelry! :) I know many of you who read this like that sort of design, so I thought I'd pimp a good cause. :)