Areas of Unrest

QOTD: "Fools are not born - they are educated." - Elbert Hubbard

Reading: Christopher Moore, Bloodsucking Fiends

Listening to: making the last copy of the mix tape

Decluttering accomplishments: uh, I've been a bit busy with other stuff...

17 November 2002 - Fashion in the Dark

I've had an astonishingly hectic week. Monday was quiet, due to Veteran's Day, and I left work early. But I just used the extra time to catch up on sleep and trashy reading. Narcissus in Chains did improve, but Laurell K. Hamilton still managed to fit a 150 page novel into over 600 pages, so it was a let down.

Tuesday night was a storytelling open mike. I'd mentioned going in September and having a good time. This was also lots of fun. I told "The Neglected Princess" and it went over well. There were a few people there I knew and it's nice to feel like I'm starting to make friends here outside of work.

Wednesday featured a "beer call" after work. We had some visitors from Los Angeles and went to a brew pub to socialize a bit. It was too crowded for my tastes and we didn't get as many people as we'd hoped to, but the beer was good and one needs this sort of activity once in a while.

Thursday was a more unusual event for me. A magazine called Grace Woman was having a fashion show at Macy's. I needed to do some "retail therapy" anyway, and I never mind getting a freebie or two. When I got there, it occurred to me that I'd never actually been to a fashion show before. Anyway, the goodie bags they gave out were nice - a copy of the magazine, a CD, a bath fizzie, shampoo and moisturizer. The show started, but before long we discovered that the goodie bags should have had miniature flashlights. The music stopped and the lights went out. It wasn't just Macy's - the entire Pentagon City mall was out. When the emergency lights came on, we all opted for the fashion show to continue. Since the power hadn't come back by the time it finished, it wasn't very feasible to shop. Kind of a pity as there was a pair of pants in the show I really liked - a sort of flamenco look, with flouncy flared bottoms. Fortunately, the power outage didn't extend to the metro, so I had no problem getting home.

I spent Friday evening recovering and used Saturday to make up for Thursday's lost retail therapy. First, I went to a crafts show at the convention center. There was some very nice stuff, but most of it was rather pricy. I did buy some jewelry (a couple of pins - I wear pins almost every day so can never have too many) and I saw a lamp I loved and may yet order. Then I went back to Pentagon City and caught an excellent sale at Macy's. And, yes, I did buy the flamenco pants, which are astonishingly wonderful. I also found a couple of broadcloth shirts to wear with suits and a nice pair of charcoal grey wool slacks. I browsed the rest of the mall, with my other major purchase being a pair of cute pajamas at Nordstrom's. I saw some boots I liked, but they were rather expensive so I'm going to wait and see if I find anything comparable at a better price.

And then tonight I had a party to go to at my boss's house. I'd agonized over a few etiquette issues and was glad I'd followed Marcia's advice both as far as what to wear (the charcoal slacks and a twin set, with a great lampworked necklace I have) and what to bring (a bottle of wine). It was quite pleasant as work related socializing goes.

But I am really glad I don't have anything booked for the next several days. I need a few nights at home to catch up on things. Being busy is good, but this week was a bit much.