Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The White Pants

Recently, an interesting thing happened, that has never, ever happened to me before. Ever. I've seen it happen to others, heard about it happening, but never personally experienced it. 


I was out with my friend Stacy and her almost-two-year-old daughter for happy hour at our favorite $2.95 appetizer spot. We had finished, paid, and I was sitting with our stuff while she took her little one to the "potty." Just as I was recognizing a paralegal I used to work with about 15 years ago, a waitress came by and started clearing my table...only instead of actually grabbing the less-than-fabulous FULL glass of red wine that our waiter had graciously given to us (they poured an extra at the bar, did we want it?) she knocked it COMPLETELY over INTO my lap!!!


Of course I was wearing nothing but....wait for it...WHITE PANTS!!!! Expensive, crisp, white pants from Sisley (a designer boutique kind of shop that doesn't even exist in the US anymore) that I have owned since before I started dating my now former husband. Did I mention they still look brand new and fit like they were tailor made for me?? The waitress was mortified, apologizing profusely, the bartender was handing me a glass of club soda and a completely non-absorbent linen napkin. I found out the napkin was non-absorbent when I attempted to pour a little of the club soda on it to, I guess, blot my pants (?) and it literally ran off the napkin onto the floor (with the little bit of wine that didn't hit my lap). Seriously. All this while I was recognizing my old friend. 


So Stacy comes back from the bathroom, finally, and all I can say is "I didn't do this." Like that somehow matters. Thank goodness we were at the mall since I had plans to go hang out with "the guy I'm seeing" after I left Stacy. Apparently, white shorts (the only thing that would go with the rest of my outfit), under $50 are hard to come by. And since I refuse to spend more than $30 for shorts, I was out of luck. So, I decided to suck it up, keep my plans, and go ahead and go to "the guy I'm seeing's" house in my expensive, not-so-crisp anymore, white, red-wine-stained pants, because...I am fierce. 


When I arrived, he laughed, of course, and so did his friend (did I mention his friend would also be there??) and then asked if I wanted shorts. "Sure," I say. "Second drawer on the right," he replies. So I march upstairs to get some shorts, and what do I find? I mean, as in, the only thing that would remotely stay up on me? Sky blue, mesh basketball shorts that hang past my knees. Sexy. Then I proceed back downstairs to where he and his bud are hanging out and gave them both another laugh. Glad I could be of service boys. 


The happy ending is that after soaking my pants in vodka (Grey Goose to be exact because I didn't have any cheap stuff) and then a baking soda rub (Thanks Adam S. for the tips!) I had removed most of the stain. I then took them to the dry cleaner and for $4.25, they completely removed the stain!!! Amazing! I'm so glad I didn't make a big deal at the restaurant about the spill. The waitress was probably some poor college girl, working to put herself through school, and who knows if her boss would have made her pay to replace them or not. Life happens and in this next phase of my life, I'm trying to let things roll, at least when it's just a pair of expensive, crisp, perfect, white pants. :) 

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Introduction

After much prompting from several people, and strong encouragement from a very dear friend, I have decided to start a blog. I've always loved to write, but never quite knew how to pursue it, and on what forum. As a previously practicing therapist, I never minded session notes. I loved the session more, of course, but I always wished I had more time to really reflect on paper what had transpired before me in my office. Unfortunately, the politics of the profession for a therapist working towards licensing barely allows for any sort of session note, much less a reflective one. After taking, what I initially thought was, a brief break from the profession, I found myself working for a family attorney. I have worked for attorneys since I was 16 (I'm 31 now) and I've always loved the law, including all the writing involved with it. I wrote for my high school newspaper, and perhaps that's when I initially fell in love with writing, and also was on yearbook staff...though yearbook didn't provide enough writing, and I switched back to journalism half-way through the year. Blogging, however, is a way to write without boundaries, without rules, with a freedom found few places. My hope is that blogging will give me a forum to express myself (without an agenda), share my experiences, and maybe, just maybe, provide some sort of entertainment for others. Feel free to leave comments and let me know what you want to hear more (or less) of. Enjoy...hopefully.