May 10 2006
The Frivolous Day
What’s the cure for the bad mail bummer? A frivolous day with a fabulous friend!
I fled the city in the civilized manner, by train*, and arrived at K’s jewel box of a house just after high noon. Poor K really was working at home, being trapped on a conference call with a recalcitrant client, so I took the opportunity to lounge in her back yard, play with her dogs, and flip through fashion magazines.
When K finally freed herself, we went and had lunch at a charming Indian restaurant. It was very stylish without being overpriced or overpretentious, and the food was wonderful. We indulged freely in naan, lentil dal, and butter chicken, with a wicked glass of wicked South African wine.
After the splendid lunch, we visited the handbag store. Yes, K’s small town has a store entirely devoted to handbags, and you already know I am entirely devoted to handbags. So I have a teeny-tiny substance abuse problem. I couldn’t resist this number, deep red leather from Columbia, with a happy yellow lining. The only one in the store. And on sale. And he didn’t charge me tax, so it was practically free! Yes, I can justify almost anything if I really want it. But do you blame me?
As we left the handbag store, K, who had bought a summer bag and matching wallet, had an inspiration. First mani-pedi of the season! Off we went to the vibrating chairs and the ministrations of the manicurists, who made our fingers and toes things of beauty. I couldn’t resist having little paintings on my big toes**, and nagged K into getting some, too (hers were daisies). Nothing can cheer a girl up faster than spontaneous nail art and massage chairs. We went back to K’s house and admired our toes.
Then reality intervened, in the form of the laundromat.
I haven’t been to a laundromat in 15 years. Maybe more. My buildings always had their own. So it had been a while, and my, how times have changed! Instead of the slots where you’d put in your three or four quarters, there’s a display with times and the cost, upper and lower dryers, and I don’t know what-all. It didn’t take long for K to consign me to the change machine, where my lack of skills could do the least damage, and where I felt like I’d won the lottery, as the silvery change plummeted merrily into the holder. There was laughter at my expense. Maybe I should get a handicapped plaque that reads “Domestically disabled”, since I clearly am.
*If only they looked like trains do in Strangers on a Train and Leave Her to Heaven (though with different results)!
**Please excuse the traces of unsuitable shoes worn not wisely, but and too well. Look at the sparkly toes instead!
3 Responses to “The Frivolous Day”
My favourite train movies, while keeping with the Hitchcock theme, are The Lady Vanishes and North by Northwest.
And don’t forget the “Charlie vs. Charlie” scene in Shadow of a Doubt (filmed in Santa Rosa, just north of San Francisco, back when it was still a small town).
I don’t even have a handbag addiction (I pretty much carry a black leather whatever all the time), but that bag is gorgeous.
(And your toes look pretty, too.)