Spontaneous Eruptions of Joy!

voltee ♦ October 20, 2010 ♦ 3 Comments

Item: Skirt Color/Fabric: Camel, cotton Designer: Gap Years Owned: 6
I was having a perfectly lovely day today. Finally, things are coming together, and it really feels real that I am leaving for Spain in five days.
I’m not sure when it dawned on me. It was sort of simmering and building until I walked an my office and this noise, sort of like a “screeelleeeah!”, escaped me. It was part squeel, part yodel, and part operatic trill. Juli looked at me and laughed.
“What was that?”
“Um I don’t know. I couldn’t help it. I guess I just got very excited about leaving!”
“Yeah,” she said and returned to her schedule.
It was a spontaneous eruption of joy, and it felt fantastic!
There was a time in my life when this skirt would cause such a sound to occur. I loved this immediately because it was such a vintage shape, with the subtle pleats. I felt like I was walking straight out of the 1950’s when I wore it.
I obsessively love vintage clothing from every era. Except, perhaps the 80’s and the 90’s. I’m baffled as to why those awful trends are needing to return. I entirely got my fill of them during the actual decades.
Well, I decided to wear this on a trip to the city in the late summer of 2006. My friend Robin was working at a radio station, and she won three tickets to see The Wedding Singer on Broadway. And she had no interest in seeing that.
I did, though! If it’s free, I will see anything on the Broadway. I love just being there. It doesn’t get old for me.
Nate and I asked our friend Arek to go. And on the day of the show, I rode to Poughkeepsie with Nate, and sat in a Starbucks, writing, while Nate worked for a few hours. Then we were going to catch up to Arek, since he also worked at IBM, and leave for the city around noon.
Then Nate got sick. He had very little interest in going to begin with, and not feeling well put him over the edge. He flatly refused to go with me.
I was so upset! But Arek still wanted to go and convinced me that we’d have a great time.
An understatement!
It was a completely perfect day. We headed downtown, and just hung out. And I quite loved my outfit.

Then we decided to look for the Magnolia Bakery. I had never been there, but Arek had, and thought he knew where it was.
A lie.
After hours, we finally found it, and then one minute later discovered that it was clearly marked on my map the entire time. Ah, well.
We refueled on sugar and butter, and the cupcakes were delicious (but if you live in the Hudson Valley, you need to try my friend Josie’s cupcakes. Moxie Cupcake. You’ll love them!).
We just started walking. We ended up at a bar advertising $3 Mojitos, and said, “Yes, please!” We were the only patrons at the bar, and the drinks took a full 10 minutes to prepare. That’s how you know you are getting a quality Mojito. A quality Mojito should be muddled for a minimum of five minutes. And this was the best Mojito I had ever had. By far. Leaps and bounds. The tragic part is that I have never found that place again. It’s as though it faded into the bricks, like it never existed. A Mojito mirage.
We had two each, and started telling secrets. Delightful!
By the time we stopped for dinner, we were the best of friends. And we ended up calling a mutual friend that was obsessed with the Wedding Singer to come and join us for the show. He had 20 minutes to get to the train station to make it in time for the show. And he did! He must have sprinted.
It was a relaxed, easy going, totally chill day in the city. I had never had a day like that there before, and I saw an entirely new, secret and seductive side to New York City.
And I miss Arek.
The skirt, though, I may have fallen out of love with. It seems frumpier in the picture than I thought I looked. What do you think, y’all?

**I still haven’t decided on this one.  Help.  Help.