Getting ready to go was fraught with anxiety and guilt. The boys were sick and home from school Thursday and Friday, how DARE I go out and have a good time??!!?? But, let’s face it – an entire Saturday off rarely happens, and I was *not* going to cancel. I just did deep breathing while I slapped some makeup on and made sure I had my antianxiety meds tucked into a safe place.
In an entirely appropriate reversal of roles, my former babysitting job is now my babysitter. The boys love her, and she’s well-versed in The Art of Handling Daniel’s Issues. I also asked her to help straighten my hair (she did a spectacular job) and let me know I really need a bigger iron.
I’d already decided what I was going to wear, but couldn’t find the shoes that match. The basic black suede pumps got pulled out, but well…they didn’t fit as well as they used to. I resigned myself to feeling like Cinderella all night long (something I would come to regret).
Michele was still getting ready when I got there, so I pulled up a chair while she talked to her (NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!!) friend. She changed purses, grabbed her sweater, and off we went.
The Greek Festival in Greensboro was the first stop on the agenda – my Tiny Superhero was jonesin’ for some lukomathes and I had every intention of helping her demolish them. The walk from the van was painful- only a block and I stepped out of my shoe twice. When I was able to keep the shoe on, it did this interesting little wiggle around my foot.
Ouch.
Of course anytime you go to a festival, you run into people you know. Michele schmoozed and shook hands and hugged like an old pro, and I ran into a former coworker and reintroduced myself. She asked “How’s the baby?” and I got to say “The baby is fifteen…” She blinked a bit, then did the math. I wish we could’ve caught up a bit more, but the crowd was overwhelming for me and the music wasn’t helping. (Good music, just WAY LOUD.)
The scent of the food was entirely too alluring, so we moved deeper into the crowd (unfortunately closer to the sound system) and found the lukomathes tent. I stepped out of my shoe again on the way to the table and then I gratefully, thankfully sank into a chair and slipped my feet out of those torture devices.
Not nearly soon enough (to get away from the music) and yet entirely too soon (to slip those shoes back on) it was time to go. We ran into one of Michele’s friends again and said our g’byes, and then I stepped out of my shoe. Again. I looked at her, said “EFF THIS!!!” and took them off. I felt this weird twinge in my big toe, but was a lot more interested in getting to the car and getting dinner. The kneehighs came off in the car, and something was stuck to the twingey big toe. I pulled it off and then looked down – and realized that I’d just ripped the skin from a popped blister. Nevertheless, away we went to the restaurant.
Or so we hoped.
Parking turned out to be something of an issue. As in: by the time we decided to just suck it up and look in the deck for a spot we had less than 30 minutes to park the van and eat. As we collectively said “eff this” again and left the deck (knowing that it was really truly too late to park, eat, and still be on time to meet the rest of The Gang ™.) On our way out of the deck? empty spot after empty spot after empty spot.
Grr. But at least this means being barefoot for a while longer!!!!!! Onward to Ganache for wine and women! I slid my feet into The Demon Shoes and hobbled across the street (stepping out of the shoe twice) and slid gratefully into a barstool. The wine of the evening was a yummy Petite Syrah (forgot the vineyard. WHUPS!), and the food was amazing. Unfortunately they have this silly thing about closing at 11pm, so we had to move on.
The Girls decided they wanted to go salsa dancing so we cruised on down to the bar to meet them. Unfortunately that bar was dead (making me curse the fact that I had to walk from the parking spot to the bar and back in The Demon Shoes) so Michele and I decided to go to M’Coul’s for more wine and their yummy hummus & chips.
And that’s when the monkeywrench got tossed into our night. On Saturday night, they check IDs and Michele didn’t have hers – and the guy at the gate wouldn’t let her in. I know Michele looks young but dude she does NOT look “under 21″.
We walked around the block looking for food (OHMYFEET!!!!!) before getting frustrated, cranky and saying a final “EFF THIS” and heading for a gas station and home.
~fin~
