Sunday, April 27, 2008

dress shopping

saturday morning, i find myself in the garment district of los angeles with VK et all. it's blazing hot and i am initially overwhelmed by the sheer number of shops and dresses, taking in the wide assortment of dresses- long, tea length, short, skankyshort, slinky, lacy, sheer with cutouts (oh my!) and so on.


each shop was a madhouse of 15 year olds with mothers and aunties in tow and clearly on a mission to find the prefect gown for their quinceanera and 17 year olds with full entourage on standby to pass judgement and snatch up potential prom dresses.

it was a shopping experience like no other and i applaud the patience of VK's bridesmaids as they dutifully tried on dress after dress in cramped quarters and makeshift dressing rooms (i.e. all of us blocking view of one of the gals by holding up dresses in front of her).

trouble hit at store x. while there were many gaudy dresses, there were a fair share of nice dresses. a cute number hanging from the high racks caught my eye and i tried to get the attention of one of the sales women. when that failed, i spyed one of the poles used to retrieve out of reach merchandise. i motioned to grab the pole but the sales woman quickly beat me to it and threw a withering glare my way. i shrugged innocently and pointed to the dress of interest but only got her dismissal in reply. strike one.

we all went back to dress hunting and found several dresses to try on. while missE gamely tried on the dresses, i found an adorable dress and seeing the long line for the dressing room, slipped it over my head to gauge the fit. evidently that was strike two as the sales woman began screaming at me for trying something on outside a dressing room.

missE modelled the dresses which he had selected. VK loved one of them. when we made inquiries about the prices, we were gruffly told that they only had a couple left and they would not order any more. there was no attempt to offer further assistance or help us locate the dress. when VK attempted to find the style number to locate the dress, the sales woman snatched the dress back- adding that VK was not allowed to look at the dress anymore. one of the bridesmaids went to find the owner, who also managed an adjoining dress shop about the dress. he deferred to the associate. strike 3.

we were completely deflated by the saleswoman's nasty attitude and left the garment distict shortly thereafter. we refueled and cooled down at a korean run sushi joint downtown that was playing every single janet jackson video known to man on large flat screened tv's. while we did not get a dress in the end, at the very least, we have a much better idea of what type of bridesmaid dress the bride likes and what would be flattering on a range of body types. . . and knowing is half the battle, right?

Thursday, April 24, 2008

westward bound

my bag is packed- armed with comfy travel clothes, the makings of shower favors, tea, and decorations. . .on one hand, it feels like a lifetime ago that i was in grad school but my time in ny has simply flownby. . .

this evening, as i packed, i becan to recall the good times that i had nearly forgotten- buried under the misery of graduate school. going to pauley pavillion to watch the bruins play. taking a daily coffee break and short walk with taz when we would vent about work or life or relationships. catching a film premiere with eddie. going for a long run down san vicente and along the beach. zipping in and out of trader joes (ny really needs to open more) and checking out the fresh produce (with plenty of free samples) at the farmer's market in westwood.

i can hardly believe that it has been three years since i have visited the city of angels. and i'm both excited and anxious to see my former home. in just a few short hours, i'll be trying on bridesmaids dresses and celebrating Vk's upcoming wedding. playing wing-girl to keting2. eating lunch at my ngoc in san gabriel which has the best hu tieu (sorry momma V). taking a long walk along venice beach with eulalie. . .

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

overload

the past couple days have been a blur of meetings- discussing new launches with our vendors, buying team meetings to discuss fall strategies and new business initiatives, marketing and advertising, and preparation for my group presentation in a couple weeks. i find myself bombarded with so much information and frequent schedule changes that i have been struggling to keep track of everything and increasingly relying on my planner.

this has managing to spill over into my personal life- where i’m finding myself double booked or simply confusing dates.

ring ring.

V: hey VK.

VK: hey, what’s up?

V: oh nothing. i am just trying to make plans with my group to meet next week. when did we say that we were going to the tailor?

VK: we didn’t. we just said at the beginning of this week.

V: oh really? whew! what a relief. i could have sworn we said tuesday but i couldn’t remember. . . .ok. . so would wednesday work for you?

VK: in a reassuring voice aw, that’s ok. . if i don’t write it down, i forget too. (translation: that's sad, V's losing it. . . poor thing) sure let’s go on wednesday.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

a day in suburbia

a quick one hour flight landed me back home in VA by 10AM saturday morning. i was greeted by mom, sister, and tj and wes who begged me to sit between their carseats in the rear of the car. they had both grown a few inches since the last time i'd seen them. on the way to starbucks to caffeinate me, wes pointed out his new basketball shoes and played with my bracelets (elephant! forest!) while tj told me she preferred my longer hair to my short hair but liked my necklace (it looks like a chocholate heart!).

after coffee, we stopped by trader joes where we all stocked up on snacks. while i purused the wine section and filled my basket with assorted jerkey, luna bars, and fish oil- wes took turns patting my belly, telling me he was going to eat me up, and latching onto my right leg. funny kid.

next was sam's club- otherwise known as the senior citizen's buffet-a sampling heaven for my niece. hot pockets, salad, pork roast, deli wheels, buffalo wings, yogurt- you name it, they had it. my mom bought some beef to go with the bun bo hue that she had made for my dad who was actually home sick. we dropped my mom off home, then my sister, the kiddies and i went to chck-fil-a for lunch and to pick up a party platter for the gymanstics birthday party at 2:30PM.

by 3PM, i was surrounded by a gaggle of 3-6 year old kids running around, jumping in a pit of foam, swinging from ropes, and working themselves into a frenzy. i tried to make conversation with the anxious mothers who kept an eye and intermittenly yelled warnings to their respective children. after an hour of carefree playing, the kids were gathered to the party area to feast on fruit, pretzels, chicken nuggets, doritos, nilla wafers, and cake. the mothers all discussed the point values of the different foods (apparently they had agreed to start jenny craig together) and deliberated about partaking. . . in that moment, amongst the random kid meltdowns and momspeak, i felt entirely out of my element.

Friday, April 11, 2008

a little snip

VK: i got my wedding dress yesterday. disappointing. it looks so plain and cheap. i'll have to find ways to dress it up.

V: you're crazy. . the dress is beautiful and probably just needs to be pressed. you are not a fancy type, it looks amazing on you. . i don't think that type of dress ever looked fabulous on the hanger- it has to be on. and yes, we'll dress it up.

VK: maybe it'll look better after alterations. actually, it looked great on the hanger. it just looked terrible on me.

needless to say, there were high stakes tied to picking the right tailor who could transform VK's dress back into the vision it was when she first tried it on. after doing extensive research, VK narrowed the search of tailors down to two. to lend moral support and calm the poor bride's nerves, i went with VK to check out the tailors and in the end, we decided to go with Imparali custom tailors.

thursday night, we both met up after work- VK had wedding dress stashed in her bookbag and i brought a bag with a couple of my things i've been meaning to alter. we got inside and i lent VK my shoes to try on with her dress. the seamstress eyed the dress carefully and proceeded to pull the extra material tight behind VK's back and pin it with clips. VK asked for a price quote for the work needed and there was some discussion on what needed to be done. once we agreed that the dress needed a simple hem and the sides taken in, the seamstress continued to inspect the two layers of the garment. she pulled out a pair of scissors from her work table and the color drained from VK's face and her eyes began to widen with horror and alarm.

before anyone could utter a word. . . snip. snip. . . the seamstress cut the thread that joined the gown lining from the gown. she then explained while she continued to. . . snip snip. . . that she would use the lining as a guide to hem the dress itself. while she cut away at the lining, the look of fear never left VK's face.

V: don't worry VK. even if she messes up, you would never see it. it's standard procedure. (not that i know. .but the method seemed reasonable. . and VK might cry if i acted like it was anything but)

VK: (looking uncertain) urm. . .

V: (laughing out loud- ok, now i'll have to resort to distraction) don't look so scared. it's going to be fine. the dress is going to be beautiful after it's altered. i think you were totally overreacting before. once it actually fits you, it's going to be gorgeous!

VK: (sounding a bit more optomistic) really? you think so?

V: definately!!

as the seamstress finished up with the fitting, we talked about how to bustle the dress and needing to look for a veil. we left a short while later with an appointment for a follow up fitting and headed to campbell's apartment for a drink. . . optomistic and excited about the alterations.

Monday, April 07, 2008

champagne tastes and beer budgets

this afternoon, bigEm and i decided to do some comp shopping. it's funny how working in retail changes the way you look at a store- even when i am "just shopping" i find myself noticing the little and big things.

how long does it take before a sales associate acknowledges me? greets me? offers help?
how impactful is the visual display and merchandising?

is there cross merchandising?

what type of story are they trying to tell?

and so on.

even more, i find myself becomingly increasingly jaded and underwhelmed by various shopping experiences. until that is, on this particular outing where we happend to stop in barney's where i was given a sneak peak into the world of JAR in a little alcove hidden behind the women's fragrances, a personable but polished dealer begins to weave his story about JAR, a reclusive artist who creates unimaginably complex, decadent, and stunning pieces of jewelry. only a small number of each creation is produces, lending to a product that invariably increases in value over time.

like children in a candy store, my boss and i tried on some of the "lower end" earrings, beautiful roses petals, gold painted over aluminum. stunning pieces that were both bold and refined, i instantly fell in love with them and vowed to purchase a pair whenever i "make it". . . sigh, to be born with champagne tastes and living on a beer budget. . . a girl can dream, can't she?

Saturday, April 05, 2008

boy movie and chinese lessons

my first official week at work has flown by. however, early mornings (since i'm still not sure how long it takes me to do everything and wanting to make a good impression-i'd been making a point to go to work between 8:20 and 8:40), seemingly long hours (because it's taking me forever to do everything since i still don't know what i'm doing), and busy evenings catching up with old friends, had managed to wear me out by the end of the week.

friday morning, as i schlepped out to the bus stop in my black and white skull rainboots while doing my best to stay dry, my evening plans to go out suddenly seemed less appealing. . . my mood turned after a leisurely lunch with my work friends and walking back to the office and seeing the sky clear up. around 6, i grabbed my bag and headed down to the angelika. the film was paranoid park, a coming-of-age film focusing on a teenage boy who witnesses a tragic death. the details of the event are slowly unveiled as the boy journals about the death. paranoid park is a skating park that the boy frequents- not really to skate- but because there his problems feel trivial compared to the imagined problems the other skateboarders face. the slow pace of the movie and my overall lethargy, required a conscientious effort to stay focused. britcabbie must have noticed because he apologized for suggesting a "boy movie". altogether, i did enjoy the movie and found it impactful and thought provoking.



afterwards, we met up with some of britcabbie's work friends at the guggenheim's first friday. while i would have happily gone without the $25 cover (outrageous) and clubby music, i was ecstatic to finally see the cai guo qiang exhibit. the works were mostly large scale installments. i enjoyed the one with a pack of wolves the most. . . i don't know if his work is particularly unique but i find the lessons he so earnestly tries to impart- e.g. following the pack can lead to your downfall- endearing and sincere.


Posted by Picasa