Shopping



Monday was the first day we didn't have a matinee to go see (apart from Friday, which was when we flew in). So we decided to use the day to go shopping. Walking up Madison on our way to the Lincoln Center on Saturday we passed several shops that looked promising, including a shoe store that said it sold size 4 shoes (and what a feat that is!). So after a latish breakfast we set out along Madison.

Nico had a couple of have-tos on her list. One of them was to get a new pair of glasses. Those of you who know her realize that she's wearing two pairs now, not including the sunglasses (those polarized sunglasses that make her see patterns in the glass) — one to see with and the other to read with. What she needs is bifocals or somesuch. So the first place we went was a Lenscrafters.

Now (this is Nico speaking) I have never had the experience of getting an eye exam, a fitting for glasses and glasses all on the same day. People have often told me that my prescription is a little unusual and so it takes a little time. But this (of course) is New York City. So I walk into Lenscrafters, go to the back where there's an opticians, get an appointment right away, get the chance to get a retinal scan that doesn't require the use of those dilating eyedrops (it's computerized, digital, and substitutes the squishing of one's nose up against a rubber ring — don't ask — for the eyedrops), take it, see the doctor who tells me my eyes are healthy and that my prescription isn't much changed, get the prescription, and go back out to Lenscrafters to buy the glasses.

Choosing the frames takes some time, and of course I can't see what I'm choosing. So I have to rely on Philip, who is of course reliable, and finally I pick a pair of Anne Klein frames that are big enough to have progressive trifocals put in them and that apparently look good. They say they'll have them ready the same day. We say we'll be back by three-thirty, and off we go.

We passed a Talbots on the way up to the Lincoln Center on Saturday, and I know from experience that Talbots sells petites. I also know that I don't generally like their stuff, as it's preppy as all get-out, but hey, petites are petites, and so in we go to the store. Surprise! I find a shirt I like there, and (being my father's daughter), buy three, in different colours. Below you'll see me in the blue.

(I'm playing with a new iMac here, but that's another story)

Then we go to Bloomingdale's in search of suits. Now I hate department stores, and I get this attitude when I go into them that I have little control over, but I dutifully go upstairs to the petites and start searching. There are some nice suits there — Anne Klein like my glasses, Ellen Tracy, brands I know, but they're all fall suits and too heavy for what I need. When I finally find something I want to try on I discover that I'm in the wrong section — I've left the petites and gone into the Big People Section. Bummer. But anyway, I've got shirts, which is something.

We pick up the glasses, which I find very pleasing — surprisingly so, considering how much I liked the last set of frames. Here they are on me:

And I can see!!!

We get back to the hotel in time for the wine and cheese, which we missed yesterday because of the visit to the Village, partake, go upstairs, change, and go out to see the show.

Posted: Mon - October 4, 2004 at 05:30 PM        

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