So yesterday night there was a cocktail party at my daughter's nursery school for the opening of the Book Fair and I had signed up to volunteer as one of the cashiers since my husband was supposed to be away. The Book Fair cocktail party is a wonderful event and it traditionally opens the party season. It is one of the two school events not to be missed and an occasion to dress up. I had planned to wear my floating roses flair skirt and I had tried my outfit the day before already (when it was much warmer, I must add). The floating roses flair skirt is very festive and perfect for a conservative environment like school where you want to dressup without going over the top. The cami is the silk posy cami from 2009 and in fact the original title of this post, before the umpredictable events changed the topic, was "OOTD: Roses and Posies" (I had to squeeze it in here because I love the title!):
Not only I had my outfit all planned and ready well in advance but my husband came home earlier from his business trip and I had part of the afternoon to myself while he was at home with my daughter (I went for a blowdry and a manicure, the total luxury). When I got home my daughter was napping (which hasn't happened in years) and my husband had a dentist appointment to go to, so after washing some dishes and putting away my daughter's toys I started to get ready, taking my time to do everything without stress. In fact I even applied my makeup by the rules (using a primer, concealer etc.), which I never do because I am always in a hurry.
These are the pictures of the final outfit (the bag is H&H from last year). As I said it was much colder than the day before but I kept the cami in the outfit (instead of swapping it for a turtleneck) because I had to walk less than a block:
I was supposed to leave before 6 and at 5.30 I was all ready in my heels waiting for my husband to be back from the dentist when he called me to let me know that the police had blocked the entire area and they wouldn't let him go through the barrage to come home. I had learned that afternoon that President Obama was expected to have dinner somewhere in the neighborhood but I didn't know that the dinner was taking place on the street where I live and less than half a block away from my apartment. The police told my husband that Obama was expected to arrive shortly and then they would let him go. He asked if I was allowed to leave the building and they say no bacause nobody was allowed to walk in that stretch of the street.
So because I had nothing else to do but wait, I followed the scene of Obama arriving from my window, even if I couldn't really see him (I took some pics but I won't post them for privacy reasons). When the traffic resumed on Madison Avenue it was clear that Obama was safely inside the building and that my husband would be able to come home.
So when the doorbell rang I was sure that it was my husband who had probably forgot his keys.
When I opened the door, instead of my husband familiar face I saw two unfamiliar and pretty bold guys who introduced themselves as "Secret Services". Really. Now, after a lifetime spent watching movies, you would think that I would ask them to show me a proof before letting them in, but it didn't even cross my mind and it made completely sense that the secret services would show up at my place one evening to "check out my windows". Which they did, even if after seeing my daughter sitting at her drawing table they must have realized that it was unlikely that they would find a sniper sitting at my window.
The situation was already completely surreal but it got even more so when my husband finally came home, at the same time when the two men in black were ready to leave. Now, before I tell you what happened next, you have to know that my husband gets very upset when people come into our apartement and don't take their shoes off, which is something perfectly normal for him and that our friends with kids do without being asked but that most of the people wouldn't do spontaneously (and sometimes won't do even if asked, which I can understand).
Anyway, I don't know what kind of thoughts crossed his mind when he saw these two guys in our apartment but don't I hear him asking ME (and ignoring THEM) "What are these guys doing here?" Then he looks down at their shoes and says (in a very pissed tone) "You could have at least taken your shoes off, for God's sake", staring at them in an almost menacing way (in the meanwhile I was gesticulating for him to shut up and trying to minimize with the MIB "Oh, he is kidding, we don't really mind the shoes, officers!") I have to tell you that for a moment I thought that they would take out their guns and tell my husband to follow them but then, as they left without saying a word, I started to laugh to tears (when my husband, still not connecting the dots, asked me "Seriously, who were these guys?" I could barely mutter "Secret Services" before bursting into tears).
Of course this story made the rounds when I finally got to the cocktail party and I think it will become one of those stories that we will tell over and over at dinner parties. Maybe in some variations of it the guys will really take out their guns and I will never make it to the cocktail party. Or maybe Obama will show up instead of the MIB.
In any case I hope that you had some fun reading!
Have you a story like this one that you like to tell over and over?
