The gauntlet

I have a shopping gauntlet, of sorts, here in New York: the 66 block of Columbus Avenue. Barnes & Noble, MAC, Kiehl’s… I’m a totally goner if I walk that block with cash to burn! The timing was such today that I had both reason to walk that way (it was the only way to get from the Met to meet my friends at Harry’s!) and that I’m in a fairly “free” week of my budget (bills paid, including an advance to my manager; money into savings for the month). I’ve been putting of these purchases until I knew I had the cash, so today was the day. Such fun!

Of course, B&N was the first stop, to pick up Alex’s book. How exciting and heart-warming to hold something in my hands that we’ve all watched come into being over the past couple of years. I can only imagine how much stronger that feeling is for Alex! Congratulations, again, Mr. Ross.

MAC was next; my plan was to pick up one or two new eye shadows to spice up my makeup bag. I started going over colors with the sales girl, but soon noticed a familiar figure behind me: C, the head of the makeup department while I was at Santa Fe! We said hello and caught up quickly, and then she asked what I was looking for. I figured she was just “making chitchat,” but she walked over to the eye shadows with me and took over the search from the sales girl! She checked out my eye-color (hazely-blue, usually) and helped me settle on a great palette of four colors: a shimmery olive, a rich gold, a matte dark mauve, and a soft shimmery peach. Yes, I only went in for one or two, but MAC has these awesome mix-your-own magnetic palettes… like I said: a goner.

C gave me a few tips on how to use the colors (“Use this as your base.” “Put just a bit of this in your eye crease.” “You can use this with this, or this with that, or…”), and then, like a little makeup fairy, she was gone! It was great to have some expert help from someone who knew me a bit better than the sales girl, who was not quite getting my make-up style. I’d love to be able to wear crazy blues and dark purples, but I always just feel silly.

And this post has nothing to do with learning music or upcoming last-minute recitals… Just a bit of Thursday night shopping fun. Back to work tomorrow.