Why thanks, ChanDelle! Your, . . . ummmm, . . . shoe . . . looks gorgeous as well. (hint, hint - get some pretty pictures - of yourself - up here, girl!Originally Posted by ChanDelle
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Well, let's see if we can close this post! When we left our heroine, she was enjoying a pastrami sandwich in her room, trying not to destroy her pretty manicure. We join her now;
So, there I was - my last night in Vegas, and too pooped to go out on the town. Can you say "bummer?" Good! Can you say "Wasted opportunity?" I knew you could!
Sighing, I started packing, but chose the outfit that I would wear walking around the show the next day. Again, I would wear my Baby Phat jeans, but with my new red turtleneck and my reliable BCBG pumps - casual, but cute and chic. I went to sleep knowing that the next day would be a big adventure being seen by literally tens of thousands of people. It made me pucker for a bit, but I knew I could do it (for those of you confused on this whole 'puckering' thing - it's like this; A friend tells you that they were riding their bike and they fell off and scraped most of their elbow off on the asphalt. As you think about this, what are your nether regions doing right now in sympathy? That's puckering.
That night, I had a dream. For those that don't know, I am chairman of deacons at a large church nearby. We're having what I call The Absolutely Last Christmas Party Ever in late January at my house. I dreamt that I had showed up, and had forgotten that I had just had a manicure. I tried to hide my pretty hands, and even went hunting for my nail polish remover, but couldn't find it. That dream gave me pause, wondering if somehow I thought that I'd get 'caught' while walking around or flying home. Knowing that I was the only one from my company on my flight, and not being a very bright individual, I decided to go anyway.
I shaved closely, attached my forms (my, how I love that feeling!) put my clothes on, and sat down at the vanity. I did my eyes (not as dramatic as the night before, of course), primer, foundation, powder, blush, had lined and filled in my lips - was essentially in the home stretch, just missing gloss - and my phone rings; "We have a problem at the booth. We know you're not working today, but you're the only one who can help! Get here now!" Gulp!
Did the thought go through my mind to just go for it - consequences be damned - and show up as Kathi at the booth? I know the ladies I talked with throughout the week sure wanted me to! They knew I was going to be walking the show that day, and had asked me to come by the booth, saying that no one would ever recognize me. We settled on having lunch together instead. So, with a heavy heart, I removed the makeup as best I could, and the polish as well. I put on my boy jeans and a sweater, grabbed my luggage, checked out and boogied o the convention center.
When I got there, One lady looked surprised to see me, and the other looked disappointed that I wasn't dressed as Kathi. I came close to them and said, "Apparently there is a problem at the booth, and they needed me. Look closely - is all my makeup off? They looked at my face and said that the foundation was gone, but it still looked like I was wearing eyeliner, eyeshadow, and mascara (but your eyes look really pretty that way!), my lips were still 'sparkly' under the bright lights, and I had done a terrible job removing my polish. I shrugged my shoulders, thinking, "it is what it is." They said that they didn't think any guys would look closely enough to notice (or even know what to look for, they giggled), but to stay away from any women, as they would spot it instantly.
So, I started work on the issues in the booth. Of course, once I got it going, I was roped into giving about three press interviews since "He really knows all about the product" and about 7-9 customer demos. The ladies said I was sweet to come back and help, and were sorry I wasn't going to go home dressed. One said that at least I would be more comfortable than her, and pointed to her shoes. Every other day at the show she wore flats. I asked her why the heels (very cute, by the way), and she said that all our talks of our love of shoes made her embarrassed. She said that if I could wear stilettos around, then she certainly could. She jokingly thanked me for reminding her that she was a girl. I said good bye to both of them (I'm sure the other guys in the booth wondered why they hugged me - a lowly geek - when they were mighty marketing-types
As I was leaving, the booth coordinator ran to me and thanked me profusely for helping them out. It's funny - you could tell the exact moment that she noticed the eye makeup. Her speech faltered for a moment, and I could track her eye movements going from one pretty eye to the next. I just gave her my prettiest, sparkliest smile, laid on the charm, and told her that I was happy to help, and that a geek's work was never done. Her smile seemed to say that my secret was safe, but that we would talk in the future. Gee, can't wait.
So, I stopped by Fry's (the mother of all electronics stores - really!) as my wife had asked me to pick her up some headphones for her aging iPod mini (1st generation!). As she was taking care of the kids by herself, and working an data-collection for her latest research, I thought she deserved a little treat, so I picked up one of the new iPod nanos (I gave it to her saying, "Here's your headphones - oh, there's an ipod attached to them as well."
I drove to the rental car place and shuttled to the airport. Once I got to the right gate (I transposed my flight number with the gate number. Doofus.), I saw two guys from my company, who were there trying to get on my earlier flight. SO, I guess it was a good thing that I didn't dress. I'm not one for believing much in dreams, but this time I probably should have listened.
Once I got my bag, the first thing I did was to get my girly jacket out of my suitcase. It was cold here in Utah! I got a few glances on the shuttle, but not nearly as many as when I fished my gloss out of my bag and applied a coat. I'm sorry, but I just love freaking people out. You get soooo many different reactions - from the baffled husband/smiling wife to the raised eyebrows of a grandfatherly type, to a young girl who took hers out, smiled at me, and freshened her lips up as well. Life is just so fun when you do what you want to do, isn't it?
Hope you enjoyed my latest adventure. Again, I hope that all of the details didn't leave your head spinning. There was soooo, sooooooo much more, but if I included them all, I would wear the letters off my keyboard.
Kathi
