M:Y26,GF

Let me tell you a little story about last Friday night....

I was at a restaurant when my dinner date ordered a bottle of wine. The waiter looked from him to me and said, "Just one glass?" GASP! He doubted my over 21 status and thought my date was a pedaphile! (Also, apparently, an alcoholic.)

Tomorrow I turn 26 years old.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS!?!?!

It means it's time for me to get FANCY!

26 is FOR REAL! So, I need to GET real. So, in preparing for tomorrow, I've been working on-

Mission: "You're 26, Get Fancy!"

For all of you who are worried that I'm going to change come 9:42 pm tomorrow into a fancy young lady and you're going to lose the Helen Green you know and love and can count on to sport a ponytail to a nice affair, here's a little spoiler alert: M: Y26,GF is not going well and has been adapted! I was doing everything in my power to become a little fancier. So, when nothing was working, I decided to start small. Mission " You're 26, Get Fancy" turned into:

Mission: "You're 26 and you need a bag NOT from Abercrombie and Fitch or American Eagle for an upcoming wedding so let's start there, Get Fancy!"

How did I begin to accomplish this you ask? Here were my rules:

1. No shopping at stores like A&F or AE or The Gap.
2. Peruse 5th Ave during lunch where all the fancy stores are and try to fit in with the fanciest of them all to get a feel for it.
3. Minimum. Fancy things aren't cheap so maybe a minimum would force the fanciness.
4. While shopping if I feel uncomfortable amongst the fancy people, I will throw out an article of clothing I am wearing once home.

Here are why those rules sucked:

1. I love those stores.
2. Those people are European and overwhelming and 5th Ave still contains stores like Anthropologie and Lacoste which are not fancy, but in some ways appear to be fancy, thus wooing me, creating danger.
3. Fancy things aren't usually cheap BUT casual things can be expensive which led me to several times almost buying non fancy items that just cost more. This pleases me but does not accomplish the task at hand.
4. That was good but it was like imposing self hatred, which isn't cool.

Tonight I am getting my nails done, which I realize is not that fancy but it's progress. I'm also going to a fancy restaurant for my birthday, I think the fanciest restaurant I've ever been to. But, I've always been sort of fancy when it comes to food, so this is, in a way, maintaining, though upgrading for celebrating. Which is fantastic but unrelated to the mission.

Very minimal Progress on M:Y26,GF.