We do improv all the time! This conversation, right now? ALL IMPROV.

Last night Heather and I went to see Uptown the Musical, produced by our lovely friends at Box Wine Theatre. We got sushi before the show in Calhoun Square then walked to Intermedia Arts. We were still a little early and not feeling quite hipster-ish enough (we talked about riding bikes, but we didn't, total missed opportunity), so we stopped in a nearby thrift shop.

Now, I'm not big on used clothing, since it seems people in the 70s were not proportioned the way I am. Which is weird, because I came from two people who were my age in the 70s. What did they wear? I assume my mom wore hippie clothes she sewed herself, and my dad wore Black Panther-style leather jackets and berets, and neither look is really my style. Also, that is probably untrue, since my parents were suburban, middle-class Republicans with day jobs and night classes. All of this is to say, I buy clothes online from the Gap, because they sell pants with freakishly long inseams that are shipped to me sealed in plastic, and I never have to speak to another human being. Total opposite of the thrift store experience.

So on the rare occasion I find myself in a thrift store, I don't even bother trying to shop and instead gravitate towards the most ridiculous-looking thing I can find. It's almost always the rack of formal dresses, and last night was no exception. The first dress I picked up was a yellow and silver sequined strapless dress with the 80s flare-out thing that hit around the knees. So sparkly. So poofy. I loved it.

Anyway, the dress prompted the following conversation, which I think sums up the relationship Heather and I have pretty well.

Naomi: [Picks up dress] "Oooh!"

Heather: "Oooh! Sparkly!"

"Yeah." [Puts dress back.] "I need your opinion on something. I'm thinking of making a hoop* with sparkle tape and lace. Does that sound good, or would it be too much?"

"No, that sounds awesome!"

"Okay. It's just..."

"What?"

"Well, I have a whole closet full of sequined clothes, and I'm going to make a dress for the Iveys this year that has a feather skirt..."

"Oh yeah, I saw the link you posted about that!"

"Right, it'll be awesome. But with the feathers, and the sequins, and the lace...it's just that sometimes I worry that I'll wake up one morning and discover that I've transformed into a gay pride parade float."

"Oh. Well, if that happens, I'll throw candy at you!"

"Thanks, and I'll throw condoms at you!"


And probably the best photo to illustrate this story: Heather and I on New Year's Eve 2010, very sparkly and maybe just a tiny bit intoxicated. Not to be confused with New Year's Eve 2009, when I woke up the next morning on Heather's couch wearing a t-shirt that said "I'd Rather Be Riding Ginger!" That does not sum up our relationship at all.

Those are the faces of people who do not normally stay up past midnight
or wear heels for more than two hours. Friggin' CHAMPIONS.

(The show was a ton of fun, by the way. Check it out at the Fringe Festival. And check out Heather's show, which I am now morally obligated to promote since she'd let me throw condoms at her if I were a gay pride parade float. This is the new standard by which all future relationships will be measured.)


*More on this later. Okay, maybe just a little bit right now!