The Bloggy Party

The people at the party last night were interesting and welcoming. I admire their work tremendously. The whole time I was feeling a mix bag of emotions. Part lucky to be invited. Very lucky actually. Part comfortable. Part dorky. Part funny, although not as much as I was hoping. And I felt overly dressed. Near the middle, I was looking around for the swimming pool and diving board to show everyone my fancy skills I had just practiced last weekend. And say, "Look at me! Look at Me! I can do other things besides raise kids, clean the house, and then blog about it! Check out my amazing swan dive!" But, alas, Joanna didn't have an indoor pool in her West village apartment. So when the conversations were about schools and baby names, I was ON! But when it switched to design and the best stores in Brooklyn to find maps, flowers, armoires, etc, I didn't contribute much of anything. But I loved listening and hearing about it!

As I was walking out of the subway on my way home, I couldn't help but second guess myself and who I had become over the past 6 years. I wish I was a little bit more like the people at the party. They seemed so with it and cool.  There was something about having three kids in my twenties that has killed all the cool in me. I've met people that have been able to resist it. Oh to be one of them :)

Then I walked passed this poster of Molly Ringwald. Her dress and shoes oddly resembled the ones I was wearing.  And that's when I knew it was going to be ok: I just have to work my Molly Ringwald angle and strengths. You know what I mean? Like in the beginning of Pretty in Pink, you see her being very motherly to her dad. Making him coffee, getting him out to bed, motivating him. And then he admires her dress. She tells him that the shoes are thrifted and she made the rest.  She's kind of nerdy--yes. But also totally awesome. Watch it here.

While I didn't make the entire dress I was wearing to the party, me and my friend spent considerable time finding just the right buttons and texting each other back and forth about how we wanted the dress to be changed. We had a few fittings. She did all the work and I really liked it, and even got a few compliments on it at the party, but looking around, I knew. It wasn't very cool. Pretty Sunday dress? Yes. Hip West Village dress? It was not.  My shoes were thrifted.

After walking past the poster of Molly Ringwald, I turned around, pulled out my bulky camera and took some pictures of it. These pictures were the only ones I took all night. While I made some great new friends at the party, it was the fictional version of Molly Ringwald who had the biggest influence on me .  Here's to you Molly Ringwald. The 80's edition. Only.  Thanks for making it ok to be nerdy and flowery and awkward and sweet. You too Claire Danes. But that's another day, another set of insecurities, another obsession.