"And I will make you into a beautiful and whole and complete human being". "Do not be silly" said the man, "for a frock alone cannot do that". "True" said the lady. "I will have the shoes and the bag as well".
Oh, how this makes her laugh and remember an extremely funny - both funny haha and funny peculiar - shopping expedition in January 1973.
She was going to Chicago to start a working road trip with two friends and Bill had asked her to fly to Washington DC to spend a week with him before going up to Chicago.
'How lovely' she thought to herself and off she flew with a medium sized suitcase.
Bill meet her flight and drove to his home in Georgetown. He showed her a closet for her clothes and sat on the bed whilst she unpacked.
"But where are your evening clothes darling?" he asked her when her last item of clothing had been hung up.
"Evening clothes, I'm not going to anything fancy Bill, this is a working trip I'm on" she responded.
"But didn't you get that message I left you about a week ago, that you had to bring at least three long evening and a couple of short cocktail dresses and that you could leave them with me when you went to Chicago".
"Nope, I didn't get that message but why would I need all of those clothes, what's happening, where are we going?"
He was an extremely patient man, he'd have to be!
But his eyes rolled and said "it's President Nixon re-election weekend.. we'll be going to lots of parties and balls all over town at different embassies and you can't not be dressed properly darling. We'll have to go shopping tomorrow, I'll call my sister to ask her where she goes for her more formal clothes, now let's go and eat something, you must be hungry, I know you never eat on planes".
And out they went.
When they got back, he called his sister and she, bless her heart, came to the rescue with chapter and verse of where he was to take her for pretty but formal clothes.
The next day was Saturday and after breakfast, out they went. Luckily her undies were pretty! For a lot of dressing and undressing went on, in three shops, in front of the lovely assistants who were incredibly helpful.
And it was at the last shop where the sales assistant who had found some wonderful things for her, said "what about shoes and bags, my advice would be to go to so&so on such-n-such a street, they have lovely shoes and a huge range".
And off they went to so&so on such-n-such a street where, sure enough, they found several pairs of beautiful shoes with matching bags that could have been made to go with all her pretty dresses.
WHAT a time they had!
Now zoom yourselves fast forward about twenty years.. she was in New York on work and Bill flew up to join her for a few days in the city.
She had a hair appointment and they arranged to meet at her club, the ESU.. aka the English Speaking Union, on East 39th Street.
She called the club before she went off to the hairdressers and asked them to put Mr. Bill somewhere cosy until she'd come and claim him.
When she got to the club, she found that they had indeed let him in and taken care of him, in fact, he was chatting to friends who were members and whom he had joined. She asked for a cup of tea and was introduced.
Bill looked at her and grinned.. a silly sort of grin, she looked at him with an eyebrow raised and he mouthed "later"..
\His friends said "we're off, it's a long drive, we hope to see you both again" and off they went.
"Very pretty hair, I like it very much" said Bill.
"Nah, don't think you can wiggle out of telling me what you've been up to, you have a very naughty look on your face, fess up" she said.
He reached down to a bag that was beside his chair and passed it to her.. it had something hard in it.. and he said "this made me laugh so much, you had to have it".
And she unwrapped a china mug.. on the mug is a cartoon with a dress, a pair of shoes and a handbag and written on the mug is..
Go back to the begging of the post and read it again.. he'd seen the mug, who knows where.. and remembered the crazy shopping and knew she had to have it.
She's still got the mug and she's still got those bags and all the wonderful memories of that most extraordinary time nearly forty five years ago in Washington DC.
Geegee Parrot.
November 30th, 2017.
"Evening clothes, I'm not going to anything fancy Bill, this is a working trip I'm on" she responded.
"But didn't you get that message I left you about a week ago, that you had to bring at least three long evening and a couple of short cocktail dresses and that you could leave them with me when you went to Chicago".
"Nope, I didn't get that message but why would I need all of those clothes, what's happening, where are we going?"
He was an extremely patient man, he'd have to be!
But his eyes rolled and said "it's President Nixon re-election weekend.. we'll be going to lots of parties and balls all over town at different embassies and you can't not be dressed properly darling. We'll have to go shopping tomorrow, I'll call my sister to ask her where she goes for her more formal clothes, now let's go and eat something, you must be hungry, I know you never eat on planes".
And out they went.
When they got back, he called his sister and she, bless her heart, came to the rescue with chapter and verse of where he was to take her for pretty but formal clothes.
The next day was Saturday and after breakfast, out they went. Luckily her undies were pretty! For a lot of dressing and undressing went on, in three shops, in front of the lovely assistants who were incredibly helpful.
And it was at the last shop where the sales assistant who had found some wonderful things for her, said "what about shoes and bags, my advice would be to go to so&so on such-n-such a street, they have lovely shoes and a huge range".
And off they went to so&so on such-n-such a street where, sure enough, they found several pairs of beautiful shoes with matching bags that could have been made to go with all her pretty dresses.
WHAT a time they had!
Now zoom yourselves fast forward about twenty years.. she was in New York on work and Bill flew up to join her for a few days in the city.
She had a hair appointment and they arranged to meet at her club, the ESU.. aka the English Speaking Union, on East 39th Street.
She called the club before she went off to the hairdressers and asked them to put Mr. Bill somewhere cosy until she'd come and claim him.
When she got to the club, she found that they had indeed let him in and taken care of him, in fact, he was chatting to friends who were members and whom he had joined. She asked for a cup of tea and was introduced.
Bill looked at her and grinned.. a silly sort of grin, she looked at him with an eyebrow raised and he mouthed "later"..
\His friends said "we're off, it's a long drive, we hope to see you both again" and off they went.
"Very pretty hair, I like it very much" said Bill.
"Nah, don't think you can wiggle out of telling me what you've been up to, you have a very naughty look on your face, fess up" she said.
He reached down to a bag that was beside his chair and passed it to her.. it had something hard in it.. and he said "this made me laugh so much, you had to have it".
And she unwrapped a china mug.. on the mug is a cartoon with a dress, a pair of shoes and a handbag and written on the mug is..
Go back to the begging of the post and read it again.. he'd seen the mug, who knows where.. and remembered the crazy shopping and knew she had to have it.
She's still got the mug and she's still got those bags and all the wonderful memories of that most extraordinary time nearly forty five years ago in Washington DC.
Geegee Parrot.
November 30th, 2017.
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