get real

Sunny, still cool, but sunny. I have three little cards saying that I am entitled to all sorts of bonuses at Banana Republic (BR). Time to cash in. Time to dust off Mr. B and ride out to BR.

Trouble is, BR is at West Towne, our most distant suburban shopping oasis. I hate it (West Towne, not BR).

Still, $10 off for customer satisfaction, $15 off for shopping in my birthday month, plus some return credit – I have the loot that will expire soon! I must go!

So I bike over. Mr. B is telling me – are you serious?? The winds are at many tens of miles per hour. You are huffin so much it gives one pause. Let’s rethink this.





But I don't rethink it. I persevere.

Later: I have arranged to meet a friend at the Old Fashioned this evening, Madison’s latest eating craze. Why do I call it a craze? Because people are crazily drawn to it. It’s the budget off-shoot of the fancy Harvest. As far as I can figure out, it has sandwiches and mac and cheese. But don’t take my word for it. Twice I had gone there to eat and twice I had walked away thinking my funny bone remains untickled. Nothing on the menu enticed me to stay.

This time I came with hope. Wouldn’t you eat in a place that reflected such spectacular Madison landmarks in its windows?






We came in, we learnt of the waiting time, we left. Give it up.

Sure, I would have spent less $$ had I stayed, but I would rather order two simple appetizers and eat within an hour of entering a place than to have to wait until someone decided that you, rather than the million at the bar, were entitled to a tbale.

And so we ate next door (Harvest), where the view from the inside was huge. Sort of like the view from the outside at Old Fashioned, but looking out now.




Very very straightforward moral of the day: don’t venture out where the wind is too strong and the crowds too overpowering. You can do better. And you cannot underestimate the power of pink: a cosmo helps give perspective.