I have no words to thank everyone.
So I’ll give you pictures and music instead.
Love and sequins,
Lori
Caring for Ourselves So We Can Care for Others
I hope JoniRae will forgive me for not doing a funny fiction of her weekend with Pursey, as I have something else I want to say.
A week or two before her scheduled date, JoniRae asked if she could switch her weekend because she was going to end up with extra kids, and her fun girls’ night would not be able to happen. As much as I wanted to accommodate, it has become almost impossible for me to re-arrange in the near term. The schedule is just that tight. When I told her that, she was of course totally gracious but apologized that Pursey’s weekend would be spent á la kid.
I did not mind at all.
And then she sent me this photo, and I wept in gratitude that she had kept her date as scheduled.
The gorgeous girl is JoniRae’s daughter, Willow.
Willow is the reason.
Willow and the other beautiful daughters and sons of those who have shown Pursey Galore a good time.
I look at the people a generation or two above me. These are the people who are at the greatest risk. I know where we are with medical research, treatments and rehabilitation. We will fight, and treat, and teach and do our best to prevent. But the devastation still exists for them.
I wish it did not.
I look at the people in my generation. These people are at less risk. I know where we are with medical research, treatments and rehabilitation. And for those of our generation who may suffer a stroke in our older age, the odds are better. We will understand more about prevention, and more about treatment. But I fear there are still many who will live with the devastation.
I hope they will not.
But I look at Willow, and Kate, and Katie, Matthew and Eddie. Alex and Boy Wonder and Little Ceo. Tater, Miss L and Miss M. Hank, Sophie and Maren. Sage, Sawyer, X and all the other daughters and sons and nieces and nephews whose names I haven’t learned yet. I look at Child A, Child B and Child C.
Maybe it can be gone for them.
Maybe Anissa’s children can live in a world where stroke is a thing of the past, where the devastation has gratefully stopped, even if one generation too late.
Pursey Galore rocked Blissdom. And it was so fun to see the tweets and the photos. I laughed and applauded.
And thought about why. Why she was there.
She was there for Willow.
The ever lovely Nichole from In These Small Moments toted Pursey Galore around at the Napa In January Blogger’s Wine Event last weekend. The Purse raised $136 at that event in which I embarrassed the wait-staff by singing. But you can’t think of Napa Valley without thinking of really, really rich people. So then THIS story occurred to me…
She knew it was here somewhere.
She tiptoed through the dark.
She’d heard rumors of it.
And finally, she wormed her way into the house, and now she had to find it!
The party invitation was totally legit. It’s not like she’d swiped it from someone else. It came addressed to her – Nichole – and was her ticket into the 30,000 square foot mansion on the hill.
The one with the wine cellar.
That held the Lafitte Rothschild 1870.
At 15 grand a bottle.
Nichole held no nefarious intentions toward the bottle, she just wanted to see it. Her brief career as a wine marketer had given her a taste of the nectar, and once she learned that the family on the hill had one of the best stocked wine cellars in the world, and that they had a bottle of the Rothschild…well…she just HAD to.
The Black and White ball fundraiser was perfectly timed, her magazine scored her the invite and now her she was in her black ball gown with the snowy white sash sneaking down a staircase like Tom Cruise in a Mission Impossible movie trying to get into a rich woman’s wine cellar so she could take one look at the Holy Grail of wines.
Her sequined whispered softy as it swept back and forth across the silk of her dress. She carried her delicately heeled shoes in her hand as she crept quietly down the staircase.
She’d watched the house manager like a hawk as he disappeared and reappeared with progressively more dramatic vintages, and with an unerring internal compass had deduced the location of the cellar. Slipping quietly into alcoves or behind draperies as staff hurried to and fro, she’d made it all the way down to the oversized oak door undiscovered.
She pushed open slowly, the change in air pressure pulling a cool, earthy draft through the door that made her skirts swirl. She reached into her zebra-striped bag for her flashlight and clicked it on.
Now, she thought, if I were a $15,000 bottle of wine, where would I be?
The beam of light swept methodically along the walls and Nichole knew she was close. Just a few more seconds and…
“ACK!!” she squawked as the lights clicked on. She spun around, blinking in painful confusion, to be greeted with the sight of her hostess standing imperiously on the threshold.
Nichole’s mouth went dry as she struggled for words to explain. “I…I’m sorry…I only…I…”
Verbs eluded her.
Her shoulders slumped as she realized there was no gracious way to explain herself.
“I’m sorry. I was just desperate to see the Lafitte.”
The woman nodded, but was clearly unimpressed. “I should call the police.”
Nichole’s heart thought about stopping.
“Or…”
“Or…?” Nichole squeaked.
“You can hand over that bag.”
Nichole looked at the outrageous zebra-striped sequined handbag on her shoulder. The one she’d selected only because it was the only black and white purse she owned.
“Th…this?” She stammered.
“That’s a must-have,” announced the Matron. “It will freak the hell out of the wine committee at the Club.”
Nichole smiled and started removing the essentials from the bag.
Raising eyebrows and keeping her ass out of jail. Now those were worthy causes.
Ok then..I know you’re all about to kill each other to win this piece of gorgeousness.
But the lucky woman is….
And number 14 is…Mama P from Keeper of the Penguins!!
Congrats Penguin Mama!
I will be in touch via email to get your loot to you!
It’s Christmas-time, and Project: Purse and Boots is NOT one to let a gift-giving occasion go wasted.
Only the BEST stuff for you.
And wait till you see it!
Ready?
YES! It’s a silver-and-black zebra-striped SCARF!!
It matches Pursey!
And…wait for it..it was also a gift from my mother. With the intention that it be a giveaway item. I love my mom.
Here’s another shot:
This is to demonstrate that is something like 84 yards long.
Here is a picture that will help you understand how hard it is to focus a camera on something WITH SEQUINS.
So this scarf CAN BE YOURS!
Do you miss Pursey? Or are you CRAVING those sequins? Were you worried that you didn’t have something trashy enough for New Year’s Eve?
All you have to do for YOUR CHANCE to win this glorious piece of tack-o-rama is tell me…
What in your wardrobe would be BETTER if it was zebra-striped?
That boring blazer? Your Keds? Some lacy unmentionables?
Tell moi!
Dying to know!
And it could win you THIS*:
*Cat and unmade bed not included.
Contest is open to residents of US and Canada (New Year’s Eve delivery unlikely for Canadian residents, however.) Contest is open through 8 am PST on Friday, December 24th. Winner will be announced Friday morning.
Comment = One Entry
Tweet About the Giveaway + Comment about said tweet = Second Entry
Alright you wannabe sequined mamas. Go!
Because today’s Man-On-the-Go is confident enough in his sexuality to sport a stylish, sequined murse.