Seven Random Things (or stories) about Futuregirl
I was tagged by Elizabeth of
Crafts of Destiny, Michelle of
Green Kitchen (months and months ago when it was 6 weird things) and Jen of
Mellow Being. Enjoy!
1. I asked my mother to make my prom dress. I hated all the poofy, frilly, pastel dresses of the mid-80s. We went to the fabric store together where I picked out the Vogue pattern and the fabric (satin with a lace overlay on the bodice). Since we moved in between my sophomore year and my junior year I was able to wear it twice without anyone knowing. It made sense to me to ask Mom to make it because I'm super picky and completely inflexible. It never occurred to me how very nerdy it is to ask your Mom make your clothes. And, you know what, I still don't care, because I loved that dress. The hairstyles? Those are definitely cringe-worthy. I was addicted to my curling iron and L'Oreal's Studio Fix hairspray. That stuff will make your hair stiff as wire.
2. In First Grade, I had a great baby sitter who lived kitty-corner to the elementary school. She watched a bunch of kids, but she took the time to teach me how to knit one day. I remember sitting on the floor in the hallway of her huge farm-house-y home slowly, carefully knitting one stitch at a time. I felt so smart, like she'd taught me a secret. I think I actually knitted enough to use my swatch as a scarf. I haven't knitted since.
3. The first week after I moved to San Francisco from Kansas City in 1992, I started temping as the receptionist for a
big-wig chef in his administrative offices. A couple days into the gig, I got a call from someone who asked for the chef. Of course, he talked to no one (not even me - for real, I think he talked to me three times in the 7 months I worked there). So I asked the person's name and he told me, and I asked where he was calling from, and the guy yelled, "Do you live under a fucking rock?!" I said, "Hold please," and pressed the hold button. To the chef's assistant, I said, "There's some asshole on the phone who wants to talk to Jeremiah." "Who is it?" she asks. I replied, "
Herb Caen." The whole place stood up and started fluttering around the office in a panic, "Put him through! Put him through!" The next day I had a list of all the important people who might call Jeremiah. My joke, after that, was that I thought Kansas *did* qualify as "under a rock."
5. I used online dating sites (like webpersonals.com, match.com, etc.) to meet guys for years in San Francisco. After a dating a couple guys who lived outside of the city (which is a nightmare when you don't have a car), I created a search to only find guys who lived within a mile of me. After a couple weeks, Andrew (now my husband) popped into my search results. We lived 3 blocks away from each other.
6. I smoked from about 18 to 28 (with a year and a half near the end when I quit before starting again). I quit for good about 3 months before I met Andrew. I've been smoke-free for over 7 years. I worry about the health effects sometimes.
7. I love dancing. For a couple years in San Francisco, several of my friends and I took ballroom dancing lessons. Once a week we would pay the per-class rate at the Arthur Murray School of Dance which was on the second floor of the building at Market and Van Ness (there is a Walgreen's there now). I learned how to dance the Waltz, Fox Trot, Hustle, Salsa, Merengue, Cha Cha, Swing, Samba, Tango and probably more. My favorite was the Hustle. So. Much. Fun. I also took several Street Swing classes at a local bar where I learned how to do
aerials.