Steppin' Out

Contrary to current speculation, you still can dress us up and take us out – it’s just great deal more effort than it used to be. Since outings without children only happen two or three times a year at most, you’d think we’d have time to plan ahead. Think again.

Fifteen minutes before we are supposed to leave for a fabulous 50^th birthday party, we’re looking up “cocktail attire” on the internet because James is afraid that fashions might have drastically changed since the last time we actually went out. He can’t find his shirt, tie, or cuff links (right where they’re supposed to be) and I’m frantically searching for my shoes (they’re in Chloé’s closet). This leaves us about four minutes to shower, get dressed, and get out the door without getting covered in the mac-and-cheese the kids are eating.

In the car on the way, we try to decompress from a kid-packed day and stay awake at the same time. James says, “I can’t believe I used to like going out.” I say, “Yeah, my feet hurt already.” Sheesh. We are way too young to be acting this old. Somehow, in our rush not to be late, we pull into valet parking five minutes early. It’s embarrassing, but we figure if we’re the first to arrive, we can be the first to go home.

The party, held at Bimbo’s 365 Club, is really spectacular, and beautiful 50-year-old Kate looks like she’s turning thirty-seven. I try not to be jealous. We see a lot of family and have a great time enjoying delectable dishes amidst cascades of gorgeous fresh flowers. At 11pm, when the band starts singing “Get Down, Boogie-Oogie-Oogie” we hesitate, fearing that if we get down too far we might have trouble getting back up.

Getting to bed sounds like the most realistic plan. It’s a good thing that we set the clocks back to Standard Time, because we’ll need that extra hour to recuperate from all the excitement. Boogie Wonderland will have to wait until next time we go out. Which may be awhile.