The Unveiling

During my January visit to California, I couldn't go without a visit to Chinatown. I adore Chinatown's ever since my first visit to one in San Francisco in 1995. While there as a poor college student, I eyed something I wish I'd had the discretionary money to buy, but didn't. Since then I've been to Chinatown in New York and Southern California--and each time I've eyed something but never purchased.

It became not really about the price, but more about what would I actually do with "it".

This last time in California, Casey and Cindy (and Lucy) patiently waited while I went into more Chinatown shops than I probably needed to. (Although not nearly as many as I visited when Mike and I went a year ago.)

Eventually, Casey plonked himself down on a bench with Lucy (can't remember where Cindy went), and told me he'd wait there for me.

While alone in a fun little Chinatown shop, I eyed what I've eyed for years. This time more seriously. I looked at colors, I contemplated sizes, questioned the price, and then walked out of the shop and down the street to Casey.  I really don't think he was very thrilled that I began a spiel about the pros and cons of making this particular purchase.

Whether it was his effort to expedite our exit from Chinatown, or because he genuinely cared about my purchase, he listed a few reasons why I should go ahead and buy what I have eyed for almost two decades.

With a spring in my step, I returned to the Chinese shop (where Cindy soon met me) and tried on a beautiful Chinese Dress in a door-less backroom of a Chinatown shop, trying my hardest to maintain some dignity, yet still get a decent fitting of a dress over clothes I couldn't bear taking off in the door-less backroom of a Chinatown shop. (That is one awesome run-on sentence turned paragraph...)

I made my Chinatown Dress debut for Mike upon my arrival home from California. His response nowhere near matched my near-bursting excitement, but he politely acknowledged its beauty.

A couple of weeks later I debuted my Chinatown Dress for my children. I thought my girls would ooh and aah over its exquisteness and beauty.

Put it this way,
When Mike suggested we go outside for better lighting for my Chinatown Dress Photo Shoot, my children looked at me like I was crazy. They couldn't believe I would risk being seen in public wearing such a dress.

Yes, the slits in the sides are quite high, and it isn't really the kind of dress I'd wear to any of the places I typically wear dresses, and I really can't believe I'm putting these photos of me dressed in it on the world wide web!

But I finally own a beautiful Chinese Dress.
And I love it.
I guess that's all that matters.