February 2011 Archive

I really wanted to write about my Girls’ Day Out last weekend, but I realized it would be better told with pictures and I don’t want to invade my friends’ privacy by posting their photos.  I’m only comfortable invading the privacy of my children   It was a great day.  Nine of my favorite girls out in the city for tea and mani/pedis to celebrate my Birthday.  Then half of us went to dinner, too.  It was a full day of adult-ness.  No kids, just women hanging out and actually finishing conversations.  I had my first Bellini at 1pm and it felt really, really good. 

Even though my friends from childhood through Mommyhood are from different parts of the country and come from different backgrounds, there is something strong that unites us.  Perhaps it is a shared comfort in being ourselves, being able to laugh at our imperfections and knowing that life is full of ups and downs.  We relish in sharing the trials and tribulations of our daily lives and share our successes as well as frustrations and failures.  We dress up when the occasion calls for it, but also feel perfectly fine wearing our yoga pants to the supermarket.

Then there are the women of Long Island.  I can’t put my finger on it, and I’m definitely making a generalization here (and of course not everyone fits the following stereotypes), but there is definitely something in the water.  For the record, the women of Long Island laugh when you say you’ve never heard of their “homeland”, as I had never heard of it until I went to college.  From childhood through adulthood, these women are coiffed, look like they get full off of celery and Diet soda, and take out the garbage at 7am looking like they were professionally styled at home moments ago… like these women: 

Back story: I went to a diner with a friend when Ryan was an infant and we commented on how proud we were of ourselves for getting out that morning.  I think one of us even showered!  As we left, a foursome entered with infants in tow, looking like they stepped out of a magazine.  Nobody was sweating.  They were wearing heels.  Heels!  Carefree as a spring day. 

Have I mentioned the bone structure?  The hair?  The skin?  The teeth?  I went to the Grand Opening event at Club Mom LI last night and I spent a lovely evening  sandwiched between a woman with three kids in college and a first-time Mom with a 7 month old – we exchanged info and it was cool to chat with two women from opposite ends of the Mommy spectrum.  Much of Long Island’s best were there along with me – I couldn’t help staring at some of these high-cheekboned, perfect specimens of fashion.  Someone mentioned that one employee of the just-opened Lifetime Fitness on Long Island said they’ve never seen anything like these women in terms of their bodies, their demands and their sense of entitlement.  (BTW, this has NOTHING to do with Club Mom LI or Lifetime Fitness – both are amazing establishments with unique concepts and offerings – check ‘em out!)

Now I’m sure I’m pissing someone off here (or lots of people), but that’s part of being honest. (And being honest is why I’m writing this, so you don’t have to.)  I’m a bit worried about raising my daughter in this alternate universe, yet I’m also pretty familiar with the whole scene.  I came from an area outside of Philadelphia called the “Main Line” and although I’m sure the two areas could go toe to toe, Long Island would win out.  I’m torn between wanting to thumb my nose at it and rushing out to buy bags of celery. 

There has to be something in the water here causing this overabundance of tallness, thinness, perfect skin, long lashes and lush, bouncy, shiny hair. 

What’s your secret, Long Island? 

Is it the gym?  Your diet?  The sense that you have to keep up with the Joneses? 

Am I judging you unfairly based on your outrageous good looks and intimidating presence?

Are you as pretty on the inside as you look on the outside?

And why do I sense the competition is going to start for my daughter before the ripe old age of 5?