Yes, reader, I am still thinking about the Met Gala and No, I won’t apologize. I reject the way the 24 hour news cycle always has us onto the next so immediately. I NEED TIME! I’m just one girl trying to do my real j*b, give my husband at least some attention, be a good friend, read page six, drink water, exercise, wrap my head around the Scandoval timeline, keep up with the onslaught of new TV shows, post instagram stories, get my steps in, buy groceries, the list goes on! All while battling a TikTok addiction!
I’ve also been feeling a deep sense of nostalgia for my early New York days as my little sister is starting a j*b at my company in July and beginning her search for her FIRST NEW YORK CITY apartment. All of the sudden on THIS First Monday in May it hit me like a ton of bricks why the Met Gala is so special to me. It was May 5, 2014……………….
Spring semester Senior Year. Finals were wrapping up and senior week was upon us, but I had to take a break from bl*ack**g o** at the MLBs (IYKYK) because I had my first REAL IN PERSON job interview in NEW YORK CITY ! The only force stronger than my desire for fun in the spring of 2014 was soul crushing anxiety about life after graduation. I HAD to move back to New York. I HAD to get a job in fashion. Moving home to the Midwest and watching my friends live out their HBO’s GIRLS dreams without me was NOT an option. So alas I blew a kiss to my friends gossiping in the Exchange as I picked up my resumes from the Bartley Business Center, drove my little car down 76, waving goodbye to boat house row (& goodbye to my carefree youth), to 30th street station, and boarded the Northeast Regional for the Big Apple.
My interview outfit was cute as hell. A formulaic fit I still stand by! A Scotch and Soda Peter Pan collared shift dress, but in a bright fun abstract pattern to show she’s both professional and stylish. I paired it with black ballerina flats (we’ve upgraded brands) and a ludicrously capacious LUCKY GREEN Rebecca Minkoff tote (also upgraded brands here) carrying my walkin shoes, resumes, macbook, book, kate spade wallet (again, with an upgrade) and various city girl essentials.
Bumping “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall, I strolled from Penn Station to the Ralph Lauren offices on 57th and Madison.
I took the inefficient scenic route and stopped for the first of what would become a lifetime commitment to overpriced lattes. I arrived at RL, crushed the interview (I did not get the job lol), then found myself with like 8ish more hours to kill before my evening train. (I had no clue how long job interviews lasted so I had booked something like an 8pm train home for a morning interview, classic). I started walking downtown and called my parents to recount the experience in excruciating detail. My dad suggested I “Steven Glansberg It” at Serafina, an expensed lunch on the “company” (him)! I deserved it! I did my best, it was great practice, now let’s have ourselves a Day™! I settled into a table for 1 at Serafina Meatpacking, ordered a crisp glass of sauvy b checked my facebook lolz and moved onto a relaxation twitter scroll…..
RELAXING NOT SO MUCH!!!!!!!! SOS !!!!!!! 911 !!!!!!!! TWITTER IMMEDIATELY ALERTED ME THAT IT WAS MET GALA MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!! RIGHT THERE! IN NYC! WHERE I HAPPENED TO BE!!! In my finals, senior week, graduation, anxiety, interview prep bubble I had completely forgotten about it and all of the sudden I was breathing the same air as every GD celebrity!!!
After finishing my Caesar salad and Margherita Pizza and let’s get real, a second glass of lunchtime wine -
I knew I had to go suss it out. 2023 me cringes at the fact that I walked from 57th and Madison to MEATPACKING only to go BACK to the UES, but alas!
With no TikTok, the early days of IG, I mean, I of all people found out it was happening from twitter dot com, it was definitely a more original idea to spectate the red carpet back in the day. Believe me it was BUSY, but not even CLOSE to the straight up mob scene it is now. I was able to walk right into the famed Mark Hotel and creep around looking for famous people in the bathrooms and elevators. With no luck I headed over to 5th and pushed my way to the front of the barricades at 82nd street to watch the red carpet madness unfold. It was hard to see, but it didn’t matter. It was all so exciting and inspiring. I cheered blindly with the rest of the crowd standing on my highest tippy toes to catch a glimpse of anyone I could. The best part, undoubtedly, was inhaling Lauren Santo Domingo’s secondhand cigarette smoke as she waltzed by the lowly peasant crowds straight to the carpet entrance.
That my friends would be the first of many Having a Day™s I’d go on to experience in my future home! On the way back to school, listening to Stop This Train by John Mayer in my ~feels~, I realized I had nothing to worry about graduating college. My life would be great, everything would work out, I’d get A job, I just needed to “Go forth in the direction of your dreams, live the life you imagined” and all that! And boy did it! I went back to the met the next year. The year after I invited a ~new work friend~. That new work friend and I would go on to stand by each other’s sides on our wedding days! Next year will be the 10th anni (!!!) so I’ll have to go back and brave the TikTok masses with my little sister. The First Monday in May will always mark the 🎶passing of time🎶 for me.
One thing is for sure - I’ve DEF stayed true to myself throughout the years. I could’ve been describing a Day™ in 2014 or 2023- down to the Caesar salad and greet tote bag! Main Character Energy Forever! The more things change the more things stay the same! But enough is enough. Let’s cut the self reflection and get to the juicy shit. I’ve certainly glowed TF up this ‘decade minus 1’ but let’s see how it’s treated some of our favorite celebs!!!!!!! pt 2 LOADING……
ciao! (for now)