Be My "guest"....

Isn't it so awesome how some days you wake up and have no idea how deliciously the day will end...you know what you have to do, and what plans you have made, and what errands you are running, and what friends you are meeting or meaning to call...but, you know, even the best laid plans and the most decent of intentions deliver unexpected fun or happenings or diversions.

This Tuesday, the 29th of September, was one such day for me. It happened to be, in fact, the 20th birthday of my oldest nephew and first godchild (I am godmother to 4...and all of them are boys...I must seem like a good

spiritual role-model and positive, faithful influence...fooled you, I guess...), Tyler

(yes, all of you who were with me when he was born...or remember him running up and down the Big House hill after my graduation from Stonehill...yes, we are all 20 years older (well, except for me...I am still 19)...Holy Mother of Jesus...). So, anyway...though the day was a special one in our family and a proud day...(we Rittereisers have safely delivered the first child past the teen years without any major screw ups...yay Ritts!)...all I could think of once I wished him a Happy Birthday, was: Damn! Has it been that long? I remember it vividly --I was a college sophomore and we went to a party in Mather House the night Tyler was born...and at one point during the celebration,Boca lowered the volume on whatever CSN song ("Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"...? "Southern Cross"...?...) was playing and we toasted the birth of this child...and my friends all clapped and hugged me...and now, we are 20 years hence. So that was a nice memory, and I am teary and proud and filled with love...but, though I adore Tyler, this 20th birthday milestone was not the reason this day rocked...

In the afternoon I headed into the City for a little gals lunch at Bar Breton with my Stonehill Class of '78 bestie, Kathie M....and we chit-chatted and

gossiped and laughed and giggled and she told me

all about the dedication of the new Science Center at the College, which took place last week and was an event for which I briefly considered blowing off Ellie's Back to School Night (Mother of the Year!), heading up to Massachusetts (avoiding the Merritt Parkway this time...) and sleeping on the floor of Quincy House (you'd have let me in, right, KR, KA??) so that I could get the College contact high under the guise of celebrating this amazing development in the history of the school...and to see, in person, the second floor bar area that was set up for the event right in the alcove that has been named in

honor of the donation made by...you guessed it...The Rittereiser Family!! How apropos is that? I love anything, even a small accidental gesture, that associates me and my proud family name with fun and festivity (so what if my parents are virtual teetotalers...)...So anyway, Kathie and I ate these little galettes, the restaurant's signature dish based on these yummy specialties from Brittany, buckwheat flatbreads with savory fillings and toppings...and we reveled in the smoked salmon and the horseradish cream and chives (me) and the prosciutto and chevre and arugula (Kathie) and the little crock of seasoned frites that I insisted we order alongside. I mean, why not go b*lls to the wall, am I right? Enjoy life...do whatever the hell you want...that's my motto... At any rate, Kathie and I ended up chitter-chattering non-stop, barely taking a breath until almost 3 hours in... I know, I can talk a dog off a meat truck...and my other Stonehill besties can attest that Kathie and I together might suck all the oxygen out of the room should we get going...so you can imagine how we allowed it to go on for a while over galettes and frites and club sodas and coffees...so, we enjoy a good time. And it was....but no, that was not the reason why this day ended up being so perfectly terrific...

So, I left Kathie with promises that we would do it again very soon and I headed back across the Hudson...and I had a mission. I had this mission planned for days...and I knew exactly when I would execute said mission: on the way home from lunch with Kathie. "After lunch with Kathie" became my mantra...I was repeating it in my sleep even...and I was all extra excited and gleeful and tingly...and feeling kind of secretive too...a little illicit and deceptive, which is always fun, no?

Yes, my friends, I know this will break a few hearts but, well...I was off to meet my new secret love.....

at the Kate Spade store in Garden State Plaza!!!!!!!!

I am a g**damned fashion accessories junkie...I admit it. I love handbags and totes and clutches and boots and scarves and belts and wraps and costume jewels...and oh, my drug of choice...shoes, how I love thee...heels, flats, open-toed, leather, suede, patent...I am getting all heated just writing about it, honestly. So last week I was all itchy and scratchy and jonesing for a fix...and I was surfing the net on the accessories "dating" sites (my faves...Tory Burch, Coach, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Stuart Weitzman, Michael Kors...a veritable pharmacy of candy for Suz...yum...)...and I happened upon katespade.com...always a fave to hit, particularly heading into the holidays when I like to tell Mom and Rob and his mom and anyone who will listen which bag I want next (Coach Tribeca Tote in antique gold, fyi...get your Amex out!). And as the home page opened, I saw her....and she held my heart instantly.

She is Kate Spade's "guest"...and she is the hottest b**ch in town. She is this black suede slingbacked, 4-inch heeled, platform-toed beauty...but, that is not it...she is not some black

suede wallflower (though, with 4-inch heels, it is hard to fade into the background, am I right???...). No, no...this delicious little "guest" features a tasteful but show-stopping cascade of satin fuschia ribbon detail across the top. And I had to

have her...I had to make her mine. But this was a new addition to Kate's Fall collection, and of course, "guest" was full price...and I am not opposed to a full price item, I mean...I am all about full price, particularly on shoes and with my teeny tiny shoe size that has grown from 5 1/2 to 6 since birthing my kids...if you like a shoe, you have to snag it. At any rate...the price, though not outrageous ($325) did give me pause...aren't we in a recession? Maybe not...not sure anymore. Either way...I needed to think of a way to make "guest" my own...and if it meant full price, well, I would explain it as a necessity to my husband and the accountant and all that...yes, I needed them...I needed these shoes. And then....

While surfing the other selections on the site I decided that I should visit the store and at least try the shoes on...and when I went to the store locator onsite to confirm the nearest location in our local mall, I stumbled upon a special in-store offer...a coupon...20% off any full price item purchased in-store...and the offer expired in mere days. It was like god and all the angels wanted to unite me with "guest"...for the two of us to become one...it was a sign...and right then I

hatched my plan...I would go pick up my new love right after my lunch with Kathie on the 29th.

And so it was....after lunch I cruised across the GW and in minutes I was in Paramus (land of malls) and entering Garden State Plaza. And I beelined it across the mall -- passing J. Crew and Stuart Weitzman and Neiman Marcus and Louis Vuitton -- right straight into the front door of the Kate Spade store. And as the pixie workers greeted me, my eyes fixed on the shoe wall....and there she was, waiting for me...I went and took her in my hands and I saw that she was a size 6...yay!...and I turned to the pixie who told me that this pair...this "guest"...was the very last pair in the store...Thank god I made it here in time! I tried the shoes on...and of course they were perfect, and my feet and legs and every part of me loved them even more (though for a minute I was diverted, contemplating cheating on "guest" with a pair of red suede flats with a jeweled detail...but I came to my senses in no time...).

So the pixie took "guest" to the check-out and I handed her my little 20% off coupon

and she rang me up....and as she took my credit card and input my address and phone number and email and all that, I could feel the tingling...the endorphins surging through my system...like the junkie that I am...this little accessories fix just did it for me. And I was all smiles

and a little giddy...and as pixie wrapped "guest" in tissue paper and placed her in the tasteful green Kate Spade box and the placed the box in the sleek green bag, I reached out and took the package....and as I did....

Clear as a bell over the in-store speakers I heard

the undeniable, unmistakable opening synth-pop-horn section-electric guitar staccato beats of the great Hall & Oats classic "You Make My Dreams Come True".... "What I want, you've got and it might be hard to handle/But like the flame that burns the candle/The candle feeds the flame....Well, well, well yoooou/You Make My Dreams Come True..."

How spot on...the accessories gods had smiled upon me...that a**-kicking '80's tune perfectly articulated how I felt, and I just wanted to skip and twirl and dance around that store...

Later I stopped at sistergirlfriend and fellow accessories

junkie, Lisa H.'s house to show off my new conquest, and as

we squealed and clapped, I told her all about the trying on and how this was the very last pair in the store and how they just happened to be my size and fit perfectly and how I just swelled with happiness upon purchase...and of course, how the entire moment was crystallized by this amazingly appropriate and well-timed song. And we agreed it was like I was in some commercial or sitcom dream sequence...like in 500 days of Summer...couldn't we all see the kids from How I Met Your Mother having this very same moment? You know...maybe even a little guest cameo by Hall & Oats themselves rocking that opening strain while the pixies and the customers all lined up for a choreographed number surrounding Me and "guest'...all in love and finally together...making dreams come true with this stunning pair of black suede, slingbacked, 4-inch heeled, platform toed, fuschia satin bow detailed answer to my accessorizing dreams...

Ahh bliss....

And that is why, my dear friends, Tuesday, September the 29th could not have been more perfect....

...xo...S

Photo 1: Tyler in his 20th summer with my three...Bermuda, 2009.

Photo 2: Angelic little godchild at 3...

Photo 3: Kathie and me...ok, so we stopped talking only long enough to take this shot...no joke...

Photo 4: My Quincy House posse, KA & KR...keep that floor warm for me, ladies...Alumni Weekend approaches!

Photo 5: Crock 'o frites...before we decimated them...

Photo 6: The Coach Tribeca Tote in antique gold...I am coming for you, baby!

Photo 7: Me and my "guest" bonding in my upstairs hallway...as shot by Ellie...

Photo 8: And they look good while walking too....again, an Ellie original....

Photo 9: Harmonizing '80s icons Hall & Oats...actually kind of look like a tag team porn duo in that shot...

Photo 10: Fellow junkie Lisa H. snaps me and my "guest" in a private moment...true shoe love...