06.18.04
Yesterday, my friend Kimmy and I went all up and down Clark Street from Wellington to Diversey, distributing flyers to businesses, for my job. We spent 5 hours hanging out, introducing ourselves to lots of strangers, and dining/shopping in a variety of establishments.
For example:
We met at Kinko's, and had an I Love Lucy-esque escapade involving a stack of orange sheets of paper and a self-serve copier, which involved lots of assistance from the harried machine attendant. She must have thought we were complete idiots, but we had fun.
Then we set out on our adventures down Clark St.
First, we stopped at a used bookstore and left a flyer on the desk, because we were told he was out moving his car.
Then we stopped in at a vintage watch dealer/watch repair store, and I took the opportunity to finally have the battery replaced in my Fossil Blue watch, so I can stop wearing the big plastic orange-ish watch that doesn't do a swirly light show across its face anymore.
At Elias*, we talked to the shop owner, Monique, for 20 minutes about the living with your parents, politics, the fashion industry, and looked at cute dresses that she had designed for her fall collection. They were all kicky and cute, with nice details that reminded us of Chanel couture of years past.
She told us a story about how she gotten a bunch of clothing from a company in sizes S, M and L. She looked at them, thought they looked really freaking tiny, and called the company up, wanting to know exactly what they defined as S, M, and L.
They told her "S=1, M=2, L=3."
She asked them who exactly they were designing for with those sizes, and they told her that their demo was "tweens."
She told them her demo was "women over the age of 12," and then she informed them that, "stupid sizes = garments returned to manufacturer + check with stopped payment."
They told her they'd never deal with her again, and she said that was fine with her, because she wasn't planning on dealing with them again either.
We took some of her cards to distribute to clients and friends, because we really did dig her merchandise, left her with a stack of flyers she promised to give out to clients and friends, and gave our goodbyes, before going back out on the street.
A couple of doors down, I got an iced caramel latte at Intelligensia/Ice Dreams. We taste-tested some homemade gelato, and vowed to come back later.
Moving on, we realized that while the neighborhood had lots of bulletin boards, we lacked things with which to affix flyers to them, which we remedied by buying tacks at Walgreens. We also bought gum.
We went to TJ Maxx, where Kimmy returned some clothing and shoes, and we both bought some clothing. I redeemed a $10 GC and some cash, and got a pair of pants for work, some hello kitty! boxers, a cookbook full of rice and risotto recipes, and a pair of pastel-striped, low-rider cotton boy short panties.
I bought the new Beastie Boys disc, "To the 5 Boroughs," at Borders. (Which I am listening to and loving. Still Old School!)
We had lunch at Panera, where I had chicken noodle soup, half a tomato and mozzarella salad, and an iced green tea. Kimmy had a huge panini and a large iced tea.
We checked out Pure Beauty, a new competitor, and noted that my store is much, much better. Their salon was notably empty, and they don't carry fragrances at all. We did, however, note that we liked how they had their products arranged in their pro-care section. IE: Abba, and Biolage, both botanical lines, are grouped together, and Paul Mitchell Tea Tree and Woody's, which are both marketed at men, are share common shelf space.
I bought some sesame oil spray at Body Shop, and found about a fantastic sale coming up the 21st.
I bought some Celestial Seasonings tea at Vitamin Shoppe for dirt cheap, and signed up for their free membership card. Kimmy had to use the bathroom, so I wandered around their fantastic organic personal care section upstairs. We carry a few of the lines that they carry, but their selection is truly impressive, and reasonably priced. I know where to send people looking for Tom's of Maine now, besides Whole Foods. They also carry about every Atkins food item you could ever hope to want, should you like that kind of thing.
Crossing the street, we looked at shoes in one store and then prowled around Pier One. Kimmy smelled about every candle there, and I ended up buying what looks like a martini shaker with a straw on top, but is actually a grown up sippy cup thing that will hold tall beverages like bubble teas and things topped with whipped cream.
We went down the street a little more, and I used the restroom at Barnes and Noble, while Kimmy bought and consumed a frothy frappuccino thing that looked scary.
We roamed around Century Mall, and Kimmy bought a bunch of lotions and Bath and Bodyworks. We also looked at bras at Victoria's Secret, which kills me. While they do have an array of size 34A bras, they are all padded out about an inch with batting and styrofoam. I just want something between me and my shirt -- I don't need bulletproofing or a marked size upgrade.
Kimmy asked me if I'd ever had popcorn from some place downtown, and I said I hadn't, and she vowed that next time we'd go down there and get some when we went out to shop. I told her that was a go.
At Jamba Juice, Kimmy lamented that she'd gotten the frappuccino at B&N's Starbucks, instead of a much healthier smoothie there. I reminded her of our future gelato obligation, and she calmed down.
A couple of blocks north, we crossed the street and met that obligation, -- she with a small coconut and chocolate gelato, and I with a small pineapple sorbet gelato. As we were eating, I pointed out and named all of the IKEA furniture on the premises -- the STEFFEN chairs, the TULLSTA chairs, the KLIPPAN sofa, etc.
Then we crossed back over to the other side of the street and distributed the rest of the flyers, walking back towards my car.
Destination reached, we parted ways, and I drove home. She, presumably, walked the rest of the way home and took a nap.
It was a good day, even if it largely involved handing out flyers for work on my day off.
I mean, despite all of the shopping and hanging out, we hit over 50 stores and passed out like 100 flyers. Hopefully that will accomplish something.
*Elias, 2919 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60657. Owner/designer, Monique Elias. She designs about 10% of her stuff, and the rest is pretty much from people she knows in the global fashion community. Cute, trendy fashions for cupcakes and cuties of the fairer sex. Sizes 2 - 16. Prices pretty reasonable for this city. Clothing, shoes, purses, jewelry and other accessories. Stuff for waify, trendy club kids and their sexy but realistic, practical yet feminine moms.
This post edited for employment-related content.
What's in your head?