Yesterday my friend Connie and I went downtown to Boston. Connie and I have a secret vice: Neiman Marcus. A couple of times a year, she and I go to Copley Square to walk around the fancy stores and get ideas. Both of us make jewelry, and there is one good way to look for ideas, and that is to watch the crowds of people who have the money to shop at Neiman Marcus. Walking through the cosmetic department is a little daunting. Women want to hand me little cards with fragrance on them to entice me to spend $300 on something that smells really good. It occurs to me that these women have a lot in common with the homeless people who hang out in front of the White House in Washington DC. Both have their own smells, and both are a little scary.
On the drive through Boston, it quickly became apparent that we had forgotten about one key detail when planning our outing. This is Boston Marathon weekend, and there were millions of people milling about, walking the streets, eating in the outdoor cafes and trying to avoid the perfume ladies at Neiman Marcus. I'm not afraid of crowds, but I was pretty daunted by all these people. First, I knew that they were mostly runners and their families. You could tell the runners because they were proudly wearing their yellow plastic bag with shoulder straps that said John Hancock, Inc. on one side and The Boston Marathon on the other. Those yellow bags, which probably cost the companies fifty cents each. were worn at great cost to the runners in sweat and tears. They were very proud of these bags. I also noticed that a lot of people looked like they were no stranger to Neiman Marcus. There were a lot of fashion forward people in that crowd. Traffic was horrible, but the people watching was really great.
We went to California Pizza Kitchen for lunch. Getting a table was too long a wait, so we sat at the bar and watched the delicious puffy pizzas going into the huge ovens. It was fun to eat our delicious salads along side runners who looked like they had lived on lettuce for most of their life, and who were no stranger to rough roads in rough weather. Something about marathon running makes people very lean and hungry looking. I think I could take a lesson from them, I need to be more hungry! Everyone was in a festive mood, and it was unusual for me to be in that place, since I usually avoid crowds and downtown Boston like the plague.
So, today I will take a little inspiration from all those lean and hungry looking runners and spend a little time walking around the block.
Have a great day.
