number 4

there is progress on number 4. it turns out a friend of mine has decided to start a book club- which is less work for me- yay! we're still gathering members, but she has suggested the new pat conroy book south of broad as our first read. i did enjoy beach music which i appropriately read while in italy so i think this will be a good starter.

my previous book club experience is limited. i went once to one in new york shortly after i moved there. a lady at a clemson club meeting told me about it and it just happened that i had read the da vinci code at the same time they had. they met in the back room of an italian place in the village. obviously these ladies had been doing this a while because the owners were totally fine with them smoking (gag) which has long been outlawed in new york city restaurants and bars. the conversation was great- one person was assigned to bring discussion topics and that seemed to work really well. but as soon as the conversation wandered to manolos i knew i was out of my league. i was 25 and could barely afford dinner, much less designer shoes. i could tell that this was the one "ladies night out" per month for most of the women- they were older/married/getting married/had children so it wasn't a great fit at the time.

i suppose there is some irony there - now most of the women in my new book club are married (yet i don't view that as a negative any more)...and i'm the one with the manolos. well, a single pair. they were a self-indulgent "goodbye new york" gift to myself. did i mention i never wear them? terribly uncomfortable.