I thought I’d send you into the weekend with a funny story.

I’ve always said that one of the things that makes this blog different from other lifestyle blogs is that I’m incredibly imperfect and I live a normal life on the outskirts of a big city. You’ll never see me making 5 pies so I can photograph the best one or talking about preparing the beach house for the summer. (I will mention getting my hammock down from the attic though.) I don’t have a huge house (858 square feet!) or a staff (please, Hershey is so NOT staff!) I shop at a regular grocery store with the occasional farm stand or farmers’ market thrown in for variety.

So, now to the funny story. Last month, I attended my high school’s  annual fundraising gala. It was black tie optional, so I packed a basic black cocktail dress, so nice accessories, and headed out. In the hotel, as I was getting ready for the gala, I realized that the dress I brought was not black. In fact, it was navy blue. (Yes, I have two dresses of near-identical style in near-identical colors. Bad move, especially when packing without natural light.) Oh well, I figured. It’s not optimal with the accessories, but it won’t be awful. And once we are in the room where the dinner is being held, the lights will be low so folks won’t be able to tell navy from black anyway.

So, I start to press my dress. That’s when I realize that the knit of the dress has a small hole in a visible and highly inappropriate place. Yep, my one dress option is unwearable and my closet is 100 miles away. So, of course I did what any budding domestic goddess would do: I threw a fit. Actually, I wadded the dress into a ball and threw that too! Then, I suggested that my boyfriend attend the gala without me. I would just hit the McDonald’s on the corner and then go back to the hotel to read. He vetoed that idea.

Keep in mind that the gala is scheduled to start in about 15 minutes. There is one store between the hotel and the gala that might have something appropriate to wear. So, I gather up my accessories, throw on a sundress, and we head to the store. There was exactly one dress in my size that was appropriate for a gala and could be worn with the accessories and undergarments I had available. I walked to the cash register wearing it, paid the clerk, and asked her to cut the tags off. We made it to the gala for the cocktail hour. I’m still stunned by the number of people who commented on my lovely dress:

May all your mistakes turn out as well!