What I bought shopping
DH and take turns picking the destination. Israel was his choice. He read that Tel Aviv has an amazing street life centered on the coffee shops and bars. He wanted to come and sit in all the coffee shops and talk to people.
Since we arrived in Tel Aviv, we have hit a lot of outdoor cafes. On Sunday, we were having a beer on the sidewalk at this bar. From across the street, it is impossible not to notice the rainbow of flags. It looks a little odd to an American that the color we start with on the left in our rainbow, red, starts on the right, but Hebrew reads right to left. The rainbow meaning is still the same. It is a gay bar. We were there in the afternoon, so it was mostly empty. Later on, I researched where the gay district was located. It turned out that bar is the epicenter of gay life in Tel Aviv.
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Across the street was an optician’s store. The store belongs to a Russian immigrant family and has been there 98 years. The windows were colorful and appealing. The glasses in the window were avant garde. The checked frames called to me, but that is just not my look. Many of the colors and shapes of the frames screamed “possibility” to me.
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I have had the same frames for at least 10 years. Small, titanium and rimless. Light as a feather, but they disappear into my face. That used to be a good thing, but as I have aged, I think I need something that adds interest to my face. Sort of the same thing as older ladies who start wearing brighter lipstick so they don’t look so washed out. I need glasses with personality. Since the glasses frames available in my town are rather plain and boring, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to go in and check out the inventory. It never hurts to look—right? I left DH across the street with his and my beer to finish off. Even though the gay men walking by were giving DH lots of approval, and even tossed him pointed looks that said “dump her and come with me big boy,” I figured he could hold his own.
I tried on frames in my favorite colors—purple and blue. I tried various shapes. Larger, brighter frames had the impact I wanted. Fairly quickly, I settled on one and I had the store hold it until I could call my optimist to make sure she could fill the prescription in foreign frames. It was a go. I came back for them on Monday. When I gave the frames one last try on, I noticed a feature that thrilled me. I am always losing the eye pads out of my glasses. In these glasses the eye pads are built in and are made of flexible titanium. How cool is that?
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See the metal pad-less nose pieces?
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Here is a pic of me in my old frames and a pic of me in the new frames. In the pics, I kind of think the old ones look better, but IRL the new ones do make my face more interesting. The new ones have temporary tinted plastic in them so you can see what they look like with lens, and I think the glare and tint ruins the look in the picture.
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The glasses purchase was yesterday. Today I left DH reading in the hotel room while I went to an artisan street fair. There was a woman doing portraits in acrylic paint, in a mere 20 minutes, and for a mere 200 shekels, which is about $62. She had pictures of her work: pics of people with their portraits . I noticed her pictures captured the essence of the people, but made them look better than they actually look.
This is how my thinking went. I have really enjoyed the street life in Tel Aviv. The people watching makes me smile. I normally have resting b*tch face, which I am trying to correct. Since the street scene puts a smile on my face, it seemed like a very opportune time to get a portrait done, that in all likelihood, would be flattering. I told her I wanted to be next.
The artist was from Belarus. Her facial expressions were a hoot. When she looks at the subject, she opens her mouth in a big ahh, almost lion like. When she turns to the painting, she purses her mouth in concentration. She was like a symphonic conductor with bold expressive movements as she paints. It is as if her mouth and the painting spatula are spiritually connected.
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Because the street scene passing by was so interesting, it was not hard to keep a smile on my face for 20 minutes. She made me tuck my chin in, as opposed to having it jut forward. This is the same thing my Pilates teacher tries to get me to do. People stop and look over her shoulder. Watching their expressions was fun. It made me wonder what the picture would look like, but I got the sense people generally approved, and, in some cases, loved it.
Here is my portrait. The artist took a few liberties. My hair is not really purple. My glasses are oval, not round like she painted them. I guess she was psychic on the new glasses look I want. The shirt I was wearing was black and white. She gave me a slight “cat that swallowed the canary” look. I was surprised by it all, but like it.
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It had to dry for 30 minutes, so I trotted back to the hotel to as DH if he wanted one. He was game. Here is his portraint. DH is 78. He has white hair and a white beard. His picture looks insanely young to me, but she really captured all the little quirks of his face. He is happy with it.
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I am hoping my picture will be a reminder to smile and hold my head up and my chin in.
