Apologies - my posts tend to run long but this thread has always been so helpful to me & details can be important to all who play this crazy game!
Last week I was in Paris Saturday-Thursday to celebrate my 40th bday with my husband. I tried to set my expectations regarding scoring the appt very low but of course..we all know how badly we want it so its hard to not feel anxious! Denied an appt Saturday but still my husband & I perused FSH after a long day of wine-ing, dining, museum-ing & walking. That place was chaos. He initially thought he'd be able to stroll in with the "Its my wife's bday" line but as soon as we walked in we were like nope, I don't think we even walked 10 steps inside. Monday, denied appts for both of us again. We walked to George V while doing some shopping as it was close to the hotel and we'd never been there before. It was adorable and such a breath of fresh air comparatively to FSH. We walked through each room and if I had a dollar for every person we heard trying to snag a leather appt. Men trying on shoes, chatting up the SA's and then asking about a bag for their wife. People complaining to the hostess at the front how difficult it is to get an appt & how many days they've tried to which the answer was always, "I'm so sorry, please try again, it is online appt request only." I truly think we were only there for 20 minutes and we heard that 20 times. We were upstairs in the home section for awhile but they didn't have something we liked so we headed downstairs and I decided to look at the scarves one more time. I found something I liked and I saw an SA fluttering around with another SA. I politely asked if I could try something on and she said, No, you will have to wait until someone can assist. I obliged and the same woman was back 20 seconds later. She helped me with a scarf that I really liked. She tried to talk me out of it, as it was mens but I thought it was perfect for me. We asked for a new one and after a bit of searching she found the last unopened one. She was pretty non sense so we didn't even think about asking THE question, I was happy to get my scarf. But then for some reason I remembered I had always been curious about a picoton, and saw a cute pink one on display so I thought why the hell not. I said, do you have any picots available. Immediate response was, there are no appts today, no-one can assist you. Again, totally expected that so I said, ok! Then again...within 30 seconds she got closer to me and said "What size and what color?" I was in shock, had not planned on knowing the answers and since I had just seen the pink I blurted out, Small & a pop of color? She disappeared for 10 minutes then came back with a box. My husband & I were silent but knew what each other were thinking, which was holy ****, that worked lol. She said there were no bright colors as it was Monday and they had low stock since no shipments yet etc. She said she had Noir & Etoupe but brought me out the Etoupe because she thought it was nicer than black. This was all downstairs in the scarf area and I could feel the eyes of the room on me with someone waiting to swoop in if I said no. It was immediate love and I said YES, I will take it! At that point my husband asked if she had any B's to which she stated twice with a wink, "It is exceptional that you received an appt today" so I took that to mean, be grateful & shut up since we didn't actually have any appt. OK so we walk out, I am so happy, think my H journey is done and head to Bottega for a clutch. But....the story is not over. That night over dinner my husband looks down at his phone and says OMG. I think/hope/wish that its what I think it is, but also think he's messing with me. He was not. He had secured an appt at FSH for the next day. I died. Woke up the next day excited but mostly nervous. (I should also note my husband paid for the scarf & picoton so maybe that spend history of the day helped?? Other than that we had a Kelly purchased at FSH in 2016 but I think they couldn't see that far back anymore) Anyway The appt was originally for 330pm but kept changing to later as expected. By 4pm it said 450p and I said lets just go & check in. That was a good idea because otherwise I think it would keep going later & later but once you check in you seem to advance onto the list. We checked in and sat close by. During the 25 min wait we saw again, no less than 20 people all with diff yet similar stories begging to get an appt. Its so tough to watch because I know how badly we all want it and it just is a random lottery. Once my husband received a text saying someone is avail to help he went back to the leather desk at the same time a gentleman SA was saying his name. They seemed to hit it off and at first I think the SA thought it was just my husband but then I joined them on the walk upstairs and the vibe changed lol. I could tell immediately and was thinking Oh no, I should have let him do this himself, but it was too late. We went upstairs, zero small talk. Awkward silence. It was completely unlike the last time we had sat there 5years ago, which was such a warm, exciting, engaging experience. This time it was like he was tired & ready for the day to end. After a long silence where I really didn't know if I should start talking but was also afraid of word vomit he flat out said what do you like. No joke, I knew what he was asking about bags but for some reason I started to talk about us as a couple and our life back home with our kids and what we did for fun with them
. I was so nervous & legit couldn't shut up. It was bad. Anyway I was able to ramble off 40th bday, would love a Birkin, Noir, Greys or neutral blues. Gold hardware, no leather preference. Also love my one & only Kelly which I had on me and mentioned we had gotten it hear and name dropped the SA who had helped me previously. I think he could have cared less but to be fair, I was a nervous idiotic mess. My husband was just staring at me silently but I know he was thinking what are you doing lol. Ok, fast forward, he disappears. I replay everything in my head and think its for sure over. 15 minutes later..Ive lost all hope and then 5 minutes after that he comes back and asks us to follow him upstairs. I stayed quiet and we were led to the private rooms and there was a box. He said he did not have any small Birkins (I had specified 30 or 35 I thought so was confused by "small" but said nothing and waited for the big reveal.) He went on to say, I have a Kelly in 28, so smaller than your 32, and in seller vs your return. IT WAS GRIS MEYER. My second choice after Noir but omg...she was stunning I quickly quickly forgot about Noir. It was also palladium which only complemented the color more. I was stunned and finally able to speak eloquently and thank him, say yes, and let him know he had made my birthday wish come true. Fairy tale trip I will never ever forget. Best of luck to everyone trying. Don't lose hope because you just never know!
