Valentina Expressions

“Let’s get dressed up, bring a dish to share and let’s watch the Oscar”.
This was a common invitation to receive every year from one of my friends to watch the Oscar nominations on T.V. in her home. She is a huge fan of films and entertainment.

On the day the Oscar would play on T.V., the host of the party would roll out a red carpet outside her home entry as wide as her pathway. Her neighbors knew she was a lively person by the way she externalized her emotions. The Oscar to her was a big celebration, perhaps in another life, she had been an actress and felt a tight connection to Hollywood in this life.

The idea was to feel the heat as if we had been invited to real Oscar. On that day we went to the motion of taking super care of our appearance, we spent time to the beauty parlor, hair, nails, and make-up and we spent weeks to shop for the right dress, because at the end of the evening show on T.V. one of us among the girlfriends invited was going to win a prize for best-dressed woman. Hence it was important to play the part right and to get dressed up to the teeth.

By 5:00 pm we walked on that red carpet, not in Hollywood but in an upscale neighborhood, where we made our own public display and the neighbors had the chance to scrutinize us as if we were the stars before the show. Some women even came in a limousine, just to play the part right.

We networked in the dining room before the show to catch up with each other or meet new people, we prepared food, drink and made a mess.  A soon as the show started we sat in the living room and followed the nominations marking our choices on a piece of paper. The person who had all the answers right would win a prize: a bottle of wine, a gift certificate to a shop, one hour of massage in a spa, in other words, a useful gift.

We felt glamorous in our little play and it was a way to break the routine while enjoying a common activity like watching T.V.

Five years ago the economy changed the life of a lot of people. Some of those girlfriends moved away, some lost their jobs, some got a divorce and some found a new love. The Oscar party is now a happy memory. I might just start my own!

It would be interesting tonight to see faux pas and elegance walking together on the same red carpet. I think Philomena with Judi Dench will win the Oscar. What do you think? Ciao,

Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2014 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Being born in an Italian family of artists and designers, style has surrounded my life since a young age.  I do offer consultations on personal image. I am the author of three books. Get your copy of my book on colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on
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