DC Shopping Dress Code...One Step Down From a Black Tie Affair

Yet another DC gem and this one involves furniture shopping...good times at Ethan Allen. With a pocket full of $$$ we set out on an adventure to transform our apartment from college eclectic (aka garage sale decor) to young professional chic (we have some extra cash, but are too poor for pottery barn or even ikea). When living in a urban environment, you are forced to shop at stores based on proximity due to:

1) Extreme laziness (In my opinion, this should be an Olympic sport...not sure if it'd be in the winter or summer games though)

2) Too much traffic rage to venture out to the burbs

And for us that was Ethan Allen.  I had seen commercials on television and didn't think it was anything fancy smancy, but apparently I missed the memo that this is indeed an up scale establishment (I thought that was reserved to the MickeyD's with indoor playgrounds). We walked in and were not greeted for at least 10 minutes. No--- heeeeyyyy y'all or what can I do ya fer today. Last time I checked DC is below the mason-dixie line and I expected some darn southern hospitality.  No dice.  It turns out DC is in its own little world of hostile and snooty. Jackpot!! Wow, in the words or Frank Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond, "what contest in heck did I win?"

"Uuuummmmmm, is there something I can help you with?!" said the guy in the plaid shirt and checkered pants.... I wanted to say looks like you need more help than we do, but decided against it because he could go all DC gangsta on me and bust a cap in my behind (I'm assuming a cap is a bullet, but correct me if I"m wrong). We explained we were looking for a bookshelf and you would have thought we were speaking Pig Latin (going to brag on my mama here...she was president of the Latin Club in high school) or that we had asked a New Yorker where to get Chicago-Style pizza (which so happens to be better).  He just had this look of complete disbelief on his face.  I think the problem was our clothes.  We were fresh off the boat road from a little place I like to call heaven on earth, AKA INDIANA and weren't aware that going shopping in DC meant you needed to be dressed to the nines.  In my defense, I was wearing my best black workout pants.  I guess beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

We left outta there pretty quick and decided to make our buck stretch a whole lot further at my second favorite place on earth, Costco.  Buying in bulk just puts a smile on my face and their furniture deals are pretty good too...we purchased an entertainment center, a bookshelf, and end table for less than $700 and love them.  After scoring that deal I kinda felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman (don't worry mom, I saw the edited version on t.v) and wanted to go back in there and wave the money at the Ethan Allen guy so he could have known the big $ commission he missed out on (Truth: it was probably enough to cover a 1/8 of his rent).

Good times.  I learned a very valuable lesson that you must dress to impress.

Peace out and have a fantastic week.

P.S--I start my new job tomorrow.  Here we go again...heaven help me.