Adventures in tailoring

I went and dropped off two pairs of pants to be hemmed and one skirt that needed a zipper replaced.

Sounds pretty routine right? Hahahah! Have we met? Nothing in my life is ever routine.

Let me tell you about going to the tailor.

So my dear friend T-ster calls me up and says:
"heywhachoodoinletsgetdinneranddoyouhaveanythingyouneedtogettailored?becauseIamgoingtoseethiswomanwhoisatailorandIgother namefromafriendandsheisreallygoodandcheap.seeyouinhalfanhour."

T-ster runs about 17 times faster than the normal human being, so that is how most of our conversations typically run. And usually I don't get the whole story over the phone, so I wasn't too sure of exactly what we were going to really be doing or where exactly we were going, but I knew enough to get my clothes together that needed hemming or mending, and I knew we were going to eat something.

Which frankly is all I needed to know really and half an hour later we were off.

Turns out that T-ster found out about this tailor from the friend of a friend. We were directed to a three decker on a side street outside of Uphams Corner. The front door was propped open and the doorbell, hard to find, was marked with about fourteen names. T-ster skipped all those formalities and, as instructed by the friend of his friend, went straight to a third floor apartment where a very friendly Vietnamese woman sorted out our various tailoring needs.

I swear to infinite spirit that I felt like I was going on a drug buy. It had the same elements of uncertainty and thrill. I mean really, who wouldn't want to find a really great, inexpensive, tailor?

Oh yeah, she spoke only Vietnamese, so T-ster did all the talking. Hopefully he didn't tell her to take my pants all the way up, because I look like a bozo in high-waders. All I know is that for twelve bucks I am getting all my tailoring needs taken care of.

Then we went for dinner at Pho So 1 in Fields Corner. I highly recommend the grilled shrimp with steamed rice and the fresh nem spring rolls. I would also like to give a special mention (shoutout? I guess that's what the kids call it these days...) to the two women working at Pho So 1. One woman in particular is probably the friendliest, pleasantest person in food service. Always laughing about something and totally enthusiastic about everything whenever I see her - that sort of thing is infectious, and I left feeling positively light hearted.

All around a pretty good night.