DAY ONE, PART THREE

Day one-Part 3

All the gals from the lunch bunch had an hour and a half to spruce up our looks and make final style decisions for the "Meet and Greet" when Club TCM finally opens its doors to the swankienda.
Fekkai, the style salon, had generously offered free hairstyles to anyone holding passes to the TCM Film Festival.

How gracious! But unfortunately, I didn't have time to take advantage of the generosity of Fekkai.
However, some of the ladies from the lunch bunch had earlier visited the salon to the stars of TCM at Fekkai and sported new "do's." (They all looked great, BTW.)

And as I had expressed my frazzled fears about how to arrange my locks, one of my friends who had already graced the Fekkai salon offered to help me.

Since I was planning to attend the Grauman's premiere of A Star is Born, I had chosen to wear my full-length Chinese formal with the mandarin collar. Decisions yet to be made included selecting the appropriate jewelry, shoes, and hairstyle.

I was still, however, suffering from periodic bouts of adrenalin rushes, silly spurts of inappropriate laughter, and indecision over which films to attend on the official TCM Film Fest Schedule as aftershocks of my earlier fan perspective interview in the a.m.

Madamoiselle, my kindly volunteer personal stylist, was scrupulously perusing my down do and we had mutually decided to upsweep.

Mlle: I need your comb.
Me: Comb. o.k. haha (inappropriate laughter)
Mlle: The hairpins
Me: Oh, yes, hahahahah (more inappropriate laughter due to delayed adrenalin)
Mlle: Your head is shaking..
Me: I'm still nervous from this morning...ahahahahaha
Mlle: Why?
Me: If my son sees my fan perspective and doesn't like it, it will be something else he will add to his arsenal of verbal volleyballs dating back to the time I accidentally left him in the produce aisle at the grocery store...
Mlle: (LOL) Relax. He's mostly away at college now, isn't he? Give me another hairpin..
Me: Yes. But don't forget about cellphones...
Mlle. So what shoes are you going to wear?
Me: I can't decide between the mid-level heel or to go all the way with the complete high heel. And I'm not talking about my ex-husbands...
Mlle. HAHhahahahhah...but why are you so confused?
Me: Well, I am already about nine feet tall...
Mlle. When I can't make up my mind like that, I usually choose something that makes me feel good.
Me: Then I'll go all the way. So my official premiere look will be the "Chinese tower of power" stance..
Mlle: hahahahaha...

So, thanks to the Madamoiselle I had a lovely upswept "do" with little oriental flowers tucked and anchored with Goody hairpins, and she steered me toward the approprate earrings-- a pair of rhinestone-studded inverted fleur de lis bobs and my black beaded bag with the swag... done. Finally.

And one of my friends here at TCM City emailed me last week and told me that viewers of TCM can see the final creation in the Chinese dress with the Mandarin collar and simple rhinestone earrings and black beaded purse walking into the premiere of A Star is Born on the TCM promo for the restoration of A Star is Born.

I'm in the last few seconds of the promo. I'm walking into the theater from the lobby!

Next: CLUB TCM OPENS, A STAR IS BORN PREMIERE, the tall man with the BUICK, and BETTY AND ESTHER BY THE POOL!