Early Departures: too tacky to hang around!

The timing of arrivals and departures from social engagements can be tricky. You probably want to avoid being first to arrive, last to leave (unless, of course, you're the best friend or co-host), but how late is fashionably late and how late is just rude? And where is that fine line between "making an appearance" and barely showing up?

It's a tough area, ladies and gentlemen, and there aren't really clear answers. But here's something I know to be as true as no white shoes before Memorial Day: it is TACKY to leave major events prior to the major event. I'm not talking about leaving before the cake is cut, I'm talking about leaving so early you may as well have not come.

Case and point: do not leave graduation before the person you came to see has received her diploma. A friend of mine spent years in school only to have her grandparents leave while "Adams" and "Anderson" got their diplomas - even though THEY gave her a last name approximately 22 letters of the alphabet later.

Sure, it's hard to wait around sometimes. And sometimes you've got multiple events in one day - but let's AT LEAST try and be there for the main event. Do you leave the Fourth of July picnic while the sun is setting? Do you leave a baptism before the baby gets water poured on it? Do you leave a New Year's Eve party before the midnight champagne? Do you leave a football game at the end of third quarter?

Not if you have class you don't.

Tacky Behavior: Abandoning Your Post

Ladies and Gentlement, I appologize. It has been far too long since there has been an update from yours truly, and laziness is tacky behavior. Forgive me...

Since the last post, however, there has been much to write about. First topic of discussion is a classic "when tacky meets classy." Now, there are some colors that always make a gal look like the epitome of class (see, e.g. Red & Black). There are other less fortunate combonations that usually make a girl look like a color-blind drunk person put together her outfit. Usually, purple and red are exactly this combination, but dear readers, sometimes you can pull it off:

That's right - TP and I are now officially proud owners of law degrees. Classy. Even in purple and red.

In other news, I have left the cold gray skies of the Northeast for the warm summer sunshine of the South. This means a whole new world of classy and tacky. Quick observations: the classy factor is completely different down here - I'd forgotten that one is almost expected to wear her pearls to class... However, this is not a land free from tack - exhibit A is the cute Southern grandma in a full on pink warm up suit at the grocery store talking so loudly about her prescriptions to the pharmicist that we ALL know about her achin' heart. Pink on pink (with pink shoes) would be one thing - the pink bow clipped in her hair... Tack.

I promise more news this week and from now on - stick with me and I'll show you how a whole new part of our great country is tacky. Expect an upcoming post on overly dramatic patriotism by the way - for a region that once LEFT this country, the South sure does love it some U.S. of A.