Sandals, Soirées, and Scotch

I recently attended a soirée. That’s right I attended a soirée.

Perfect for a soirée.

Perfect for a soirée.

Before writing this blog post, I was not even sure how to spell soirée. One ‘e’ or two ‘e’s at the end?

Did it have one of those little accent dashes (by the way, I just looked it up and the dash is called The accent aigu ´ (acute accent).

For your information, soirée is a French word and according to the merriam-webster dictionary, it means a party or reception held in the evening.

I don’t know about you but what soirée means to me is fancy.

How did I end up at this fancy party, I mean soirée, you may be wondering? I just wanted to drink. No, really.

J.O.: I am going to a scotch tasting.

L.B. That’s cool.

J.O. Yeah, I’m one of the sponsors. It’s a fundraiser.

L.B. Nice of you.

J.O. Thank you. Do you and S (Ms. MMK) want to come along?

L.B. Let me get back to you.

Three days later the plans were made. I like scotch, and Ms. MMK would stay with the children.  By the way, note there was no mention of the word soirée.

I have been to scotch tastings before. They are quite pleasant. Yes, thank you I would like to try that and that and that and that.  It’s like going to smorgasbord with only one thing on the menu: Scotch.

My wife got home. Tag, you’re it. And I left.

When I finally arrived, 35 minutes after J.O. told me the event was to begin, he greeted me, and we strolled onto the grounds where the event was being held.  The grounds and the house were spectacular. No need for kids to double up in that house.

I was surprised.

L.B. I thought the event began at 7:00.

J.O. It did, sort of. Actually, we just finished setting up and people are still coming.

L.B. Looks pretty fancy.

J.O. Yeah, I know. It’s a soirée.

L.B. Oh a soirée. Very fancy.

I was expecting a bunch of guys hanging out at someone’s house sipping scotch.  Instead, there were tables and chairs, a band, a bar, a tent, wait staff, and food all set out on a perfectly manicured lawn.

J.O. and I took a seat. He was drinking a mojito, and I was sipping water.  We started talking about mutual friends who I was hoping to see at the event.

L.B. So is RL coming?

J.O. He said he wasn’t wearing a tie.

L.B. A tie? I’m not even wearing socks or shoes.  (I looked down at my feet). I’m wearing sandals, I haven’t shaved today, and I’m wearing the same jeans that I wore yesterday.

We both laughed. But I felt self-conscious. I looked around and saw people dressed in various degrees of fanciness. However, I also saw people in shorts. Shooooooh, I wasn’t the only one who was dressed casually. Now, that would be embarrassing.

Two hours later I was driving home, “I don’t know how many other people were in jeans RL, but I was definitely not the only one.”

One of my mother’s pieces of wisdom ran through my head: Wherever you go, there will always be people more dressed than you and people less dressed than you.

So, jeans, half-beards, and sandals – check.  I’m ready to soirée.

18 thoughts on “Sandals, Soirées, and Scotch

  1. That all sounds lovely except for the scotch part. Scotch scares me. I’ve never even tried it. But now wine tastings – I’ve been to a few of those. They are quite pleasant.

    I do hate feeling underdressed for an occasion. I’ve done that a time or two. You do sound like you’re enjoying your summer, though.

    • Why does it scare you?
      It can feel weird to be underdressed. I certainly was but I had company in that realm.
      I am doing my best to enjoy my summer though I am striving to be productive as well. So far, so good.

  2. Whatever the male version of “belle of the ball” is, I bet you were it! Soirees are much better when I haven’t spent hours primping and building up my expectations. Your way sounds fun!

    • By ball – are you referring to basketball, football, or hockey?
      Definitely no primping here. Neither that nor belle of the ball sound very masculine – which I exude by the way.

  3. Sounds like fun. The closest I’ve ever been to a soiree (I live in Canada and can’t find my e with the accent on my keyboard, so sad). The closest I’ve ever been is a wedding reception, but I don’t think that counts.

    ps – When I was in school we had to memorize the accents and which way they went for our French language spelling tests. Accent Grave is the one to the left 🙂

    • It’s funny you say that. I found the word, cut, and paste it. I had to do that throughout as I am not sure where the character is either.
      Do you speak French?

  4. Rock those sandals baby!! Rock ’em! LOL. I figure that if you fall in the middle category, and you aren’t the most overdressed nor the most under-dressed, then you did good!

    • You know it miss.
      I’m with you in terms of being in the middle, but I was closer to the bottom in this case. Oh well.

    • I did enjoy some scotch but my intake was limited – no designated driver.
      They were raising money but I don’t know how much they raised, so I am not sure if you would call it a success.

  5. a soiree ha! I don’t have my accent aigu in this laptop! 🙂 I’ve never been to a soiree before and I wouldn’t know how to dress for one so that’s why I really like what your mom said “there will always be people better dressed than you and people less dressed than you”, I like that! 🙂 hope you had a beautiful time 🙂

    • So nice to hear from you again! It does sound fancy, doesn’t it!
      What do you think – maybe I should be shoe model? Is that a job for a straight guy?

  6. Your get up sounds fine to me! I have found that when I’m comfortably dressed for any sort of get together the more fun I have (not that guys have to worry about high heels and control top panty hose though)! Also, I used to throw parties at my house all of the time in my 20’s and I used to call them soirees because it just sounded better than plain old party! My husband’s friend is a scotch lover and he buys us bottles for Christmas so we have quite an assortment in our basement. We don’t really like it so they are all pretty much full. Perhaps I should throw a soiree and have my own Scotch tasting!

    • No, very true I don’t worry about high heels and control top panty hose (not even 100% sure what that is).
      Let me know when the scotch tasting party, I mean soiree, is going to take place. I’m headed to Wisconsin!

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