At 5:49pm my husband gave me the look. We both knew we had fifteen minutes before we needed to leave for his work party downtown and I was still getting kids settled/dawdling despite my parents being there to babysit. 

Two minutes to debate dresses, another few to make hair and face look like it wasn’t Tuesday at 9:30am and the last few to get a purse, shoes and some sort of jacket. No problem. Despite not having been out for a looooong time, I was heeding my own advice and acting like I’d been there before. You know, like going out was something I do on the reg and have a routine down pat to get out the door fast for all those cocktail parties and dinners I (don’t) regularly attend. 

One dress change and a several minutes later, I‘m downstairs trying to figure out some sort of sweater or scarf situation because it was freezing cold. My mom reminded me that I had to have a scarf or shawl somewhere. Right. Think, think, think. Yes, a basket in the...