Now that the days’ air is warmer and the light is brighter, I find myself stymied by how to wear an LBD.

If I were a more genteel or modern girl, this probably wouldn’t be a problem—but I’m not, and it is.

What happens to the LBD when spring and summer arrive?

Just the color black is heavy. And for me heavy does not comport with warmth and sunlight.

I will dig out my one spaghetti-strap, black, lace mini-dress. That will work, at least for awhile.

But, what do you do? What does your spring/summer LBD look like?

Photo: my shadow in Ballard, on a very, very sunny spring afternoon.

Tonight I hustled myself over to the Spring season opening night of Tuning the Air, and LUCKY for you, this luscious show happens every Thursday night from now until July 3, 2010 (and more after that, after a summer break).

Look, I’m not going to try to explain what this show is. Please pop over to their website and take a listen to the video there. I think it will give you a sense of this incredible thing. Then skip back over here and finish consuming my pap.

Because really, these meandering words are simply pap, compared to the magic these musicians unleash with their strings.

I was reluctant to go tonight, afraid that my cough would kick in—the sound of which would be most unwelcome in this performance. But I went because I knew that this show is magic. Serious magic. Mostly white magic, but I think there’s a few streaks of black, which adds a compelling texture.

Please go. At least once. Magic this strong is worth embracing.

p.s. Tonight qualifies as a “New Person” night for I met and chatted with Steve Turnidge of Ars Divina. Of course he knows a slew of people that I know–this is little ole Seattle after all–but I had never met him.

I’ve been indulging in facials.

I don’t know what took me so long.

And I am loving the experience, and the results.

I have been visiting Jody Leon of Dermaspace for his Iderm® treatments. So fabulous.

These are real facials, not simple spa facials. Not simple slap on some cream/clay and soak it up and rinse it off. As Jody says, “Don’t expect cucumbers.”

These are “the skin gym” facials, and yes, they’re the ones that movie stars get. And have been, for 70 years. (Nope, silly, that doesn’t mean that stars have been lying there getting a facial for 70 years :)

Sure, facials would be great for folks who wear a lot of stage make-up. But this treatment is superb for us regular folks, who live in the 21st century.

So, I’m not going to try and explain all the elements of these facials—I’ll send you over to the website to learn. (Or, download the details.)

But, I will tell you that this stuff is crazy good, and I suggest you try it.

If you are planning to go out for a special event and want a fresh face, schedule your appointment for at least a day ahead of time, or more. This is a serious facial, and you won’t be wanting to show up anywhere “important” right away. Not that it will be all that awful, but you’ll be flush for a bit, and then crazy to be putting make up on top of your fresh skin.

Introductory price right now is $50.00. And after you have fallen in love with the process (and Jody) you can buy a package with three more facials @ the same reduced rate ($200.00 total).

I encourage you to give it a whirl.

I see something like this, I just want to fall in love.

–Tiberio Simone, at just about the point when performer Laura Stokes opened her parasol and unleashed the rain from the trapeze.

I am counting this one as an LBD foray, even though it doesn’t exactly meet any of the criteria. It’s my Project and I can cry if I want to. I mean, acknowledge that I had to “put on my big girl panties” to get myself out the door and off to this performance. OMG, I am so pleased that I did. That’ll teach me to quit being a wimpy whiner.

The performing duo, Ricochet is Cohdi Harrell and Laura Stokes, and their show, STITCH, is pure magic.

Read more here.

Last night was Allen and Daphne’s Zombie Jesus Day party. Cool, but what, my dears, is the right thing to wear to such a momentous yet odd event? I mean, the menu included brrraaaaains, and the option to get a stigmata.

Of course. The classic little black dress, doh.

I decided that some church-going like costume would be appropriate, and opted for my simple, wool shift, LBD–the one that is all black but for the crisp white panel at the neck and shoulders. Very Sixties and very “clean”.

I mixed it up with some low-key zombie makeup, something I derived from the burlesque makeup class I recently attended. I used loads of deep pink on my eyelids and brushed a thick line of pink below my lower lashes . . . aiming to evoke a little blood, and maybe an up-too-many-nights-in-a-row kind of look. But, not too freaky. And, I think it worked. Sorry, I did not get photos :(

Nude hose with black, Mary Jane pumps, and a square, black and white bag accessorized my church girl outfit.

And after an enormous and sad hiatus from my LBD Project, it was a bit of a big deal to get myself up for the trek to Everett for the party, where I knew I’d be midst mostly unfamiliar faces. So, big points to me for getting over my recent and debilitating pity parties and back on the LBD horse–I mean, this is really what the Project is all about: keeping myself active and acquiring new experiences, as a way of shoving my past behind me and propelling myself into my future.

So, it was nice to be warmly received and to find myself amongst friendly and interesting people. Not that I would expect anything else from the Steins and their array of friends and loved ones.

We did eat human brains–an evil, gray, gelatinous concoction fed to us by Daphne, in her long, linen robes and disturbing stigmata.

We played a game involving heavy, square nails, with porn DVDs as prizes.

And we talked about miraculous things.

Happy Day of Risen from the Dead, everyone.

Last night was a night at Columbia City Cabaret, celebrating the 40th birthday of a dear friend and indulging in the performances of some fabulous talent. We had the upstairs balcony and VIP room to ourselves–sort of.

There were a few PlusOnes–friends of the cast and performers–who’d been sent up to the mezzanine; they kept wandering through our party, trying to snag snacks and beverages, and we kept slapping them down.

And we were right there with the sound board and the light-girl, Star. I snagged the left-behinds when we cleaned up at the end of the night–the list of cues for sound and lighting; a great reminder of all the wonderful bits of the show.

Like I said, the show was fabulous. I’ve become a little snarky about the burlesque that pops up in Seattle. A lot of it can be very self-indulgent. But last night’s performances and performers are in my top five for what I’ve seen here–and that includes Dita Von Teese.

Heidi Von Haught opened and closed the show with incredibly sexy and sassy numbers. I won’t describe them, so as not to spoil them for you when you see them yourself–which you MUST. You must you must you must. We recognized Heidi from last month’s Naked Girls Reading, even with her clothes ON. She is that stunning.

Here’s a clip from the Von Foxies tribute to Seattle (Von Haught was formerly part of that trio) to give you a little of her sass. She is the second one to enter the stage in this clip.

Also performing last night was Luminous Parriah, who was full of surprises and talent and wit. We are hoping he falls in love with someone here in Seattle and does not leave, at least for awhile, so we can see him again and again.

The title of this post comes from a quip that Tamara the Trapeze Lady made, after commenting that she’d been eating a lot of glitter that night, “Burlesque performers have the most beautiful poo.” Leaving all the rest of that to your imagination …

The evening also included song, comedy, and aerials. It was a fabulous night. And I am thinking I really ought to make a regular thing of renting out the balcony and having little parties there during this monthly show. Are you in?

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Oh. Wait. I forgot to say, I was in a NEW dress. A little thing that I had seen on Bluefly for $300.00, but found locally for $30.00. The skirt is black tulle with a gold under skirt peeking through. I whacked a couple of inches of the hem of the underskirt with some pinking shears, which really vamped up the whole thing. Yay for scissors.

Sometimes things are so perfect I have trouble believing. This evening at Sambar was that perfect.

The whole going-out thing was spontaneous, and Lucy, my targeted accomplice, couldn’t make it out to play until after 9:00 … and then she had a date with Randy … so in the end, I met up with Randy, we had delicious drinks and snacks, and then not long before the restaurant closed, Lucy arrived. So that all worked out slick.

I was a little disoriented when I first walked in because there were two men playing guitar right inside the door; I felt like I was about to walk on stage. But I braved the awkwardness and walked on in, only to immediately fall in love.

I am a sap for certain things, certain aesthetic. Sambar just sparkles with so many of the qualities I love. Lighting, fabrics, leather, color, texture, music. Tying it all together is a clear, high level of attention to detail. The glassware is superb. The paper goods are lush. The menus are touched with letterpress. It’s just delicious overall.

I asked the bartender if they served anything special that was non-alcoholic and he flipped the menu open to show me the three that were listed. I chose the Citron Doux, made of Meyer lemon, candied fennel, and soda water, $6.00. No alcohol. And so very good. It was an excellent start to an evening that stayed just as fabulous for the next three hours.

I will be back, and recommend that any of you romantics out there, give it a whirl.

Continuing with the proclamations, it is hereby made official–in case there was any question–that, yes, the LBD Project shall include men. And whether they shall wear LBDs or not, is up to them.

Photo from the collection of the New York Public Library Digital Gallery.

By the powers vested in me by virtue of owning this damn project, I hereby proclaim that Charcoal Gray, for our purposes, is Black. Especially when worn with kick-a*s stockings.

Photo by Sascha Grant and used with Creative Commons license.

Hannah was in town and Randy wanted to hang out at Black Bottle, so I used this as an excuse for an LBD adventure. Lucy planned to join us, too.

Hannah was on board for LBD, but ended up getting doused so severely by the Seattle skies, that she opted for jeans and her cheery, warm jacket, instead.

I had been out in the rain earlier in the day and knew how nasty it was. So for the evening, I wore my black lace, skinny-strap dress, with heavy black stockings, and my industrial strength black rubber boots.

Lucy wore a little black velvet dress, with white satin piping hemming the sleeves. Her daughter wanted to join us and dressed up in an LBD, but mom ixneyed that plan. How cute, though. Our newest Little Black Dress Grrl.

So, Black Bottle. I enjoyed the atmosphere, kind of dark wood and European. A little crystal chandelier in the Ladies’ room, throwing nice shadows on the wall. Candles and oil lamps. The food menu stumped me a little: excepting the desserts, everything on the menu–except for three items–has garlic in it. Of those three, only one seemed compelling to me, the caprese skewers. And everything is prepared ahead of time, then heated per order–so special “please leave out the garlic” requests are futile.

These were good. Tasty mozzarella balls skewered with sun-dried tomato chunks and drizzled with olive oil and oregano. Three skewers, $9.00.

Anyway. My companions were not so diet restricted, and munched through lots more. But, I wasn’t really paying attention. Something with anchovies. No, sardines. And some seared tuna (one of the garlic-less items). Lots of vegetables.

We laughed a lot, and there was talk of real-life things, such as cold weather, menopause, and sex. The waitress seemed cranky with us, though I never figured out why.

Some time later, satiated and ready to leave this place, we decided to try a joint that Hannah had stumbled upon earlier in the week: Bathtub Gin & Co. We meandered around downtown, trying to hone in on Spur–which Hannah remembered as being across the way from Bathtub Gin. So there was a bit of a treasure hunt quality to things, especially after finding our target–a door off the alley, marked with a small brass plate on the wall.

The place was 80% full–if we are measuring “full” based on available seating. We shoved some people aside (figuratively) and huddled together to spend another hour or so, talking about life and love.

A successful LBD evening–two new places for me and I suspect that was a new dress on Lucy. Oh. And from comments made on Facebook, I guess the industrial strength rubber boots were a bit of a fashion success, too.