Carrie Bradshaw’s Suburban Sister

Yep, I was one of the millions of women who rushed out to the theater last Friday night for the opening of “Sex and the City,” the movie. Sarah Jessica Parker and her pals can thank us for their $55.7 million box office. Reportedly, 85% of audiences were women. Now THERE’S a shocker!

You may be surprised that I am a SATC fan. After all, my cheapness and penchant for Target couture are well-documented in this blog. It took me some time to warm up to the show, truth be told. Being a writer myself, I could never get past the premise that Carrie Bradshaw was supposed to be a newspaper sex columnist who lived in an awesome Manhattan apartment and splurged on designer shoes. Do you know what newspapers pay, people? Hint: not even enough to afford ONE Jimmy Choo.

Watching the show was really just an excuse to get together with some of my girlfriends. Back in our single days, we used to meet weekly for dinner, drinks, gossip, and taped episodes of the show. (Videotapes, not Tivo -- now that REALLY dates us!) Along the line, the show grew on me. These days, we’re so busy with kids and husbands and work we can’t imagine how we ever got together every week. So we were all looking forward to a girls’ night out in honor of the movie premiere. One friend even flew cross-country for the event!

But first, there were some logistics that single gals in the city wouldn’t need to worry about. For instance, what to wear. Sadly, my wardrobe of stylish going-out clothes has diminished. I wear mostly flats these days. And all my purses have to be big enough to hold diapers, toys, and snacks. Then there was the issue of who was on baby duty. The husbands solved that. (Mine had to work late so I imposed on a friend’s.) But we still weren’t footloose and fancy-free just yet. Somehow, I don’t think Carrie & Co. had to field cell phone calls asking what the kids were supposed to eat and whether it was bath night.

Anyway, we finally got downtown, got our tickets, and piled into the theater. What a vibe! Groups and groups of girlfriends of every age, size, shape, and color, giddy with excitement about the movie event of the year. The theater we went to has a bar, so we could even bring our Cosmos in with us. I won’t say anything about the movie except that it was FABULOUS. And I went in expecting to have already seen all the good parts in the trailers. (I hate how they do that with every movie these days!) That wasn’t the case, though -- plenty of laughs, tears, and surprises awaited.

But you know, it’s gotta be a sign of the times -- and by that, I mean this particular time in my life, as a newish mom -– that after the movie, I was left not with such thoughts as, “Where did Samantha get that hot lingerie?” but rather, “I wonder what Charlotte does for childcare?”

Afterwards, we went to dinner at a hip new sushi restaurant. But instead of, “What a cool place!” we all said, “Damn, it’s loud in here!” At 10 p.m., it was already past most of our bedtimes. We tried to rally, heading to another hotspot for drinks, but the problem with hip cocktail lounges lined with comfy couches is that aging, non-hipsters like me start to fall asleep in our drinks. And if you’re not used to wearing heels? They HURT after awhile, people!!

So maybe we’re not so young and energetic and carefree as we once were. Maybe we piled into minivans and headed back to the suburbs at the end of the night, home to our loved ones in flannel boxers and footy pajamas. Maybe “sexy” isn’t the first adjective we’d use to describe our lives these days. The point is, we still had a blast, Manolos or no.

LINK O’ THE WEEK: Listening to the fun SATC soundtrack got me in the mood to make my own “mix tape.” (Thanks for showing me this site, E.G.!) It’s fun and it’s free!