Greetings from La Seur, MN
It was a long drive from Wisconsin, but we thought it was neat when we drove across the mighty Mississippi River. La Seur is about 45 minutes south of Minneapolis and the Mall of America. It is another small town with a population of around 2,000. Once again, the folks in this small town seemed very nice and they were not afraid to talk to strangers. However, the mosquitoes at the campground were not as friendly. We sprayed our entire body with mosquito repellant every time before going outside. They were thirsty and the local news station reported people getting infected with the West Nile Virus. Thanks to a thick coat of poison on ourselves, we managed to leave Minnesota alive and healthy.
Friday - What Happened to Jenn...
The day before, I read a small article about Glamour Magazine doing a photo shoot at the Mall of America about before and after make-over pictures. I threw on my Phish t-shirt, jumped into a pair of shorts, put my hair up in a clip, and headed to the mall. I found the Glamour Magazine area to be a fast paced conglomerate of lights, cameras, and action. There were photographers with their bright lights, a cameraman taping the scene as he walked around, a separate area for wardrobe, a separate area for hair, and another separate area for make-up. In addition, there were a ton of fashionably dressed people walking around with their clipboards and pocket cameras. It was like watching the behind the scenes of a movie.
I took a deep breath and walked over to the woman who looked to be in charge. She was trying to explain to these two girls that they would not have improved enough for the magazine's readers to notice. The girls continued to plead as the woman kept trying to explain in a polite manner. I interjected and told the young girls that she was actually complimenting them by saying that they are already too pretty to be made over. They suddenly realized that I was right, thanked the woman, and happily walked away. That's when I asked her, "What about me?" I then took my hair out of the clip and shook my head to show her my best before look. She replied,"Yes! Perfect! How do you feel for going darker?" I told her I was up for anything and that began the 9 hours of my Glamour Magazine shoot!
After they took my before photograph, I walked upstairs where they did a B-Roll (filming without sound) and they interviewed me on tape about why I wanted to be made up today (They were trying to get a pilot on NBC). I spoke with the other selected women and our collective excitement electrified the air all day. Then I went into the make-up area for some hair coloring. They decided on lightening my hair instead of making it darker and I have to say, I loved it.
I was back downstairs in the wardrobe area trying on many different designer shirts and blouses. One was textured purple while others were various shades of creams, whites, and pinks. I took a chance and picked one of the pinks. FYI, I am normally a blues and greens nature girl and I have never worn pink before, so I was a little nervous. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and decided that I would soon be shopping for a new pink top. People came to me thinking I already had my hair cut and make-up on, just because of my new hair color and pink top.
Now it was time for me to visit the hair area. Edward, a famous hair dresser from New York, and I spoke about all sorts of things as the hair just flew off my head. He transformed my hair into a more flattering cut that matched the shape of my face. People in the mall leaned over the rope watching and I kept hearing them say wow and amazing. Afterwards, it was time to go back to make-up for curling my eyelashes and applying a shiny lipstick.
By now it was late in the afternoon and time for the after shoot on the video camera and then finally the photo shoot for Glamour. There were lots of look down, chin down, look at me, smile, bigger, laugh, look left, look right, chin down, chin down from the photographer. It really was a lot of work. I got to keep one of the pictures and the photo spread is due to come out in the January issue of Glamour Magazine. Keep your fingers crossed that my picture makes the selection. This trip has so far given us everything we asked for and expected.
Back to me Speaking...
Saturday - We walked into the Mall of America again, a shopaholic's heaven come true. There is more than just shopping going on at this place. In the middle of it all is a midway; complete with a rides, a rollercoaster, and carnival candy. Jenn and I decided to go on the trampoline ride. We strapped on a harness around our waists that was attached with bungee cords to these tall poles on either side of the trampoline. As we would bounce high on the trampoline, the bungee cords would pull us up even higher. We performed multiple forward flips, back flips, and we even bounced on our behind. We thought of the band Phish and our favorite song "Bounce Around the Room" as we laughed even harder.
We walked past the spot where Glamour Magazine was set up the day before and of course, there was something new going on. This company of hair products was advertising its unique brand of hair coloring that easily washes out with soap and water. We stood in line and got color added to our hair for free. The lady first spiked my hair and then added Voodoo Blue to the ends of it. The same lady then added stripes of Panic Purple, Plush Pink, and Smash Blue to Jenn's hair. The same thing happened again when we got our faces painted as clowns, Jenn looked a lot better than I did.
Sunday - The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is the largest urban sculpture park in the country. We spent a few hours at the park looking at the sculptures from different angles as we walked around. Some of them you were allowed to climb on and some of them we wished we could climb on. The city was a ghost town on the weekend and we did not feel like sight seeing anymore, so we returned to the Mall of America for the third time. This time, all we did was shop.
Colorfully yours,
Love Dave & Jenn
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