Yesterday afternoon I wallowed a bit in low self-esteem as I hurried along the streets of Annemasse. I'd left the house in a rush, anxious to pick up a prescription from Alexa's cardiologist before the clinic closed. I still had on my house-cleaning clothes: baggy capri-lenth jeans, an old gray t-shirt and comfy sandals...and I felt very profoundly un-chic. Not like Annemasse is a big, sophisticated city...but it's pretty fancy compared to Saint André. My home village has more cows than people and cows seem to appreciate a more laid-back clothing vibe.

I tried to cheer myself up by finding people worse dressed than I was. "Look! Brown calf-length socks and white loafers with geeky shorts!" I told myself. "He looks WAY worse than me."
But the guy was at least 60 years old, balding and sporting an ugly tattoo.
Who was I kidding?
I had to admit that not many 40ish women were wearing anything so un-pulled-together as I was. In fact, it looked as though they'd all signed a contact agreeing to wear pointy-toe, high heel shoes and tight, short skirts, all day, every day, forever and ever.

"But at least your hair looks fabulous", I consoled myself.
And it did - I'd just been to the hairdresser right before and it was all sleek and bouncy and shiny- not at all like my usual fuzzy mess. And that was a good thing. That night I was invited to an art exhibition in Geneva and didn't want to look like a countrified pile of dowdiness.

So, there I was, walking down the street, thinking deep thoughts about my hair, when I heard a child yell "Amandine Bourgeois! Amandine Bourgeois!".

He was about 10 years old, black, cute as a button and walking up to me!
"Amandine Bourgeois! It's you!"

This little boy had mistaken me for the 2008 winner of Nouvelle Star (the French version of American Idol)
TOLD you my hair looked good!


You can easily see why he made this mistake.
She and I are alike in so many ways.

For example, Amandine is 30 years old and at one time in the past, I was 30 years old!

Another amazing coincidence: We weigh exactly the same amount...well, we would if I amputated one of my legs.

Anyway...maybe it's silly, but it did kind of make my day.