Blo | Blow Dry Bar

In an attempt to get me out of my dating com- fort zone, Steph suggested we take our Girls Night Out somewhere uptown like Joe Fortes. But in order to look the part, we needed to get some heavy-duty makeovers first.

I wanted a look that said: “I’m not a gold-digging bimbo only out to get my “MRS” degree. I’m the CEO of a free- lance-writing empire worth a whopping four figures! In other words, I’m pretty big-time, doncha know?”
Our first stop was Du Jour Boutique & Gallery(628Abbott St.), where you can buy de- signer party frocks or “borrow” them for a fraction of the cost. We borrowed. Steph chose a lacy purple shift dress by Yoana Baraschi and I opted for a wine- coloured silk mini by Kulpa.
After we had our outfits, we decided to get supermodel makeovers at BeautyMark (#103 – 1120 Hamilton Street) –where makeup artist Gemma Lagden was nice enough to putty in my parenthesis lines with some sort of gel filler (clearly girlfriend’s got my back). Steph’s makeup artist, Kendra Lovick, used dazzling smokey grey shades on her eyes (perfect for the holiday season), while Lagden opted for dramatic plum shadows to match my dress.
Then it was time to get our hair done at Blo, the only place in town that specializes specifically on giving blow out styles for about 30 bucks in about 30 minutes. I picked the “Executive Sweet” straight from the hair menu, a fitting style considering my overall desired effect.
Now, I normally don’t like to straighten my blond locks ’cause I think it makes me look like a generic reality TV tart. But my stylist did a first-class job of giving me just the right sexy professional lid for my in- tended business takeover. Steph’s hair, on the other hand, looked very va-va-voom and full-bodied (if you know what I mean).
With that, the transforma- tion was complete.

It was time for Joe Fortes. Steph figured if I’m going to broaden my horizons and pos-sibly redefine my type, this would be a good place to start. The end goal being for me to stop limiting myself to broke arty dead beats and may be open up to the idea of meeting a man with a plan ... and a future and a grown up stereo system (I was skeptical).
We made our way up to the oyster bar, where Oyster Bob gave us a private shucking demo. What can I say? The man knows his oysters - they were delish.
Several shucking puns later, we went upstairs for an amazing five-coarse dinner courtesy of chef Ryan Mah - a culinary genius if there ever was one. I don’t know what he did to that king crab appie to make it taste so good, but I can’t say enough good things about it.
In fact, the food was so good that Steph and I barely had time to scope out the scene downstairs. It didn’t matter though – we were just as content to hang out upstairs with our new friend Frenchy, Joe Fortes’ incomparable maître d'.
By the end of the evening, I wasn’t even thinking about whether or not suits are for me. I was just glad I got the chance to rediscover Joe Fortes. It is, after all, one of those rare Vancouver institutions that more than lives up to its legendary status. Suffice to say, I will be making a return visit.

24 Hours, December 4 2010

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