Uh-oh...

This week marked my first official braces "emergency." At some point early in the week I noticed that one of my upper brackets was loose and just hanging out, sliding along the wire. It didn't seem like such a big deal, so I ignored it. Until Wednesday when I was eating lunch and the bracket was spinning around with my food. That's when I thought, "Hmmm...this is probably not supposed to happen." I called the orthodontist's office and was told that it would "only get worse."

The next morning I scheduled to go into the orthodontist's upper eastside office. I typically go to the one downtown near NYU. When I stepped into the office, I was greeted by 4 receptionists (instead of one) and an entire wall of color-coded files that looked more like an art installation than a filing system. To my right was a life-sized playhouse and an arcade room. Yes, you read that correctly: an arcade room (complete with Ms. PacMan)! As opposed to the shoebox of an office I am used to, this was a mansion. I had never seen anything quite like it. I told one of the receptionists my name and she said, "Oh, yes, you're the emergency. Have a seat." So, I sat and waited for 30 minutes before I was taken back through the long and winding hallway painted like a fairy tale castle.

The bracket that had come unattached was on a tooth with a filling and after the doctor took a look at it, he said he was surprised it had stayed on as long as it had. There were two options--either put another bracket on, or put a band around tooth. He said that he typically tries to keep his adult patients away from bands, but in this case it was probably the best option. But, before the band could go on, I had to, once again, get plastic "spacers" between my teeth to add extra room. The assistant was very gentle and when everything was finished, she asked if I felt okay. I said yes, but decided to mention that the wire was cutting into my cheeks on the right side. It was very small, but I figured it was worth a shot to mention. She said that even something that tiny can become very painful and she was able to cut it off.

So, now I have to go back in to the office next week to get the band put on. I'm not even exactly sure what that will entail and am annoyed now because I was getting used to things the way they were. I'm also a bit annoyed because I feel like this may set me back a few weeks in terms of getting my braces off.

PS--I wrote this post last week so please change any references of "this week" to "last week" and stay tuned...there is more to this developing story!

A year in the life of a 30-year old woman with braces

There's something poignant about having braces whilst turning 30. Turning 30 is a milestone--a point some people celebrate, some people dread. It's a point to take a step back, evaluate the past and then use the wisdom gained to step over the threshold from 20's to 30's. 30 doesn't feel so much different from 29. Though, this morning I did stop to smell the roses, literally.

For half of my 30th year I'll have braces and hopefully for the other half I won't. Braces do make me feel and look younger. Maybe this is why turning 30 isn't so bad. Braces make me feel like I'm a work in progress--and it's out there for the world to see, without shame. Isn't that what we all are, though, at all times? People in progress? There's never a time when we've figured it all out, or when we will figure it all out. I hope there will be many more adventures in my future--just like this year with braces.

Whether you're 30 yet or not, I wish many crazy, wild and spontaneous adventures in your future as well. follow your heart. it will never lead you astray

Raw Fish Without Raw Cheeks

Last week the pain of the wires sticking into my cheeks was unbearable so I ended up making an emergency trip to the orthodontist. It just so happened that the office was closed for vacation, but there was one assistant there who was able to help me. She clipped the wires down, gave me more wax and also offered to put some sort of numbing gel on my cheeks. I was a little wary of the stuff so she gave me a packet just in case.

Last week was also a week of fancy dinners and I wanted to be able to enjoy them without the pain and annoyance of these darn wires poking me. First stop was Nobu for my co-worker's farewell dinner (I'll miss you, Aldin!). Up until Thursday raw fish was not my thing. I tried a spicy tuna roll once a long long time ago and just couldn't deal with the texture, so from then on it's been mostly sweet potato and avocado rolls for me. But I figured that since I was going to Nobu, of all places, I might as well try the sushi and sashimi. For the most part, the raw fish went down pretty well.

The following day I took Cab to Mas for his birthday and we ended up getting the tasting menu. This is always a good option when fancy restaurants aren't a normal part of one's life--this way you can just take a taste of a lot of different kinds of dishes. The first thing we had was some type of raw white fish and, thanks to Nobu, I was able to eat it.

It's so much easier and more pleasant to eat without wires poking into my mouth! I should have had those things clipped weeks ago...

What do you get when you cross one French Asian woman, a Norwegian world-traveler and a bunch of North Dakotans?

My roommate, K, is from North Dakota--of Scandinavian descent. As I've been learning over the past few months, her family is comprised of rock stars! Her aunt runs the largest Scandinavian Festival in the country. The festival is so big that it's her full-time year-round job. Her sister, C, is a fashion designer, has appeared as a commentator on shows like "E's Celebrity Weddings" and is Liza Minelli's assistant (hence, why Liza is performing at the largest Scandinavian Festival in the country this year...). C's boyfriend also works for Liza and used to be a weatherman on a local North Dakota news show. And, my roommate isn't too shabby herself--sweaters she knit the first few months she lived here were sold at Barney's this summer (yep, they're all sold-out!).

So, this is just a little background for my Labor-Day Weekend story. K's cousin was in town this weekend from North Dakota. I was invited to the cousin's birthday party at Alice's Tea Cup Saturday night. In addition to K, her sister C and C's boyfriend, there was also a French Asian woman at the table who designs lingerie for Calvin Klein and a perfume designer from Norway who met the family at the Scandinavian Festival one year. A little later came B, another one of my roommate's cousins, who is studying business journalism at NYU.

So, there we were drinking tea (no worries, I had the silver needle jasmine white tea!), eating scones, talking about the big festival, memories of North Dakota, you get the drift. B was sitting next to me and asked me what I did...which is a whole bunch of disconnected things. As we're talking I'm thinking to myself, "Does this guy have braces?" When he talked, he didn't open his mouth very wide and I could have sworn I could see glints of silver shooting out from his bottom lip. He asked me if I had ever been to North Dakota. To which I replied, "Yes, once on tour." Then we got into the whole acting thing. He asked me how that was going. I told him it wasn't. Then tried to explain the whole braces thing and my hopes and dreams for the future. That's when, sure enough, he says, "Yeah, me, too...see" and then opens wide. I asked him if he found that he was meeting tons of people with braces. He said, No, this was his first time. I thought this was strange since he's getting his braces off in a month. Everywhere I go--dinners with strangers, tango class, even the lady servin' up my chai has braces. As GirlRay said, "You are a magnet for people with braces."

Another thought came over me as I sat there that night. When you've only been to North Dakota once for the weekend, and you don't design anything major like lingerie or perfume, there's not that much to contribute to the conversation. Looking around the table, listening to the many stories they had to tell, I suddenly became entranced by everyone's teeth. All these strangers with straight teeth--and each one had a different version of straight teeth. My roommate has one slight snaggle tooth, which she pointed out to me, but I probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise. Her cousin's two front teeth overlapped slightly. The guys' teeth were both the same--straight and all the same length. But it was my roommate's sister's teeth that I decided I wanted. Her two front teeth were slightly longer than the rest. The shape and size of her teeth seemed in perfect proportion to her features. That's when I realized that I not only want straight teeth, but I am also envisioning myself with the perfect kind of straight teeth. This is why I think I sometimes get nervous at the thought of getting my braces off. Granted, my teeth will be straight, but what if they don't look the way I want them to look?