I was recently in our illustrious state capital visiting some friends from college. Most of them live around the Short North or German Village, places where we can walk to restaurants, bars, retail, basically whatever we want/need. One of my friends however, lives out near Tuttle Crossing in a suburban apartment complex. It has 14+ unit buildings spread out in campus like fashion, with grills interspersed along walkways and a centrally located pool. She lives there because it’s a short commute to work, which is one of the main reasons I live where I do. She is surrounded by the classic strip center food and retail (let me be clear, I have nothing wrong with the chipotle or jersey mikes up the street from her place). What baffles me is the façade I see every time I drive up to the entrance gate.

The first floor of the initial building is where the leasing office is located. It also contains a number of storefronts and displays which are made to look like street level retail. BUT–they don’t actually have any shops! What purpose could these fake stores possibly serve? Prospective tenants will surely notice, as I did, that this is not an actual commercial establishment, so they can’t be touted as an ‘amenity’. If anything it serves as a reminder of the walkable life many would like to live, and brings to the forefront of one’s mind the harsh reality of suburban complex living. As you drive in and out they serve as a reminder that you must, in fact, drive to get to anything you want.

I understand that some of the purported tenants would not survive were they actual establishments. A clothing store would likely not make it there. A pub and a coffee shop, they might stand a chance though. Not only are there 40+ apartments, but there is also a large amount of drive by traffic. Had they configured the complex a bit differently, I bet they would have been able to sustain at least a couple of real commercial tenants.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving feast, and for those of you that have been up for 6 hours waiting in line to get into Best Buy…I feel bad for you, but enjoy that new TV.

What feels like five lifetimes ago (but in reality was about 2 years ago) I was shopping with my (then) girlfriend when we made a stop by The Gap. Now understand that I am not a ‘shopper’ and I don’t go peruse stores looking for things to buy. If I need something I buy it, then I go home. For the most part she was the same way, so shopping was never the excruciating experience some boyfriends make it out to be. But I digress….

We popped in The Gap because I knew I could use a new pair of jeans. I, for the most part, wear baggier clothing, but I needed some jeans I could wear to the office and not look like I just came in from the weekend. She had been telling me that I needed some ‘skinny jeans’ for some time, so I decided to make the move. At that point I was wearing a size 36 waist, loose fit jeans. I pulled out the least fake-faded pair of Levi’s I could find–some straight cut, 35 waist Levi’s 1969′s. They fit snug, but they weren’t shrink wrapped to me, and I was told “They make your butt look cute.” Naturally I was sold.

Over the next few months that pair of jeans found themselves in regular/heavy rotation, getting the call for work and social events. All was going well, until I injured myself playing racquetball.

I had to call it quits on just about every physical activity I took part in. Waiting for my body to repair itself was an excruciatingly slow process. During that period I ended things with my girlfriend, and life in general felt dark. I noticed the skinny jeans were becoming tighter and tighter (no surprise there, I wasn’t working out). When my wallet wore through the right butt pocket because it had been stretched so much, I knew it was time to retire them.

My skinny jeans were tossed away into the bowels of my closet, and were long forgotten about.

Last January I was finally healed, and I started the slow process of getting back into physical activity. Using my Wii Fit to chart my progress, I began to get back into shape. Within a few months I was looking at a tumbling downward trend on the weight graph, and all of a sudden I was sticking extra holes in my belts so I could synch down my pants and keep them somewhere near my waistline.

It was at that moment I remembered the skinny jeans.

I dug through my closet and pulled them out, still sighing at the worn through right butt pocket. I was nervous about putting them on. Just looking at them was bringing back memories of that shopping trip, the girl I was with, and the person I was when I bought them. But, one leg at a time (someone tell me who puts pants on both legs at a time) I slid into them, and marveled at myself in the mirror. The last time I had worn them they were tight in the thighs and difficult to bend down and tie a shoe in; now they sat comfortably on my waist and barely hung off my skin. I–and my skinny jeans–were back.

The next few months brought my skinny jeans and I closer than ever before. Sure, I had to abandon the back pocket, but they were comfortable, and that hole was something people seem to pay hundreds of dollars for in designer jeans.

Then one day I found myself in a place I never thought I would be….the skinny jeans were too big. I stood in front of the mirror, this time in disbelief–it didn’t seem possible that I was about to put another hole in a belt to keep the skinny jeans up on my waist. I smiled as I thought about the journey I had been through with these pants, and what it meant to retire them again, but for the opposite reason.

It was a good feeling, like I had come back from two terrible places–injury and loneliness–only to return stronger than before.

I realized there was only one thing left to do, and that was go out and buy a new pair of skinny jeans. So that is exactly what I did–some straight cut, 33 waist Levi 1969′s–progress is a great thing.

So why should you own a pair of skinny jeans? Maybe you should buy a pair that you want to fit into, and that is your goal. Maybe you have someone for whom you want your butt to look cute.

Or maybe you just need a new pair of pants.

First Fridays are now GrapeVINE in the Gateway Quarter. The first Friday of each month you can taste wines from a specific region, get discounts on shopping and socialize with friends and coworkers. The first GrapeVINE kicks off with a selection of German Rhine Wines being offered for tasting from 5p-7p at Coffee Emporium, Segway, Switch, Joseph Williams Home, A Lucky Step, Outside, Mica 12/v, and Metronation. Lavomatic will be offering $1 off their 2007 Carl Ehrhard.

City Cellars is supplying the wines for this event.

Also going on this evening: The Bett’s House on Clark St will host the opening night of Exploring Cincinnati which will definitely be worth stopping by. That is from 5-8pm.

And lastly, did anyone go to the Run Like Hell kick-off on Fountain Square last night? I was busy working, otherwise I would have been there to snap some photos.