I Wore A Blanket Around NYC. Oh Yes I Did.

If you have been following my SkyMall obsession, get ready, because it just became a triology. Fine, it’s not really a trilogy, but it is part 3. Let’s be honest…I won’t be writing the next Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter any time soon, so let this be my trilogy. Okay?

Before you read further, if you missed part one and two you may want to catch up here:

Can We Just Discuss SkyMall For A Second? Thanks!

An Interview With Christine Aguilera, Rockstar President of SkyMall

When I interviewed SkyMall President, Christine Aguilera, not to be confused with Christina, I asked her what items she had from their catalog and what her favorites were. One of the items she named was the Slanket, a blanket with sleeves. Below please find an excerpt from our interview:

ME: It makes me wonder if America has become so lazy they don’t want to take their arms out from under the blanket to turn the channel on the remote.

CHRISTINE: It does very well. And it’s very cozy.

ME: I’m not knocking it. I mean, I can be lazy. I’d wear a Slanket to drop my son off at school every morning if it meant not having to get dressed. I’m not a morning person. Can a Slanket be an outfit?

CHRISTINE: Hmmm… I never thought about actually wearing one. It’s kind of big and bulky but maybe if you belted the waist and were ok with a little blanket dragging on the floor…like a colorful, fleece wedding dress, it would work.

A week after the interview was published I got the gift of a lifetime. It came in the form of an email from a total stranger. This is what it said:

Hi. Read your interview with the SkyMall president Christine. Good interview. I noticed that you and she spoke about the Slanket and your possible desire to wear it to drop off your son at school in the morning. Can’t do that in a Slanket since it has no back, it’s way too cumbersome, and plus it looks silly. The “throwbee” by Kona Benellie Designs is actually the latest and best design of wearable blankets. The throwbee is simply classy, has NO giant sleeves (yay!) and covers front and back with your hands free. You can’t wear slanket to walk anywhere. You can wear your throwbee everywhere!! I am the creator of the throwbee. We were on QVC last holiday season. People all across the nation including some celebs are loving the throwbee. I’d be happy to send you one for you to review.

As it turns out, this total stranger was Jessica Mashkevich, the creator of the throwbee.

Now a normal person, who isn’t me, might read the e-mail and go about their day. Maybe they would be curious about the throwbee, maybe they would ignore it completely. But not me. Hells to the nizz-o. The only thing I can equate getting that email to, is the scene in The Lion King, when Rafiki holds Simba up to present him to the pride lands, and unicorns and whatever other wild animals are out there in the animal kingdom start prancing all about. I wanted to hold that email up to the sky right there on Broadway, where I received it on my IPhone and sing The Circle of Life at the top of my lungs. Truth be told, I might have. That part is blurry now. But what I can say for certain is that no animals pranced. There was a dog nearby being walked by its owner, but he ignored me completely.

This email was gold. Did throwbee just challenge Slanket to a throw down? I was so in. I was inner than in. In fact, I was going to see how far I could take this thing. Maybe I didn’t just want to wear it to drop off? Maybe I wanted to wear it all over town. And guess what? That’s exactly what I planned on doing.

I e-mailed back immediately asking her to send me one and waited for my package with bated breath. Once in my possession, I put it to the test.

First stop? Drop off at my sons school. I threw it on with a pair of Vans.

Drop off, check! No one even questioned it. Which, by the way, speaks volumes about the way I must look every morning.

As it turns out, the kind people over at throwbee were right. This was wearable to drop my child off at school. But I wanted to see where else I could wear it.

Next up? The gym.

Okay, to be completely honest, this picture is staged. I don’t go to the gym. But if I did, I would SO wear a throwbee over my gym clothes. I was so content walking around in that throwbee, you can tell my the look on my face! I am ecstatic. It’s as if somehow I was able beat the system of clothes entirely. If I had a theme song playing in my head as I was walking in my throwbee it would most likely be “Black Betty” by Ram Jam.

The only way to describe this thing, is to tell you it’s the most comfortable fleece poncho blanket you ever touched in your life. Remember the Seinfeld episode, when George wanted to be ensconced in velvet? Well, I want to be ensconced in throwbee. Night and day.

After the “gym”, I made a quick pit stop at a local Starbucks to see if I could have coffee with friends while wearing my throwbee. And by friends, I mean total strangers.

I don’t know this man at all, but I asked if I could join him for coffee and he said yes. AND I was wearing nothing but a blanket. Who said New Yorkers aren’t friendly? We had a grand old time. We even laughed. Well, he laughed. At me.

Okay, so I had the whole wearing it as a poncho down to a science. But maybe it was time to step up my game and throw throwbee a curve ball. Could I wear it on the subway? To a meeting?

Why, yes. In fact, I could. With the right accessories, of course. I paired it with a pair of patent Louboutins, a Chanel handbag and some type of black belt. Meeting attire, check.

Now, what if I didn’t want to change for a big night out? What if I wanted to roll out of bed, wear my throwbee to drop off, to the gym, to coffee, to a meeting and then possibly for a night out? I had to know.

I threw on a pair of Jimmy Choo booties, a Lauren Merkin clutch, a Ranjana Kahn oversize necklace for a little bling and belted it to show a little leg action. I was good to go. Taxi!

I am not suggesting you do this, because it probably wouldn’t be very hygienic, but you literally never have to change. You can sleep in it, roll out of bed, wear it all over town and just accessorize. That Jessica was not kidding. You really can wear a throwbee everywhere.

Now for one final test; I go to a lot of concerts. It’s almost a disorder. Since it is festival season and because festival fashion is so important I wanted to know if I could rock this at a music festival.

I paired my throwbee with my Fiorentini + Baker boots, a Zadig & Voltaire cross body bag, my Ray-Bans and some type of floral chain around my head. I think I’m ready to rock. And so did the man sleeping in the bush next to me.

Oh! And if all else fails, you can always use it to dress like a Jedi and play Star Wars with your kid. If that’s not worth $33, then you tell me what is?

I thought this product was so great I even e-mailed my friends over at SkyMall to tell them this is a must have in their catalog. Yes, I officially think we are friends. Now everyone go order yourself a throwbee and send me pictures of you wearing it.

*Photo credits for this article go to my lovely neighbor Ralph, who I probably traumatized, and Michele Koury, an aspiring writer. I am pretty sure that after spending the day with me dressed in a blanket she is currently re-thinking her career choice.