I wear contact lenses most of the time, but like to take them out at night and relax before bed wearing a pair of eyeglasses. I am told that I'm legally blind without corrective lenses and when getting my eyeglass prescriptions filled, let's just say Coca~Cola bottle bottoms come to mind.

Suffice to say, I am sorely in need of new spectacles. The last time I replaced my eye glasses was at least 10 years ago before moving to California. At the time, my rather large wire-rimmed frames were made of a lovely shade of coral copper, which for the styles of the time happened to also be the smallest frame shapes available.

The lenses were touted as compressed and the slimmest I could buy given my rather high prescription strength, but still they came out looking a tad like Coca~Cola bottle bottoms, especially since the frame was a wire-rimmed one.

The caveat? Over time, styles go out of fashion, lenses scratch, and copper turns green. Let's also add that these now not-so-lovely frames lost one of the nose pads, and the now tarnished metal was showing wear. At least I didn't have tape holding them together, but the overall look was not a flattering one. My new roommate, when expecting company, would always ask if I could not wear my glasses when they arrived as they really looked bad. Who knew? Apparently I do now.

My company's insurance plan offered vision, so as soon as I qualified, and received the appropriate medical cards in the mail, I headed straight over to LensCrafters to choose a frame and figure out the best lenses for what was now an even HIGHER prescription than 10 years ago (Damn that aging process).

Before it was bad, but now, my fears were that even compressed lenses at such a high prescription would be atrocious. (Thank God I only wear glasses at night in the privacy of my own home.)

I debated on whether to choose a frame that was "invisible" on my face or was some sort of actual fashion statement that would stand out and be noticed. I opted for a nice pair of DKNY dark brown tortoise shell frames. On my particular pair, the tortoise shell look really isn't that noticeable and has more the appearance of a uniform brown, and definitely isn't an "invisible" look for me. They are quite nice, stylish, and considering the high cost of most frames, not all that pricey.

When the finished spectacles were picked up, I was pleasantly surprised at the advancement of technology that made it possible for formerly thick Coca~Cola bottle bottom lenses to be actually of a normal thickness.

The killer, my designer DKNY frames were not all that expensive in comparison to my super-high prescription lenses, but the total cost was nearly a whopping $600, taxes included. (The frame price, as you see in the link, was less than a third of the total cost).

Insurance covered most, and what insurance didn't cover, my Flex Spending Account did, so in a sense, it proved to be nothing out of pocket.

Also, as a side note to all of this, I thought i was seeing things when I left LensCrafters, for there on the bench, a pleasant gentlemen waved me over.

An Optical Illusion? Was he waving at ME? Maybe he was lost and needed directions. Isn't that the stereotype?

I walked over and he asked me my name, which then lead to a brief conversation and he gave me his phone number. He wanted to take me out.

Again, Hello? Is this an Optical Illusion? Some mirage in the shopping mall? Well, I didn't call him right away. I waited a few days. Both because I was busy, and also because my dating track record of late has not been so great. I was a bit gun-shy.

Remember, VERY full-figured woman here... But alas, he found something hot to trot in my jeans that day!

I called him last night, and we talked. We are going out on Saturday. Too soon to tell much right now, so stay tuned.