The invitations began arriving shortly after I moved back to my native New York City in 2012. They all sounded eerily similar. Each offered a chance to spend some fun, quality time in an intimate setting with a few fellow moms—or “the girls”—while some sort of product, usually but not always clothing, was “shared.”
One of them beckoned me to a “trunk show” of jewelry and accessories by the company Stella & Dot, to be held at an Upper West Side brownstone. Another offered “a chance to share girlfriend time, refreshments and shop [sic]” for garments bearing the Ruby Ribbon label, a clothing and undergarment line.