I know the term “fomo” is relatively new as far as the English language goes, but I’ve been suffering with this affliction since grade school. It’s not that I was a spoiled kid, but often I was so intrigued by things that I wasn’t a part of, which only made me more desperate to be included (we’ll call it more of an obsessive curiosity). In second grade, I didn’t understand why all the girls in my class were wearing white dresses and veils at their First Communions and I wasn’t (we weren’t Catholic, so that may have been the cause), and I used to gaze longingly at the kids in daycare on my way out of school and feel like I was totally missing out on some cool club where they got to play games in the cafeteria (my mom had to explain to me that not all kids had parents who worked at home).

But the biggest “club” that I have never been a part of and was desperate to join was, once again, not something that most kids wished for themselves: I wanted to wear glasses.

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Why? I have no idea. I’m going to chalk it up to a young Lindsay wanting to express herself with as many accessories as possible. I thought kids that had glasses were just the coolest. I mean, when superheroes wear them, no one knows who they are! You cannot deny the power of a good pair of specs, amirite?

Slight snafu here: I was cursed with “better than perfect” vision (20/15 to be exact), discovered after I accidentally walked into the side of my house when I was 8, resulting in a large goose egg and a trip to the eye doctor. When the optometrist ensured my mother that I was not in fact, blind, but rather clumsy, my four-eyed dreams were dashed.

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That is, until now. That’s right – I, Lindsay Scouras, am finally getting… glasses ?

I know what you’re thinking. Lindsay, glasses are a sign of aging! Why celebrate the fact that your once perfect eyesight slowly going down the drain? This is just the first of many ailments to come that show you are no longer a spring chicken, lady! True, but I am looking at this at more of a preventative measure that happens to be sanctioned by a medical professional. Botox for the eyes, if you will.

You see, for the past couple of months, I had started to feel like my once-perfect vision wasn’t so perfect anymore. During the day, my eyes would start to go blurry at work, and I would have trouble getting them to focus again. I started feeling way more sensitive to fluorescent light and colors, sometimes having to go off into a dark room and allow my eyes to “reset” before I went back to work (super productive, no?). It was an unfamiliar and completely disruptive feeling that was really throwing me off my game at the office, and also causing me to turn into bed way early when I wasn’t even tired because I just wanted to be in the dark.

But let’s call a spade a spade – I work in an office and spend at least 60 hours a week staring at a computer. I enjoy blogging and editing photos, which adds more screen time after-hours. I do social media for my job (and okay, also for fun) and treat my iPhone like it’s my tiny tech child – never too far out of sight. And yes, I’m turning thirty-two next week, so there’s that.

All these factors combined lead me to take a trip to the eye doctor. And let me tell you, I have never had a better medical appointment in my entire life. If you are on Nantucket and need to go to the eye doctor, do yourself a favor and hightail it over to Dr. Gage at ACK Eye. I almost asked her if she had any other specialities, because I would seriously let her poke and prod me any day.

Have you guys been to the eye doctor lately? I mean, I know I haven’t been seen about 1993, but these people have gone full-on Jetsons futuristic. The thing you use to read with all the different-sized letters? It’s on an iMac now. They change the letters with a remote (apparently, people who chose to deny themselves the opportunity to wear glasses would memorize them). Also they had the best waiting room magazine selection I’ve come across in some time.

So anyway, what I gleaned from my new BFF Dr. Gage is that my eyesight is still good. I’m far-sighted and still see very well at great distances, however, my close-up skills need a bit of work. Blame it on age, the computer, whatever – but I need to keep these girls in check (and yes, I have chosen to start referring to my eyes in the way that other women talk about their breasts). She found that my right eye is slightly stronger than the left, which she said was ironic because I’m left-handed, and most people’s dominant eye is also their dominant hand.

She wrote me a very low prescription, and encouraged me not to wear my glasses all day (so I don’t become completely dependent on them prematurely) and to wear them starting at say, 2 P.M. when my eyes start to feel a little tired from looking at a screen for a prolonged period of time. Dr. Gage said it should not only help with focusing and reading, but would probably help wake me up a bit more in the afternoon, which for someone like me who doesn’t drink coffee, is always helpful.

She gave me a few other helpful (and obvious) tips, like giving your eyes a break at least once every hour – getting up and changing scenery for a few minutes is best, but even blinking strongly for a bit when you can’t escape the clutches of your desk is helpful.

Even though I had to get back to work, I couldn’t resist trying on at least a few pairs of glasses before I left the office, though I knew I was in no place to decide on a pair that day. The women in the retail area were so helpful and nice even when I nervously exclaimed that I couldn’t possibly make a decision today at least three times during my visit. Of course I immediately fell in love with a $300 Zac Posen pair, even though though I tried on an almost-identical no-name brand (I’m such a sucker).

Side note: Can we talk about how difficult it is to take a quality selfie in glasses?! I am so not used to having this thing on my face, I had no idea where to look, which angle to turn my head at – not to mention there’s a glare no matter where you go. Four-eyed ladies (and gentlemen, I’m not fussed), please give a girl some tips! It’s also really hard to tell what these actually looked like in person. I tried on numerous pairs that I thought sort of suited my face, only to find them to be gargantuan in photos.

Anyway, this brings me to today, kids. It’s time for me to get glasses but I have no idea where to start. I was told by numerous Nantucketers not to buy glasses from the eye doctor directly, because like produce or housewares, the upcharge just for being on a island is bonkers. Everyone said take your prescription the next time you go off island to a BJ’s or somewhere that sells glasses on the cheap. I don’t think your first pair of spectacles can be picked out online anyway (also, do the kids still say spectacles?) – this is definitely a try-on in person scenario.

The other advice I got was to go with a service like Warby Parker, where you can try them on at home and pay a nominal price for the lenses and frames. I know you get what you pay for, but I’m basically getting a slightly better pair of the readers your mother buys from CVS and always loses at the bottom of her purse. In less than twenty-four hours after my appointment, I already sent away for the Warby Parker “At Home Try-On” and am anxiously stalking the mailman for my package.

Is there anywhere else I should be looking? Kate Spade is one of my favorite brands, so I was slightly curious about their offerings in this department, however I’m such a novice here that I’m literally running around helpless wondering how to purchase a set of frames and a prescription separately and have them fit together. Send help!

~L

**This post is not sponsored in any way (duh, it’s like, a medical appointment – although in the blogging world, who knows what’s next for #ad content), I just had a really great experience with this doctor and wanted to share the completely ridiculous excitement that I feel over having to get glasses!