Haute?

“What is ness? Its your name plus ness.”
Randolph Dupree, You, Me and Dupree

At least once a week I rise and shine early around 9am, have breakfast at Tiffany’s, grab a large coffee to go at Vella, and take a brisk mile walk to my bank. At this hour of the day I’m hardly organized beyond deposits only because they have to be done. Naturally as I approach the teller I do not have my account information and I just hand them the debit and ask, “the account number with this card?”
This is when the look when fear meets question from the teller followed by my look of fear and question of what is wrong with my account? “Hhuuu??? Ms. Mar? Oh yes the Hideout!”
Hideout the quick escape from the worse of the two evils how to pronounce my last name, Martorello or the word haute. Over the past few months I’ve started a relationship with the word haute. A term often used in fashion, cuisine, or the country France. I’ve come to the conclusion most people have herd the terms haute couture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_couture and haute cuisine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute_cuisine but are unfamiliar with what it actually means. Luxurious, extravagant, and high,
The bigger question everyone will ask is, “ How the hell do you pronounce haute?”
I started a business which I named the Haute Hideout, a hip fashionable boutique in Chicago’s already up and soon to be trendy Roscoe Village (http://www.roscoevillage.org/). I thought it was a fun and fashionable name, had my business papers filed with the state, and then figured out nobody I knew could pronounce it. My friends are fun they say haute, smile but still have that question mark floating around their heads. My people in the fashion trade often comment that it is a clever name and that I have a cute business card.
The common way often referred to in pop culture is to just pronounce it as hot. Those of us with some fashion or French often say, “ hoe t.” The proper way according to answers.com is, “oh t.”
For better reference and voice verification check out http://www.answers.com/haute%20 .
This is just the very beginning of my journey into hauteness. If you care to join me slip into your highest heels, cozy Ugg boots, or whatever makes YOU feel HAUTE.

Peace, Love, and Rain Boots

Tracy