And This is Not Elf Land: What Gold Will Not Buy
- Carrie gets her very own dressing room, which is a huge step up in the showbiz world.
- A representative from the Wellington, a fancy hotel, shows up at Carrie's apartment and convinces her to take some rooms in the place for the summer (he's eager to have her as a guest to bring publicity to the hotel). Carrie insists she'll need to bring Lola along and the guy says that's okay. He shows them the rooms, and they are ultra-posh. Carrie and Lola agree to take them and move in immediately.
- One day while Carrie's in her dressing room at the theater, Mrs. Vance stops by. She's read the papers and found out what a big star her old pal Carrie has become. They catch up a little and Mrs. Vance invites her to come over the next day. It dawns on Carrie that "she was as good as this woman now—perhaps better" (44.23).
- Carrie is inundated with fan mail from rich men wanting to marry her ("mash notes," as they're called), and Lola can't understand why Carrie doesn't want to meet any of these rich dudes in person.
- Carrie gets her first really big paycheck: $150. She's thrilled to be raking it in now, as she thinks back to earlier days when she was only making a pittance.
- But things aren't perfect: Carrie is lonely, as she tells Lola, but Lola tells her she just needs to go out more.