Corrections Regarding My Number of Readers

In my previous post, I said I knew I had at least two readers, Melanie and Meredith.

It has been pointed out to me that I was wrong. I have at least three readers! Su is reader #3.

Thank you :)

Settling the Dress Debate

I know there are at least two of you who check my blog, so my apologies to Melanie and Meredith for my slacking!

I'm excited to announce that we have chosen the dresses for our sisters to wear! I was trying to find something they could rewear, wouldn't be more than $200, and was a little forgiving around the midsection. Why my hang up on the midsection? Because (God willing) I will become an AUNT in July!!!!!!!! So, with my wedding just three months after my sister's due date, Karen's gotta get into a dress and, you know, have it fit. Yikes!

Karen and I found a dress we (thought we) liked, so I took Matt to check it out. I put on the dress for him, and he noticed something weird with the sash. Matt's probably going to get mad at me for writing this, but seriously, he's the one who noticed that the dress was weird. (Ladies, if you need help purchasing a dress and need someone with superhero vision to check if one string is out of alignment, I can rent Matt to you.)

So back to the damn dress drawing board.

Well, do you remember that dress I was kind of obsessed with, the one I saw in the window in the bridal boutique in Stamford back in June (and yes, I took pictures of it in the window), the one I wanted to wear for my reception dress? I showed the dress to my mom and she LOVED it. Proving my lack of attention to detail in these dresses, I overlooked the most obvious (not to mention lovely) thing: this dress, aside from being SO pretty, laces up the back. No zippers, meaning you can tie it tighter or loser, depending on your ability to avoid french fries. So, duh, the dress I loved all along is the perfect dress for our sisters. Woohoo! Check another thing off the list!

P.S. The dress was discontinued so we are getting a very similar dress instead.

P.P.S. I bought the original sample dress for half price. Hell, probably no one had tried it as many times as me, so it was practically my dress anyway.

Dressing My Barbie

Today, my mom and I went dress shopping for her. We were hoping to find someplace really snobby in Greenwich, but surprisingly there aren't many dress shops in Greenwich (and of course the one I found said he had no appointments).

Earlier this week, I went to a shop where the guy was really pushy and telling me that he didn't make much money! Talk about not selling yourself! So my expectations were a little low for today. I have to admit . . . we had a lovely time shopping! None of the salespeople were pushy or obnoxious.

On one hand, shopping for my mom's Mother of the Bride [I fought the urge to write MOB!] dress wasn't going to be easy because my mom's dress for my sister's wedding was just gorgeous, so the bar was set high. My nana said that my mom looked like a queen, and I would agree. On the other hand, the part about shopping for my mom that is easy is that it's like dressing up a Barbie Doll because she's so tiny. Of her top three contenders, I picked out two of them! Go me.

By the way, both of the shops we went to asked me what designer my wedding dress was. It was funny to watch their faces when I announced David's Bridal!

When I came home from shopping with my mom, I watched "Say Yes to the Dress." Forgive my hypocrisy. I'm starting to accept it.

A Short History of Pretty Dresses

I think it is hard for women to find dresses that we really LOVE. There are always some issues -- whether it's not totally loving the color, or being afraid that our knees look fat, or whatever.

A week ago, here was my list of dresses I LOVED over my 28 years:

• My Christmas dress when I was in kindergarten.
  It was red with little white bows printed on it. The skirt was poufy, so it was fun to spin around in. The best part was the little bell on the petticoat! I bounced all over in that dress.
• My fifth grade graduation dress.
  Finding a dress for a 10-year-old that isn't babyish but also isn't cocktail attire is quite difficult. However, I had the coolest dress -- it was just barely off the shoulder with bright flowers. I just thought I was the prettiest girl ever, which is no small feat for a girl entering her awkward stage.
• The dress I wore to my grandparents' 50th anniversary party.
  I was about 12 or 13, so again, this is a very awkward dressing age. Actually, it's an awkward everything age. My dress was long and flowered with puffed sleeves (inspiration was Anne of Green Gables, see the redhead below). I felt very grown up.
• My high schoool graduation dress.
  At my high school we had to wear long white dresses (yes, I'm serious), which is no easy task. I think my dress was a bridesmaid dress that I got in white. I was probably one of the only girls who didn't despise her dress. I really felt gorgeous in it!

I just didn't think a wedding gown would make this very short, prestigious list, which is why I wanted to wear my graduation dress for my wedding.

However, I'm happy to announce . . . my wedding dress has moved to the top position! Yes, I sure have drunk the Wedding Kool-Aid in this regard!

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty

Big news!

I went shopping yesterday with my mom, sister, and friend, and we found THE dress! I won't do a costume change for the reception because I think I'm going to want every last minute wearing this beautiful dress. Clearly, I have lapped up some Wedding Kool-Aid this weekend!

I was a little freaked out about the shopping . . . putting aside trying to wrap my mind around blowing hundreds of dollars on a dress I'll only wear once, there were other things to worry about. For one thing, for me, I rarely get too worked up about wedding dresses. Sure, they're pretty, but whatever. I get more excited about a pretty wool coat. What makes wedding dress shopping different from buying a coat is that there are others to please than just me. What if I I liked a dress, but my mom didn't like it? What if my mom liked Dress A and my sister liked Dress B, but I secretly liked Dress C? And, most importantly, I wanted a dress that not just I would like, but I wanted Matt to love it too!

When we got to the store, the salesperson seemed to think I would need help dressing. Luckily I've been dressing myself for about 26 years, so I could tell her no thanks, I know how to put on a dress myself!

I had to take some deep breaths and started to sweat a little. Holy crap, I was trying on wedding dresses!!

Of the first four dresses, we actually liked three of them. I tried on probably 10 or 15 dresses, and ultimately game back to the first few. (At a point, a different salesperson came into my dressing room, expecting to dress me, and asked her to hit the road too.) I had a few moments of shock/pain/incredulousness when looked at pricetags, but everyone kept telling me to just stopping looking at the pricetags!

Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that the dress that my three spectators liked was the best.

This is a pretty much snark-free entry. Wedding dress shopping wasn't as scary as I expected. It was actually . . . fun. I cannot wait to wear my dress!

Do You Have This Dress in "Snow Princess Dancing on a Cloud Sprinkled with Baby Powder" White?

OK, you guys. I need to chill out and start having more fun with my wedding planning. As Blanche Deveraux once said, "I'm wound up tighter than a girdle on a Baptist minister's wife at an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast." (I'm not that bad -- I just wanted an excuse to use that quote.)

I've heard of many brides who go out and try out dresses before Mr. Right even gets to finish his proposal. So, I figure that must be the shortest path to feeling like a bride -- dress shopping! I'm going to try on lots of dresses to get myself into bridal mode! If picking a reception place, meeting with a priest, and booking a photographer hasn't fully done the trick, surely a pretty party dress will! I'll be like Maria in West Side Story -- spinning around in front of mirrors singing, "I feel pretty! oh so pretty!"

(Now you may be wondering -- what about me wearing that dress that I already have that I love? Well, I tried it on about a month ago and discovered that while I do weigh right around the same as I did in high school, apparently some of me isn't exactly the same. I'll cut to the chase -- my boobs currently aren't quite fitting. Dammit!)

So, while I'm working up my peppiness for dress shopping, I do have to be a bit snarky for a second. I called today to make an appointment to try on wedding dresses. I tell her which dresses I know I want to try on. She asks me if I want to try on the dresses in white, and I'm like, I'm not Blanche Deveraux (she wore a red wedding dress because "not even she could keep a straight face if she wore white"). Well, this nice sales lady isn't really sure what to do with me, so she asks if, for example, I want white or ivory? This is a totally serious question, and I had yet another moment where I feel like I'm the weirdo, because I haven't dreamed of my "white"/"ivory"/"vanilla ice cream"/"snow princess dancing on a cloud sprinkled with baby powder" colored dress my whole life. So I tell her, since I don't know the difference between white and ivory, I have no idea what I like.

I should be a real gem for a salesperson to work with this weekend, don't you think?

Maybe I'll some inspiration from these dresses . . .

How Do I Love Matt... Let Me Count the Ways

This isn't directly related to the Wedding Kool-Aid, but it's worth a post...

I recently reconnected with an old friend. She asked me if Matt had a large shoe collection, because apparently when I was in high school I said that this would be a requirement of my future mate. Anyway, she asked what I loved about Matt and I answered. She suggested that I post it on my blog for posterity's sake, and I think she had a good point. So, here goes -- hope this sweetness doesn't make anyone gag!

"So funny, i didn't remember saying about wanting a man w/ big shoe collection, but that sounds like me. :) Oddly enough, yes, he does have a lot of shoes! Mostly sneakers of course. He is meticulous about his appearance w/o being unmanly about it. Actually, that's segue into your question about things I love about matt... i really appreciate about him -- he always looks put together in his own way. After going to CMU, I got quite sick and tired of men always looking like shit. Think of the great line in Clueless - 'I don't get how guys dress these days...'
He is a very morally upright person -- he's polite, he loves and respects his parents, and I trust him completely. I never worry if he's looking at other girls or anything. He is also smart (and a good writer -- a big plus since our relationship got started w/ a lot IM-ing). Superficialy speaking, I think he's adorable, and he's the perfect height. He's just shy of 6' so that means I can wear whatever shoes i want and he's still comfortably taller. :) Aww it's fun to gush about him."