Dress Success

We traveled to Utah at the beginning of this week in search of a modest wedding dress. We shopped from 10:00 am until 9:00 pm on Monday and it was exhausting. Tuesday we started about 10:30 am and shopped all day long until we couldn't shop one more second. By Wednesday morning, my daughter had narrowed her choice to 3 dresses.

Dress #1 at Allyse's Bridal in the University Mall. It was a unique dress that fit her body perfectly. It had a cowl around the shoulders and made her mid-section look tiny. It was very simple and had no beading.

Dress #2 at Gowns by Pamela was a rental gown. She mixed and matched pieces until she came up with a skirt and top that complimented each other and her figure. We all loved the big, poofy skirt. The price for the rental was a bit cheaper than to buy a dress and included the veil, corset, petticoat, and dress.

Dress #3 at Peggy's Bridal on north State Street in Orem. I actually bought my wedding gown at this store more than 25 years ago. This gown had a full skirt, making her look like a princess, beading, and a bodice that made her waist look tiny, tiny. When I saw her in it, I had to look away because it made me have tears. She looked like a bride and it hit me that she's really getting married. This dress earned the nickname by my older children of, "The cry dress."

After much deliberation and discussion, she picked the cry dress. Peggy's included the veil and the petticoat rental in the price of the dress so we were happy with it. Of course, wedding dresses aren't inexpensive these days and I choked on the price a bit, but she looks so beautiful. Just like I imagined her. She looks like a princess. And we now have dress success.

By the end of the shopping, the rest of us were pretty loopy, as demonstrated by this photo:

Yes, that is my son dressed up in a tiara and a veil. He was actually pretty good through the whole shopping odyssey.

Yay, the dress shopping is done. Now, on to invitations . . . .

"Hello, Pants, Good to See You Again"

I seem to have fallen into the "wedding planning vat" and can't get out. I never knew how much there was to do in getting ready for a wedding, and this is my son--can't imagine when it's a daughter. Whew! Things seem to be coming along (if they'd stop making changes that'd help). I've been sewing dresses, calling to make plans, making reservations, finding addresses, figuring out the Open House, etc. It's a bit mind-boggling.

At this point, I've lost 29 lbs. I still have 7 lbs to go to meet my goal weight and think I may try for a few more after that just to cushion myself in case I gain some back. I've been able to pull clothes, even pants, out of my closet that I haven't seen in ages. My kids tell me not to wear them because they're all outdated now, but I reply that the fact that I can wear them again completely overshadows their fashionability.

After so many years trying to lose that baby weight, I'm really excited to have found a way that works for me. Since it isn't too radically different from how I was eating before, I think I can stick with it. Mostly, I've cut out the nightly bowls of ice cream, Oreos (we had two bags of Oreos the other day and I was sorely tempted to eat some but I refrained), brownies, and other junk food. I have replaced the junk food with sugar-free fudgesicles and ice cream bars so I don't feel deprived.

I exercise about 45 minutes a day to my DVDs, but have knocked that back to 30 minutes because I have so many things to do at the moment (sometimes I even count painting or other physical projects in place of my regular exercise).

I'm still hoping to reach my goal before my son's wedding, but since it's now less than 3 weeks away I'm not sure I can lose another 7 lbs. However, any more weight I can lose will be good and as long as I can fit into the dress my daughters talked me into buying I'll be happy.