Dress Shopping... take 5... The Dress

This weekend was a marathon dress shopping trip. We added one to the peanut gallery... Dad came along! I was down to the top 5. Since he has helped pick my dresses for most other dressy occasions, I wanted his opinion on the top 6. After seeing the first two at Shop 2, I was able to eliminate one and keep one on the maybes list. After seeing the next three at Shop 3, I had narrowed it down to two. Dad told me his opinions and his favorite was one of the top two. I'm pretty sure I've decided on a dress, but I figured I'd give myself a few days to sleep on it. Drumroll of suspense...

weeeeeeeeeeeeeell, you'll just have to wait until May 28th to find out which one I picked! :-)

While we were at the shops, we also looked through the racks of bridesmaid dresses. We saw a few nice ones at Shop 2... most of which we also saw at Shop 3. We also saw a number of others at Shop 3. V had to go home, but Julia, JB's Mom, and I stayed and looked at a few more of the dresses. Julia tried on all of the dresses that we had pulled out. It was fun to look at the different styles and see how they looked on a person rather than on a hanger. Much like the wedding dresses, they were very different on the hanger than on a person. Anyway, that was just a bonus preview as we had not planned to look for bridesmaid dresses on that trip.

Dress Shopping... take 4

Today we went to Classic Weddings in Lititz. This shop caught my interest because they advertise modest wedding gowns. Woo Hoo... something with straps... or maybe even with sleeves. Indeed they do have some gowns that have sleeves. Unfortunately, (or fortunately for my decision making process) these weren't really what I was looking for once I had them on. The sleeves were very movement restrictive.

This trip was a little different than the others. Since this one was much further away, I had less scheduling flexibility and wasn't able to accommodate everyone's needs. So, the peanut gallery this time included Mom, Veronica, Julia, and Dad. Yes, not only did Dad come along, he even looked at dresses! I ended up writing down 4 "finalists" at this shop. However, of the four, I have since eliminated one and the others are all by a designer that I can get at the shop in Quakertown. The people seemed nice. I learned some interesting info about dress lengths. All in all, I'm glad I went but it probably won't be the final choice as it is quite a drive.

Funny side story from this trip: One of the dresses I picked to try on was vastly too small. I don't think the lady intended to insult me but she told me not to worry about that style because the shape would accentuate my hips and thighs and you don't want to highlight large thighs. Thanks. Me and my large thighs will find another dress.

While we were out in the area, it was impossible to pass up a trip to Shady Maple! We had a great lunch following our shopping expedition.

Incognito Letter People

I have asked each of the people who have been featured here for their permission to put them on the blog. You will notice though that some names throughout my posts are abbreviated with letters. These "letter people" are people who I haven't actually acquired permission to reveal their identity on the blog. I know this is a sensitive issue for some people. If you are one of the "letter people" or if you suspect that you are one, I'd be glad to use your name with your permission... just leave me a comment or send me an email.

Bridesmaid - Chrystina

Again, I can't exactly put my finger on when we first met. However, Chrystina and I met through choirs of all sorts... Drexel Chorus and St. AJ's church choir. I can't even begin to imagine how many gallons of bubble tea we have consumed together!!! Should I ever need an "ice breaker activity," I know just who to call... or if I need someone to make a card, or arrange an a capella song, or to eat cuppycakes, or someone who totally understands what it means to be over-involved in life...

Why a monkey? Chrystina is sweet, silly, crazy, hyper, and happy just like her monkey... who has since been named Lily :-)

Bridesmaid - Julia

I'm not really sure when I first met Julia. Julia is JB's younger sister. We met at least once before JB & I actually started dating... at The Gardenville Inn. I went with JB to a birthday party for his cousin L. We got to know each other better one evening when she stayed at my apartment... mine was cleaner and smelled nicer than the boys' place :-D.

Why a cat? While I'm not really sure that she's ok with the whole animals with personalities deal, she does enjoy her pet cats Marvin and Roxy. So, the cat seemed fitting.

Bridesmaid - Theresa

Theresa and I met at summer orientation before our freshman year at Drexel. She was wearing a pretty sundress and looked friendly... the rest is history. As undergrads, we competed together with the Concrete Canoe team. (That's a blog post for another time on another blog... those days live somewhere in the world of xanga sites.) Theresa and I were roommates for the first three years of grad school. She has since taken up residence in a lovely apartment a bit closer to Bucknell where she is a visiting professor.

Why a bunny? Theresa had a pet bunny growing up and still takes a liking to bunnies. In fact, when I visited her we checked out the baby bunnies at the pet store downtown.

Bridesmaid - Jen

Jen and I met in first grade and went to school together for 12 years. We survived all things OLPH and then moved on to all things BeCaHi! Jen's decision to join the Band Front senior year, was the deciding factor that set off my mascot career. I wasn't going to join the band, but I certainly wasn't going to the football games by myself! We've spent many many hours hanging out at each other's houses through the years. According to the "dictionary by Veronica," Jen and I are "nocturnal twins." (I think she was going for fraternal.)

Why a frog? It all comes back to Kermit... "it's not easy being green" By the way, the matching green shirt was merely a coincidence!

Bridesmaid - Maria

Since I had to pick some sort of order in which to write these posts, I decided to put them in order of length of time we've known each other (to the best of my recollection).

Maria is my youngest cousin. That being said, she's only two years my younger. Over the years, Maria, her brother "Ted", my sis, and I have gotten into plenty of trouble together! We're the four youngest cousins... therefore, we stick together!! From skits, to dress-up, to pool parties, to beach adventures, to diocesan chorus, to crazy 4th of July cook-outs, we've done lots of crazy things. Just watch out, this girl makes a mean cocktail!!

Why a moose? Well, a few years back, we gave Maria a moose for Christmas. Broose has taken on quite a life of his own along with his moose buddy Burl. So I thought it would only be appropriate to give Maria a girl moose.