Birthday

He would have been 69 today.

Upon realizing that it's the 29th of January, I would have called him to wish him a happy birthday. It would have been the middle of the day and we'd only have talked for a few minutes. I'd probably have interupted some gardening or woodworking project of his. The brief conversation would be expected, neither of us being big "phone people". Plus, I'd likely have called him just a few days earlier to get his input on my dress search - he always had impeccable taste. And opinions! He would have had opinions about every dress. And I would have delighted in hearing his thoughts on each one.

Still, today, I would have called, and I would have said, "Happy Birthday!" and we would have chatted for a bit and I would have told him which dress I picked. I think he would have liked it.

It would have been nice.

I BOUGHT A DRESS! (Again... And Then Again)

Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I'm so excited I could throw up. Literally. In fact, I almost did. This morning. Have I mentioned how stressful it is to plan a wedding??

ANYway.

I BOUGHT A DRESS!!!!! YES!

In fact I bought two dresses... in about 18 hours. Which brings my total number of wedding dress purchases up to three. Gah!

Who has two thumbs and buys THREE different wedding dresses?? This girl. [Points both thumbs at self]

Luckily there's that 24 hour return policy that the Bridal Galleria in San Francisco is SO AWESOME for having. I heart them, seriously. And I pity them. Well, mostly I pity Anne, my sales lady, who has now spent a grand total of five and a half hours watching me change in and out of fluffy white things. Oh, and fret. Yes, there was much fretting on my part and Anne was very patient. We love her.

So yesterday I went to Bridal Galleria to try on the Marisa 729 dress, which they told me they had. I got there at 11 am and, much to my dismay, they DID NOT have the 729 dress. (mrrrr) They did, however, have a similar dress (yay!) , which I didn't like as much (again with the mrrrrr.) And then the worst thing EVER happened. They told me that the 729 dress had been DISCONTINUED!!! I felt like someone stabbed me in the chest. Apparently it was discontinued JUST LAST WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And a call went out to the bridal salons to pull it from their rack. JUST LAST WEEK!!! I tried the freakin thing on on Saturday for crying out loud! And now, 8 days later, they're telling me it's discontinued!?!?!? Kill me. Anne told me that since it was JUST BARELY discontinued, they could probably still order it. But I'd have to act fast. Like order it right.then.and.there fast. (Which p.s. I really didn't want to do because I'd already found the 729 dress for $1000 less from a salon in Louisiana!)

So I had to weigh my options: Spend $1000 more and be sure to get the dress, or risk ordering it the next day, from a salon in Louisiana that I've never been to, to save a grand. Ugh.

And then I found another dress...

It just so happens that the salon was having a trunk show with one of my favorite designers, Lazaro, at the same time that all this fretting over the 729 dress was going on. And he was THERE! And he is AWESOME. As I was trying other dresses on (because, hey, while I'm there I might as well try on 15 more dresses) he picked out a dress from his (very large) collection specifically for ME! It was beautiful. Very luxurious. I thought FOR SURE I could never afford it. But it turned out to actually be in my budget!! (Hooray!) I wasn't a huge fan of the color, but Lazaro told me he could make it from a different color fabric, JUST FOR ME! I felt very special. So, after 3 and a half agonizing hours, [Do stick with the Marisa 729? Do I buy it here? Do I wait till tomorrow? Do I buy the Lazaro???] I bought the Lazaro dress. (And Lazaro sketched a picture of it for me and signed it and everything!!! Very cool.)

So anyway, then I went home and looked at pictures of me in the dress and decided that you couldn't see ME at all. It was all dress. A beautiful dress. But *I* want to be the star of the show, not my dress. I wanted the Marisa 729. But now the SF store was closed and the Louisiana store was closed and I had a dress that I didn't want. Enter fits of panic and nausea.

I could barely sleep last night.

This morning, on my way to work, I called the Louisiana store the MINUTE it opened. I told them I wanted to order the 729 dress. The man on the other end of the line told me it had been discontinued [heart sinks... eyes well up with tears] but that he'd call the designer really quick and see if he'd still make it. Sixty (horrible) seconds later, the nice Louisiana man came back on line and told me that I could order the dress [clouds part... angles sing.]

I told him the size (10), the color (white silk satin with white lace), and that I wanted 3 inches added to the length and a modified neckline (inverted scoop... like a bump instead of a dip). He took down my visa number and told me I'd have my dress in 5 months.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

I then called and canceled my (second) dress from Bridal Galleria. I'm pretty sure they hate me.

So now I have (one) dress that I love. And I saved $1000. Which put the dress WELL within my budget. And I bought it from a part of the country that could probably use the influx of cash (the salon is right in the heart of New Orleans) and the dress is made in America! I could not be happier.

The first dress I bought can be seen HERE and HERE.

The second dress I bought can be seen HERE and HERE.

The third (and final) dress I bought can sort of be seen HERE and HERE. (Remember, the dress will be a bit longer, with a different neckline, in a different color.)

Much better pictures of the dress I bought can be seen on this lovely lady's website. (Note: she changed the back and left the scoop in front... so my dress will be a bit different... but I think this gives the best idea of what it will look like.)

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Also, no, I'm not finished with my paper yet...

Can You Believe I'm STILL Not Done With My Paper??!!

I have officially grounded myself. My fiance and friends are all in Lake Tahoe right now... and I am sitting at home, alone, with no one but my cats and this damn paper to keep me occupied.

I HATE this paper.

And it's not even for school. It's for stupid work. And I don't even get paid to write it. I have to write it on my own time! FIFTEEN PAGES!!! Gah.....

I've actually considered quitting my job just so I don't have to write the thing. This is pathetic.

So I'm grounded. No leaving the house until the paper is finished!!! I PROMISED my boss it would be done by Monday... MUST FINISH PAPER!

But must first take a 5 minute break from my blogging moratorium... I miss my blog SOOOO MUCH!!!!!

(*Pouts and wishes her paper were finished*)

So, in other (less boring) news... The Dress!!! (*gasp*) Ummmm... I haven't found it yet. (Booo) But I'm getting closer... I can feel it. I have definitely gone from being SO EXCITED about trying stuff on to being SO OVER this whole process. I just want to be done already. All this shopping, and internet surfing, and magazine reading, and trying stuff on(ing) is so freakin time consuming!

I've started going to the bridal salons solo... because it's just a bit more efficient that way, and because I feel so bad about dragging my friends along, AGAIN, and because it's MUCH easier to convince the saleslady to let you take pictures when you are alone. "But... all of my girlfriends and family live FAR... I have NO ONE to shop with... PLEEEEEEEEASE let me take just one picture so I can at least send it to my mother." [Insert puppy dog eyes here] So yeah, it's been a lot of me in white puffy things all by my lonesome, lately.

I've also started perusing craigslist and ebay [insert panic here] to find my dress. I actually found something I might really like... only problem? It's in New York. Ugh. Luckily I have a bestest friend in New York!!! (YAY!) So, tomorrow, I'm sending her off to try on the dress for me. (Is that weird?) I've also sent her a list of 80 million questions to ask and things to look for. She thinks I'm a bit crazy, but loves me enough to play along. Her boyfriend has given her strict instructions to not get any ideas. :) The dress she is trying on can be found here. What do you think???

Speaking of getting your thoughts and opinions... Wanna see the dresses I've tried on so far??? (Well, at least the ones I've tried on and managed to get pics of...)

Click Here! Note: if you are Kyle... DO NOT CLICK THERE! Seriously.

These pics are set to private on Flickr... but by following that link, you'll have access to the private photos in my "The Search for the Dress" set. Enjoy!!!

Happy New Year

Hello and Happy New Year, everyone!!!

I'm alive and well and Cal won and Michigan won and life is good. Yay 2008!!!

Also... I'M GETTING MARRIED THIS YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

Anyway, I have a 15 page paper to write (ick, gag, kill me) and I've imposed a strict "no blogging" rule on myself until it's finished. So it's not that I'm ignoring you... I'm just, well, this damn paper doesn't seem to want to write itself and it was due in 2007 and I am *SO* screwed if I don't finish it ASAP. SO, my darlings, this is me not blogging. Sorry. I swear I'll back soon.

(I miss you all)