Friday, November 12, 2010

a dress, some shoes... oh, and a momentary lapse...

so today . . . diandra and i went shopping for a wedding dress.

this is not the first time we have gone. typically we go in, choose several dresses, diandra tries them on and looks beautiful in every one, and then we leave. dressless.

but today was different. today we went to a different shop--"castle for brides." this is not a shop we probably would have found on our own, but we went today because they were giving away free wedding dresses to women who are in the military or engaged to men serving in the middle east. we thought free was a pretty good price, so diandra made an appointment.

when we arrived, we were told that they had given away 60 dresses yesterday! our expectations immediately fell. if 60 dresses were already gone, what would be left? we looked over the remaining 30 dresses, but none were the right size. since we had driven all the way to huntington beach though, we decided to look at the other dresses in the store. we went into the dressing room with three--one i chose (that was on the sale rack for $200,) one diandra chose, and one we both liked.

she started with the dress i chose.

ok, can i just say here that i wasn't in love with the dress! but i felt kind of bad, because the people who worked at the store got so excited when someone found a free dress! and we hadn't found one, but they seemed like they would be just as happy if we left with a discounted one. so, you know, i said "just try it on..." so she did.

it was a mistake. clearly.

but we did go home with a dress today--a beautiful dress. she was happy, i was happy, even the salespeople were happy. we walked out of the store happy, happy, happy. until we tried to put the dress in the trunk of my car...

...because for some reason, my car beeper wouldn't unlock my car or open the trunk. and of course, ignoring albert einstein, i tried it over and over and over again. i was afraid to try unlocking it with the key in case it set the alarm off--because i wouldn't know how to make it stop!

in our family, when we come up against a situation where we don't have any answers, we pray. and so diandra prayed, tried the beeper again, and it still didn't work. "what the heck," she said, "praying always works!" only this time it didn't.

i called rollie, and he said to try the lock--eventually the alarm would stop. (and he should know, after his recent experience with a car alarm going off...) so i stuck the key in the lock, but it wouldn't turn.

we were in trouble. i was thinking that the battery on my beeper must be dead, but i couldn't figure out how to open up the key fob to play with the battery. i didn't know if AAA could help or not, since the problem was with the alarm system.

and i was getting hot!

i was out of options. so i prayed again. and then i had a thought... (coincidence? i think not!)

i went over to where i had dumped my handbag on some grass, checked in the outside pocket, and guess what i found? yep, my car key.

i had been trying to open my car with rollie's car key.

i know, i belong in a home... but i used his key this morning to get gas money out of his car, and for some reason (i blame my usual morning rush,) i didn't put it back on the key rack--i put it in my pocket. and when it was time for us to leave, i just reached in my pocket for a key. and i found one. only it was rollie's.

this is the problem with both of us driving mazdas...

we finally got the trunk open, and diandra put her dress in--or i should say, attempted to put it in. it is a little bit fluffy, and there was some air in the bag. it looked like a giant piece of bubble gum was about to explode!! but she kept at it and finally got it all contained.we headed back home and met rollie for lunch.

rollie was having his own "special" kind of day. he had been at home all morning while workers ripped out an old sliding glass door and installed a new one. (yes, it will be nice to have a door that can be opened and closed without the strength of superman, but it is noisy getting it done!) we met at rubio's, (we are NOT predictable--we are consistent) and sat outside to eat, because a)it was a lovely day, and b)all the tables inside were taken. he was looking forward to a break from the construction noise at home. but sadly, there was construction noise at rubio's! they are in the process of re-doing the outdoor seating area, and today appeared to be "electric tool day." so we ate lunch, and yelled to each other... and when we were finished, i sent rollie's extra car key home with him. it was just too risky to put it back in my pocket.

after lunch diandra was still feeling wedding happy! she has been unable to make any decisions, and today she found a dress, so she felt like riding that wave right on into shoe shopping...

we went to dsw shoe warehouse. oh. my. goodness. if you want to know where shoe heaven is, just find your nearest dsw shoe warehouse. rows and rows and rows of shoes... and today she found these--could there be more perfect wedding shoes?!?!?! she put them on and wore them all around the store, because i wanted to be sure she could actually walk in them.

(oh, our little flip-flop girl has come a long way from her high school graduation when she wore heels for the first time...)

we were standing in line to pay, and she just kept getting happier. so i took another picture. because that is what i do. she said, "mom! we aren't in the bridal store anymore. people will think we are weird."seriously?!?! in l.a.?!?! are you kidding me?!?!?! we are nowhere near the weird end of the scale...

while she paid, i went to the front of the store and made a phone call to check on my new glasses. it has been a week since i ordered them, and they are still not here!! and in the back of my mind, i am a little worried that i have been scammed, so i needed to check. someone did answer the phone (ok, it was actually a machine,) and they put me on hold. and i held. and held. and held. for 27 minutes! i was starting to believe that i had been scammed, and this is how they dealt with phone calls--unending hold! but at least they were polite scammers--they thanked me for my patience about 42 times...

and diandra waited, her joy at her purchases barely contained, so i took one more picture.this was not the end of the wedding shopping today, but it did turn out to be the end of the wedding buying. for today. we came home and started shopping for venues. in las vegas.

oh. my. goodness. i think that is a blog for another day...

5 comments:

Light said...

She is going to be a beautiful pink bubblegum bride! Love the shoes! Can't wait to see a picture of her in her new dress! When is the big day?

mom said...

Sounds like a fun and productive day and a day of memories. Anxious to see it all together. The smile says it all....

Jewelielyn said...

light--the wedding is going to be at the end of march. unless plans change again :)
mom--it was a fun day. wish you had been here...

mom said...

Me too!!!! :(

Jewelielyn said...

if only you would GET ON A PLANE you could come more often--just a thought... :)