I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty!

J and I are headed to a wedding in Vermont tomorrow and, thanks to the generous offer of friends, the kids are stayin' behind!

It struck me a couple of days ago that I really haven't dressed up for a formal occasion since we moved here. Wait...didn't I give away a bunch of my dresses? And donate the rest?


Awesome. For a lot of women, having an excuse to go to the mall to buy a new outfit is music to their ears. I know it used to make me feel all warm and fuzzy...about 60 pounds ago it did, anyhow.


I have always been able to put really great outfits together, but (and I know I've expressed this on here before) it's long been a frustration to me that I get it on my plus-sized figure and it just... does not look how it did on my cute size 4 friend (you know who you are, beyotch!)


So, to have only two days to either find the perfect cardigan or wrap that would go with one of my two remaining (strapless) dresses or a new dress that would fit the criteria of outdoor, formal, early fall wedding...I was feeling like it may be a lost cause and I'd have to look a little frumptastic, bare shoulders and all.


I walked into Lane Bryant after H promised he'd behave so that he'd earn his chocolate milk at Starbucks, and immediately saw a cute fall silk dress. Okay...my coiled stomach started to unravel as I realized I'd have selection.


I ruefully confessed to the saleswoman that I had a wedding to attend and hadn't dressed up since prior to the birth of Charlie. When I said that I stopped for a second...that can't be right. I haven't had a formal event to which I've worn a dress for over a year? Longer, actually, because I would have been in maternity just prior to that. Wow, that's a little pathetic!


She pulled several dresses, and I (along with my entourage) went into a fitting room. I explained to H that he could not mess with the door handle as I'd be naked, and it would be embarrassing to me if he opened the door. He asked why I wanted a dress, and I said because I wanted to be pretty.


I slipped on the first dress, and as the fabric fell over my head and pooled around my body I opened my eyes slowly in order to soften the blow that always is; my body with all it's flaws highlighted by the nasty lighting of the dressing room. H exclaimed, "You look pretty!" Nothing like a four year-old's enthusiasm to make you look at yourself in a new light.


With each dress I tried on, and each accompanying proclamation of "You look pretty!" I felt a little more confident. Finally, the last dress I tried was it. It was fun, semi-fancy, and I'd even feel a little trendy in it. I already had shoes that would 'go' perfectly; all I needed were some chandelier earrings and I'd be set.


I glanced at the price tag as it's always my luck to like the most expensive one, but it was marked down to $29, while all the others were almost $70...as I pulled out my card to pay, it got even better because it was further reduced to just $17. A great dress, a successful shopping trip with your fan club, self-esteem boosted and money leftover for coffee? I guess you can have it all.