Monday, June 30, 2008

83. The Silly Adventures of Olivia, her stubborn pride, and the Search for the Perfect Dress.

Please simply allow me to vent and while doing so sound completely pathetic.

Thank you.

So, today we set out for Opry Mills mall on a mission to find a dress for the upcoming wedding of the summer. I had done some research and found quite a few dresses online at Forever 21, they always have a wide variety and yes, while they are not the highest quality products, they remain rather affordable. I mean, you get what you pay for but... sometimes you have to take advantage of the cheap products made in China, yes?

You may be thinking, aren't you rather pregnant? Well yes, but the truth is... most of the maternity clothes that I have seen are, how do you say... not my favorite...and due to my size and free-flowing trends... I can pretty much wear all my regular clothes. Continuing on...

So, after entering the mad house known as Forever 21, I find a dress that I love. I'd actually seen a girl wearing it recently at a wedding in Kansas City and for a lack of better terms became very covetous of this white chiffon ruffle top dress with a pencil satin skirt dress, in all of it's form fitting glory. I remember thinking, I'm gonna wear that one day... maybe not this year, but one day... I NEED that :)

I found a few more dresses to try on and it took deliberate thought and a few disgruntled moments of dealing with my pride to grab a size up from what I normally wear.... I mean, I'm just being honest.

Enter the dressing room... quickly dismiss a few of the contenders...and on goes the dress. Up goes the zipper with ease- I'm getting excited and then... you know that point on the dress, the smallest point on the zipper, often where two pieces of fabric adjoin and the dress goes from bust to bodice (is that the right word?) Whatever, you all know what happens here...the zipper stops.

I want to think I'm smarter than the dress and try for a good few minutes to somehow force the zipper past that point, because after that it would zip all the way with no trouble. I keep thinking that the zipper is snagging on something, that I'm not approaching it from the right angle, anything, everything, at all, that might cause this dress to close. The longer I wear it, the more I love it, the more I consider how I could maybe even sew myself into the dress at the right time... I mean, all of it fits nicely, showing off my growing stomach, in a cute/stylish way. Granted, it is bordering on a tight/snug fit and reality reminds me that my stomach that is already squishing me....will probably continue to grow in the next two weeks...and then where would I be?

Ahhh, alas... I look at the tag and see that I grabbed a medium... and for a moment a glimmer of hope shines... I need a large... it would totally totally fit... and how brilliant am I and why didn't I think of it sooner? I quickly change and ask the dressing room attendant if they have this in a large... and she looks...and does not return with good news. Boo.

I don't give up yet, I decide, maybe she just didn't look hard enough, so I scour the store to no avail and naturally, my search is fruitless. I see my ever-patient husband waiting in a chair outside. I explain my predicament and perhaps magically hope that he will have some brilliant idea that my reasoning can't even attempt to beat (which will result in me still getting the dress.) Like a good husband, he just lets me work it out, not saying much, so that he can not be responsible for my decision either way.

In the end reason wins, but don't think I'm happy about that decision.

So, we continue through the mall madness, me with my attitude that no dress will ever be as good.... and Matt with his million dollar statement, "You know, it might not hurt to suck it up and consider looking at what the maternity store has."
(You know he'll never live down that statement.)

Imagine the priceless look on my face, how strong is the sarcasm here?

I oblige and with high drama enter the store... look through the selections and trying to find something positive to say while holding back many negative things. We walk out shortly after as I leave with a sound of vindication, you know...the I told you so one...

Some seriously sore feet later and many silly prayers that resemble, "Jesus, I know you want me to find that dress," later.... I do find a dress, completely different, but I do like it, I am happy with it, and I decide it will do, but don't think that I will let that other dress go, no I will not.

My attitude does change quite a bit, when we find two adorable little outfits that we must have for our little baby, you know the one that is the cause of the enlarged abdomen...and I fall in love with them and I instantly get inspiration for Hudson's room... At that point, I let him know that I don't blame him for any of this and know that he'll be way better than any gorgeous, to die for dress... no matter how amazing it really is.

In conclusion, if someone doesn't start making some more stylish (and affordable) clothing for the mom's to be... I will be left with no choice but to create my own line.