Here comes the Bride... and she wasn't Bridezilla!

This past Saturday, my daughter, Gina and her entourage went wedding dress shopping.  

Her entourage included: 

Colleen, (Maid of Honor, very best friend, College roommate and sister from another mother)

Lindsey (Bridesmaid, very best friend from Kindergarten thru High School and beyond)

Leah (Flower girl and Lindsey's daughter)

Jane (Mother of the Groom, seamstress making all the bridesmaids' dresses and the flower girl dress and all around awesome lady)

me (Mother of the Bride ... nuff said).
** note:  I just re-read this and got choked up and teary-eyed!  It's just beginning to hit me... my little girl is getting married!!!!

We met up at Gina's house and went to the Bridal and Tuxedo Shoppe in Newark, DE (Gina lives in Delaware).

Gina gave me permission to show you pictures of the dresses she tried on.  Actually what she said was, "You're doing a post with the dress rejects, right?"

So, without further ado, here they are!  Gina likes ruching (I learned a new word!) decorative pleating, gathered fabric, so a lot of the dresses have it.

This was the first dress Gina tried on.  A mermaid strapless.  Very pretty!!

Dress #2 got nixed fairly quickly.  I thought it looked too much like a night gown.  Pretty, but... no.

We called this dress Strapless 99 because it happened to be on the clearance rack and it was only $99!  This one was a definite maybe!  I think Gina's making that face because it's the first one she really liked.  I think this wedding is beginning to seem REAL to her!  I have a few shots of detail and backs of dresses too. That's Lindsey in the background in the blue top. I heart her.

Here is some detail on the Strapless 99 dress.

  The back.  This dress was a little big, so they use those clips to give the bride a good idea of what the front of the dress will look like when it fits properly.  

Dress #5.  I'm not sure what anyone thought of this one!  It was certainly pretty enough.  maybe Gina can comment here.  I was running outside in between to send pictures to Dani, who was away at school and couldn't be there.  So I missed some commentary.

This is the back of the same dress.  The girl in the mirror in the pink sweater is Colleen, aka maid of honor.
I heart her, too. A lot.

When Gina walked out of the dressing room in this dress, I gasped and nearly cried.  This dress was just gorgeous in it's simplicity.  I loved it!  She didn't choose this dress because she'd have to wear her hair in an up-do for the whole package to look right and she really wants to wear her hair down.  

This was the back.  Look at those lines!  Beautiful!

This dress was in the running for a short time.  Lindsey (she's the girl standing to the left in the picture) thought the brooch under the left breast made the dress look too "old lady".  So it was nixed.

This one shoulder dress was in the running for a while too.  I think it was the third dress she tried on.  I wasn't crazy about it, but Gina liked it.    Dani didn't like this one either.  I'm not sure why this didn't stay a keeper for long.

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So it came down to Strapless 99 and THE DRESS!  Strapless was, of course, $99.  THE DRESS was $1,000. A few hundred over budget, but it's so gorgeous!  As soon as she put it on, everyone knew it was THE DRESS!  

Because Gina purchased (well, made a down payment on) THE DRESS the first day, they took $100 off.  And Jane will do the alterations, so that will also save at least $200. 

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Not to be outdone, Gina's flower girl, Leah spent the time trying on one flower girl dress after another.  We aren't sure if Leah will let Jane make her dress or if Lindsey will buy one for her.  Leah certainly enjoyed trying on all these dresses!  I managed to get a couple of pictures of her.

Leah in Dress #1!

Leah in Dress #2!

And Leah in Dress #3!

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Gina doesn't want anyone to see THE DRESS until her wedding day, but she did post a photo of some of the detail, so I'll post it too.  You have to remember that Gina wanted simple lines, little, if no beading, not strapless.  This is what she chose. It has lots of beading and appliques, and it's strapless.  It's GORGEOUS!!!!

Then we went to TGI Fridays for lunch because I get a 50% discount!

You can read Gina's account of the day HERE on her blog My Inner Monoblog.

Julia Child?

My daughter cooked dinner one night last week.  

This was the result of the kitchen when dinner was ready.  

To get a really good look at the pictures, click on them.

The meal was really good!  The clean-up?  Not so much!  

She leaves for school in 2 days.  I'm getting my house back again.

I'll take pictures again in a few days to show you what it used to look like all the time, and will again, I hope.

Update on the Missing Person

This is what I've learned so far.  

Officially, my friend's mom isn't really missing (sigh).  She, supposedly, left with this man of her own accord. According to the police, the fact that she hasn't been seen and is with a man (and former boyfriend) recently released from jail does not mean she's been kidnapped.  She is an adult and if she wants to leave town and not tell anyone, that is her prerogative.

The day before she "disappeared", she withdrew $1000 from her account.  Did she take the money out willingly or not?  Who knows?

My friend has been in contact with her mom via cell phone, but doesn't know where she is.  Mom hasn't said.  This could or could not mean she went willingly.  The man could be preventing her from revealing her whereabouts.  Or not.  I don't know the last time the daughter had any contact with Mom.

I learned yesterday that my friend's uncle told her the mom once disappeared for 2 years (before my friend was born... my friend is around 25).  She also tends to be attracted to bad dudes. 

So, basically, I have no answers, just more questions.  The mystery deepens. 

Was she taken by force, or is she off on a lark?  

Did he force her to withdraw money the day before she disappeared, or did she do it willingly?

Why is she not telling her daughter where she is?  Is he preventing her from saying?  Or does she not want to be found right now?

I'm starting to lean towards she's gone willingly.  I hope I'm right.  But if so, it's just plain mean to put her daughter through such agony.

When I know more, I'll pass the info on.  

A Missing Person

A young woman I work with, Ashley came into work today looking not right... like she was coming down with something.  It was obvious there was something wrong.  I asked her if she was feeling ok.  She told me her mom, Kimberly Johnson has been missing since Monday.  They called the police.  The police said there was nothing they could do because she is an adult.  I think this is bullshit.  I suggested that Ashley call the local newspaper to see if they can help.

So Ashley created a Facebook page in hopes that someone will see it and recognize her mom.  We're all praying that Kimberly returns home safely and very soon.

I said I'd post a blog post with the Facebook link.  They're trying to get the word out to as many people as possible.

Kimberly was last seen with a man named David Robinson, aka Tex.  Ashley says he's very dangerous.

Kimberly Johnson has not been seen by family since Monday - August 9, 2010. If you have seen her or have any information about here whereabouts please contact us!

Stats:

Age: 50
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 220lbs
Hair: Light brown
Eyes: Green
Markings/Tattoos: Scar on right ankle, small homemade tattoo on left hand.

Last seen with

DAVID R. ROBINSON
Alias: Tex
Age: 52
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 230
Hair: Dark
Eyes: Blue
Facial Hair: Mustache
Markings/Tattoos: Black rose on right forearm, Harley Davidson logo on upper left shoulder.

Robinson drives a white Chrysler Cirrus, and was recently released from jail where he served time for domestic violence charges. Robinson lived in North Carolina prior to moving to Philadelphia in 1998.

Anyway, here is the Facebook link to the Kimberly Johnson page.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-find-Kimberly-Johnson/105636176160083

I'm getting too old for this

After this past weekend, I have, sadly, come to the realization that I am getting too old to stay up all night, drinking... with my kids... or anyone else for that matter.

On Saturday night, 2 of my 3 kids were at home, along with my daughter's boyfriend.  It was a bit late.  My daughter and her boyfriend had just come home from a crazy overnight camping trip to Chincoteague, VA and back.  This was after the boyfriend made a 7 hour train ride from one side of the state to the other.  Poor guy spent more time traveling than he did visiting.  But he's young... he can take it.

My son had just come home from work and was planning to stay in. 

I happened to have 1/2 a bottle of Captain Morgan on hand and the kids had more than 1/2 a case of Coors light.  There were also 2 bottles of Landshark lager and 3 bottles of Miller High Life in the fridge.

Over the course of several hours, we (son and I) killed the rum, finished the bottles of beer (daughter and bf), then dove into the Coors Light cans (all of us).

My daughter kept saying she needed to go to bed, but cracked open 2 more beers.  They finally caved and headed up to bed around 3 am.

My son and I then proceeded to finish off the remainder of the Coors Light and finally went to bed around 5 am.  I think because we were out of beer.

Did you know that after a while, Coors Light tastes like water?  

We had a family BBQ to attend on Sunday and we planned to leave at noon.  For the record, we left the house at 12:05!!  

I woke up at 10.  I was smart enough to get the coffee ready to brew on Saturday night, so all I had to do was flip the switch on Sunday morning.  Needless to say, coffee was mandatory.

My daughter and boyfriend woke at 11 and stumbled downstairs.  She woke my son at 11:30.  He declared as he entered the kitchen, "I am NEVER drinking with you again, Mom."   Lightweight.

We had fun at the BBQ.  My son was crazy enough to try drinking a beer.  Took him an hour and a half.  The other kids had another long drive that evening, so they stuck to non-alcoholic beverages.  My sister made me something called a Pimm's Cup.  I had a bit of it, but in the long run, decided maybe alcohol wasn't a good idea that day.  

The hour plus drive home that evening wasn't easy.  I was whooped!

The kids had a 5 or 6 hour drive that night, going back to the western side of our state.  They did have the advantage of getting 3 more hours of sleep than I had the night before, so I wasn't feeling too sorry for them.

Except for being tired from not a lot of sleep, I was in pretty good shape on Sunday.  Monday, Tuesday and today is an entirely different story!   I woke up each morning, feeling like I needed another few hours of sleep, even though I was getting 7 hours or more each night.  I came home from work, and dozed a bit in the recliner on Monday and Tuesday.  

This morning, I woke up hung over.  I don't get it.  

I think I need to not do any more drinking any time soon.  

I'm getting too old for this. 

***DISCLAIMER***

For the record, I was NOT compensated for mentioning Captain Morgan, Landshark, Miller High Life or Coors Light or Chincoteague, VA camping in this blog post.  Too bad... I could always use the extra money.