Robe de Mariée

Just got home for what pretty much was the girliest day of my life, a really fun day, filled with emotions I've never felt before.

What was the plan today? Go visit 2 fancy bridal stores in Beverly Hills with 2 really good friends of mine. I knew it would be fun, and all about me... and it was... and more.

This was the very first time I'd been to a bridal store. Ok, well, I recall, when I was 14 years old, visiting my cousin during my summer vacation who was living in Nice at the time, and she worked in the bridal area of a department store. I came to work with her one day and hung out in the back. I can't recall if I actually tried on a dress or not, but I did put on a veil - and that made me feel really special for some reason. I mean, I was 14, no boyfriend (good thing), no intentions of getting married right away, but there was something about having that veil on my head... for once, I felt really pretty. I mean, really REALLY pretty. Who knew that a piece of lace could create such a boost in a teenager's self-esteem.

Fast forward 13 years later, my good friend (we'll call her R), said to me over dim sum in Chinatown last month: "You haven't bought your dress yet? Girl, you need to start shopping now, it takes months to order and about another month to hem/tailor."

Um... what? Here I am, engaged for 2.5 years, my wedding's in 9 months or so, and I really need to worry about the dress? I was planning to get this done maybe 2-3 months before the wedding to make sure the dress fits me (instead of me fitting the dress). But ladies (and gentlemen), apparently that is a big no-no, and you have to get the dress in advance. Ok... that means I get to start SHOPPING!!

So R took care of everything and made an appointment at 1PM today to visit a fancy bridal store, then plan to visit another one a few blocks away who was having a store closing sale. This is in the Beverly / Rodeo drive area of Beverly Hills mind you, so totally shopping for fun. I'm sorry but I'm not spending $5k on a dress I will only wear one day. But hey, if we can get pampered... and my guests can sip champagne while they comment how gorgeous I look... well, I still call that an awesome Saturday afternoon :)

1PM: First store, first experience. Tried on maybe 8-9 dresses. All beautiful. Some fit my figure perfectly, others not so much. And then... there it was. A beautiful ball-gown style dress that fit me perfectly. I tried the veil, the shoes.... and as I stood on that pedestal, looking in the mirror and my friends looked really happy, I almost got a little teary-eyed. This is beautiful. I feel beautiful right now. I truly feel like if babe saw me walking down the aisle in this dress and veil, it would take his breath away and fall in love with me all over again. Man, I am such a girl and I need to stop watching all these chick flicks :)

But seriously, I walked around, took some pictures... did not buy the dress as it was not only outside my price range, but also only my first store, and I want my mom to be there... but for a moment there, I felt like a million bucks. I guess that's why ladies shell out the big bucks for a wedding dress. I just don't think I need to spend over $2,500 to feel good about myself when I can do it for much less. But boy did it feel good :)

Second store: although still high end, 70% off everything because the store closes December 31st, which means employees basically don't care anymore. No employees came to help me get into my dress, the carpet in the fitting rooms had big stains on them, the clamps were industrial sized and my friend had to clamp the dress... yeah, but the good news is, found cute dresses that are more reasonable. Nothing like the first store, but still pretty. Plus, my other friend tried on some dresses too and it was so great seeing her light up inside. She is very skinny and I have curvier hips, so it was cool to see how certain styles fitted her in a way they couldn't with me, and vice versa. Most dresses are pretty, it just depends who wears it.

Then we went to happy hour.... then Anthropologie... then R's house for dinner for cornflake crumb chicken (yum!) and Indian desserts. What a perfect day.

Sorry for the guys reading this, as this is definitely a chick's post... but I really wanted to write down this amazing feeling of euphoria, hope, happiness, and overall feeling beautiful, because it's true, I don't think I've ever felt this good about myself in a long, long time, and I want to read back on this someday and remember.

In other news...

I gave my apartment my 30 day notice 2 days ago, and plan to be packing all Thanksgiving long. Tomorrow is Sunday, and nothing really exciting planned except relax - wedding dress shopping is actually pretty exhausting!!

Today I'm grateful for having such great friends taking me to bridal stores, and for our friendship I've treasured these past 3 years, which I hope does not go away when I move back to SLC next month.

Peace out!

Mise a Jour

Aw man, I should really go to Zumba right now but I really don't feel like it. After all, I just showered 2 hours ago and washed my hair which now smells scrumptious, do I really want to waste it on a class that is a mix of modern day aerobics/middle Eastern/Salsa/ random dance moves?

Don't get me wrong, I like Zumba, but sometimes the routine calls for some "what on earth am I doing" kind of dance moves. Still it's a good workout. And a good place for me to shake my booty because I can't go to a club and do that anymore :)

So... what's new? Well, went to DC and Salt Lake, did costume volleyball, had my crazy week of stress at work which turned out I didn't have to, because our big project's been pushed back... good thing, yet bad thing because I did not have to work for 14 hours those first two days last week.

And I also spent my last birthday in SoCal, and I am now 27 years young, and I feel.... ok, not old, but just finally classified as an adult. I always categorized myself as a "young adult" the past few years, but now I feel like an "adult". Which is good! I feel like I'm finally being taken seriously :) but now the juicy details of the birthday party...

Nov 4th: Friday: get up and have 3 meetings at 9, 10 and 11 (greaaaaat), but at noon I wanted to treat myself, so got a panino at Corner Bakery because panini are the best invention since sliced bread. Then after work, I got a massage, then went to a French restaurant with 13 of my closest Cali friends... all said really kind words to me and wished me good luck in my move back, one of them even sang to me! Aww, gonna miss those guys...

Then the after-party and my friend's house, B made me a cake and R bought a tiramisu, and we all enjoyed each other's company! Got home around 1am, packed, went to bed around 2, then woke up at 5 to go to the airport to DC. Yeah, a long day :)

In DC I found the most amazing bakery... "Paul, Maison de Qualité" - which turns out is a known chain in France - and holy cow, they made all the French pastries and breads imaginable! Quiches, fougasses, chaussons aux pommes, chaussons au raisins, pain au chocolat... even the BEST hot dog ever: hot dog in a French baguette with béchamel sauce and melted gruyere, toasted to perfection delivering that prefect crunch from the bread and juicyness from the franckfurter. I truly, truly enjoyed that. But hey, I also enjoyed company with Mom & B, walking to the capital, Smithsonian, found a great French restaurant (ok, last post about food, I swear) and then the conference which was great to see people I talk to / email often and got to see in person, as well as my boss' boss' boss' boss' boss' boss.

Sigh... it's happening, I just gave my 30 day notice today for my apartment, and I've decided what to do on the rental truck... maybe... so ridiculously expensive. But whatever, a girls' gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Thanksgiving will be spent packing and packing and finalizing stuff, hopefully I'll get invited somewhere for Thanksgiving this year. If not, no biggie... I love Thanksgiving but not as much as Christmas. Now if I had to spend Christmas alone, or wake up in an empty house, that would truly be depressing for me.

Oh, and Saturday, I'm going wedding dress shopping with my 2 girlfriends!! Yay. We were going to go to fancy Beverly Hills stores for fun, but I really don't want to fall in love with a $7,000 dress that I can't afford (even if I did, I wouldn't spend it) and find the David's bridal $500 dresses subpar.

Today I'm grateful for Babe's parents, who let me stay in their home while I was in Salt Lake the past few days. My future mommy in law even made me snacks while I worked, like apple slices and cheddar cheese.. yum!!

Wishing everyone a great evening and weekend coming up!