almost winner

so.


today i made (what i thought was) an executive decision and picked a dress. the winner.


and it is. it is totally the winner.


well, that's a lie, it's the winner in my price range. the REAL winner is about $500 too much to be worn once and hung in my closet for decades -- noooot worth it to me. but i'm over it.


so this winner dress kind of snuck up. it wasn't love at first sight. i fell in love the SECOND time i tried it on.


and i've been really excited about it.


it would be so easy for me to post the pictures i took today of my trying it on -- but i would so much rather keep it a secret from you all! the people that matter most have already seen it :) haha and yes, that includes my fiance. the whole "don't see the bride in the gown before the wedding" thing is so superstitious. myth. i want devin to see it and have an opinion. of course, he loves the winner, and says it's perfect.


but someone else did not.


when i told my parents about the winner, they were excited, but they are also being very reluctant. i have only been to 2 stores. granted, i've tried on my share of wedding gowns, but my mom still isn't understanding the importance of an expensive dress. which it is not.


i have budgeted for a $700 dress.
i have been shooting for a $500 dress.
the winner is $629.
and i am willing to pay for alterations out of my own pocket (because there will be next to none -- fits me like a glove, practically)


but she insists i keep looking. she loves the dress, don't get me wrong, but she is so frugal, and i don't blame her.


SO the new solution is: i have a winner. but the competition is not over.


tomorrow, the hunt continues, and i will see if there's anything out there that can beat my winner.


bridal center, here i come!


ALSO... Dev had a late night craving for coldstone, so we went around 9:30 when i got off work. I got OREO CREAM FILLING ICE CREAM. it was divine. great way to end the night!


also -- I went with my wonderful mother-in-law-to-be to Kohl's and saw the dress she found for our wedding -- that is exactly our colors! it's perfect. it looked great on her and i'm so excited about it. what a find!


tomorrow will be a wedding day.
searching for my dress more.
and buying some decoration stuff -- it's about time, right?


that's the other thing. time.
i think i keep kidding myself that i have time to do all of this, that whatever it is can wait until the wedding day gets closer -- but that's false. that's my word of advice to future brides. just get it all done in advance so you can have the time leading up to the wedding to relax and focus on what matters, instead of doing it the other way around.


also... time. i'm running out of it. i need to find a dress within the next 2 weeks and make a final decision so it has time to be altered. if i decide to do bridals, i might be out of luck. hopefully not. we'll see.


i just want to find the right dress! hmph :(


but to keep you satisfied... here is the ACTUAL WINNER. the one that is totally out of range, but everything i've ever wanted in a wedding dress ever. dropped waist. V neck in the front and back. COMPLETE LACE. it's perfect. but it's not mine. and never will be. i will just continue to envy it from here.


this is the one i tried on that i had been stalking online for... all my life, and i wasn't expecting to like it on, because that never happens -- but then it totally did and it's the most perfect dress in the world. oh well. i'm over it, really... (sigh) haha