BIG NEWS........

...........I GOT A DRESS!!!!!!!!! That's right, Ms. Dress-Buying-Procrastinator-Extraordinaire finally picked out a dress! I have to admit, I was TERRIFIED about dress shopping. All along, I have been so intimidated about trying on dresses because I was so afraid I would hate everything. And in retrospect, it was SO much fun. Maybe I'll pretend I haven't picked one yet so I can try on some more!

Anyway, last Saturday morning, I set out to go dress shopping with my mom, my sister, my MOH Ashley, my niece Jessie and my nephew Jake. I had an appointment at Fabulous Bridal Boutique in Covington, KY at noon, and planned on heading to Bridal & Formal as well as the other shops in the bridal district in Reading, OH, which is a little over an hour from here. Ashley, Jessie and I got to Covington a little early and decided to stop into Madison Avenue Bridal because they did not require an appointment. We pulled a few gowns and decided to start trying them on, because everyone else was on the way. The store associate picked a certain gown for me to try on first because apparently, I had pulled the same dress in 3 different sizes without knowing it. Well ladies, I know you have heard it a million times, but it was THE ONE. About the time I put it on, my mom, sister & Jake came in and my mom started crying immediately. I knew that was a good sign! We all talked about it, took some pictures (which sadly I can't post since Ryan reads my blog!) and tried on several other dresses. Then we moved onto the Fabulous Bridal appointment. Everyone picked out a bunch of dresses for me to try on, and every time I tried one on, I compared it to dress #1 and honestly didn't even want to walk out of the dressing room when it didn't compare. But, I did, and we were there for a couple of hours trying on dresses that were absolutely gorgeous, but just not cutting it for me. We decided to go have lunch before heading to more shops, but I told everyone I wanted to go try on dress #1 again. So we did, and as soon as I had it on, everything was right with the world again! I told everyone I officially felt like a bride. I knew there was no point in even trying anything else on, because this was it! So, I got all sized up, my wonderful Mom paid the bill, and that was that! I mean... what was I so afraid of?!?! I could do that every weekend!

So, without further ado, (Ryan - close your eyes!) here she is:


I mean can you really ever beat the look of a crisp white shirt? The pleats are to die for, and I am scouring the internet trying to find that headband!

......Okay not really. Give me a little credit! And since I know that Ryan would never, ever click a link to see my dress, you can all click to see it HERE. And no, I did not get the gloves. Not my thing.

Here are a couple more pictures from the dress shopping day. Ashley & I having some champagne at the boutique... her first of like 12 glasses I swear!


And the whole group after the dress was ordered. And please disregard the fact that I am standing in the least flattering pose ever:


And finally, this was Jake's reaction as we walked out of the boutique, thanking God that we were done dress shopping:


Classic!

Dress Obsession: Augusta Jones

So, one of the things I don't have at this point.... is my dress. Obviously, it is pretty much the most important decision for me, and this terrifies me. I am the type of person who gets really excited about something, and then a month after I own it, I am so sick of it that I can't see straight. Therein lies the problem with the dress. I know for certain that if I already had a dress, I would totally be over it by now. So, I am holding out until the last possible minute. It's not that I don't look at dresses, but honestly, in the hundreds (possibly thousands) of dresses that I have seen, there are none that really stand out to me. Today, that all changed when I fell in love with Augusta Jones. I literally love about 90% of her dresses, which is insane for someone as picky as myself. Here are a few of my favorites:

{images}

Those are a few of the Augusta Jones dresses that I am currently loving. I specifically like the scalloped edge on the second one (minus the blue sash), and the fact that the third one is simple but still interesting. The closest store to me that carries this line is only about 45 minutes away, and for the first time I am actually excited to go see them. Hopefully, my dress anxiety will subside soon!