what the WHAT??? i have my dress!!!

i said YES to the dress! my PLI girls, susan and claudia, came with me yesterday. and here comes the irony. here i am telling everyone that i don't think my dress exists in a bridal salon, and where do i end up getting a dress? at a freakin salon in beverly hills. we had a 2:00 at panache. walked in and WOW, it was the largest amount of dresses i had ever seen in a salon. racks and racks of gowns. huge place. somewhere behind these racks i'm sure the counter existed... and yes, there it was in the back left corner. i told my girls to act like we got money to blow, in case they felt like treating us... uh, differently.

we were promptly greeted. my consultant asked me what i was looking for. then she gave us time to browse around. i had to try on that paloma blanca dress again to see how i looked and felt in it. this bridal salon was one of the closer ones that carried it, which is why i came here. i thought it would just be another day to help me solidify the kind of dress i wanted, with the opinions of two fashionable and close friends. :) when i put that paloma blanca on again, i smiled really big! the girls noticed it too. however, i just didn't like that it wasn't as figure flattering. i think something in me still wanted that dropped waist. the girls also weren't digging the contrast of the satin and the organza-ish material in the ruffles. they wanted to like it as much as i did, i think. they saw how much the dress made me smile. i liked it even more after i requested a stone-colored sash. then the consultant added this feathery flower pin thing. cute! then she gave me the bouquet. oh man, i was in trouble.

after a while, my consultant pulled a dress that had similar ruffles, but had a dropped waist. i think claudia suggested that dress earlier but i vetoed it solely on the basis that it didn't have that modified sweetheart top (but is so easy to alter). i gave it a go. i came out and didn't quite like it. it was quite large. and poofy. but then we put on the sash and it looked better. then she put on that feather flower brooch/pin thing and it looked a lot better. it was growing on me. the girls then suggested i go look at myself on the runway thing.

and that's when it happened. i saw myself from afar, at the end of the runway looking into the mirror. and as i stepped up onto the runway platform with the bouquet in had, and the sash and flower pin that completed the look, i really felt like i looked like a bride ready to get married. weird!!! the look was clean, modern, fresh, fun, flirty, elegant and classic, yet couture-y and edgy. it had elements that i really wanted, namely the figure-flattering look, asymmetrical dropped waist, and ruffles. the girls LOVED IT. they were beaming FOR me. :)

just to be sure, i had to put on the paloma blanca on again. i LOVED how light the dress was and how easy it was to move in it! but it did make my torso look short. and it made me look younger, in a teenage kind of way. i didn't like it as much. then my consultant tells me she forgot to tell me about the sample sale. if i went home with this sample today, it would be 25% off. O_O after today, 15% off. and if i ordered a brand new on in my size, 10% off. oh the anxiety kicked in alright. so much so that my consultant was worried i'd give myself an ulcer. i asked what time they closed, and if i could call in my order if i decided to take the sample. 6pm.

what was stopping me? my mind still was wondering about that other champagne dress at wilshire bridal. i just had to know if that one was it, because i really thought it could be. i called to see if i could go in to try just that dress on, and it was a go. we headed down wilshire and when i got there i tried it on. i came out... and the girls weren't impressed. they agreed it looked great, but it just didn't have the same je ne sais qois. and for reason, the color didn't seem the same as i remembered it. i was distinctly in love with the color. i explained the other dress to the consultant, and showed her a photo i found online. she pulled a pronovias that looked like it, and it really did. but again, that certain something was missing. the quality just wasn't the same, the clean crisp lines weren't there. the girls just weren't having it, and neither was i. the ajuma really wanted to make it work, and so did i. i knew she would offer it at a better price (and in the right size). they looked up the brand, couldn't find it, saying it wasn't a brand name and that they had never heard of it. after looking up some more info, they discovered it was a new italian designer. she said if i loved it, to go for it. she said she would alter it for me at a good price. i asked if a size 10 was too large to alter down, and she said it wouldn't be a problem. rental gowns are always being sized down and altered accordingly.

so, back in the car i frantically called and texted meisha, blanca, and sarah. with 2 minutes til closing, i called panache and... SAID YES TO THE DRESS! :) oh em gee. i have a dress. and i love it. almost. i think i will love it 100% once i know it will be altered to look and fit really great. :) but, to complete the look, i still need a stone-colored sash and that freakin feather flower pin! i want that stupid flower. it is so overpriced.

well, tomorrow's the day! have an appointment to get an alteration estimate with their seamstress and i think i'm coming home with my dress. gotta shop around for alterations first before i commit. that's me!