Military Ball Dress Shopping!!

Although life has been a little boring as of late, the next few months is bringing some new adventures. Of course I am looking forward to graduation this March, but there are two more events I am looking forward to almost just as much, The National Guard Winter Dinner and dance, and the Women of Faith Conference (I will post about this later).

In a few weeks Foster and I will be attending the National Guard's Winter Dinner and Dance. One of my fellow military wives called me yesterday wondering if I would be interested in getting my makeup and hair done with her. Of course I was interested! I LOVE getting pampered! I bought a coupon off of groupon.com for a facial at 70% off (I promise, this is NOT a plug) you NEED to check out this site if you have not already!. I am getting a mani/pedi I also got a coupon off of groupon.com, and then on the day of the ball I will be going and getting my hair and makeup done with the girls. I have a trick to getting a good makeover, pay the money, but get something in return. Instead of paying $50 at a salon for professional makeup application and leaving with nothing but an empty wallet and a face that only lasts one evening, the MAC counter at your local department store will do a free scheduled makeover and you buy $50 worth of products. I LOVE this, because I already use MAC, and always need something added to my makeup collection, and they do an amazing job. However the downside is I usually walk away spending a lot more than $50.

Yesterday my mom journeyed through the weather to stay with me. She is leaving for the Virgin Islands tomorrow, and she was afraid she would get snowed in at her house so she came to stay with me! I only live about 15 minutes from the airport. After talking to my friend about the ball, she said she was going out dress shopping. I figured I would too because I didn't want to wait for the last minute. Since I don't like going shopping by myself, I waited for my mom to arrive and we were off to find a ball gown.

I was really nervous about this, because I am about 2 sizes bigger than before I was pregnant. I am extremely self conscience about my body, and not happy with anything I have put on recently. I see pictures of myself, and I am disgusted at the way my body looks, so I was dreading the dress shopping.

Our first stop was Nordstrom's. I felt so out of place in this store, because I was dressed to go to the gym after shopping, but the sales associate was sooooooo helpful. She helped me pick out a few beautiful gowns and helped give an outsider's opinion on each of them. I found one gown that I absolutely loved. It was elegant, sexy, but EXTREMELY expensive! It was slimming and flattered me and my curves, but I was a little fidgety in the gown because it clung a little too much to my hips because of the material it was made of. If I'm not comfortable, I will be self conscience all night, so I made a note in my head to come back if I couldn't find anything better.

The next dress I tried on was also beautiful, but red is often a hard color for me to pull off because of my hair color. The gathering at the waist was perfect to hide that little baby fat still settled around my midsection, and the one shoulder was perfect to make my shoulders look smaller than they are. I liked it, but it was just not what I was looking for.

Mom and I decided to head over to Macy's. I was confident that I would find an appropriate dress for a decent price since the holidays have passed. THEY HAD NOTHING!!! I mean NOTHING!!! I was baffled. I have never had an issue finding a gown at Macy's, but it seemed they sold every long gown for the holidays and only had a few select ones left over. The ones that were in my size were hideous, and the ones I liked didn't have my size. Before I got too frustrated, mom had an idea to head over to David's Bridal. I was hesitant, because I wasn't looking for a bridesmaid's dress, however, I recalled that they do have a party dress section. As we were looking through the racks, mom came across a dress so elegant, so beautiful, it would never pass as a bridesmaid's dress. I was so excited. I grabbed a few different colors, red, black, and navy blue, and headed to the dressing room. When I emerged in the black version of the gown, heads turned. It fit perfectly, it is so elegant and classy. I felt beautiful. Many of you women know that even if you have a few extra pounds, if you feel beautiful, you look beautiful to those around you. You exude a confidence that people stand up and take notice of. As soon as I topped the dress off with these heels, I just knew it was the outfit!

I know, I am sure you all want to see the dress too, but Foster will not see it until the night of the ball, so neither will you. I haven't been this excited about a gown since my wedding dress!