Exit Stage Left

I have an oddly shaped body and as such shopping can sometimes be a challenge. Whenever I need to buy a dress for an event (a couple times a year) it turns into an all-out hunting expedition. I look at department stores and specialty shops, boutiques and bridal stores and yet I rarely find anything worthwhile. Somehow I've always managed to make myself look fabulous for whatever event it is that I'm attending but it's not without a significant amount of sacrifice of time, talent and treasure. Of course, whenever a t-shirt and jeans girl puts on a dress people think she looks fabulous, so I'm not sure how much of a feat I've accomplished when it really comes down to it. But I digress...

In two weeks we will have the premiere gala for The Little Mermaid and being as I've worked my tail off (no pun intended) on this show I am really looking forward to going and just having a good time. However, as usual, the search for a dress had nearly put a damper on my excitement. For the past three weeks I've spent evening after evening, weekend after weekend hunting for the perfect dress. The only requirement was that I wanted color since I wore brown and black to the last two events, respectively. I've searched high and low, north, south, east and west; I have been to every mall in the metro area (except the Aurora mall and that doesn't really count now, does it?!) and found nothing of particular interest in my price range. In the past I've learned that just because I didn't find something at the Dillard's at Southwest Plaza mall doesn't mean that if I won't find something at the Dillard's at Flatiron's; not all department stores have the same selection, so it's definitely worth it to hit them all up in the hunt. The very first place I start the search is at Cherry Creek Shopping Center. I start at Macy's and work my way through stopping at Neiman Marcus and Saks just for the heck of it, even though one single sequin is out of my price range at either place. Even though I'd scoped out the selection at Macy's three weeks ago I stopped back in today as I was at the mall looking for a smart summer suit. I quickly glanced through the clearance rack and out popped possibly the most perfect dress ever...except it was one size too small. I felt my heart sink into my stomach as I fumbled through the rack praying there would be one in the correct size and within just a few seconds I had found it. It's totally fun and fits me like a glove. All I have to do is shorten the halter strap and find a really good bra and I should be good to go. I don't even think I'm going to get new shoes; I think I'll just wear the black patent leather peep toe pumps I wore to the last event--who's ever going to remember my shoes anyway?

One fabulous event, check. One fabulous dress, check. Now all I need is one fabulous date and hopefully I'll have that checked off the list by tomorrow. :)