Prom Dress Shopping -- Not for the faint of heart!

Ah yes, it's that season. Prom Dress Shopping Season.

Now, you think that this specific type of dress shopping would be a fun mom-daughter bonding experience... and it can be, but I can also tell from personal experience (this was not my first Prom Dress rodeo), it can be an exhausting and stress-inducing situation. Let me explain our Saturday...

We first went to Macy's. While we found some cute dresses, nothing popped. We decided to cut-to-the-chase and just make the trip to the mecca of Prom Dresses -- a high-end Prom Dress shop (yes, those do exist) that would allow my girl to get a feel for what style dress she would like. 

My mistake. 

We tried to go for as inexpensive as possible -- which at this store is basically a $250 marked-down dress. They carry dresses that cost anywhere from the $250 dress to over $900. FOR PROM. And people were snapping them up -- WTF???

Of COURSE, she fell in love with the first dress she tried on. Now, in my opinion, this dress was not THE dress. First, it was too big and they did not have a smaller size. The gal helping assured us it could be altered (off-site of course, because why would a specialty prom dress shop offer alterations?!?!?). I've gone down that road before to the tune of $100 or more...so, um, NO. 

Second, it was a black/white combo which, while beautiful, did not flatter my daughter's pale complexion and hair. It was pretty, just not knock-your-socks-off pretty on her. 

Third, the price...it was $250 - the cheapest dress we had found that she liked. Now, don't get me wrong, if it WAS a knock-your-socks-off kind of dress, I would be happy paying $250 for my girly to have the prom dress of her dreams. But $250 for meh and additional $$ for alterations? Again, a big ol' NO. 

And finally, as she tried on at least 5 dresses, each one getting more expensive, I was starting to break a sweat. I was terrified she would fall in love with a $400 dress. 

I had to get out of there. I was getting stressed. The peer pressure of all these other moms oohing and aahing as their daughters came out and modeled dresses over $500 was vomit-inducing. There was not a single person in there freaking out over price, except for me. I overheard many a mom saying something along the lines of "Now, let's just not tell your dad how much the dress costs. Once he sees you in it, it won't matter."  WHAT THE HELL??? Nope, nope, nope. Not gonna do it. Oh, and also -- ALL SALES ARE FINAL. That's right. You get home with that pricey dress and Dad pitches a fit? Ooops, sorry daddy, because I CAN'T RETURN IT. I'm sure that went over well with a load of dads this weekend. 

So, anyhoo, I told my girly we would put the dress on hold, but would go to another shop or two to see what else we could find. I could tell she was not happy. We went to the other shop and tried on at least a dozen dresses. I got a dozen responses full of attitude and sass because my lovely daughter thought the other dress was 'IT'. She was not open to anything else at this point. I was spent. We left the shop and had a tense discussion on the way home. The hubs and I had been talking and decided we were not going to buy that other dress, because in the end, it would be just be too expensive. This prom is her Junior prom, not Senior prom, and she is going with a friend, not a boyfriend. Not spending top $ on that situation. 

Luckily, we got home without anybody completely melting down and I took a breather. There had to be other options out there. I told our lovely girly we would go out again on Sunday, but she wanted to try again at the mall. Fine. Let's just get it done...

And then, we found it. THE DRESS. (cue the angels singing...) At Carson's, no less.

It was perfection on her. Flattering fit, no alterations needed. Flattering color -- blush, which enhanced her porcelain skin and blonde hair. And the price? $149.00!!! DONE!

As we got to the register, I thought, "I wonder if Carson's has any coupons out there?" I looked them up online and BINGO! There was a coupon -- $50 off a $100 or more purchase. WHATT?!?!?!!?

So we got the dress. For $99.00. The universe heard me and came through. And my daughter?? She couldn't be happier. Me too. All is well again. 

Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone!

It's been a looooong week. My HS Junior has been home all week with the flu. Influenza B, to be specific -- which I now know is not the crazy bad flu that is sending people to the hospital. That would be Influenza A, also known as H3N2 or H1N1. Thank goodness she doesn't have that particular strain...I have to admit that I was a tad bit worried. 

We went to the doc on Monday after a horrible Sunday filled with aches, coughing, and a crazy bad sore throat. They swabbed her nose and within minutes she was diagnosed. I love how quick we got an answer -- Yay for scientific technology! With her flu diagnosis, we were issued a prescription for Tamiflu and sent on our way. I thought, "Well, thank goodness... Let's get her the meds, some chicken soup, and set her on the path back to healthy! She should be feeling 100% better by Thursday or Friday."

Yeah. That didn't happen.

Unfortunately, my lovely girl is one of the small percentage of people who has an adverse reaction to Tamiflu. Having never taken it before, how could we possibly have known? She took the meds as directed, with food, but the poor thing spent the next few days not only coughing, aching, and exhausted, but once the Tamiflu really mixed it up in her system (less than 24 hours after first dose) -- she was a GI disaster. Vomiting, horrible bad stomach pains, and let's just say it is a good thing there was a bathroom nearby. I felt so bad for her. We made an executive decision that she should stop taking the meds after multiple times of this reaction occurring. And now that we have stopped the Tamiflu -- no issues. In fact, I feel like she is getting better faster. It's no wonder; she is finally able to rest and let her body recover. 

Now, I'm not a doctor, so please do not use my daughter's situation as reason for you or yours to stop taking Tamiflu. For so many people, it is a miracle medicine that shortens the debilitating effects of this virus. Just not for her. Lesson learned. For my little chickita, we will not be on that course of meds ever again. 

She is so much better today. Just a slight cough and that's it. Her energy levels are still wavering, so we chose to keep her home again today from school. By the time Monday rolls around, I know she will be itching to get back to school and back on track with anything that she has missed. 

It's been a crazy week. Thankfully, I'm blessed to be a work-at-home mom so I didn't have to take time off in order to be with her. Now I am busy working to bleach the living daylights out of my house so no one else gets sick. 

Woo hoo -- what a fun weekend for me! Talk to you soon...

Here we go again...

Good morning fellow blogsters and blog readers! I'm back thanks in part to my older daughter's relentless prodding. I am definitely not be the best at keeping the blog-o-shpere updated, so please forgive me.  I need to make this part of my routine...treat it more like a 'to do' instead of a 'when I have time to do' task.

Sounds doable, right? Right.

Anyhoo...since we last met, let's see...here are the updates in no particular order:

• I'm no longer working outside the home! Squee! Loving being home again...
• I am now working as a project manager for my hub's company. Right up my alley.
• Tony is finishing up his college years -- should be graduating in December. We are so proud of him.
• Drew has graduated high school and is off to college -- holy cats!
• Girlies are officially in 8th grade and 6th grade. Accordingly, fashion/makeovers are now some of our top priorities. Love it!
• We have officially booked a family vacation to Florida -- our first in FOUR years! Cue the Hallelulah Chorus...

Phew. It's been busy!

Good busy though. I am so proud of my hubs for following his passion and making this company a reality. I've never seen him happier with work. To quote the Life Is Good guys... "Do what you like,  Like what you do". It doesn't get any simpler than that!

Being home is just what I needed. I have been able to get back into the groove of running our home (which got a little wonky while I was working, no offense honey!) and I have become more involved in my kids activities -- volleyball (Go 13 Purple!), school activities, family nights, etc.

I feel calmer, more in line with  life. Sounds all weird and new age-ish but it's true. Things are right where they should be for now.

Enjoy your weekend! And I WILL talk to you soon!

blah, blah, blah...

Ever feel like...Meh.? That's me today. I am at home with two sick pre-teens and well... I'm bored, ergo, Meh.

I cannot find the energy to get out of my sweats even though it is a lovely day. Part of the problem is that while I can go outside, I can't actually go anywhere. Remember? Sick kids? I could work on one of my long-awaiting projects, I could clean (yeah, that won't be happening), I could make cookies... but I'm not in a Martha Stewart mood. I'm just ...meh.  Dammit.

How is it that days like this can just remove all of my mojo? I had better find something to do soon or I just may take a nap.

Ooh, nap.

Gotta go. Meh.

Am I the only mom who says this?

A slice of my day...

So this morning, my lovely daughter comes in to talk to me. I notice that she is wearing the exact same cami that she wore yesterday. She does have a different long-sleeved shirt on, but that shirt closest to her -- yep, it is one and the same.

Let me preface the following by saying I really should filter my comments. I am sure my 'nuggets of wisdom' that I fling about sometimes are a bit much...but hey, that is just me. Anyhoo, as I notice that her shirt is indeedy the same, I say "Is that the same cami from yesterday?" (insert horrified looking-like-I-just-smelled-something-stinky-face here). She replies -- "yeah, I suppose I should change it..." to which I burst out with "Yeah, you better or you are going to spend the day smelling like pits (you know, armpits)".

My husband can be heard snickering in the other room. My daughter, she is a bit offended, but she does go and change. Stinkiness averted.

So, my question is, Am I the only mom who says things like this? Gosh, I hope not because I like to think that if I am not honest with my teen daughter about the possibility of B.O., then I am not being a good mother. Better to hear it from me than from a snarky teen frenemy, right?

That's what I thought...  : )
Enjoy your day --