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Dress shopping!

I thought it might be too early (considering we are mid-move!) to begin the Quest for the Dress but wanted to be able to include Brian's sister Kate before she headed back to California so sped up the process. My mom scheduled an appointment and together with my sister Julie Ann and Brian's mom Judy we headed out for our first excursion...

We arrived to the dress shop around 6 pm and waited patiently for Natalie, my dress consultant to squeeze me into a corset and a "bridal slip". (Note: I think "bridal slip" is dress store slang for "thorn bush"). I spent most of my time in the dressing room while Natalie picked out dresses she thought I would like...let's just say she's wasn't as intuitive as Lori's staff ("Say Yes to the Dress" reference). She would then come into the dressing room with me and instruct me to "dive into the dress" after which she would zip, button, tie, squeeze, pinch and clip the back to fit. Phew! Who knew it would be this involved?? I would then walk out (on a 'stage' in the middle of the store...in front of other customers: whose idea was this??) only to see myself lost in the middle of a big puffy cloud of tulle! It was kind of hard to imagine wearing any such thing for upwards of 8 hours. Some were just so intricate and heavy with trains longer than my body! Thankfully Jul and Judy had my best interest at heart and filled my dressing room rack with dresses I might actually like (strategically placing them ahead of Natalie's picks). Never the less I tried on an assortment...Some dresses were white, some were beige...some were frilly some were poofy...some were elegant...(some felt more like Halloween costumes)...and in the end, while entertaining (and simultaneously exhausting) we left the store 2 hours later empty handed...eh, but we still had fun!

The second excursion was out to Paoli. My sister Jackie picked me up early that morning and we stopped for breakfast before meeting up with my mom, Julie Ann and my friend Staci at the salon. My new consultant, Joy, told us to go around the store and turn the hangers on the dresses we liked so she could gather them up for me to try on...we all went to work and pretty soon Joy had collected a massive pile of dresses. The girls took their seats around a mini stage to wait for the show to begin! Fortunately this time there were no thorn bushes or corsets to be squeezed into...Joy helped me step into the dresses and then clipped them to fit. I had a chance to see if I liked it myself before walking out to the cat walk to model...where everyone snapped photos and ooohed and aahed at me...I could really get into this! :) The fabrics here were really nice...shiny silk organza, silk charmeuse, fine lace and carefully beaded bodices...I tried on everyone's picks and surprisingly liked the ones that were chosen for me better than the ones I chose myself!

There was one dress I kept coming back to over and over again...I think Joy let me try it on 3 times! I wasn't sure if I was ready to commit so we headed out for a drink to mull it over. We ended up at a bar called "Alba" and I enjoyed the Alba special which was conveniently my favorite wine (Moscato) blended with a divine liquor (whose name has escaped me) and topped off with a glistening orange slice. We clinked out glasses to almost saying yes to the dress! and Staci and Jackie promptly got to work negotiating prices on either side of me...my mom, Jul and I just laughed at them while we debated whether to go back or not. Jackie and Staci seemed to have called all the dress shops in the tri-state area until they found the best price (fortunately we were Alba's only customers)! Jackie then called Joy back until she agreed to honor the price and encouraged us all to come back over. We climbed back in Jackie's car and Joy let me try it on again (yes a 4th time!). She poured us each a glass of sweet white wine to celebrate saying Yes to the Dress!

(Disclaimer: Though embarrassed to admit this, I think I may have spent more time watching "Say Yes to the Dress!" than I personally spent shopping for one! Not sure if that's a good thing?)

Our Engagement Story

Brian and I traveled to Switzerland to visit my good friend Yetta and her boyfriend Patrick...and of course for the opportunity to gallivant around another country ;) Little did I know Brian had a big surprise in store for me that came in a small (and carefully hidden) package: a beautiful engagement ring!

We were staying in the small mountain village of Leukerbad, Switzerland...a town so surreal it felt like we were miniature people living in a holiday winter village display at the mall! Outside of the Ikea showroom we were sleeping in (thanks to Yetta!) was a bordering backdrop of rocky mountains and cottages piled high with thick layers of snow at least four feet deep. After our second full day of skiing and snowboarding, a relaxing evening spent soaking in the hot springs and a hearty Swiss dinner complete with healthy portions of cheese and wine...I found myself relaxing in my pajamas, hair still wet from my post spa shower and settling in writing my blog with a cup of steamy hot chocolate. It was then that Brian asked if I wanted to go for a walk...?? "Do I look like I want to go for a walk?!" was my quick witted response! He went on to say that he wanted to take some night time pictures...after all it was our last night here. I suggested he go by himself and to that he replied "It's ok, I guess there's really not that much to see here" and with that wandered back into the bedroom. I continued blogging for a few more minutes but the guilt set in like a brick. How could I let him miss out on our last opportunity at night time shots in this picturesque village that we had to take approximately 9 modes of transportation to reach?? I sighed, pulled my boots over my sweat pants, tucked my sopping wet hair into a hat and (with a deep sigh) proclaimed I was ready...

It was quite cold outside with a few snowflakes falling. The sky was clear and the stars bright. Brian led the way down a narrow moonlit path and wasn't even taking any pictures!!! I had to prompt him to take every single one...It was so cold I was starting to lose feeling in my fingers! We continued walking and my irritation was building...did he really drag me all the way out here on this frigid night and then have the nerve to not even be taking any pictures?!  We approached a stream and a small bridge and I suggested he take a picture there when instead he calmly stopped, turned, held my hands and told me that he didn't really bring me out here to take pictures...

He went on to say how much he loved me, cared about me, how he couldn't remember a time not knowing me, how he wants to spend the rest of his life with me...I felt the tears welling up (how could I have been so difficult tonight??!) as he went on and on and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a beautiful, sparkly ring...and then he then said the words..."Will you marry me?" and of course I said Yes! as he attempted to get the ring on my (freezing cold) finger...it would only go on half way when I insisted it would fit and pushed it on only to realize he wasn't down on one knee! (Good God how difficult could I be???) He then knelt down and asked me once again, and again I (of course) said Yes!

I couldn't believe that he still proceeded with his plan even though I was being so cranky! Now that is true love :) I also couldn't believe all the preparations that went into this that I hadn't noticed over the past few weeks! Brian went on to tell me that he'd spoken with HIS family and MY family (which brought on more tears) and then went on to explain all the tiny omitted details of his whereabouts over the past few weeks...instead of lunches with friends and getting his driver's license photo taken...he was really inspecting diamonds and custom designing an engagement ring (that didn't yet exist) and even stealing a ring from my apartment for sizing...to have all the stars line up and culminate on Leap Day when a FedEx package was delivered just in time for our trip!

We stood there on the bridge for a while just talking and hugging and me crying while a few people gave us strange looks as they walked by and as Brian snapped a few more shots of the location we will remember forever...

We couldn't wait to get back and share our news with Yetta and Patrick who had snuggled up on the couch to watch a scary movie just as we headed out...against my better judgement, Yetta insisted on taking this photo to document the momentous occasion:

We were fresh out of champagne but we made do with a round of shots of Patrick's infamous schnapps to celebrate! Patrick and Yetta couldn't believe Brian had kept this secret from them after 2 full days on the slopes! I also couldn't believe that Brian managed to keep the ring box hidden from me when we were even sharing luggage! It was cozily tucked away in a neoprene camera case...so sneaky! We made a few excited phone calls to family back home and both of us had a hard time falling asleep on all the excitement...I kept asking if this was real life or am I dreaming? Brian just kept pinching me as we talked about officially starting our life together :)