This past weekend was extremely busy for me - since the beginning of January, I had been planning a Spring reception (even though it's not quite Spring yet) for my local alumni club - it was really a one-woman show because our club officers are going through a transition so I really didn't have anyone I could depend on with follow through because everyone is kind of new. Also it was easier for me to handle and be in the know if I just did it all myself.
Well from what I've been told, it was a success. Of course no one realizes how much you sweat over stuff like this but as long as everyone had a great time, that's all I care about. The main thing I was nervous about was making a speech in front of 90+ people where I only really knew 20% of the people. There were a lot of new faces and I was just so nervous because a bulk of the attendees were older than me. I just wanted to make a good impression.
The days leading up to the event became more and more nerve-wracking, all the way up to being at the locale. I think what really got me through the speech and calmed my nerves was greeting each person one by one as they came through the check-in line. I think it gave me a sense of "knowing them" in some way and surprisingly, I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be during my speech.
There was one girl who stood out, in particular, that put me a little on edge. I'll call her 'Scowl Face.' It wasn't so much that she was scowling at me as I felt like she was just GLARING at me. And it wasn't a questionable glare - it was a scary, make me feel uneasy glare. If I was looking around the room and I happened to make eye contact with her, she was glaring. When I was making my speech and had people's attention, I happened to look in her direction and she was glaring. I honestly wondered if I had offended her in any way or if she was just that way - a glaring scowler. It really made me uncomfortable.
It wasn't until the end that I really got to talk to her and lo-and-behold, she was SUPER nice. She had won the prize we were raffling off and asked if we had a spare bag for her to carry it in. I got her one and she said in all this cheeriness, 'Thank you so much - I had such a great time!' The voice and the sentiment behind it just didn't match the face that was looking me in the eye - still glaring. My uneasiness about her went away after I spoke with her for a little bit and I just came to the conclusion that this is the way she looks - like she has a constant scowl on her face and if you look at her, she looks like she's glaring at you. Now I know not to be scared of her and that she is a really friendly girl....probably just shy...and glare-y.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Let's Grow Up
Many of you may not know this about me, but when I was young, I was a FREAK about stuffed animals. I loved them. I wasn't one of those kids who went around with a blanket and a thumb in the mouth or anything, and I didn't necessarily have to cuddle with my stuffed animals, but I sure did love collecting them. If I were to guess, I'd say I had a least a hundred of them, and they all hung out on some shelves my dad made in my room, with the exception of a few stellar animals that claimed the coveted position on my bed.
Well, guess what happened. I grew up. Now, I won't lie. I still admire stuffed animals. I enjoy buying them as gifts for kids. I still might display the occasional holiday-themed teddy bear for a month or two. And I won't ask my mom what she did with all of my stuffed animals from 1907 Independence Ct. because, frankly, I just don't want to know. It makes me a little sad to think about their fate. But I'll tell you what I won't do. I will not, not in 100 years, display a collection of ten or so stuffed animals in the rear window of my car. No sir. Tacky, tacky, tacky.
To the woman in the 90's era Honda Accord I passed on the way to work this morning, I suggest maybe it's time to think about growing up. Just sayin'.
Well, guess what happened. I grew up. Now, I won't lie. I still admire stuffed animals. I enjoy buying them as gifts for kids. I still might display the occasional holiday-themed teddy bear for a month or two. And I won't ask my mom what she did with all of my stuffed animals from 1907 Independence Ct. because, frankly, I just don't want to know. It makes me a little sad to think about their fate. But I'll tell you what I won't do. I will not, not in 100 years, display a collection of ten or so stuffed animals in the rear window of my car. No sir. Tacky, tacky, tacky.
To the woman in the 90's era Honda Accord I passed on the way to work this morning, I suggest maybe it's time to think about growing up. Just sayin'.
Wow on the David's Bridal
So this past weekend, I helped a client of mine pick out her wedding dress. Maybe I should preface this story by saying I only have one client because I am thinking about "moonlighting" as a stylist. I started working with her in Fall of 2007 - she was a 30 year old woman that worked in a law firm, lost a TON of weight and still dressed like she was in college. She was all ears when I appeared on her doorstep to clean out her closet. We got rid of A LOT of "frumpy" clothes (she went from a size 10 to a size 4) and I showed her some basic techniques to look more professional at the office.
I had set her on her way with a few new basic pieces and some great shoes and I got occasional updates about her wardrobe from Amanda, who works in the same office, and it seemed like she was well on her way.
Well - she contacted me last week to see if I could accompany her to David's Bridal to pick out a wedding dress (she's getting married in June). I thought she had one already, when we met, but it turns out that her Mom helped her pick it out and she just didn't like it anymore. Understandable as tastes change. When I arrived at David's Bridal, she was already in the dressing room with two dresses hanging up. Apparently, she had spent the previous weekend at another David's Bridal with a co-worker and they looked at and tried on 25-50 dresses (the count varies depending on who you ask). My job was easy because I only had to look at five.
The first one was a discontinued dress that her Mom picked out for her. Apparently, her Mom went online and saw the dress on the David's Bridal website and thought that this dress was fancy enough for her wedding and thought it would look great on her. This is the same Mom that buys her daughter clothes from TJMaxx/Marshalls in size Medium and Large even though she has told her Mom countless times that she lost weight. When my client tried on the dress her Mom picked out for her, the first things out of my mouth were, 'You look like a cake.' It's not so much what I think, however, but it's how the bride feels in the dress she's in and she wasn't feeling it -I could read it in her face. So that was a no-go. And bottom line - the client's Mom has bad taste!
The second dress was a dress that was simple yet sophisticated. Not a lot of beading, not a lot of fuss - when she put it on, her face didn't light up - but I think she viewed it more as a 'safe' dress. Then she goes on to tell me that one of the girls in her wedding party wore the same dress for her wedding in October 2007. This is when I proceeded to tell the sales girl to take the dress back. That is a 'no-no.' It would be "slightly" different had her friend not been in the wedding party but the fact that she is in the wedding party just automatically throws it back into "gen-pop." She'll find another dress!
The third dress is probably every girl's fantasy dress - intricately beaded bodice with layers upon layers of tulle poofed out to make you feel like a fairy princess. This made my client's face light up - she was giddy - I could totally read it in her face. The fact that she's a size 4 didn't hurt any because all the dresses looked great on her - but she looked wonderful and I think she felt that way too. So this dress automatically made it to the final rounds.
The next dress, admittedly, was not my favorite at first, but she put it on and a compared it with the picture in the catalog. In the catalog, they accessorize the dress with a colored sash (I'm thinking to match your wedding party). When I asked her where the wedding party dresses came from, she said 'David's Bridal.' When I asked her what color they were, she said that it was almost like a hot pink but it's called watermelon. Well, hot damn because that's one of my favorite colors....so I grabbed the sash and instead of tying it like they did in the catalog picture, I tied it around her waist and made a pretty bow off to her right and let long strands of sash ribbon fall down the dress. It was gorgeous and that's what made the dress for me. She said that her mother would have a heart attack - the idea of wearing anything other than white in her wedding attire, is my guess. But I told her that she could compromise - she could wear the dress alone for the ceremony, which lasts for all of 20 minutes, and then for the reception, she could put on the sash for that extra kick...and we both thought that was a great idea! So this made it to the final round.
The last dress was just one I picked out because I'm preferable to empire waists but she has such a great figure that she shouldn't have to show it off - so we nixed my choice.
So the final two - poofy princess or traditional with a kick. Long story short, she went with traditional with a kick. Although she loved poofy princess, it was a little too poofy and I found out her wedding is an evening garden wedding. Had it been an afternoon garden wedding, I think I would've pushed the poofy princess, but since it was an evening ceremony and an evening reception, I think she ultimately made the right decision and I'm super happy for her.
I have to say that I went into the David's Bridal trip with some skepticism because five years ago, when I was getting married, I had heard of other brides with bad experiences at David's Bridal - the beading was shoddy, straps came loose the day of, etc. So when I went to go try on a dress, I pretty much avoided David's Bridal....but I did end up buying my tiara and veil there. And I kind of thought David's Bridal was like the 'ABS' of wedding dresses...but now, their dresses are priced just as much as regular, designer wedding dresses and they have some really pretty ones there - ones that in hindsight, I wish they had when it was my turn.
So I'm endorsing David's Bridal - dresses range in prices from $300 through $900 (from what we saw) and they're always having sales...where they get you is the extras - bras, shoes, veil, tiara, etc. Our sales person was EXTREMELY helpful and patient and even paid me a compliment, when it was all over, for how honest I was and how it was nice that my client had someone like me that could help her like this.....cause apparently, you wouldn't believe the shit that some family members put their sisters/daughters into. Anyways - worth a trip if you're in the market and bring an honest friend.
I had set her on her way with a few new basic pieces and some great shoes and I got occasional updates about her wardrobe from Amanda, who works in the same office, and it seemed like she was well on her way.
Well - she contacted me last week to see if I could accompany her to David's Bridal to pick out a wedding dress (she's getting married in June). I thought she had one already, when we met, but it turns out that her Mom helped her pick it out and she just didn't like it anymore. Understandable as tastes change. When I arrived at David's Bridal, she was already in the dressing room with two dresses hanging up. Apparently, she had spent the previous weekend at another David's Bridal with a co-worker and they looked at and tried on 25-50 dresses (the count varies depending on who you ask). My job was easy because I only had to look at five.
The first one was a discontinued dress that her Mom picked out for her. Apparently, her Mom went online and saw the dress on the David's Bridal website and thought that this dress was fancy enough for her wedding and thought it would look great on her. This is the same Mom that buys her daughter clothes from TJMaxx/Marshalls in size Medium and Large even though she has told her Mom countless times that she lost weight. When my client tried on the dress her Mom picked out for her, the first things out of my mouth were, 'You look like a cake.' It's not so much what I think, however, but it's how the bride feels in the dress she's in and she wasn't feeling it -I could read it in her face. So that was a no-go. And bottom line - the client's Mom has bad taste!
The second dress was a dress that was simple yet sophisticated. Not a lot of beading, not a lot of fuss - when she put it on, her face didn't light up - but I think she viewed it more as a 'safe' dress. Then she goes on to tell me that one of the girls in her wedding party wore the same dress for her wedding in October 2007. This is when I proceeded to tell the sales girl to take the dress back. That is a 'no-no.' It would be "slightly" different had her friend not been in the wedding party but the fact that she is in the wedding party just automatically throws it back into "gen-pop." She'll find another dress!
The third dress is probably every girl's fantasy dress - intricately beaded bodice with layers upon layers of tulle poofed out to make you feel like a fairy princess. This made my client's face light up - she was giddy - I could totally read it in her face. The fact that she's a size 4 didn't hurt any because all the dresses looked great on her - but she looked wonderful and I think she felt that way too. So this dress automatically made it to the final rounds.
The next dress, admittedly, was not my favorite at first, but she put it on and a compared it with the picture in the catalog. In the catalog, they accessorize the dress with a colored sash (I'm thinking to match your wedding party). When I asked her where the wedding party dresses came from, she said 'David's Bridal.' When I asked her what color they were, she said that it was almost like a hot pink but it's called watermelon. Well, hot damn because that's one of my favorite colors....so I grabbed the sash and instead of tying it like they did in the catalog picture, I tied it around her waist and made a pretty bow off to her right and let long strands of sash ribbon fall down the dress. It was gorgeous and that's what made the dress for me. She said that her mother would have a heart attack - the idea of wearing anything other than white in her wedding attire, is my guess. But I told her that she could compromise - she could wear the dress alone for the ceremony, which lasts for all of 20 minutes, and then for the reception, she could put on the sash for that extra kick...and we both thought that was a great idea! So this made it to the final round.
The last dress was just one I picked out because I'm preferable to empire waists but she has such a great figure that she shouldn't have to show it off - so we nixed my choice.
So the final two - poofy princess or traditional with a kick. Long story short, she went with traditional with a kick. Although she loved poofy princess, it was a little too poofy and I found out her wedding is an evening garden wedding. Had it been an afternoon garden wedding, I think I would've pushed the poofy princess, but since it was an evening ceremony and an evening reception, I think she ultimately made the right decision and I'm super happy for her.
I have to say that I went into the David's Bridal trip with some skepticism because five years ago, when I was getting married, I had heard of other brides with bad experiences at David's Bridal - the beading was shoddy, straps came loose the day of, etc. So when I went to go try on a dress, I pretty much avoided David's Bridal....but I did end up buying my tiara and veil there. And I kind of thought David's Bridal was like the 'ABS' of wedding dresses...but now, their dresses are priced just as much as regular, designer wedding dresses and they have some really pretty ones there - ones that in hindsight, I wish they had when it was my turn.
So I'm endorsing David's Bridal - dresses range in prices from $300 through $900 (from what we saw) and they're always having sales...where they get you is the extras - bras, shoes, veil, tiara, etc. Our sales person was EXTREMELY helpful and patient and even paid me a compliment, when it was all over, for how honest I was and how it was nice that my client had someone like me that could help her like this.....cause apparently, you wouldn't believe the shit that some family members put their sisters/daughters into. Anyways - worth a trip if you're in the market and bring an honest friend.
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