This past week was UT's Spring Break. Being a grad student, I did not have the luxury of having the week off. Monday was a slaughterhouse day, collecting udders for an upcoming 320 lab. Wednesday, Kim and I drove to a slaughterhouse in Gaffney, SC (3 hours) and back to get ovaries and pituitaries. That was an incredibly long, tiring trip, but we finally made it. Mom was also traveling that day to come here. She arrived around dinner time and we went to Calhoun's for dinner, followed by a Wal-Mart run. Thursday, I had to get up early again and make another Bean Station udder run. I don't recall being that physically tired in a long time and am still recovering from it. Mom met me at JARTU around 5 and we went to the barn to lunge Essau. I cooked dinner for us (feta chicken, green beans, and rolls) and then we just took it easy that evening.
Friday, she came with me to the lab where I gave her a tour, did some chores, and watched Kim practice her seminar for a few hours. We left around lunch time to eat at an amazing deli called Trio in Market Square downtown. We then had real Italian gelato/sorbetto from Coolato, which was incredible. They have different flavors every day and the flavor I had (Italian lemon something) was the best one yet. YUM! I had an appointment at a bridal salon at 2:30, but we had some time to kill so we went into Mast General Store, and a few other stores in Market Square before heading out.
We arrived at the bridal salon a bit early for my very first dress experience. The girls were very nice, but I was surprised when they said "just look around, see what you want, and you can try it on." I guess "Say Yes to the Dress" has me spoiled a bit because I thought I would at least have someone helping me figure out what it was I wanted. I tried on about 5 gowns there. They were all very nice, but not what I was looking for. Mom and I decided to go to their "sister" store in Jacksboro, TN that had a larger selection. We punched the address into Carmen (my GPS) and headed down the road. After exiting off the highway, we were taken off the road a bit. We started passing little farms, winding on little country roads, and were getting more and more into the absolute middle of nowhere. When we finally heard "arriving at destination, on right" I was certain we were in the completely wrong place. I called the store and asked where they were located. "Oh we're just past the Wal-Mart". Wouldn't you know. After a good laugh, we eventually found the place!
This store had many more dresses and I tried on 8. They were all so very similar, however, which was not helping me to find what I was looking for. After the 5 from the other store, it was pretty obvious that this style was not for me. I was a bit annoyed with their lack of variety, but much more confident of the style I was going for, so we decided to stop by David's Bridal on the way home. It was about 5:30 PM when we arrived. I met my consultant, Heather, and we got started! I told her what sorts of styles I was looking for and she picked out a few for me to try. I happened to see one that caught my eye hanging on the rack and took it to the dressing area to add to the stack. It was the first one I tried on and I LOVED it. Everything about it was flattering and I did not have anything negative to say! I tried on about 6 more afterwards, but kept comparing them back to the first. After narrowing it down to my top two, I put number one back on and didn't want to take it off. We played with accessories a little bit and finally rang the bell (a David's tradition when you "say yes"). I am so excited about it. It is not at all the style I imagined when I used to think about getting married and what I might look like, but it is absolutely perfect for me! I'm not posting pictures anywhere, sorry! I also decided that since Justin has to wait until the big day to see it, I would make it fair and keep it a secret from the general public as well. But for the record, it is a hot pink silk gown with 4 large green flowers on the left shoulder, a huge purple bow on the back, and 6 layers of gold ruffles in the skirt. :)
After 6 hours of dress shopping, Mom and I had a much-deserved celebratory dinner at Olive Garden. This morning we had a big breakfast at a little coffee shop downtown called Pete's (as per my friend Emily's suggestion). We actually went back to David's today so I could look for a dress to wear as Jeannie's bridesmaid (she's my maid of honor...will be matron of honor). I found a really pretty spaghetti strap satin dress that I have ordered. It will be hot pink, her favorite :) Tonight we're making my amazing chili and then tomorrow will be church. I think she's enjoyed her time here and it's been really great to have company! Asher especially has enjoyed the extra attention!!
Justin and Tim should be arriving any moment in California where they'll be spending their Spring Break visiting his family, seeing California, and diving in the kelp forest. They have been working SO very hard and definitely deserve this break. I will get to see Justin in 2 weeks for a friend's wedding in Lake Lure, NC so that will be exciting! Only 6 more weeks of class until this semester is over...CRAZY! And Spring starts tomorrow! Yay!!
No comments:
Post a Comment