I had to find the perfect dress.

You might remember that my niece is getting married – and since we haven’t had a wedding in the family since my little sister’s (which was about 17 years ago) – this is big stuff!

Normally – I’m a cotton skirt and blouse kind of gal – but I like to have a nice dress for those few occasions – like weddings – that call for them.

The only problem is – the last time I needed to dress up I was several sizes bigger than I am right now.

So it was time for a new dress. 🙂

Easier said than done.

I started my hunt at my favorite thrift stores because I am basically cheap and can’t imagine spending full price for a dress that I will wear just a few times. I could feed my family of seven for a week on what some of those dresses cost!

But I found there wasn’t much selection in my size – or any size.

One looked like something my Grandma would wear.

My niece said another looked like an Easter basket.

One was such a slinky material that my behind jiggled when I walked. I know this for a fact because my sister said so! I love you B! 🙂

I tried 2 dresses on at the Nifty Thrifty. Silly me. I’m not really sure what I was thinking – they were sheath-like dresses that really tall and skinny people wear. (I am neither – I have lots of curves – especially where I sit!). I got one over my head and it got stuck. Really stuck.

I’m claustrophobic and went into a near panic because I couldn’t get it to move. I debated on whether to call out to my husband to rescue me – which would have caused quite a scene! Or just get the scissors out of my purse and cut myself out – then I would buy the dress and try to explain to my husband on the way home.

I did neither. I took a deep breath and with a little more wiggling I got the dress off. No. more. sheaths. No. more.

I figured my best bet was The 17th Street Consignment Store. But after looking through the dress racks t least 5 times, I had come up short. I tried 3 dresses on. Although I didn’t get stuck, they still didn’t work.

One showed too much cleavage.

The print of another was just way too loud.

And the third one was to tight in all the wrong places. It screamed “Hello – this woman loves mashed potatoes with butter!”

I was on my way out the door empty-handed when I saw it.

It was on display in the front of the store in plain sight. How had I missed it before?!

I fingered the material and checked the size.

My husband – who was trying to hurry me out the door – saw me and said, “Go ahead and try it on – I’ll wait.”

Seriously. He said that.

So I tried it on.

It fit.

I turned around in front of the mirrors – not bad. The color was nice – not to muted and not to bold. It was fitted, but not too tight.

I stepped out of the dressing room to see what Jan thought. He smiled. The lady behind the counter smiled and said it looked good. She also added that it was a very expensive dress – from Coldwater Creek no less!

And the price was just $10.

Sold.

But wait – there’s more!

Since this was a consignment store and the last time we visited I had left several boxes of things to consign – we had $15 of credit waiting for us.

I not only got the dress for free – they actually paid me $5 to buy it!:)

It was a happy day people, a happy day!