A Shopping Miracle. . .

Total cheesecake. . . lol

Ahhhhhh!! It's here!! My shopping miracle dress arrived tonight. Meanwhile, I'd been at Boot Camp, so I actually showered and reapplied makeup just to be worthy of trying on this dress! This is a dress that I was stalking for quite a while, and I can hardly believe my luck in finding it!

This affair began on March 7th, when I first found this dress during a trip to Lord & Taylor with fellow bandster and friend, Tracy. At the time, I thought it was by Cynthia Steffe, but it's actually a Kay Unger. When I first tried it on, the 10 was a bit too tight. I went back to try it again when my mom was visiting, but just couldn't justify the purchase. THEN, I went back two weekends ago to find it, and the dress was on the clearance rack for $100 less than the original price. BUT, there was no 10 in sight. I even got on the floor and looked under the racks (tons of dresses down there). . we even checked the fitting rooms -- agh! No 10s! The next closest size was a 6, and . . well, there is no way that was happening. . . !

Then the quest began in earnest. I had Lord & Taylor check all other stores. Not a 10 to be found. I then called three other L&Ts because I wasn't convinced the person in NYC checked all of their stores. I got my shopper at Saks involved. . but they don't carry the dress. I searched all over the Internet, but only could find it at Neiman's, and they didn't have my size on-line. So, I called Neiman's. . they said they MIGHT have one in California. But, they called and it was gone. (OMG, this story is so long. . are you still awake?!? I swear, it gets slightly more interesting in a sec. . . hang in there!!)

Cut to me stalking the NM website every single day until. . . last week, a 10 miraculously appeared on the site. Now, here's the weird part. . . Marjorie and I had been joking (er, but we weren't really joking) that if I found the dress, that would be God's way of telling me to attend Jessica & Chris's wedding. Yes, that's the dress I was planning to wear (and hopefully give PP trauma!). BUT, the dress did not actually appear until . . . (insert Twilight Zone music. . ) . . . the very morning AFTER I bowed out of the wedding!

So, I guess God wanted me to have it after all. . but just not to go to the wedding. ;) And, God was so great as to give me an even better deal than at L&T. I got the dress for more than $150 off the original price at L&T. Thank God! Literally. :)

And, it just occurred to me what the very best part of this whole story is. I actually like shopping again. I get excited about putting on a pretty dress now, rather than dread it. I'm not afraid to try to zip it up, put on some heels and face friends and strangers, and I no longer stress out, wondering if they will think I look fat and/or fatter than I did the last time they saw me. Being free from that is such an amazing feeling, and I'd gladly give up this dress a hundred times over to keep that feeling! (Not to mention that I can actually wear heels all night now without my feet hurting to the point that it ruins half the fun.) I think about these kinds of things a lot, and I am overwhelmed by how grateful I feel to have been able to be banded and to make this work. I'm also very grateful for all of your support and friendship, which has been (and continues to be) a huge source of comfort, encouragement and inspiration for me.