Ball recap

I don't know if you guys heard, but I went to a ball this weekend! (Heh.)

Yes, I did make it, and I did not infect the entire population with my nasty pneumonia. I had a great time, really all day. I started off with a mani-pedi at my favorite corner salon; I tried the no-chip manicure which was pretty cool even though I didn't love the color. You can't use regular colors so I had OPI's Chick Flick Cherry on my toes and a pinker red on my hand.

After the manicure I wandered over the consignment store in the same plaza, and absolutely fell in LOVE with a pretty cuff. Burnished gold, black stones and rhinestones -- something about it just worked perfectly with the dress. So I did end up listening to Angie, Sheila and Laura, and went with a cuff and earrings instead of a necklace. Who knew?

Red no-chip nails:


Cherry toes:


I would rather have had the darker cherry red on my hands. Boy, that is going to bug me!

I also seem to be incapable of taking a clear photo of the jewelry. This is my third attempt!





Anyway, then it was a quick pitstop at Von Maur where I picked up the Prissy Naturalizers -- the same black shorter-heel shoes I had before -- in a half-size bigger. So smart, they were much better that way.

Then it was off to my hair salon, where I got my hair styled and blown out. I didn't go for a fancy style, just my regular style but done corretly and bigger. I LOVED it -- it lasted two days!

My last stop before heading downtown was the Laura Mercier makeup counter at Nordstrom. I needed help with my eyes and I wanted a new lipstick. The girl did a spectacular job on my eyes and sold me on their new eyeliner thingie (Tightline Cake Eyeliner). It's like watercolor paint; you dip the straight brush in water, dampen the color pot with the brush tip and then line your eyes. It works perfectly; I have done it myself for the last two days and it's been totally smudge-proof. Damn.

I also found a great light pink-brown color for my lips; we were looking at reds at first, but finally I said, "My mouth is too small and my lips are too thin for red. A bright color like that just makes my mouth look so small!!" It was a revelation for me; I never can find the right strong lip color and now I know why. But the pink-brown tone makes my mouth look so much prettier. Bingo! It was Brown Sugar from their Stickgloss line.

Then it was off to the big city. My girlfriend and I were sharing a room, so we spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready and catching up on life. We headed out for a pre-party at 5pm then it was off to the reception, and then dinner, and then entertainment, and then finally a martini bar and some dancing.

The entertainment started off very strangely, with these cocooned dancers doing some bizarre interpretive piece. Now, our logo is a butterfly, and the name of the ball is the Butterfly Ball, but still. We are a Catholic healthcare organization; the cardinal was there. And a lot of nuns!



It was pretty, though.



Later dancers were a little more traditional; one couple did a stunning acrobatic act. The last bit was set to Katy Perry's Firework, and they passed out lighted flickering butterfly wands to all of us. I am going to annoy my co-workers with it for weeks.



Then they shot confetti out of a cannon 20 feet away from us. HA! (The look on my tablemate's face is priceless. She has no idea in that moment what is about to rain down on her head.)



And that was that.

Oh, right! Guess what I forgot to do?

TAKE PICTURES.

Seriously. I forgot to get any good pictures of myself. I did have my girlfriend get one shot of me before we left the room. Here was the final outfit!



I had a great time.

Details:
Dress: Adrianna Papell, Lord & Taylor
Jewelry: consignment store
Shoes: Prissy Naturalizers, Von Maur
Bag: Tasha evening bag, Nordstrom

Sunday was my birthday. We woke up and ordered pancakes from room service, then headed home. I was exhausted from everything the day before, plus having pneumonia, so I stayed home and lazed about. But I bought a cupcake to celebrate!



LOL!

Drive-by!

Hello, I am here! I did go to the ball, and I did have a marvelous time! The photo post will have to wait until tonight or tomorrow; I spent most of yesterday resting and trying to gear up for heading back to work, and I'm not gonna lie, I am still pretty beat.

Also, it was my birthday yesterday. It was a nice, quiet one after a big day beforehand. And that was just fine by me. :)

But I did not forget you guys! I'll be back with more to tell later. Hang tight!

Last-minute Ball Gown Options

Here I am, ready for the ball!



Okay, maybe I am just ready for the preparations for the ball. (Isn't that sweater adorable? Just got it on sale at LOFT during their 40% off sale prices sale. Love the color and how cozy it is.)

I am still wavering on attending -- heading out to get my nails painted cherry red so I will decide after that -- but I've been trying on all my options for accessories for the gown this morning. Internet, dress me!

Selection #1: SHOES

These gorgeous, but perhaps too tall BP Twirls:



Or these more serviceable, correct-height Naturalizers:



I am leaning toward the Naturalizers as the height feels more appropriate and they are more comfortable. But damn, those Twirls are hot.

Selection #2 NECKLACES

I heard your suggestions for dangly earrings and a cuff, but I wasn't too keen on the idea (my ears have enough crap going on with them between my glasses and my hearing aids so I don't like to draw attention to them), and I was too sick these week to do any jewelry-shopping anyway. So we are choosing between pieces I already own.

Pearls, worn long and knotted once:



Pearls, worn higher-up and triple-knotted:



Gold shiny necklace at neck:



Selection #3: Bags

Pretty all-gold soft bag from friend, or new hard-case black-and-gold sparkly bag from Nordstrom:





What do you guys think?
#1: SHOES
#2: Necklaces
#3: Bags

I am leaning toward the Naturalizers, pearls up at neck, and the all-gold bag. But I am bringing all with me, and I may stop at the little consignment store next to the nail salon right now to see if they have anything else that cries out to me. A lot will depend on my hair and makeup when that is all done.

So now I am headed out for:
-mani-pedi in OPI Flick Chick Cherry Red
-perusing the consignment store for last minute inspiration
-possible stop at Von Maur to see if they have the same Naturalizers a half-size bigger
-1pm style and blowout
-possible stop at Nordstrom to the Laura Mercier counter for some makeup assistance
-off to the ball!

Or, I may just have the mani-pedi and come home and collapse in defeat from pneumonia. Cross your fingers it's not that!

Ball Gown Update

While we are all watching the Oscars tonight, I thought I would put together my ball gown update.



Yeah. I found my dress.



I pretty much knew in the dressing room this was the one. I've tried on about another half-dozen since, from flowing Grecian-styles to bedazzled sequins 1970s looks to one amazing Tadashi number which looked like it could be worn on the red carpet at the Oscars (also too small). But none of them beat this Adrianna Papell. Despite all the lousy pictures, it really does fit amazingly well, is slimming while also form-fitting, and is sexy without being slutty. Plus it's black without being black on top and draining all the color out of my face; if anything, the nude fabric under the black lace allows me to warm the whole look up with gold accessories. Like this Banana Republic necklace, which will get a chance to be worn with a fancy outfit instead of my everyday ones that I usually wear it with.



So the necklace is out of the way, but what about shoes? I have two party sandals already, one in a pale gold and a strappy black. See?



The pale gold won't work, and truthfully the black ones are not very comfortable. So finding a new pair of black strappy shoes is essential. The dress is a little short on me, so I need a smaller heel than usual. A sky-high will only make the dress look too short. Faux pas!

DSW has an Audrey Brooke Kristin sandal which is a contender. (No pic because DSW's website is the WORST at linking photos.)

But I really like this BP Platinum Twirl from Nordstrom. The t-strap idea is very appealing with this particular dress. The height might be too much though.

Of course, I need a bag. A sparkly gold evening bag. I like the hard ones, but I am open to a different shape. This Tasha from Nordstroms is pretty.

Even a simple one like this other Tasha is a possibility.

My girlfriend J might have one I can borrow too. So I am keeping my options open.

One critical item I need to make the outfit complete is shapewear. I probably could get away without it on the bottom half -- the shutter pleats of the dress are remarkable at slimming and framing even my dupa nicely -- but I would prefer not to be so boobalicious at a company party. I went for a new bra fitting on Saturday, but wearing the new one under the dress made me notice finally that my bra peeks our quite a bit from the armholes. I think my other bra had a smaller band so it was less noticeable. Still, I need to fix that.

Enter shapewear. I am thinking about trying a Miraclesuit. That one doesn't seem too painful, unlike this strapless number, or this ugly Assets one.

But my last accessory will be my new glasses. Voila!





This is my new everyday pair. I need to replace the smaller dark Liz Lemons, but I didn't want to go crazy on the color or shape. I have my turquoise ones for that! I also got the news from my optometrist that it is time for reading glasses. Not interested in progressive lenses (at least not now) so I am having my chunkier brown glasses converted to reading ones. They didn't get much wear anyway so this should be perfect.


The ball checklist:
Dress, done.
Necklace, done.
Glasses, done.
Shoes, need to find, but can live with black ones I have if needed.
Bag, need to find.
Undergarment, need to find.
Hotel room, booked.
Hair color, will be making appointment this week.
Hair styling, will have appointment that day for a blowout.
Makeup...pray for me. ;-D

Stripes and Purple

As I just posted over on Facebook, I finally got caught up with all the major projects I was behind on at work. Such a burden off my shoulders! There are still many new ones looming on the horizon, and a lot of little ones to bang out, but I feel for the first time in months that I have a little breathing room. I'm going to use it to prepare some things in advance (such a novelty for me, I've been prepping for meetings and training sessions minutes before I walk into them), and to train my new people with a little more in-depth knowledge instead of the seat-of-the-pants stuff I've been showing them.

Anyway, I thought I would also scoot in here and show you what I've been wearing lately. I've done a really good job of filling in my wardrobe holes and cleaning my closet to the point where the things hanging in it at arm's reach are all things that fit and that go together. I know this to be true because my dressing time has gone from 45 minutes to 15; I'm still having fun putting together new and/or interesting combinations, but it doesn't take as long to do it as it did this summer.


Friday


I just love this striped top from Ross that I picked up in Tucson. It reminds me of my cousin's daughter, who is a really nice kid and a lot of fun to be around. Plus it's cute, and versatile. I paired it with a purple Loft layering tee and my AT Factory short-sleeved black sweater, and gray Gap modern bootcuts. This was a training day for me, on my feet at the front of the class, so I wore my black clogs from Dillards. The necklace is a Christmas gift from my sister, one of the Lia Sophia's. Thanks, K!



So comfortable! That night, Hubby and I drove down to Joliet for an acoustic concert from John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett. It was amazing. And the outfit was so versatile all I needed to do was change into jeans and I was ready for a casual night out.

Monday


It wasn't until I loaded the photos onto my Mac that I realized I wore a variation of stripes and purple again the next work day. Whoops! But it's still a bit different; the sweater is my striped cascading cardigan from White House Black Market (a Christmas gift from my mom), and the top is a sleeveless draped neck in eggplant from the Gap. The pants are also Gap, the skinny dress pants, and the boots are Naturalizer Bates. And of course, my beloved pocketwatch fob necklace. I switched in the turquoise glasses just for fun.

I've got a couple other photos on the camera this week so I'll be posting those too. I promise, I stopped wearing stripes after Monday!

++++++

A couple of the ball gowns are on order from Nordstrom, so we shall see what happens with those! I've also got plans to hit the local mall with my friend Jessie this weekend, so maybe something will turn up there too. I'll post photos as I keep on looking!

Thanks for all the input on the dresses; as Lorena put it so succinctly, I am going to "SKIP DILLARDS, they were like dresses from another era." LOL! True, true. And YLF had a few more suggestions too; thanks, ladies!

I am going to a ball!

I will be attending my first-ever ball next month, a charity event for my hospital organization. It's a very big deal, held in a downtown hotel and attended by all the execs and even the Cardinal. Apparently true full-length ball gowns are worn. They are not fooling around!

So, of course, I need a dress. Yesterday afternoon I spent a few hours with some girlfriends (waves to Jessie and Kate) trying some on; the pictures didn't come out well, but there was a long cornflower-blue sleeveless empire waist one from Patra at Lord & Taylor (no link available) that was the top option. But I am leery of sleeveless in March, so I wanted to look online too. So far this one is my second favorite, another Patra from Nordstroms. (option 1)

Look at that back! I die.

Kyle over at YLF recommended I look at the Tadashi brand. All I found for larger sizes was this exquisite assymetrical neck chiffon gown at Neiman Marcus (option 2), and the 16 is probably too small anyway. But isn't it so pretty?

-Nordstroms had this Adrianna Papiel (option 3) that is similar to the Patra I tried on. I would go for it in navy. Seeing a theme? Me too -- black is too harsh on me, and navy appears to be the color of the ball gown season!


Dillards had a few options, too, if I want to go safer/conservative/boring:

4. Jkara Beaded Chiffon (the beaded wrap top reminds me of Charlie's Angels, which is trendy again, right? 70s!)

5. KM Collections Beaded Lace Jacket Dress (the eggplant is so pretty, and I could ditch the jacket if it too matronly)


6. Alex Evenings Woman Mesh Gown (This one is closest to the Patra I tried on, and I like the cap sleeves better on this one.)


Some random options from New York Apparel (never heard of 'em):

7. Alex Evening purple column sheath (love the color, love the idea of a matching shawl. But the shape might be too fitted for me.)

8. Alex Evenings 3/4 sleeve criss-cross georgette dress (Zzzzz, boring. The waist is pretty, and I would like to cover my arms, but black is not flattering on me.)


9. Cachet Matte Jersey Dress with Beaded Detail (Also one that looks like the Patra. Hmm.)


I also have some option put aside if I find out the dress code includes shorter cocktail style dresses.

10. Adrianna Papell rosette applique dress. (So, so pretty on. Loved the floral skirt!)

11. Adrianna Papell lace bodice banded dress (Jessie tried this one on, and she was smokin' in it.)

I am going to hit my local mall this week/weekend and see if I can see any of these in the stores, otherwise I think I am going to order #1, 5, 6, and 9, and see what works. Once I settle on a dress, then it will be onto undergarments, bags, and shoes. Whee!

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery? :) Any of these sticking out for you more than others?