Day 232. 133 days and $132 left togo.
Bridesmaid Week!!
Day Seven of Bridesmaid Week begins here…
My guess for the wedding song today‚Ķ”Here Comes the Bride”!! Decided to end the week with a little treat. That’s right, working a wedding dress today!!
Day 232 - Before
You may be shocked, but I found this piece for one dollar. I know, it pained me to find it in a pile of other tossaways, but when I saw the one-armed dress I just had to have it. I began to think of who had this before me. Who actually walked down an aisle in this. Who toasted with their friends and danced their first dance in this. It wasn’t the girl below in white…
Whew!! I could have been wearing a hat too!!
…but perhaps one of the other lasses. There was something magical thinking about what the dress saw in its other life, and something even more magical knowing that I was going to bring it back out in public.
Since I’m not getting married (ps, thanks for the cute comments that perhaps I may be getting hitched…not yet friends. “I’m saving myself for Luke Perry.”) I can’t keep this white. It’s dye time!! I took a box of RIT’s mint green dye and poured the entire thing into my washing machine and then added the dress.
Dye + Washing Machine = Easy & Awesome
After a wash and dry, the piece came out a lovely and subtle shade of celery!! (Colors that are also kinds of food make me happy. Chocolate, melon, coffee…I could live on these three. If only sushi was a color too). I first got to taking off the one arm.
Getting rid of the solo sleeve!
We’re going sleeveless today!
And it's gone...
I began cutting of some of the lace appliques off of the sleeve.
Trimming lace appliques from the sleeve!
These are going to come in handy to do a little bit of hiding.
Gotta hide!!
Hiding some of the bits of fabric that came out turquoise, which happened to be under both of the arms. I began pinning on top of the turquoise areas.
Camouflage time!
You can’t even tell anymore! Next I used some of those appliques to add to the side of the bodice. I thought these would be pretty extra bits of flare.
Extra little detail on the side!
Next came the length and the train. I didn’t want the gown to drag in the dirt or get stepped on, so it was getting shortened!!
Can't believe I just cut this dress!!
After some last-minute hand stitching and tacking down the bits of lace that were not laying flat the dress was ready to be worn.
Stitching down the final details!
I’m not headed to a traditional chapel in my dress, but to the Hollywood Bowl which is one of the most beautiful places in the city to kick back and listen to amazing music, drink amazing wine, and meditate like no other (when the music isn’t actually playing).
The Bowl!!
It’s a little Swell Season (the amazing duo from Once) mixed with She & Him tonight on the bill…but not before a little pre-show meeting with the gang.
Day 232 - After
We chatted but most importantly, we ate!
Ooh, the spread...
Pork tacos, pesto pasta salad, turkey pastrami sandwiches = Yum Town USA!!!
The lace detailing was my favorite part of the dress…and I loved how the back was relatively sheer. At this point, I’m sitting mostly because I can’t move due to the food coma.
From the back!!
Ooh, and my gal Lady M came out for a visit too. Clearly I called her and consulted on the matching outfits. She was rocking some amazing harem pants too – she’s totally the littlest fashionista.
Lady M!
And, as we trekked up the hilly pathways to get to our seats in the upper, upper, upper, upper deck, I ran into ML who so graciously let me know what a fan she was!!
Heart ML! (and it's not just because we have the same initials!)
Clearly we took a pic – I stole her away from her lovely hubby for a minute to snap this and my night was made before the show even began.
My group of 15 climbed to our seats, broke out some vino and bopped our heads as Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward sang.
The little blue speck on stage is Zooey...
The Swell Season followed and sang us into the dark of the night. The most lovely of Sunday evenings!!
Ooh, and I had to bring it along, but this month’s BUST has both Zooey and M on the cover. Also, you can find yours truly on page 43 
It’s like a six degrees of Kevin Bacon deal and there is just one degree between us all.
I'm Busted!! (on page 43...)
Yay for Bridesmaid Week!! To celebrate the conclusion, I’ve put together a little “survival kit” complete with the fab book, You Can Wear It Again, chock full of some of the most heinous bridesmaid dresses, a garter, a little bit of champagne and something that will be crafted from the leftover sleeve.
Bridesmaid Survival Kit
Leave a comment below and I’ll pick a winner via random.org on Friday, 7/23!! I don’t discriminate, so no matter where you are (US/Australia/North Pole) I’ll send it out your way.
Cue rice getting thrown into the air!!
