This is the dress. It comes in a variety of colors. The website says, "Modest Prom Special Occasion Dress with short cap sleeves. The waist is shirred and accented by a center cluster of beadwork. The T-length skirt is soft and flowing." People who know me think this picture looks like a dress I would wear. As the mother-of-the-bride. For a formal event.
The color I chose was "plum." Does this look plum to you? My daughter's wedding colors are a range of darker reds such as berries, fushia, etc. Also olive and moss green. But NOT purple. Purple purple purple. Am I crazy? This dress is SO PURPLE! Notice the "cluster of beadwork." Not. Those are cheap, tacky looking rhinestones. Also, the "soft and flowing" part don't apply. This dress is THICK, with a heavy lining, so there is NO flowing. It's also floor length, not with a pretty slightly higher hem, like the above picture. I thought that hemline would look nice on me, since I'm very tall with long legs. The hemline on this purple monster is heavy, crooked, and the front is not slightly raised, like the original picture. The dress is also very tight, which is unpleasant, and not acceptable for the entirety of a wedding reception. The measurements of the size I ordered should fit me perfectly. But nope. This dress would be a mess to have altered. Since it's not flowing, and doesn't resemble the picture, it would be a waste of money. Okay, it WAS a waste of money. This dress looks like a COSTUME, not a mother-of-the-bride dress on me.
Let's move on to another picture. This shows the dress with the slip it came with. The VERY FULL netting slip. The kind you wear with poufy prom or bridal dress. Also a view of the slip.
I tried very hard to make this picture pretty, by stuffing the bodice with tissue paper in all the right places, and fluffing out the skirt. Trying to make it look more promy. To pehaps sell it to make up for my loss. Can you SEE how uneven the hemline is? And that big clump of rhinestone just blinds me with tackiness.
Let's make this more fun! Here are the plum colored shoes I purchased to go with the dress. Don't they match so perfectly? And the nicest part is, the store I bought them from has a 30 day return for exchange or store credit policy. My daughter took them to be exchanged today (the 30 days are almost up). They said the shoes are scuffed, so I have worn them. Really? Cause I know I have LOTS of places I like to go wearing PLUM shoes... LOVE pink/plum whatever shoes. Really. Not.
But this wedding stuff is FUN! And on we go... and on we spend! Really, I'm super excited! Of course the suspense of what I'll actually wear is the FUNNEST!
What’s up with the latest TV plane crashes? Two favorite
finales ended with devastating scenes of mangled planes and death! Spoiler
alert, if you plan to watch either of these don’t read! Are these shows inspired by Lost, which was from the same
Network, ABC? Both Grey’s Anatomy
and Revenge delivered thrilling,
suspenseful finales. But how much can we take?
Grey’s Anatomy’s Meridith
Grey awakes from the plane crash to find devastation, and wonders WHERE Derek
is!!!
Drama from Arizona coughing up blood is mostly ignored,
while Cristina STABS the pilot in the leg to prove paralisis.
Surgeons are of course required to perform dirty, dangerous
procedures to save Derek’s hand and Mark’s heart that is pooling with blood.
When Merideth finds out her sister Lexie, or “Little
Grey” has died, she bawls like a bratty child throwing a tantrum – perhaps a bit overacted. Okay, but the sad
end of Lexie, too much? I say YES! Lexie is pinned under the plane and dies
quickly, but not until her heart’s desire, Mark tells her they’ll get married
and have children. REALLY? NOW? Bad bad bad choice!
Why not kill of whiney April, even though her affair with
best friend and hottie, Jackson was quite cute. Or Teddy, who’s drama over dead
husband Noel, I mean HENRY, has gone way too far. Her ongoing detest for
once-lover Owen is overkill! Yes, she’s beautiful, but her drama is too much!
(It doesn’t help that I’m also watching her be overdramatic in the 4th
season of 24.)
And can I just say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Cristina?!!!
Revenge’s twists
and turns keep us wanting MORE MORE MORE! But how can we go on, if Victoria,
the best villainess ever is actually dead, along with her friend and foe,
Lydia, after the “white haired man” sends their plane to sure destruction! And
her beautiful daughter and Emily’s secret-half sister, Charlotte dead from an overdose?
Emily finds herself sharing the tragic and tearful last
moments of the life of her childhood pet, now Jack’s loyal dog, which leads to
their much longed for make-out session! Emily is finally freed from Daniel, who
has become a real “Grayson,” taking on the secrets of his father and rejecting
his mother, when Emily breaks off their engagement for good. She’s ready to
profess her love to Jack, and reveal she’s the REAL Amanda, when the FAKE
Amanda shows up, presumably pregnant with Jack’s child. SAD!
But Nolan comes to
the rescue, when Emily thinks all the evidence against Grayson Global’s part in
the cover up and killing of her father has been destroyed in the plane wreck.
He has backed it all up to his own system, with a shocker. Emily’s MOM could
still be alive!
Okay, too many pretty and dramatic characters killed off
this show! Someone HAS to survive – hopefully Victoria Grayson, please???
Does this FACE not say YOU STILL NEED ME on this show? Perhaps Emily will end up with Nolan, which would be great, since he’s been her
loyal friend and fellow-conspirator all along. Nolan is quirky, somewhat nerdy,
extremely smart, not to mention successful and rich! Okay, I just think he’s
super cute!
Daniel/Jack/Nolan
These are not the only plane crash endings on finales this season. My husband and I have counted four that we've seen, but I'm particularly obsessed with these two, if it wasn't obvious.
Bring on the off-season reality love-in-the-wild, dancing/singing/juggling
and the other ridiculous things that entertain Sharon, Howie and Howard. Thank
goodness for Rookie Blue… I’d almost forgotten about you!
Please let me know what YOU plan to watch this summer!
When my daughter asked if I'd make her two garters for her upcoming wedding, like the pretty ones I used to make for my nieces (that was the 90s), I told her sure! After all, she's mine, she's beautiful and deserving! One garter to keep and one garter for the groom to "flip."
Back in the 90s when I'd take on the task of creating a niece's garter there was quite a lot involved. I'd shop at several fabric stores (there used to be so many) to find the right colors of both thick and very skinny satin ribbon in my nieces wedding colors. I also bought pretty lace that usually had the holes on one edge to show the ribbon through it. I also found tiny strands of pearls that came on rolls in matching colors. I added a chunky heart to the center of the garter the bride would keep in either silver or gold, depending on their tastes. Lots of work, but the end result was pretty.
Times and fabric stores have changed a bit. I searched around and found it hard finding satin ribbon in my daughter's colors, moss or olive green and raspberry, almost impossible it seemed, especially trying to find the thin ribbon. I found some pretty lace and looked and looked for a heart. I don't think they make the same kind now, but I did find a pretty heart with a celtic knot, which has meaning for my daugher (we have celtic ancestors). The tiny pearl on rolls had a small selection, so I didn't get that.
One day I thought I'd procrasted making them for long enough, so I got out my sewing machine and made myself create... I did have a thick moss colored satin ribbon, but the only thing that sort of matched was maroon, which isn't really the right color. The result just made me sad!
A couple of weeks later I was browsing wedding things in her colors and came across some really cute garters. This made me extra hate the ones I'd made!
These garters are some I found on etsy.
This morning out of frustration and wanting to flip the garters I'd made into the Grand Canyon, the landfill or at least someplace they'd never be seen by me again, I got out my sewing machine, bag full of ribon, and used two roses that are the same that are in the groom and miniature-best man's boutineers. I just had a bit of lace left, so used it for the "keeper," and sewed together the sheer ribbon I'd bought for mom's coursages. The result was two simple but pretty garters.
I'm so happy with the simple, but much prettier results. Maybe the first garter set is worth it, just so I can show the good and bad to make a point!
If you know me, or know me well, you might know that I was
obsessed with vamps LONG before Edward sparkled! Long, long ago when I was a little girl, vampires were SCARY. They were on Nightmare Theater or Friday Night Theater, late at night on Friday and Saturday nights. Even though I was a scaredy cat, or girl, I was very drawn to these wonderfully evil, bloodsucking creatures! When I was old enough (which was 8, by my mom's rules) I had sleep overs with my best friend. All of her very large family gathered around the TV and my friend and I snuggled in our sleeping bags to watch these scary/exciting/wonderful monsters. I LOVED them, even though sometimes I watched through the cracks of my fingers with my hands over my eyes. This was the 60s.
Another exciting thing about growing up when I did was the afternoon soap opera, Dark Shadows. I sometimes snuck and watched it at home, since my mom watched other soaps, and I'm sure she wouldn't have been okay with me watching this. But when I was at my best friends house we all watched. Barnabas Collins was scary cool!
As I grew up my fascination for scary bloodsuckers only intensified. I especially loved Halloween season when they'd show old black & white vampire movies - most were made before I was born. I loved the many versions of Dracula, and adored the dark scary castles and creepy stairways, plus the inevitable romance of the beautiful victims, which would over time ultimitely lead to them being turned for and eternal mate. Oh yes, that I loved!
In 1987 Lost Boys took over as the newest teen cult vampire flick, and
made us madly crazy over the scary but hot vampire played by Kiefer
Sutherland. I was by no means a teenager, but completely obsessed, as
were my very small kids! I rented Lost Boys over and over (yeah, the
good old days when you'd RENT movies on VCR).
As the years went by I enjoyed the newer versions of Dracula movies, and
there were many. Brahm Stoker's Dracula in 1992 was scary and amazing,
plus cute Keanu Reeves was great eye candy.
I sat in the movie theater with my husband and kids in 1998 watching John Carpenter's "Vampires," with a very manly James Woods leading a crew who were sponsored by the Vaticin to hunt and destroy the evil ones hiding in New Mexico farmhouses. An exceptionally scary but wonderful vampire in this movie and supposed projenitor of all vampires was Valek, played by Thomas Ian Griffith. Yummy evil!
I became completely HOOKED when I began reading Anne Rice's "Interview With The Vampire!" I loved Lestat and Louis both! When I heard that Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt would play them in the movie version, I inserted Brad Pitt as Lestat (since he was blond) and Tom Cruise as Louis ( Louis had brown hair). It was WEIRD when they made the movie and they had made Tom blond to play Lestat and Brad dark haired to play Louis. But I got used to them, and even though the movie made so many mistakes with Anne Rice's vampires, I loved it anyway! It was SCARY, romatic, and I loved how Anne Rice wrote her novels to include historical facts into her fiction. I also LOVED Antonio Banderas as Armand and the darling Kirsten Dunst as child vampire Claudia. I've never grown tired of watching it.
Of course I went on to read "The Vampire Lestat, "The Queen of the Damned," "The Tale of the Body Thief," "Memnock the Devil," "The Vampire Armand," "Merrick," "Blood and Gold," "Blackwood Farm," and "Blood Canticle." It was sad that Anne Rice wouldn't write any more of her vampire series, but they were a great collecion, and are still my favorite vampires EVER!
I was really happy when someone decided to produce another movie based on Anne's book, "Queen of the Damned." This time Lestat was wonderfully played by Stewart Townsend. I couldn't imagine HOW they could make this movie actuate, for instance, how they would show the mother and father of all vampires, Akasha and Enkil appear as stone statues, and then show as Akasha appears to come alive. Well done, Warner Brothers! I loved Lestat as a rock star, a great part of the story telling in Anne Rice's books. I also loved Lestat playing his violin among the gypsies at their bonfire next to the sea. (In his origin as a human, Lestat was born in France in 1760 and yearned to play the violin which was frowned upon by his parents, since only circus people did things like that!)
I will add a few of my favorite vampire movies over the years, because I definitlely think there were some GREAT ones, and I've ignored the hundreds of very bad ones. (Have you ever noticed how many bad vampire flicks they have at movie rental stores or sites???) I adored Wesley Snipes as Blade in the triology of movies, but really fell in love when beautiful, hearthrob Dominic Purcell played Dracula in Blade Trinity!
I was enamored by "Dracula 2000," played by Gerard Butler (no, not the actor, same name who won our hearts in 500). The different take on Dracula, which placed Judas Iscariot into the story was genius!!!
Among other vamps I've loved are those in the Underworld Triology! Kate Beckinsdale was tormented and beautiful, and a strong heroine. Ben Speedman was lucious as a new species cross-over between vamp and werewold. The addition of Rhona Mitra in the third movie and prequel gave us another beautiful heroine who was strong, torn and passionate.
Shall we talk about the ever-trending TV shows? Okay, I've ALWAYS loved the cheesy but compelling vamps in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy was a girl who could really kick some vampire butt! Angel was dreamy and I loved him for seasons, but Spike is my very favorite! I love his bleached blond hair, his brittish accent (even though the actor is really an Orange County boy), and his wicked sense of humor. I was SO HAPPY when Buffy and Spike got together!
True Blood seemed interesting, and I watched it by
ordering the DVDs from Netflix. Steven Moyer as Bill Compton was okay,
but I think Alexander Scarsgard as Eric is just the cat's pajamas! Okay, I will admit
that each season got raunchier, and when Sooki found out she was a
fairy... well, I lost interest.
The Vampire Diaries has a huge following, and I've watched some each
season, but mostly it bores me. I DO think Ian Somerhalder makes a cute
vamp, but probably because I loved him as Boone on Lost!
I can't note TV shows without making a big deal about "The Gates!" Once
more, Rhona Mitra just makes a GREAT vamp as Claire Radcliff. Her hubby
is a treat too. I really hope it is renewed!
I'm ready now. Let's talk about Edward. When I read Twilight I imagined Ashton Kutcher as Edward. When I began seeing trailers for the movie I was a bit disappointed, but once I saw the movie, Robert Pattinson definitely grew on me! Okay, I still had issues with vampires becoming sparkly and all pop culturish, with everyone loving them. As if they'd just been invented! What about all the years of MY vampires, and of me claiming to be a vampire? I felt ignored and forgotten by my family and those who knew me pre-Twilight. I have always thought being a vampire was the perfect explanation why I have always been awake all night, and felt like sleeping all day. I HATE the sunlight, get very heat sick, and have horrible migraines when the sun is out! I, like the Cullens love the rainy, dark weather! There have even been times when I've hung out in vampire lairs, not that I've made that a public thing, and only certain daughters and a niece have been invited in. Those pictures have been hidden away from the general population, and NO, you may NOT see them! But on with the Cullens. I love them all. They are beautiful. Enough said. But...
...what about the BAD vampires? I really adored these three in Twilight! Victoria was a great, vicious vamp who acted like an evil villaness should act! I'll admit I have a thing for red-heads, so I love her EXTRA much!
When Twilight had passed, and I sat each day gazing at my beautiful computer desk top wallpaper of the GREATEST vampire, James, it hit me like a ton of bricks! JAMES WOULD NOT BE BACK! What? I went into denial. Why oh why would they kill off my favorite vampire, just because he tried to kill Bella?
My wallpaper
Oh James, beautiful bad James, I'll remember you always!
I just saw a poll in Us Weekly asking who makes the best vampire. The choices were Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, Ian Somerhalder as Damon, and Robert Pattinson as Edward. Robert Pattinson won, with Ian in second, and a small percentage voted for Johnny. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
So, I've saved THE BEST vampire for last. Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins. YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE. Back to the scary vampires who suck blood, kill people and like it! I watch trailer after trailer of the new Barnabas Collins, with his hilarious jabs as an ancient vampire who doesn't understand this modern '70s world! They have made the trailers very fun. Instead of seeing the same one over and over, it seems each time one comes on TV, it shows new, hilarious scenes. I'm happy the movie is out, and will be seeing it next Thursday with my honey. Wonderful job, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp!
And now, a trailer, since this is the best thing since... well, just the best!
The color I chose was "plum." Does this look plum to you? My daughter's wedding colors are a range of darker reds such as berries, fushia, etc. Also olive and moss green. But NOT purple. Purple purple purple. Am I crazy? This dress is SO PURPLE! Notice the "cluster of beadwork." Not. Those are cheap, tacky looking rhinestones. Also, the "soft and flowing" part don't apply. This dress is THICK, with a heavy lining, so there is NO flowing. It's also floor length, not with a pretty slightly higher hem, like the above picture. I thought that hemline would look nice on me, since I'm very tall with long legs. The hemline on this purple monster is heavy, crooked, and the front is not slightly raised, like the original picture. The dress is also very tight, which is unpleasant, and not acceptable for the entirety of a wedding reception. The measurements of the size I ordered should fit me perfectly. But nope. This dress would be a mess to have altered. Since it's not flowing, and doesn't resemble the picture, it would be a waste of money. Okay, it WAS a waste of money. This dress looks like a COSTUME, not a mother-of-the-bride dress on me.
