Born 'n Bred Country Girl

Saturday was a special day for me. Turns out my husbands two sisters, a friend of his sister and his mom were all taking a trip to O-town to go wedding dress shopping for the elder of his two sisters. They had room in the car for me so I took off with them at 9am to have a girls day without any kids. What a treat!!! I also learned that we would be meeting up with my husbands aunt who lives in the big city and would later on that day be going back to her house for a girls party that she was hosting. Sigh....I was beside myself. A day without kids. A day without guys (nothing personal just a nice break). And a day shopping (even if it wasn't for me)! Plus I was officially off duty!

So the five of us loaded into the car and took off. My husband's mom treated us all to timbits and hot chocolate which was a nice treat considering my timbit fiend of a son wasn't there to devour them all at once.

After much loud music, laughter, and woman jokes (mostly involving spilt hot chocolate in a very inconvenient spot) we met up with my husband's aunt who I hadn't seen since her wedding last year. After pee breaks, smoke breaks for those who smoked, hello's and excited squeals we took off again to hit up the local Costco.

It never ceases to amaze me how much the simple things in life can bring us woman so much joy. We were all so stoked to take advantage of the sampling booths. We also had one cart amongst 6 woman who all shop for their respective households. Oh the deals that we found- pancake mix, pickles, flowers, party food (for later on that day), underwear, sandals. A little bit of everything. The poor man who rang us all through considering only my husband's aunt had a membership and we needed to keep track of how much we each owed her.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Costco they have a really cheap hot dog and drink special which we indulged in. Hmmmm. On our way out, we encountered a VERY rude man working there. This fired up my husband's aunt which in turn got us all fired up! He was lucky we were already at the car by this time is about all I can say.

We then returned to my husband's aunt's house to unload, pee, smoke for those who smoke, and regroup before taking off again to our first bridal shop.

I felt so privileged to be a part of this special process for his sister. A rite of passage for most brides. There were lots of laughs and opinions and negotiations and contemplations. Two of the bridesmaids were present (the sister and friend of the bride) and they too had fun trying out all sorts of weird and wacky ensembles with the exception of a couple of decent ones.

Not quite satisfied with what we had found we moved on to a second bridal shop. The bride's friend found a dress that turned out to be the most perfectly, stunning, elegant, classic wedding dress. Unfortunately at this store we were not allowed to take pictures but trust me when I tell you that I think the search is over. Wow.

A couple of people were getting a little shopped out so we split up and my hubby's mom, the bride, friend and myself piled into a car to do some more shopping. There was no way I was going to let this day pass without making it count to the fullest. It's not every day I am kid and husband free in a big city with other woman who have similar interests. So we headed over to Michaels (an craft store) to see what they had for wedding accessories, decorations etc. The bride discovered a great deal on do-it-yourself invitations. So she now has her invitations bought. Woo hoo!

Again, not wanting to waist any precious time we all headed over to IKEA. After some more cheap hot dogs we continued to paruse the isles. It was bliss.

Back at my husband's aunt's house we prepared for the nights events. The guests staggered in and we began our girls evening. The food was remarkable. I have two words for you: Chocolate Fountain! Phenomenal. Never have I tasted such a thing. This exceeded all previous experiences with chocolate fondu. I think bliss is my new word today.

It was a late night getting home. I think I was in bed by 2am compared to my usual 10pm. Once again I suffered the next day but like I have mentioned before....

It was worth it!

Can we do it again?

This is the only picture I took to remember this day by. Man I was definitely pre-occupied. This is Candice, the brides friend and one of the bridesmaids. She was our driver for the day and d.j. She was a lot of fun.