Throwing Down The Gauntlet....The Gauntlet can F Off

I have always been a last minute kind of gal.

You've read my Christmas shopping posts. I have been known to darken the doorway of Macy's Christmas Eve sale with a long list of people I haven't gotten a gift for yet.

Food shopping is done not when we are low on food but when I am faced with serving old cheese and cereal for dinner.

I pay my bills only a day or two before they are due. If not ON the day they are due (thank goodness for rush payments, Chase!)

I wait until the absolute last minute to return invitations with my reply. Even though I know that I am probably attending the event I just have a mental block about getting my act together and sending back the invite. Ridic.

You see the theme here. I am a tad scattered and while I get stuff done, it usually comes down to the wire.

This includes wedding related paraphernalia.

I have known for MONTHS and MONTHS about my friend K's wedding in Stowe this weekend. I didn't get around to booking a hotel until last week and let me tell you, Stowe appears to be quite the hot spot during the summer. It took me a few hours of research to find a reasonably priced but NICE place to stay that was close to the wedding and didn't have a two day minimum. But this is what comes of waiting until the last minute. Luckily my research for our brew tips taught me that sometimes the perfect place is the hardest to find so eventually I did find a cute Inn down the street from the wedding. Phew.

Then there was the issue of a gift. Waiting until before the wedding usually means the registry is barren save for the odd towel or wayward serving spoon BUT luckily there was quite a bit left on their Williams Sonoma registry so with a few clicks of the mouse our gift was bought, wrapped and shipped. Phew.

That leaves the remaining item. A dress. For me.

To wear.

You see, the invite suggests "cocktail attire". I own scads upon scads of summer dresses but none are really cocktail party appropriate. I own quite a few LBDs that would be cocktail appropriate but somehow they are not right for a summer wedding. They are more for the fall/winter. So here we are, T minus two days before the blessed event and I am on the HUNT.

Luckily I work best under pressure.

In a few moments I am hitting the shops with my mom in search of the perfect summery cocktail dress. I have the luxury of NOT having a specific color/cut in mind so the world is my oyster, as far as dress shopping is concerned.

My goal is to find a dress and shoes for under $100. If I reach this goal, I am going to treat myself to a blow out.

Check back at the end of the day for my success story. Or an op -d piece on dressing up a beach coverup. Either or.

UPDATE. GREAT SUCCESS!!

The Talbots Outlet, as usual, did not fail me!

I found a sickening amount of dresses. Seriously you local ladies who are not shopping there are missing out hardcore. I tried on 5-6 dresses and liked them well enough but each had something a little "not what I wanted". Truth be told I fell in absolute LOVE with this white sleeveless shift that had embroidered daisies growing from the hem but alas I do not wear white to other people's wedding. I know some would say oh if it's white with a design on the hem maybe its ok but to me, not so much. Never mind the fact that I am a slob. But anyway. The last dress I tried on, a body skimming, v neck sleeveless bright dark blue just-above-knee-length beauty won my heart with it's flattering cut and fabulous stitching.

Please see attached horrible photo.

The photo is horrific but you can see the cute cut. It has kind of cut sleeves. It's this gorgeous soft fabric that just falls so perfectly. I love!
Close up of stitching


The dress was $99, just under my budget. Then I decided to go over the limit and buy some cute bone and gold earrings. THEN I found out upon check out that the dress was 60% off. WHAT WHAT. So my grand total for dress and earrings was $54. Thank you very much.

I am going to pair them with a bone necklace I already own and my trusty gold peep toes.




And I may not even NEED that blow out since now I am thinking a fabulous big bun updo. Since I have my trusty Bun-O-Matic it would be a cinch.