Hooo. Boy.
You want to talk pressure? 4th down and 30 pressure. Clock in the seconds column pressure.
Last year Logan wanted to be a geisha for Halloween. We came up with this in August, she watched "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Mulan" and settled in on being a Geisha girl. Easy enough, right?
[Buzzer sound] Wrong.
We got the wig. We got the hair sticks. We got the cute little wood shoes and white 'thocks' with the toe notch. We ordered the kimono and obi. And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
October 1......October 10..... October 20.....25....28.... CRAP! No kimono, no obi. Her little red kimono with the black satin stitched dragons wasn't there. Wasn't going to be there. AUUUUUUUUUUGH.
So I pulled a "hail mary" and made her a pot of geraniums. I'm not kidding.
I did a 20 minute Walmart costume Hail Mary.
Green long sleeved shirt. Check.
Black sweatpants. Check.
Plastic pot that fit around her hips at the base. Check.
Green ballcap. Check.
Silk pink geraniums from the floral department. Check.
Hot glue gun and glue sticks. Check
Bright green curly fake lashes. Bonus! Check.
Pink hair spray. Check.
Ticket: $22.10
(she had the pink nailpolish)
Granted, she was adorable.........and admired, and every mom wanted to know where I got it......but it was NOT what she picked out.
Being the focus of so much attention helped dull the pain of NOT BEING A GEISHA....but it still....AUGH!
So, last year after that fiasco, in November, she was watching "Phantom of the Opera" [the good one with Gerard Butler singing] and the Carlotta character did a piece where she was dressed in the style of Marie Antoinette...the tall wig, the wide dress, the white face and circles of pink on the cheeks.....the works. Logan was sold.
Pink beehive wig, Ebay, $9. Check.
Pink maribou fan, Ebay, $4. Check.
Makeup, Walmart, $3. Check.
Dress........... Dress......... DRESS?!?
I. Have. Been. Looking. For. A. Year.
There were too big ones, too small ones, red ones that didn't match her wig. There were plain ones, there were UGLY ones....there were a million-and-one dresses, but not ONE PINK BALL GOWN SIZE 9!
I have ebayed and I have thrift-stored and I have watched Freecycle and Etsy.
I spent today on Ebay and must have looked at 80+ pages of dresses as I'm going from frantic to psychotic.
Let's revisit my search terms:
"girls ball gowns" [buzzer sound]
"girls formal gowns" [buzzer sound]
"girls pageant gowns"
"girls princess gowns" (well, some here, but smaller sizes and cheap construction)
"petite wedding apparel" (figured- hey- short girls are bridesmaids too!)
This went on for probably 20 searches......and many, many, many pages of looking and debating.
"Can I shorten that?"....."Can I tuck this here?"....."Can I hem and tuck and narrow....?"
On. And on. And on.
Finally- I knew I was reaching desperation......when I was punching in "drag queen" and "ugly prom dress"
I figured with dark pink beehive hair.....wearing that horrid lime green or tuquoise cast-off bridesmaid dress wasn't going to hurt- and if I took it in enough here and there..... I mean, I REALLY WANTED to find a dress for this as, heck, it's October 2.
[bing] The Ebay Fairy found me.
In going from a seller to a seller to a store to a seller, I tripped on "THE DRESS"
It's pink. It's a ball gown.
It has puffed sleeves. It has lace.
It has a tiered skirt. It has the hoop underskirt.
It's her size, exactly. EXACTICALLY.
It's full length and not the tarty grown up sleezo costume.
It's not cheapo.
It's a feckin' miracle!
[ Jim Carey style flourish] Tah-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
IT. ENDS. IN. TWENTY. MINUTES.
IT IS AT $10.29.
OH, MY GAWD.
Say it with me now..."OH, my gawd."
Let's all say it together: "OH. MY....."
Yeah, you got it.
I think I gnawed my fingers to the bone in those 20 minutes.
I put in my 'pouncer' which bids in the last 3 seconds for me.
I put up my countdown page.
I had another laptop sitting there with a bid page open.
Three laptops. Two bidding aids. I was going. to. win. this. dress.
I waited to go pee until this thing was done.
I've been drinking TEA for the whole day!
I. Won. It. $21.09.
[taking a bow]
She has....her dress.
Mom, can relax.
*headsmack* [sound of body hitting floor]
Photos will be forthcoming.
You want to talk pressure? 4th down and 30 pressure. Clock in the seconds column pressure.
Last year Logan wanted to be a geisha for Halloween. We came up with this in August, she watched "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Mulan" and settled in on being a Geisha girl. Easy enough, right?
[Buzzer sound] Wrong.
We got the wig. We got the hair sticks. We got the cute little wood shoes and white 'thocks' with the toe notch. We ordered the kimono and obi. And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
October 1......October 10..... October 20.....25....28.... CRAP! No kimono, no obi. Her little red kimono with the black satin stitched dragons wasn't there. Wasn't going to be there. AUUUUUUUUUUGH.
So I pulled a "hail mary" and made her a pot of geraniums. I'm not kidding.
I did a 20 minute Walmart costume Hail Mary.
Black sweatpants. Check.
Plastic pot that fit around her hips at the base. Check.
Green ballcap. Check.
Silk pink geraniums from the floral department. Check.
Hot glue gun and glue sticks. Check
Bright green curly fake lashes. Bonus! Check.
Pink hair spray. Check.
Ticket: $22.10
(she had the pink nailpolish)
Granted, she was adorable.........and admired, and every mom wanted to know where I got it......but it was NOT what she picked out.
Being the focus of so much attention helped dull the pain of NOT BEING A GEISHA....but it still....AUGH!
So, last year after that fiasco, in November, she was watching "Phantom of the Opera" [the good one with Gerard Butler singing] and the Carlotta character did a piece where she was dressed in the style of Marie Antoinette...the tall wig, the wide dress, the white face and circles of pink on the cheeks.....the works. Logan was sold.Pink maribou fan, Ebay, $4. Check.
Makeup, Walmart, $3. Check.
Dress........... Dress......... DRESS?!?
I. Have. Been. Looking. For. A. Year.
There were too big ones, too small ones, red ones that didn't match her wig. There were plain ones, there were UGLY ones....there were a million-and-one dresses, but not ONE PINK BALL GOWN SIZE 9!
I have ebayed and I have thrift-stored and I have watched Freecycle and Etsy.
I spent today on Ebay and must have looked at 80+ pages of dresses as I'm going from frantic to psychotic.
Let's revisit my search terms:
"girls ball gowns" [buzzer sound]
"girls formal gowns" [buzzer sound]
"girls pageant gowns"
"girls princess gowns" (well, some here, but smaller sizes and cheap construction)
"petite wedding apparel" (figured- hey- short girls are bridesmaids too!)
This went on for probably 20 searches......and many, many, many pages of looking and debating.
"Can I shorten that?"....."Can I tuck this here?"....."Can I hem and tuck and narrow....?"
On. And on. And on.
Finally- I knew I was reaching desperation......when I was punching in "drag queen" and "ugly prom dress"
I figured with dark pink beehive hair.....wearing that horrid lime green or tuquoise cast-off bridesmaid dress wasn't going to hurt- and if I took it in enough here and there..... I mean, I REALLY WANTED to find a dress for this as, heck, it's October 2.
[bing] The Ebay Fairy found me.
In going from a seller to a seller to a store to a seller, I tripped on "THE DRESS"
[insert heavenly chorus of angelic music here]
It has puffed sleeves. It has lace.
It has a tiered skirt. It has the hoop underskirt.
It's her size, exactly. EXACTICALLY.
It's full length and not the tarty grown up sleezo costume.
It's not cheapo.
It's a feckin' miracle!
[ Jim Carey style flourish] Tah-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
IT. ENDS. IN. TWENTY. MINUTES.
IT IS AT $10.29.
OH, MY GAWD.
Say it with me now..."OH, my gawd."
Let's all say it together: "OH. MY....."
Yeah, you got it.
I think I gnawed my fingers to the bone in those 20 minutes.
I put in my 'pouncer' which bids in the last 3 seconds for me.
I put up my countdown page.
I had another laptop sitting there with a bid page open.
Three laptops. Two bidding aids. I was going. to. win. this. dress.
I waited to go pee until this thing was done.
I've been drinking TEA for the whole day!
I. Won. It. $21.09.
[taking a bow]
She has....her dress.
Mom, can relax.
*headsmack* [sound of body hitting floor]
Photos will be forthcoming.
October 10, 2009 6:13 PM
So you think you can locate a pattern for Anakin Skywalker size 5, Padme Amidala size 10-12, and a Yoda size 2? Make that ASAP, because then I've got to sew! I mean, rally you have nothing Halloween oriented to occupy you now, right? :) I am so happy for you to have found that dress, I have been there (all 3 Incredibles kids costumes in exactly the right sizes 2 years ago), and I really thought I'd not go there again, but here I am! Congrats!
October 10, 2009 6:25 PM
Jenn ~I hear you- completely. I was Leia when I was, uh.....12. You might check ebay....and freecycle.... but I'll tell you, I looked for a year for the dress...so the old adage: "Patience is a virtue"....
Yeah..and I was very close to homicide over patience. :) Best of luck with your crew!