If you’ve been checking back here to see if I’ve written anything this week you would have noticed that I didn’t. That’s because there is not much going on at the moment. It seems that all our energy for the past few months has gone into the Academy Awards trip, and now that it’s over with we are spent.

Winter passed us by this year although we did wake up to about an inch of wet slushy snow yesterday morning. Today there is a bitter wicked wind blowing outside so we are inside for the day. There is nothing I hate quite as much as the wind. If it’s not going to give me snow and true winter then it can just turn spring as quickly as it can. I’m done this year!

Since winter passed up by without nary a thought and spring has yet to arrive (although the witch hazel bush in my neighbor’s yard has popped, and another neighbor had one crocus up the other day, and my daffodils have broken ground) there is nothing to take photos of. Boring.

I saved another bird yesterday. Sam was sitting and staring out at the deck rather fixedly and when I looked out there was a poor little junco huddled in the coating of snow on the deck, shivering. I put on my gloves and went out and picked it up. Its poor little beak was opening and closing at an alarming rate and I could feel its little heart beating away. I held it for awhile and was not confident it was going to make it. Its little beady eyes were closed and its feathers were heaving up and down. It was raining at the time, so I really could not stand out there and hold it any longer. I went back inside and brought out a towel, wrapped the little junco in the towel and put it on top of the BBQ. I left the towel lightly draped on it so it would not weigh it down. I did other chores (splitting wood) for about fifteen minutes, then went to check on my little bird. When I opened the door I could still see the bird inside the towel. Damn, I thought. But the next second the bird was out of the towel and flying away! Off into the trees it went. Another soul saved. Makes me feel good inside.

Are you still reading? Bless you if you are. Pretty boring stuff.

In other news, the two amaryllis that I mentioned here that I thought were not going to bloom have fooled me again. They both have buds coming! Amazing! While the new one has yet another bud about to pop. I think amaryllis might just be the most wonderful flower bulb yet.

I hope to be as inspiring as my amaryllis in the week to come. At least I would like to think so. Here’s hoping.

Tomorrow we leave for HOLLYWOOD. My stomach is starting to do flip-flops in anticipation of the exciting dress-up event and at the dread of being on an airplane for 5+ hours.

Flying used to be enjoyable, even fun, when I was a child and even when we lived in Europe. I never minded it a bit. I always looked at the journey as an adventure. Of course, that was back in the day before 9-11 and before the skies became so crowded. Also in the day when we used to fly business class (on the company). Now the seats are so close together you can’t really move. If you drop something on the floor or want to get something out of your purse that is under the seat in front of you, forget it! You have to be a contortionist. And that’s if the person in front of you has not reclined their seat any, otherwise you could watch the screen in their seatback about two inches from your nose. You can’t check your baggage for free. You can’t eat for free. You can’t even watch the movie for free. No, flying is not fun anymore.

I’m a little concerned about carrying on my dress. I am going to see if the flight crew will hang it for me, otherwise it will have to be carefully folded over and put in the overhead compartment. We all know how people are with their carry-on luggage these days since no one wants to pay the fee to check it. They are overly aggressive in trying to jam their piece of luggage in to make it fit. So, I will have to guard my overhead space with claws drawn. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.

My plan is to get to the airport early and eat some lunch which will include a glass of wine (or two) to make me mellow.

Later today Rick and I will do a “dress rehearsal” with him trying on his tux to make sure he knows how it all goes together and me trying to decide if a need to wear a bra under my gown or not. To date I have not tried on the dress with a bra since it does have a sort of built-in bra and the bodice has some boning, so not sure if the extra fabric will will work since the dress has been taken in some.

I am not stressing about the “what to take?” element of my trip since I won’t be there very long. I did order a cute tunic top online last week which has yet to arrive. The tracking on the package assures me that it will arrive today, but will it fit properly? My wardrobe this weekend depends upon it. Okay, maybe I do have a little bit of stress about what to wear.

So that’s all of have for you today! Check back after the weekend for updates!

I was able to exchange the three-stranded necklace for the one above. I tried on every necklace in the store I think that was cubic zirconia. The necklace came with the earrings (see three-squared drop ones) as a set but I opted to stay with the other earrings I had already bought. So now I have two! I think I would like the square earrings better if they were just studs or perhaps just two of the drops instead of three.

The fitting went well. I had small heart palpitations when she wielded her scissors on the hem of my beautiful dress, but as she told me: “I know-a what I am doing, don’t-a worry!” My next (and hopefully final) fitting is Friday. Rick approved of the dress!

At first I was looking forward to shopping for the “special” dress (or in this case, gown) for our Oscar Award Ceremony. I have to say that I like to shop but I don’t love it.

I have curves and many of today’s dresses just aren’t made for a woman that has breasts. Or hips. My body is better suited to the era of the 40’s when it was the fashion to have curves. One look at at the sizes and you have to wonder who wears a size 00? When I hold it up I think to myself that I have a broom that’s wider than it is. Not even Twiggy of the 60’s was that skinny!

What are they thinking with the sizing? So if you wear a size 10 or 12 these days you are almost a “plus” size, when years ago it was a completely normal size to wear. Hello Fashion World! Why not make women feel better about the size they wear rather than make them feel horrible? Our society and this penchant for being the size of a broomstick is scary to me. And nothing is true to size. Nothing.

Not even shoes. I have worn a size 6 for many years now. After trying on shoes to go with said gown I quickly realized that size 6’s were slipping off my feet. Too big! Now it seems I wear a 5 1/2. I haven’t worn a 5 1/2 since I was in high school. (And, as we all know, that was a very long time ago!) Just a year ago I could barely find anything in size 6, let alone a 5 1/2. But now 5 1/2’s seem to be plentiful. I asked the woman in Macy’s who was waiting on me if it was my imagination or had my feet started to shrink? She laughed and said it was true: they are changing the sizing. Huh? I had to wonder if that was for all those size 00 models with feet like boats so they could feel better about their shoe size. I mean, really.

With two friends in tow (neighbor Kim, of course) and Claire who is also going to the Oscars we set out on a mission: find a gown!

We started at a small boutique with what looked like plenty of gowns to choose from. The shop owner was very helpful and friendly. Kim acted as personal shopper while Claire and I tried on what she brought us. Many of them in the size I normally wear would not even zip. Some of them were too beaded. Some too “O.L.” (Old Lady). Some too “M.O.B.” (Mother of the Bride). Some just not me. We struck out and went on to the next shop which was mostly bridal.

Here the gowns in our normal size were even smaller. I assume to fit the average bridesmaid or junior. Claire and I were feeling pretty low by now. The shop owner could have cared less about us and just left us on our own with no help or support. Forget about that place!

The next shop I went to with neighbor Kim was a gown shop. I told the owner what I was looking for and what sizes I had been trying on over the past few days. She looked and me and said “no way you wear that size!” So we pulled some lovely dresses in a lower size. Again, some would not even pull up over my hips, let alone zip. They kept pulling dresses with ruching, saying that it was slimming. However, on my body that ‘slimming’ ruching added about an inch of material to my waist and hips. ACK! Horrible! Some of those dresses weighed at least 7 or 10 pounds with enough material to swallow me whole. Also, as the dress sizes rose, the selection went way down. I was beginning to wonder if my body had exploded in size without my knowledge.

When I got home I immediately tried on a dress I had bought last year and was planning on wearing to a party that weekend, thinking my god, maybe it doesn’t fit either. But it did: perfectly. So, not me. Whew, what a relief.

I was starting to get worried that I would not find anything. Everything we had seen so far could be sporting a label stating: Prom, Mother-of-the-Bride-Boring, or Old-Lady-Going-on-a-Cruise. Don’t women these days buy gowns for any other reason? And who says Mother-of-the-Bride these days has to be the same boring thing my own mother wore? Besides, I am not anybody’s mother! (The dogs and cats don’t count.)

We had plans to go down to Freehold, New Jersey to Diane & Co. that week if we still hadn’t found anything in shops closer to us. Diane & Co. is a unique dress shop that is family-run. In fact, two years ago they had a reality TV show called Jersey Couture that revolved around their dress shop and family. I loved it but sadly they did not return last year. Now I understand that the Oxygen network picked them back up and an all new season starts in February. I was looking forward to going there, but it was not to be. *Watch the new season of Jersey Couture!*

Kim had asked around to her various friends where they have bought dresses for either black tie events or weddings. On a whim one afternoon last week we decided to go to one of them in Hawthorne. It was by appointment only. When we arrived the owner sized me up as she asked what I was looking for and what my budget was. She immediately pulled about four dresses off the rack (and one off the mannequin) for me to try.

The first dress from the mannequin happened to be a size 6. I told her there was no way it was going to fit. She said “ah, just step into it and shimmy it up over your hips.” So I did. It was up (how did she know I could even get it up over my hips?) but it wasn’t going to zip. No problem! She pulls it in in the back so I can see what it would look like, like they do on Say Yes to the Dress. Not bad. I liked it. On to the second dress: a ball gown.

The minute I walked out she told me “no no no!” so we didn’t even bother zipping it up.

The third dress looked promising. It zipped. It was my ‘normal’ size. It fit me almost perfectly except for hemming and maybe a few tucks in the back. It got a “wow” from Kim and she’s hard to impress. And here, finally, it is:

Lovely shop; lovely service. It made up for all the bad experiences of the past week.

I hope that when I go back in on Friday for my fitting that I love it as much as I did when I first tried it on. I also hope that the jewelry I bought (at the same shop as the dress) looks good with it once I have it all on. The jury is still out on the necklace though because the top strand keeps turning on me, so I’ll just have to see. I might exchange it for something else. A few people have said I don’t need a necklace, but the dress is pretty plain with only earrings. Opinions? At this point I don’t think I can just say I don’t want the necklace, but hopefully she will let me exchange it for another if it’s just going to drive me crazy by turning over all the time!

And finally, the shoes and the bag.

We are lucky enough to be staying at the same hotel as the event: The Beverly Hills Wilshire which is just off Rodeo Drive. I have made an appointment for an “up-do,” makeup and nails in their salon, so we shall see what magic they will make happen! That will occupy my afternoon on Saturday so I don’t have to worry about what other clothes to bring to fit into the posh atmosphere of the hotel.

I’m glad this part is over with!

P.S. After hearing about my successful gown purchase, Claire and I went back the very next day to the same shop and she bought a gown. In fact, the same style as the first dress I tried on. Success all-around! Now for Kim’s “Mother-of-the-Bride” dress for her son’s wedding in September. And knowing Kim, it’s not going to be “motherly.”

I know I’ve been lax in posting this week. I’ve been busy. Shopping for a special dress. Shoes to go with that dress. Every day involves going somewhere and shopping. I am tired of shopping! I am used to being pretty much a homebody.

And now I only have one thing left on my list: jewelry. I know you are wondering (or maybe not) why all this frantic shopping. Remember I alluded to something special, a black tie affair? Soon all will be revealed. I just have to sit down long enough to blog about it! But, it’s happening in less than four weeks now, so I need to update you very soon!

Hints: Beverly Hills. A Golden Man. Maybe or maybe not a Red Carpet.