Bridesmaid Dress Mess = retail rationalization

Hello, fellow JCAs! You must believe me when I tell you, I really was going to try to stay away from shopping this weekend. I swear. Then my plans came crashing down like a flimsy drying rack with too many sweaters. Now I sit in a crumpled mess of retail temptation.

I'm in a wedding on June 19th. I made the hour-long trek to the bridal store in January or February to try on bridesmaid dresses. A dress was chosen, I was sized, all was well with the world.

Then I lost 20 pounds. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic, but it's been the cause of too much retail rationalization. Nothing fits, so I must buy new clothes, right? It's also been the cause of the Bridesmaid Dress Mess. You see, the bridal store is the only bridal store in the country that doesn't offer in-house alterations. This was last week's panic. I found a woman that teaches with me who will do the alteration I'm anticipating I'll need on the dress (I went from a size 8 or 10 to a size 4. My bridesmaid dress is an 8.), but she, of course, needs some time and wants to do a few fittings. No problem. I figured I'd just use my last 1/2 of a personal day at work today, take the afternoon off, make the journey to the bridal store, and pick up the dress. That would leave me about an hour and a half to get back to my house and go to a garden party with my mom this afternoon. A HUGE outlet mall is conveniently nestled right off the road on my way home, so I figured I'd stop at the crewlet, buzz through, and be on my merry way.

Oh, cruel, cruel fate.

I called the bridal store yesterday, and the dress isn't in yet. Not only is this going to be a headache for me (I have zero time next week to go pick up the dress) and the woman doing my alterations, but this predicament has left me with a wide-open afternoon on a beautiful day. Nothing to do. The outlet mall beckons.

So, you see, I really must go to the outlets for the afternoon. I'm really left with no other choice. With this DC trip coming up this weekend, and the current 20% off crewlet offer courtesy of the Queen Bee, it's plainly what was meant to happen. Because it's the crewlet, however, I will shop with extreme caution. I promise.