Monday, June 6, 2011

Prom 2011

The prom here in England is strictly for juniors and seniors, so we had no expectation of Annie attending.  Then a week before prom, a junior named Stephen asked her.  Annie's friend in chemistry class named Chloe served as facilitator since Annie and Stephen are equally shy.  Chloe is a good ol' Texas girl from Corpus Christi.




So Friday after school, we flew over to the mall in Kingston to hunt for a dress.  The mall hours here are typically 9:30 to 6, so we were definitely pressed for time.  Annie initially wanted something classic and simple in black.  She found a contender by Jaegar, but really needed a size smaller.




The search continued as she waffled back and forth between short vs long.  After the little one and I snooped through the adjacent racks looking for other options, we returned to find Annie trying on a tomato red Ted Baker beaded maxi dress that she really liked.  It wouldn't have been my first choice, but when you're a pretty little 16-year-old with a cute figure then even a flour sack would look fashionable with the right accessories.  We found the winner!  While I waited to purchase it, Annie went downstairs to look in the shoe department.  The young lady that rang it up for me commented on how pretty it was and asked me where I was wearing it.  Helloooo there... pay attention!  First off, I couldn't squeeze into a size 6 with a tub of lard.  The removal of a few ribs might make it more plausible, as well as getting my jaws wired shut for a couple months.  Second thing, I'm not the target audience for a sleeveless maxi dress with my middle-aged batwing arms.  The older I get, the more aware I am about dressing my age.  Just because they make hot pants or jeggings in my size doesn't mean I should be wearing them.


We hit a few more stores before the mall closed, but still needed vital things like a purse and shoes.  On Wednesday, after school, we returned to Kingston to find the rest of it.  Annie fell in love with a pair of caramel satin pumps that cost only £50 less than the dress.  The shoe below was our compromise since it matched the beading on the bodice and cost only 1/3 of what we paid for the dress.  They look silver in this pic, but these strappy sandals are a light gold color.




Unfortunately, we had to pass by the cosmetics counters on our way from shoes to the skywalk bridge to access the parking garage.  Cue the puppy dog eyes and cajoling.  This resulted in quite a hit on the old bank account because I ended up shelling out for a new eyeshadow kit, some self tanner, nail polish and sparkly lip gloss.  


And speaking of the price of beauty, it continued Friday after school when Annie had a manicure.  Then it bled over into Saturday morning when she got some subtle sun kissed honey blonde highlights in her hair at the local Aveda salon, in addition to a brow and lip waxing.  We couldn't make such a huge investment in her overall look without ensuring that she didn't resemble Sasquatch's long lost cousin.


I dropped Annie off at Melissa's house Saturday afternoon because all of the girls gathered there to get ready.  The boys arrived at 5:30 along with all of the parents for Prom Photopalooza 2011.  For an hour we stood around chatting and taking a bunch of pics.  Here are the girls - a front and ever popular back shot.








And here are the guys looking sharp in their suits, doing their best imitations of John Travolta back in the day... minus his blindingly white ensemble.








This is a pic of Annie and her date, Stephen.  Cute, huh?  I can hear her refrain now... Mom, he's just a friend.  And that's alrighty with me!





Here is one final shot of the entire group before they all climbed aboard the ridiculously long limo that looked like a Suburban on steroids which carried them to Sandown in nearby Esher for the prom on Saturday, June 4.  I thought they cleaned up quite nicely.





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