A few weeks ago, my good friend and bowling league buddy (yes, we’re in a bowling league…those still exist) and I were reminiscing between downed pins and delightful, greasy platters of tater tots and chicken finger sandwiches and jack & cokes about our high school days – music, fashion, prom…PROM. And then we, and the other women on our league, talked about nothing but our proms and prom dresses and prom shoes and prom accessories and prom dress shopping experiences and wedding dresses and wedding dress shopping experiences for the remainder of our games that night. By the time we left the bowling alley, Bethany and I had hatched a plan to do what any awesome, sane, grown, married, career minded, family women would do…drive to the mall listening to our favorite boy band the entire way and try on prom dresses.
And we did.
On Sunday we left all our responsibilities behind us (and for that I think we owe a pretty significant ‘thank you’ and ‘you rock’ to Bethany’s husband for walking in the front door from work and immediately being on daddy duty to their two young daughters and one needy pup for the remainder of the day while Bethany and I went off to shop like care-free teenagers), plopped our favorite Backstreet Boys CD into the CD player of Bethany’s car, drove to the mall, ate Marble Slab ice cream and Auntie Anne’s pretzels and lemonade, and went nuts in Lord & Taylor, in search of the most fabulous (and also hideous) formal wear we could get our hands on.
It was glorious.
Seriously, you wouldn’t believe how much fun we had. This mental health day was a very-much needed, excellent idea.
We learned that Bethany looks amazing in mermaid gowns (which she previously thought were not a good look for her) and that she can rock super low-cut v-neck dresses with a sheer overlay like no other, and that the sheer-waisted black and white dress I tried on as a complete joke (just to see how horrendous and immodest it was) was actually the most comfortable, flattering, and fantastic dress for me! We also learned that most pant-suits are hilarious, that there are some super ugly dresses for sale out there that multiple someones must have approved of (for what reason, we cannot fathom) before they hit the racks, and that we wished we had a spare $300 to spend on unnecessary dresses…and somewhere to wear them to. We also re-remembered (though I know we never forgot in the first place) how delicious Auntie Anne’s pretzels are, and why we loved boy bands.
But, really, if you need a mental health day, grab a great friend, step back in time a decade, and go prom (or cruise or gala) dress shopping.
