Power of the dress

Not many people describe me as girly. I don't spend much time, if any, on my makeup. I don't wear three inch skinny heels (though I do like shoes but must have comfort). I swear too much. I watch hockey games while I'm home alone and there isn't a guy in sight. And I don't take too much shit and I'm not afraid to call you out on yours either.

With all that said, I do appreciate a good shopping trip or a night of margaritas with the girls. I love to dress up and I enjoy the girly things in life in moderation.

But this week I had a moment of complete and total girliness beyond my own expectations.

I bought a dress. Not just any dress. A ball gown to wear to the Bluegrass Ball in DC during the inaugural festivities.

It's a beautiful chocolate brown -- technically named truffle. My sister says I will look delicious in it.

The best part about this dress was how I found it. Kitty Kat sent me an email on Tuesday proclaiming her joy at finding not one, but two, great dresses at Margaret's consignment shop. She sent a picture estimating the look of a teal dress she bought. I wanted the brown dress in the picture.

Later that evening the girls and I were having dinner at a Thai restaurant next to David's Bridal. Now, I don't go in bridal stores unless I have to. I went with my sister when she was shopping for her dress but I don't stop by on my own to browse. I'm not one of those girls.

But David's happens to be having their big sale right now. And when we walked out of dinner at 8:30 p.m. we were surprised to see David's still open. So, we all ran in, literally. Poor Harris Bueller was the lone male in this gaggle of girls but found a comfy couch to sit on.

We started pouring over the sale racks, pulling out gowns. And then there it was ... the dress.

It was strikingly similar to Kitty Kat's picture and I loved it instantly. I snatched up two sizes (because bridal is evil and always too small.)

I tried on the 14 ... way too big. Amazing. Then the 12 ... but this required calling in the troops and Kerri had to come help me in. We weren't sure I was going to make it. But then it all came together.

And it was amazing. It fits like it was made for me. I cinches my waist in just the perfect ways. "My girls" look amazing in it. And it flows out in just the perfect shape.

All day yesterday, I thought about this dress and it makes me smile. I feel like a princess and I"m not the princess type. Somehow this dress makes me feel like all the heartache and pain of the past couple months can be mended. That somehow if I can fit into something so beautiful that there is hope for finding love again.

Maybe it's stupid. It's only a dress right? And really what's important is that I'm the one in the dress and I'm amazing. But something about this dress -- which was also really cheap -- makes me believe in my own beauty again. It makes me remember that I am fabulous and worth loving. It makes me remember that I do a lot of amazing and fun things. It makes me remember how fun I am.

Because if I wasn't all those things, I wouldn't have found that dress.