Bear Tie Ball

Last week, Magnum told me that, thanks to a case he has been working, we were going to be attending a black tie event.  It was called the Bear Tie Ball.  It is an annual event for the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation. 

We had such a wonderful evening!  We definitely are NOT "black tie event" people.  And, this was a very "froo froo, shoo shoo" event (yes, that IS the technical term, thank you very much!)  which we would never be able to afford on our own.  Thank you, Crazy Client, for funding our awesome night!!

It was really fun to get all dressed up.  Magnum commented that the last time we got to get dressed up like this was our wedding. =)  The event was held at the gorgeous Union Station here in ChiTown.  It was simply beautiful.

Because we don't get to get this dressed up often, Magnum was all about snapping pictures.  We have a bunch of bad iPhone photos from that night.  I played around and made them black and white, just to class 'em up a little. :P  (My dress was actually navy blue.  More on that in a minute...)

Ok, I'm sorry, but all I see here are my boobs!

Check out Magnum's shoes!!  He LOVED them, and got a ton of compliments that night. =)

Here's a really BAD selfie Magnum tried to take of us to send to his buddy.

We had such an amazing time that before we even left, Magnum said he would love for us to start socking away a little money each week so that we can attend again next year. I think it's a wonderful idea!! Maybe we can sock away enough to actually bid on something this time!

Ok, quick note about my dress...
I may have mentioned at some point in the 8 years I've been here that my brother was supposed to get married back in 2000, and called it off just weeks before the wedding.  Of course, by then, our bridesmaid dresses were purchased, altered, and ready to go.  15 years ago, I paid $350 for that damn dress, and then it never came out of the damn bag!  When Magnum told me we were going to this event, I immediately freaked out because I had NO idea what I was going to wear.  Guys have it easy, he just went and rented a tux.

I spent a half a day just stressing out before I remembered that dress, which had been hanging in the closet for 15 years, along with the damn shoes (which were another $100!!)  I pulled it out, tried it on, and hey!  It fit!  Well, there were definitely a few more lumps and bumps than there were 15 years ago, but it wasn't anything some great shapewear couldn't handle.  The only problem was with the jacket.  The sleeves were long, and for some reason, too long for me.  What the hell, did my arms shrink since I bought the dress?!  I spent another day trying to come up with an alternative, even calling one of my good friends to see about the dress she wore to her sister's wedding.  Finally, on Thursday, I figured I'd better get the dress cleaned, just in case I ended up wearing it.  When I went to the dry cleaners, it suddenly occurred to me that I should see if they could shorten the sleeves.  I knew it was a long shot, since it was already Thursday, but I figured the worst they could say is "no," right?  I asked the seamstress about making them 3/4 length sleeves.  Then, I got REALLY bold, and asked if she could have it ready the next day (Friday).  And, thank the sweet Lord, she said yes!  I figured, this way, if I still didn't like it, I Friday night, and all day Saturday to look for something else.

Well, clearly the jacket turned out great.  I'm so glad I finally got to wear the dress, as it really was pretty.  And looking at those pictures made me remember just how far I've come from this:

I've been beating myself up lately because I've "fallen off the wagon," which is probably evident in those first pictures.  But, I'm saving that for another post.  In the meantime, I'm going to try and remind myself to be proud of where I am right now.