Here comes the bride....

For the past week, I've been lucky enough to have my sister-in-law, Christine staying with us. It was so awesome having her here, for several reasons. One being that at any given time of the day I could actually excuse myself to the restroom without a little ankle biter following me. Also, the moment the girls went to sleep I had a gal pal to hang out with. It was like the days back in college when we'd gossip till all hours, look at magazines, watch some trash TV. It was great. What was even more fun was getting to talk about her wedding plans. We scoured the pages of every bridal magazine published and watched about 20 episodes of Say Yes to the Dress. One night she asked me if she could try on my wedding dress, which I thought would be such a hoot. So, we had my sister come over and do her make-up and hair and we pulled out the goods. My mother, who had a quick wedding before my dad went off to Vietnam, has secretly always wanted to try it on. Tonight was the perfect night. When she said "I never had a chance for a nice wedding," my heart melted into a million little pieces. Even Bella wanted to dress up too. How adorable is this:




My mom was so happy, it really was a priceless moment.



And then it was Christine's turn. First the makeup. Va-va-va-voom!!!



Next, the hair. My sister tried so many different styles on her. Such as:

the Julia Roberts Oscar look:



Or the Breakfast at Tiffany's look:





Or the fancy schmancy french name my sister has for whatever you call this work of art:





Or the low hanging chignon (I think??)






They all looked great on her and each one gave off a different vibe. I think a disclaimer is in order since I'm pretty sure my sister is twitching as she reads this. *****THESE HAIR STYLES WERE DONE RATHER QUICKLY FOR CONVENIENCE REASONS AND MY SISTER WOULD NORMALLY TAME THOSE PESKY FLY-AWAYS*******

Which, btw Gabe, you did a great job!

On to the dress. Now mind you, Christine is a twig so it took some creative wrapping in order to get the dress to stay up. But we did it.....



I mean, isn't she gorgeous!!!



Not surprising, the perfectionist in me came out and I had to throw in a bouquet for the full effect.



Mia, resembling more of a homeless orphan than a flower girl, wanted to smell the artificial flowers. Hah.



We topped the week off with a wedding dress consult at a local bridal salon. Since pictures were not allowed, I can only rely on my mental snapshots. And omg, she looked beautiful in every dress that she tried on. It was so much fun. She is going to have a hard decision to make when it comes down to chosing one because she just radiated in every possible style.

I can't wait for the wedding Christine, it will be the best day of your life!!!!