We have a local church who has a clothing giveaway once a year, that I think is a truly wonderful idea.  Rich saw the note about this year’s giveaway on facebook, and we decided we were going to go through our closets and our drawers and get rid of anything that doesn’t fit or we don’t wear.  It took us three days to complete, and in the end, I don’t think you can see much of a difference.  On the other hand, we used industrial size garbage bags and completely filled our car and trunk and partially filled my girlfriend’s car.  The church was thrilled to have the clothes, but Rich and I were embarrassed that we have accumulated so much.  It’s ridiculous, the amount of clothing we owned, and continue to own.  I tried to be particularly picky, choosing to get rid of anything that I was on the fence about, and still my dresser drawers are full.  I keep telling myself that I didn’t just buy all of these clothes in the last year, and that they’ve been accumulating over at least a decade, but still, it’s embarrassing.  The ladies at the church were thrilled to get them, and that made us feel a little better.

Today I went dress shopping with a close friend.  Her son is getting married the beginning of September, and she hadn’t shopped for her dress yet.  We started in a wedding dress shop, and after trying on several dresses, my friend decided bridal stores might not be right for what she’s looking for.  Sadly, bridal stores are the only stores that allow you to use their dressing rooms, as every other retailer has closed their dressing rooms.  I heard someone ask when the dressing rooms would open in a large retailer, and the salesperson said, “Maybe in a year and a half.”  Wow, I guess I didn’t look at this long term…So are we also assuming we’ll be wearing masks that long…how depressing.  It was a big wake up call for me for how long Covid will be infecting our lives.

The wedding is in a church and the reception at the mother-of-the-bride’s backyard under tents.  It was supposed to be a wedding for 200+ people, and since Covid, has been reduced to 80.  I feel sorry for brides, not knowing if their wedding will be cancelled at the last minute if we go back into quarantine, and even more sad for the businesses that make their living from weddings, like photographers, who live or die financially, by what happens next with Covid.

This wedding went from a very large upscale event, to a backyard intimate affair.  The mother-of-the-bride told my girlfriend, she hasn’t found her dress yet, and continues to buy a bunch online, try them on, and send them back.  Her idea of the right dress is something floral and lightweight, and not matching the wedding colors.  My girlfriend wants to do this traditionally, and is trying to come close to the wedding colors that are navy blue and burgundy.  Those aren’t traditional colors for that time of year, but originally, the wedding was mid-November, when those colors are more appropriate.  We had fun trying to find dresses that were in the colors of the wedding, and also a bargain, as my girlfriend loves a bargain.  In the end, she went home with seven or eight dresses from four or five stores, and we’re hoping one of them will fit her and make her happy..  Not just happy, the goal is to make her feel pretty, and when you get to be in your 60’s and 70’s, that’s not always easy to achieve.  We both have high hopes for one dress in particular.  It’s navy with a flowery flowing over cape?  (I’m not sure what you call those see-through over-the-head pieces that are being paired with simple dresses.)   The dress is really simple, but that cape (we’ll call it that since I’m not sure what it’s really called) is a navy, white and burgundy floral pattern, so matches all of the wedding colors.   We couldn’t have been luckier, finding it at the first store (after the bridal shop.)  It was on sale for under $20, so my girlfriend’s need for a bargain was also filled.  All in all, if that dress works out, she couldn’t have found anything more fitting for this wedding.  If it doesn’t, she’s got a bunch more to try on, and hopefully, one of those will work.  If she’s not happy with any of them, we’ll try again (although when we got home, I had to take a two hour nap to get over it.)  Let’s cross our fingers that she finds one in the stack that makes her feel pretty.  I really hope she does…

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