Now for those that remember the saga (please view Diary of a Wedding Dress Shopper, Parts One, Two, and Three for the full history) I managed to find a dress a million miles away and set off back in October to find it... however when I got there the dress was terrible. Nonetheless, it worked out in the end as while I was stressing and dealing with heart palpitations over having dragged Mom, Sue, Megan and Mallory to Pennsylvania in search of "the" dress, I managed to find another dress that just happened to be "the" dress. The rest of the story is simple... I ordered the dress and therefore had to return to find it and of course bring it home.
On the road... So early!
It was great travelling with my Dad. He is fantatsic company... mind you I don't think I have spent that much time alone with him in my entire life (it was 16 hours driving time), so I was a little nervous we would run out of things to talk about. WRONG! We laughed and chatted the whole way and it was great... and as I am sure you might be starting to guess we did it in one LONG haul!
I was pretty concerned at first from the way he was talking that we would reach our destination and he would ask me to roll out of the car while it was still in motion, grab the dress, and go, but thankfully he didn't. Along the way we stopped at the PA sign (like we did on the way there), but unfortunately did not encounter Bicycle Bill, or was it Buffalo Bob? I did however make sure I got a picture with my Dad beside the sign!
Welcome to Pennsylvania!
Beyond stopping at the requisite McDs we powered along until we hit construction... of course I was driving at this point and it turned into a white knuckle experience because we couldn't even bail off of the road to let me dad take over as all exits were blocked off completely. Nonetheless, we survived (and so did the car) and made AMAZING time getting to Greensburg.
Okay... this is where I have to stop and talk about my McDs' experiences along the way... the only word I can think of to describe them would be "epic"... The first one we stopped at was in Buffalo right after we crossed the border... I went in and I suppose this was the first day for all of the employees and it took 30 minutes to get our order... the staff didn't really know what was going on and pretty much just starred at the customers while they were ordering. People got angry and frankly one thing I have learned as a result of a number of life experiences I have enjoyed over the last 25 years - you don't mess with someone's breakfast... especially if that breakfast has a "mc" in the title... McMuffin, McGriddle, etc... Eventually as a result of my looking pathetic enough I received my order (cough, cough, had to freak at the manager...) and I headed back to the car.
We're here!
You are probably sitting here reading this and wondering where my dad was through this experience. The plan had been as we were on a tight time frame (washroom breaks every 20 hours kind of a schedule...) was that he would get gas while I got the food, and he had done just that and was waiting at the car for me. Now, I love my dad, but really, wouldn't you worry if your daughter never came back within a logical amount of time? Apparently (and reasonably enough) he didn't want to leave to come find me because he figured I wandered out the wrong door (one side leads north to the Canadian border and the other side leads south). He assumed that I would eventually find my way home and wasn't too worried. Geesh! He is lucky he got his McFood, imagine leaving me to wander around in a strange (cough, not really that strange, but I like drama) country, with a bag of McFood, probably attracting bears, having to use the stars to guide me out of the parking lot, waiting until the food that is basically plastic hardened to use it to carve a message into a stone to pass onto a wandering villager... okay now I am even annoying myself by my blatherings.
At any rate I went out the right door and found the car... but to this day I am a little perplexed that he found me THAT stupid to assume I would go the wrong way.
From happiness to serenity...
Despite the construction and the amazing experience at McDs we arrived at 12:45 pm at MB Bridal (right on time according to our estimation) and it was then time to go and PICK UP MY GOWN! I was practically vibrating with nerves, but just like last time the fantastic Aleisha was there ready to assist and I was escorted to a change room. Last time the room was called "happiness" this time it was call "serenity"; must be a sign or something!
Aleisha helped me into the gown and it was perfect! I know you are probably wondering if I showed my dad my dress and the answer to the question is of course I did. We had what could be best described as the "perfect" father/daughter moment and there were some tears (and it wasn't just me! Sorry dad had to tell the truth!). Nonethless, within an hour we were tucked back into the car with the dress safely secured and heading north. The trip home seemed to take extra long, but it was great just spending time together. In fact I think that will be time I will treasure for the rest of my life.
Careful precious cargo!
So along the way (and part of why the trip home took so long) we stopped at another McD's. This time we both went in to the counter to place our order. The bill was $11.35 for our meals and we handed the cashier $15.35... Please do the math... don't worry I will provide you time... how much change were we owed? Now if you don't know the answer please don't read further because I am going to get a little rude... the answer to this question is $4.00... a total the cashier could not get to, which is cool I understand, but before I realized that was the problem she went and asked 4 other employees for help... they stood there starring at the money not knowing what to do. Finally I said "four dollars, just give me four dollars...” and she still looked confused and had to get a calculator to solve the equation (to explain why she couldn't use the cash register she had entered the wrong amount)... so "off kilter"...
Finally I received my change and was waiting for our order, but in an increasingly strange turn of events this troop of 12 year old girls wandered in and started demanding ice cream cones. I suppose as ice cream melts the cashier threw herself into this mission and started mass producing the cones... ummm... food please? I think it took another 30 minutes to get our meals... which equals a combined total of 60 minutes in McD's just waiting... shocking, no? I survived, but I have to say regardless it should not have taken 5 people plus a calculator to come up with the total equalling four dollars! Even if the moon was in the second house, and/or Jupiter aligned with Mars (thought I would use this allusion as my dad was on the trip and this has to be one of his favourite songs, "The Age of Aquarius" by 5th Dimension - for more information please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Aquarius_(album)).
See I am protecting it as best I can!
So that was the trip and the end of my wedding dress voyage in a nutshell. While I can't (I guess it is a "won't", really...) describe the dress I will say it is wonderful and a perfect mixture of exactly what I was looking for! Thanks Dad for being incredible and doing SO much driving; you really are my hero! I am so glad we got to hang out like that, and I hope you feel the same way - sorry getting sniffly, must stop.
Heading Home...
So that takes care of the saga that was the wedding dress... I have it and the next stop for it will be alterations... the appointment is booked and I am good to go! 3 months people, 3 months!
PS Next blog (as I am working on catching up) is about the bridesmaid dresses... stay tuned... here's a hint - WOW!
