henna for the holidays

i hate shopping. and because i hate shopping so much, my preparations for our firm holiday party last year consisted of choosing between 2 dresses my sister happened to have hanging in her closet that fit me. which happened late in the afternoon on the day of the party. yeah.

but ... i would like to be better, improve, branch out, and generally be more "normal," so when i got the invitation for this year's holiday party, i thought i'd try shopping for a new dress.

one evening a couple weeks before the party, i headed over to the mall to see what i could see. i got there around 7. by 730, i had tried on 3 dresses that fit neither me nor my pocket book, tried on 1 blouse that would have worked with a skirt i already own if it had come in any size besides petite, and stopped myself from pulling out all my hair in frustration 4 times. i left the mall.

as i drove home feeling both frustrated and like a failure, i passed joann's fabric and craft ... after 30 minutes, i had found 2 patterns, 2 fabrics, and a new hope that perhaps i'd have a new dress for this year's party.

i started cutting and sewing on thursday night that week. and continued on sunday afternoon and evening: it was mostly done. but i needed to go up to my sister's to use her other sewing machine for the edges. the night before the party, i was at my sister's finishing the zipper and clasp; all that was left was the hem and the ribbon-belt. so at 1030 that night, i was pressing everything, trying to get it perfect since that's the type of perfectionist i am. one of the seams near the zipper was really thick. so i pressed on it hard with the iron. and as i lifted the iron ... umm ... the fabric was stuck to it: i had burned a hole in my dress! yeah-huh! (see photo at right.)

after a discussion with my sister of any and all alternatives to removing and replacing the singed piece of the dress, the next 2½ hours were spent removing and replacing the singed piece of the dress. and *then* i could work on finishing what was left. it was a long night. but i got 'er done. (see photo at left.)

the holiday party this year was themed, "rock the casbah" and was held down at the grove of anaheim, which was very nice. the firm had gone all out in decorating and preparing for this event. when cute guy and i arrived and even before entering the hall, we saw belly dancers, fire breathers, two huge camels, and even a monkey. cute monkey. famous monkey: she is the monkey from pirates of the caribbean: the curse of the black pearl.

the evening was a lot of fun, even after a very long drive (in the rain). i quickly found a few of my office friends and we all exchanged introductions. the rest of the evening was filled with good food, dancing, casino games, raffles, fortune telling, and henna painting. so many fun things. and it was fun to see my co-workers outside of the office and enjoying themselves.

seeing the fortune teller/tarot card reader was an interesting experience. i hadn't done that before. but she said some interesting things. she said that based on the cards i chose i'd be faced with some new contracts, which could be any kind of contract: whether business, or housing, or work, or relationship ... and when she said "relationship" she looked straight up at cute guy. umm, uncomfortable. anyway, and she said that when considering these contracts that there would be many people who would have an opinion on them but that i would be the one with the final say. (i would hope so.) she also said that i pulled the ___ ___ card (can't remember) that meant that i would have lots of money. i'm okay with that.

cute guy got some of the same cards, and some of the same description/reading. yes, she looked at me whenever she said anything relationship-y to him. heh. anyway. it was fun. and i ate some really good dark chocolate while we were waiting in line for our readings.

oh! and i *totally* forgot to get henna before the evening ended. i completely blew that one ... grrr.