ready at last

Amanda and Jason’s wedding is tomorrow.  The rehearsal dinner is tonight.  The big weekend is finally here.

The women have all gotten their dresses — both for the wedding on Saturday and the dinner tonight.  Those women with custom-made dresses have all been fitted multiple times.  Shoes have been found to go with the dresses.  The men have bought or rented tuxes. If needed, the men have gotten haircuts.  The women have bought, borrowed, or already have the jewelry they will wear with their gowns.  And the women, too, have watched their weight to make sure the dresses they bought months ago still fit.

Not that anyone will be looking at me, but I don’t want to stand out for having chipped nails, lifeless hair, bushy brows or hairy legs.  So the week is spent primping.  In between screenings, real estate classes, a meeting for my volunteer work, and breakfast with a friend from Maine, I get:

    Teeeth cleaned. 

    Hair colored, single process only.

    Brows waxed by Heidi at the Benefit counter at Bloomingdales (she’s amazing).

    Additional waxing, just in case my legs peek out from under the gown.

    Hair highlighted.

    Manicure and pedicure (Waltz with Vanity Fairest on top).

On June 26 I weighed 131.4 pounds.  I wanted to be 123 pounds for the wedding.  Losing 8.4 pounds in four months (17 weeks to be exact) should not have been difficult.  In 2010, I lost 23 pounds in 15 weeks.  So eight pounds in 17 weeks should be easy.  It wasn't.

Today I weigh 127.6.  I lost 3.8 pounds, less than half my goal.  But that's okay. This weight feels right. And importantly, my dresses still fit.

Alexander arrives home around noon, having taken a very early bus from Cornell.

My mother, Jean (and her family) arrive a few hours later.  We will miss my dad who is unable to come.  (Though he did finally have his neck brace removed on Wednesday). 

It is the first wedding in our family, and no doubt it will be a spectacular and joyous one.  We are all, finally, ready.