A Magical Wedding Dress Experience | Alfred Angelo Real Women Real Brides

When was the last time someone put you in the middle of a room, with mirrors all around you, and asked you to stand on a pedestal in front of a lot of people while someone took pictures of you? If you are a model, that is probably just a regular Tuesday morning in your world. For most of us, it is hardly a normal experience. But it is exactly what I did with some bloggers late on a Sunday night at Alfred Angelo's Signature Store in Altamonte Springs.

As the first blogger walked out in her dress, I looked around at the rest of us. There was more than one unsure look, and whispered questions about just how much the help is really needed to get into a wedding dress, "because, you know, changing clothes in front of other people...?"

Changing into the dress with help wasn't a big issue for me, but did I walk into the store with a list of things that aren't my style. No low cut backs. No strapless dresses. No lace. No fit and flare. I'm really good at identifying all the no's in my life. All the things that won't work. I'm not always so good at identifying the yeses. But as the night progressed, I started to feel a little more brave. I asked our amazing dress expert Jocelyn which dress she would pick for me, and she brought me this dress - Alfred Angelo 896. 

This was my pedestal moment. A dress I never would have chosen for myself was perfect. It was more than just the dress, though. I had already tried some fantasy ball gowns that were beautiful, but this dress was me. Granted, a much more dressed up version of me than usual, but still me.

I know it sounds silly, because this dress is definitely so many of the things I am not - strapless, lacy, fitted. But once it was on me, I saw other things, things that might not mean much to anyone else, but are jumping out at me now even as I look at the picture. The lace is complicated, but the silhouette is simple. It is open and free, yet it fits close. And an understated metallic embroidery makes it shine as if lit from within. All these things feel like small expressions of me. 

It is a testimony to a beautiful dress, yes, but it is even more of a testimony to a powerful moment. A perfect space in time when we connected on a deep level as women. We let go of fear, dropped our insecurities, and celebrated our beauty and our spirits. We even helped each other with 100's of tiny buttons. And we laughed. So much laughter. 

This is exactly the kind of experience my friend Lee imagined other women having when she found her perfect dress for the vow renewal she and her husband are planning for their 10th anniversary this summer. She partnered with Alfred Angelo to develop the Real Women/Real Brides campaign, to encourage women of all body types to step out into the light and make wedding dresses truly beautiful. But even though I've read their stories, and been there when women tried on dresses and were photographed, I didn't imagine how amazing it would be until I was the one standing on that pedestal. 

I'm not looking to get married again - Thomas and I have already had three weddings together, I don't think we are going for number four - but it was so much fun to try on the dresses. Every bride has a different dress experience. My mom found my wedding dress when she planned an entire wedding for us in three days. It was perfect. I wore it for both our second and third weddings. It will always be the most special dress of my life.

I thought about that when my friend Kristi messaged me the day after this event to say, "I saw you wearing my wedding dress on facebook!" That is the power of a wedding dress - over a decade later you can catch just a glimpse of your dress, and you are transported back to that moment when you stood with your true love and made the most special promises of all to each other. A piece of your heart wears that dress forever.

Even though these aren't the dresses I was married in, they hold a small piece of my heart, now, too. Because they mark a night when I saw beauty and sisterhood meet. And that is an amazing thing.

Real Bloggers: Mina, Nicole, Kelly, bridal consultant Jocelyn, Suzannah, 

Brittany, Tracie, Jennifer, and Lee

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If you want to have an experience like this, you can participate in the Real Women/Real Brides campaign at your local Alfred Angelo. They carry dresses through size 26 (and that is a real size 26, not a wedding dress size 26 that is actually a size 4 in the real world), so there is something for everyone to try. Check out all of the beautiful brides at My Sentiment ExactLee for more information. You can also find Alfred Angelo on Instagram and Facebook, because it is always fun to look at incredible wedding dresses, even if you aren't planning a wedding. 

For more wedding dress-trying-on fun, check out this great video from Sparkly Nicole, you will even get to see Kelly helping me put on a dress with hundreds of little buttons. 

*Disclosure: Alfred Angelo gave me a gift certificate for a bridesmaid dress at this event. I wasn't required to say nice things, or to tell you that I think it would be awesome to wear dress 896 every day. 

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American Girl Store Opening In Orlando

Orlando reached a new level of awesome this weekend with the opening of a new American Girl Store at The Florida Mall.

Katarina and I have been visiting the mall for months, taking pictures and staring longingly at the construction, just waiting for the store to open.

On Friday our wait was finally over. We were able to visit the store the day before its grand opening. It was everything I dreamed it would be. Our friend Lee came with us to be officially introduced to all things American Girl.

There are currently eighteen American Girl stores in America, with more on the way. The Orlando location is one of their mid-sized stores, and offers a doll salon, bistro, and amazing dolls and books everywhere you look.

When you first walk in the front doors, you are greeted by the BeForever dolls and books. This is the recently released, new version of the classic historical characters that American Girl is most known for. I was happy to see them front and center, because the historical girls will always hold the biggest part of my American-Girl-loving heart.

When you walk to the right side of the store, you enter the My American Girl world. These are the "look like you" dolls. One fun thing about these dolls is that they also live in your computer when you log into Innerstar University.

Everything your real girl has or needs can be found for her doll, including matching outfits. Katarina is a big fan of the brightly colored highlights, of course, and was excited to see the doll glasses.

It was wonderful to see all the outfits and play sets in person. Even camping looks like fun when American Girl dolls are doing it. Almost every step we took, Katarina stopped, gasped, and said, "Look! They have the _____!" as she found all of her favorite items from the catalog displayed in the store.

I loved that more than one girl stopped to touch this science set while we were there, and I saw one dad buying it for his daughter.

There are no "I'm too pretty to do homework" kind of messages to be found in the world of American Girl. It is all about empowering girls to be the very best they can be.

On the left side of the store is the bistro, bookstore, and Girl Of The Year section. It is also where you will find the Bitty Baby and Bitty Twins dolls and accessories. They are so cute, and I love that they come with a book just like all of the older American Girl dolls.

We didn't visit the bistro, because it was being set up for the grand opening event, but we will definitely be making reservations to eat there soon. The menu looks super yummy, and I love that the dolls get to sit at the table with you and eat doll-sized food.

American Girl BeForever

Let's talk about BeForever. I'm a purist. I don't often like change. Especially when it comes to things I love, and I have really loved American Girl since I read my first Molly book in third grade. So when all the rumors started flying on the internet about what the BeForever series would and wouldn't be, I was concerned.

Stephanie, who has worked with American Girl for sixteen years, gave us a tour of the store, and answered many of my BeForever questions. I'm going to do a full review of the new books soon (Katarina is hard at working reading right now as I type this), but I'll tell you now that I was happy to learn BeForever does not mean the original historical stories are going away.

Even before BeForever came along, there had been changes to the historical dolls. American Girl often pulled accessories and furniture from the catalogs and stores. In recent years, some of the characters have been placed in the archives completely, their 18" dolls, accessories, and furniture no longer available, with only the books and mini dolls remaining.

With the introduction of the BeForever line, Samantha has been taken out of the archives. I did ask if we could expect to see more characters return from the archives in the future. Stephanie said it was a definite possibility, but she wasn't allowed to give me any specifics on characters or timelines.

This is Samantha's new ice cream parlor set. It is super cute and as detailed as you wold expect. Look at the tiny ice cream cone!

The BeForever dolls do have new outfits and accessories, but some of the original pieces made the cut. It was fun to see Julie's blue VW bug and car wash set in person.

Julie's story shows an important part of history for girls in America with the creation of Title IX. She is also a favorite in our family, though, because she was born the same year as Thomas. Katarina and I take great joy in reminding him he is the same age as a historical doll. We are nice like that.

We were excited to see Kit's desk, reporter set, and tyepwriter. I told Lee we had to take pictures with Kit, because I know if she were to visit 2014, Kit would immediately start a blog.

While we were visiting the store, American Girl gave Katarina a doll. She was allowed to pick any one she wanted. Do you know what a hard decision looks like when you are eleven? This is it right here. I was a little concerned she was going to melt into a puddle of happiness on their starry floor.

Although she has several of the mini dolls, Katarina did not have a full-sized historical doll, so she knew right away that was what she wanted. She looked at every single character, but she came back again and again to Samantha, who has always been one of her favorites.

Katarina was so excited when Stephanie handed her that pink box with Samantha Parkington and one of her BeForever books inside.

American Girl Doll Hair Salon

After Katarina chose her doll, we headed to the doll hair salon in the back of the store.

Katarina was given a book of hairstyles, separated by hair type, to go through. She chose a Half-Ponytail Flip with light pink and cream ribbons.

Besides hairstyles, you can also have your doll's ears pierced or get her the full pampering or spa treatments which will give well-loved dolls a good cleaning.

It was super fun to watch the hairstylists work. And all the tiny doll-sized hair styling tools were too cute. Katarina isn't sure whose job is more fun, the doll stylists' or Stephanie's, but she is sure that working for American Girl is the dream. They should probably be expecting an application in a few years.

It was a magical day at the American Girl Store. If you are ever near one, it is totally worth a detour to make a visit. Make sure you set aside enough time to look at everything, though. We were at the store for a couple of hours, but I know there were things we barely got to look at. Another trip will need to happen soon.

Our newest American Girl store opens in Orlando this weekend! Join in on the grand opening fun with fellow fans, and share your photos with us! #AGOrlando

A photo posted by American Girl (@americangirlbrand) on Nov 11, 2014 at 10:02am PST

For my Orlando readers, the American Girl Grand Opening Celebration at The Florida Mall will continue through November 16th, with arts and crafts, a science experiment station, carnival games, a ballet performance, DJs, showings of American Girl movies, and other fun experiences throughout the mall. Many of the mall stores are also offering special discounts when you bring your doll, or let them know you are visiting the mall for the American Girl opening event. Make sure to pick up a full list of participating stores at the register.

While you are visiting the American Girl Store, check out Creativi-Tees, a specialty area for designing matching doll and girl T-shirts that are super cute. And if you need help shopping for the special little girl in your life, you can make an appointment with one of their four personal shoppers.

You can find out more information about American Girl on their website where they also have games and information about the historical and contemporary characters. You can also connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

For more American Girl goodness, check out the review Katarina wrote on Lee's blog, American Girl: It’s Their World, They Invite Us To Play Along and read our review of the new BeForever update to the historical stories.

*Katarina received a Samantha Doll and a gift bag with books and other goodies while we were at the American Girl Store. All love of American Girl is my own, and has filled my heart since I was seven years old. I was not required to write this post, say nice things, or dream of dancing American Girl dolls last night. 

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Corn Maze Adventure

We went to a corn maze over the weekend. I know it is probably hard to believe, but it was the first time I had ever visited a corn maze. Or corn in general.

Katarina and I were hanging with Lee and her family on Saturday. In an effort to find something to do with the kids that would be different (and not super expensive), we went online to look for fun family activities in Orlando, and found Scott's Maze Adventures at Long & Scott Farms.

It was windy, and a little cold (it was the day cold came to Orlando this year), which was absolutely perfect for a corn maze adventure. We did have to borrow sweaters, though, because we were not prepared for outdoor fun.

The corn was tall.

And the maze was huge. Seven acres.

It took quite a while to find our way out of there, but we did survive it.

There were other fun things at Long & Scott Farms, including a playground, kid-sized zip line, kid's fishing hole, a market, and more farmish things.

They also have other mazes - a smaller corn maze, a rope maze, a mist maze, and a tree maze. You have many opportunities to get lost at Long & Scott Farms.

Next to the playground is a small labyrinth we quite enjoyed, even though we didn't find David Bowie there.

Clearly walking a labyrinth is hard work, as you can see by our windblown hair. Okay, maybe not exactly hard work, but still more effort than Lee and I usually extend on a Saturday afternoon.

It was a great farm experience. And now I'm hooked on corn mazes.
I might have to take another trip back out there before the season ends.

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Birthday Weekend (When Celebrating For One Day Just Isn't Enough)

Katarina turned 11 years old on Saturday. Kids are growing too fast these days. I was talking with some other moms about this on Twitter this week, and we have decided to try putting books on their heads and giving them coffee to see if that helps to slow them down. I'll let you know how that goes. But for now, we are celebrating growth and aging. We celebrated all weekend, and I have pictures to prove it.

Thursday: Birthday Party at Airheads Trampoline Arena

We spend a lot of time at Airheads. First, because jumping is awesome, and it is always better with air conditioning. Second, because the food is amazing (I have dreams about their nachos and buffalo chicken). And Third, because they have regular homeschool meetups that double as PE classes. So Airheads was a great place to gather some friends and party. And Lee brought delicious homemade cupcakes that were amazing.

Thursday Night: Nail Art
Katarina loves nail art, so this Academy of Colour 3D Manicure pack was a perfect gift. She wanted to try it immediately after getting home from the party. This is how it works: you put a coat of nailpolish on your nail, and while it is still wet, you sprinkle the glow in the dark beads over it and lightly press them into the polish. It comes with a little tray to catch the excess beads, and a funnel to get them back into the bottle.

There is no way to get a good picture of the glowing nails (we tried), but I will tell you that they glow really brightly in the dark. And they look textured and cool in the light, too.

Friday: Shopping And Bus Riding
We started Friday by sleeping in, which was one of Katarina's specific birthday wishes. Then it was time for a little shopping, and finding food to donate for Champions For Kids.

We took silly selfies while we waited for the bus. I like this one, because you can see the yellow sun rail train behind us, and because Katarina is making her "serious waiting face."

Friday Night: Guardians Of The Galaxy
We are all about the comic book movies in our family, so Katarina was very excited Guardians Of The Galaxy was opening the day before her birthday. It was awesome. And then we hung out with our new super hero friends after the movie.

Does that picture make us look short?
I guess we should just be happy we are taller than Rocket Raccoon.

Also seen while we were at the movie theater?

This poster for The Giver. SO exciting. Katarina read The Giver for the first time earlier this year, and loved it, so she is counting down the days until the movie premiers.

Saturday Morning: Haircut And A New Color

PINK. Need I say more? I didn't think so.

Tika gave her a combination of Magenta and Wild Orchid for the color.

Saturday Afternoon: Changing Plans And Finding Fun
Our original plan was to visit the Orlando Science Center on Saturday, but bus schedules proved to be a problem, and we are going to have to make that trip another day.

Instead, we went downtown to eat at Katarina's favorite burger place, Beth's Burger Bar, where I attempted to eat my weight in fried pickles, and Katarina had her favorite - a cheeseburger with peanut butter and pickles.

This is the only picture containing a fried pickle or french fry, because we were too busy eating all of them to worry about pulling out the camera.

After lunch, we walked around Lake Eola, and caught some live music at the amphitheater.

We were rained out of riding in a swan boat, but that didn't stop our fun.

We just skipped on, and visited the library, making sure to jump in all the puddles on our way.

Skipping. It is a must on birthday weekend. Because even at 11 years old (or 40-ish years old) you can still hold hands, and skip to the library.

At the library, Katarina was excited to finally be allowed in the YA section by herself now that she is 11. It was a milestone.

Sunday was for more sleeping in, opening presents and a HUGE card at the park, and reading new books. And then birthday weekend came to a close. It was a pretty epic celebration.

Happy birthday, Katarina!

I love you so much, and I'm looking forward to all the amazing things that will happen in your 11th year. It is going to be awesome. Love, Mom.

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Leslie And Lolly Make Stuff Up

We spent Saturday morning visiting a new show at the Orlando Repertory Theatre - Leslie And Lolly Make Stuff Up starring Leslie Carrara-Rudolph and Lolly Lardpop. It was amazing and so very funny. Leslie's name might sound familiar to you, because she is the Emmy-nominated voice and puppeteer behind Abby Cadabby on Sesame Street, but this weekend's show was all about Lolly.

Lolly is a candy-obsessed five year old. She has a huge imagination and an even bigger heart. Imagination is important to this show, because, as the title promises, Leslie and Lolly spend 50 minutes with the audience making stuff up. A fully interactive show, the kids are invited onto the stage to participate with singing, dancing, and creative ideas.

During one of my favorite parts of the show, Leslie brings out a poster board and has one of the children write a number on it. From that number, she draws a character, while singing a song. It starts, "Have you ever drawn a blank while staring at a blank piece of paper? Gone into despair as you stare at the nothing that is there?" and continues with encouragement to draw on your inspiration to allow yourself create something that might just be great.

Singing the poster board, and giving a pep talk about
imagination and creativity, after the show. 

As a writer, I completely related to the scary feeling of looking at a blank piece of paper (or as is often true in my case, a blank screen), and not knowing exactly where to start. I know that the cure to not having the perfect words is often to get all the imperfect words out of the way, and this was a great reminder for me. I know it is technically a kid song, but it is seriously going to be my new go-to song when I have writer's block.

Back to Leslie and the show, after drawing on the poster board, she lets the audience give ideas for names and other details for her drawing, and a story is born. That is what Leslie and Lolly Make Stuff Up is all about - imagining and believing. It is also full of very silly moments that had everyone laughing.

Katarina, Tracie, Lolly Lardpop,

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, and John B. DeHaas

Carrara-Rudolph and Lolly were accompanied on the piano by John B DeHaas during the performance. In between classic Lolly songs like, Meat Cookies, and one of the best two minute recaps of The Wizard of Oz (complete with voices) I've ever heard, other characters puppetted by Leslie came out to play. One of these characters, a lizard named Slax, is created from a dryer hose, a slipper, some gloves, a pair of pants, and a lot of imagination. It was great fun to see Leslie change from herself, into this jazzy, lounge lizard.

One of my favorite puppets was Granny Dot who, at almost 100 years old, is the oldest puppet character I've ever seen. On the way home from the show we were talking about how puppets are so often little kids, which is great, but it was nice to see a puppet who was an older character interacting with the kids from the audience. She even sings a song about embracing her age, and talks positively about the wrinkles on her face, calling them the map of her life. It was a great message of accepting and loving yourself exactly as you are, and Granny Dot even gives out some words of advice born from the wisdom of her years.

Katarina has grown up with Lolly's songs, but there were a lot of new ones in this show. Knowing her affinity for candy (something we most definitely have in common with Lolly), Katrina brought Lolly a rainbow loom cupcake with sprinkles, which Lolly immediately ate.

Are you loving Leslie's Mr. Rogers t-shirt as much as I am?

It rocks my face off!

We first met Leslie about six years ago, when Katarina was five years old.

Our special friends Jason and Mary Hunt introduced us, so it was perfect to experience her show with them this weekend, and spend some time with them and Leslie after the show.

Jason Hunt, Mary Thompson Hunt, Katarina,
Lolly Lardpop, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, and John B. DeHaas

Leslie And Lolly Make Stuff Up is a great show for any age. There will be another performance on Sunday, July 26th at the Orlando Repertory Theatre as part of their 12th birthday celebration. You can find Lolly Lardpop on youtube, twitter, and facebook, where you can follow along with her adventures, and hopefully you can also catch her in a performance near you this year.

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