El Loco
El loco describes how I’ve been feeling lately, in one word….crazy! My days and nights seem hectic and I feel like I want to lay on my couch for days…..well, at least for a full weekend….HAHA! In my mind there’s a good reason for my scattered actions and thoughts; my son will be getting married soon and there’s a lot to accomplish. The date has been planned for a year, but time seems to speed up faster the closer it gets.
For several months now, I’ve been in search of the perfect mother-of-the-groom dress. However, the problem with special occasion dresses, most wedding stores don’t allow returns. So, I decided to only shop either on-line or in person in those stores that had a return policy. Thank goodness, because I’ve ordered and returned more dresses than I care to admit. The dress I’m currently going with is a beautiful shade of navy, but I wasn’t sold on the wrap. I thought, surely, I should be able to find something I liked better. Well, a few months, many shopping trips or orders later and I’m still coming up empty handed.
I talked it over with my seamstress and decided I wanted her to custom make a jacket. My only problem was to match the color. Unfortunately, navy is a difficult color to match since there are so many shades. She exhausted her search and it was left up to me. Holy cow, she wasn’t kidding, I couldn’t find anything that was a close match…..argh. I was running from fabric store to fabric store with no luck and was starting to panic.
The drop dead date to find material was fast approaching and I had one full weekend to make it happen. I put my plan in place, researched all the fabric and wedding stores between my house and Milwaukee and set out Saturday morning. Store after store I came and went, without a match. The day ended in defeat….now what?
I had one more idea I would attempt to execute on Sunday. It was my last hope. Making my way to the north side of Chicago, I silently and openly prayed. Upon entering the well-known fabric store, it went on and on, room after room. I didn’t have a clue where to begin, and headed directly to a sales clerk. Probably within five minutes, I had not one, but two matches…..say WHAT? I could hardly believe my eyes. She also directed me to another room that had more reasonably priced fabric and amazingly enough, another perfect match…..it was my lucky day.
I was so happy, and could hardly wait to call my seamstress the following day to schedule an appointment. Well, wouldn’t you know, I forgot one important detail; I needed a pattern as well…..OMG! Why I hadn’t thought to ask that important question is beyond me. As soon as I could, I ran out of work to the not-so-near fabric store to find the perfect pattern. Frantic, I called a good friend to help me through the process since she was familiar with sewing. After searching, I found what I thought would work. Back out the door I ran to my car, called my seamstress for an appointment. “Could I be there by 6:30……absolutely!”
I took off like a bat out of hell, since I needed to run home, gather my supplies and head in the opposite direction, all within a short amount of time. As I turned the corner onto the four lane road, I got into the left lane, but noticed the traffic coming the opposite direction was very close to my car. I was shocked how close the lanes were built and couldn’t remember the many times I took the same route. After what seemed like an extended period, I realized it was me! I was riding within the yellow lines separating the directions…..WHAT?! Oh my word……what a nut! I was mortified as the cars directly behind me stayed clear, like I was a crazy woman driver. Happily, once I got between the correct lane, I was stable the remaining drive.
What a journey this has been. As I wait for the jacket to be made, I’m hoping and praying it will compliment the dress. In the meantime, I’ll be the el loco woman trying to keep within the lines. In the end, no matter what, the wedding day will be about the love between a man and woman, and a simple jacket won’t really matter. Perhaps I should have realized that earlier.
xoxox…..Sheryl