Prom 2008

Saturday was a big day for Daughter - Taking the SAT (Boo) - Going to the Prom (Yay!)

Her day was jammed packed. It started off early, a quick breakfast and then she was off to take her SATs. After the test she had just enough time for a quick bite before her hair and makeup appointments. Most of the girls got dressed at the house where the limo was picking them up. 30 kids all went together. So the limo had to be huge... and it was!!!

All the parents gathered to take pictures. It was quite the scene. Very sweet though, we all love our kids!

Daughter and her best friend Chels wearing their Fashion District dresses. : )

Daughter and her date - they have known each other since they were in preschool. Just friends.

Some of the girls

Some of the guys

Almost time to leave. There were so many kids!
Getting ready to some how get 30 kids in the limo....

I like this picture because you can see Daughter's hair and back of her dress. So pretty!!!

Some how they all managed to squeeze in.

They headed off to dinner in Malibu at Gladstone's which was great they said. The dance was - "eh" But they all had a great time!!!

Crowds, Dresses, and Dessert

Sunday was the big shopping day downtown in the Fashion District. I was all set with my maps, lists and recommendations. We zipped down the 101 to the 110 with no traffic and quickly found a parking lot.

Our first stop was Trendy Too, I had been told they had the biggest selection. They did - a lot of dresses. Sadly, the girls would not let me take pictures - I got a lot of eye rolling and "mommmmmm".

Let me preface the rest of this post with the fact that my daughter is some what claustrophobic. She does not do well in areas with a lot of people (and dresses).

She gets overwhelmed very easily (her room is proof of this....). We started looking at all the dresses and trying to decide on a style, color, etc. We didn't have too much luck here so we tried our luck at another store. Our next stop was Cinderella.

This store was PACKED full of girls waiting to try on dresses. Both girls' faces lit up though when we walked in this store. All the hard work had been done - all you had to do was pick out one of the dresses on the wall and try it on. Ahhhh.... the only trick was they could try on only 3 dresses. At first I didn't understand the reasoning but after spending time in the cramped store, I liked that policy. Get 'em in and get 'em out!

Chels found her dress here, very pretty, very elegant and it was at a good price. Ash had found one but I could tell that it wasn't what she really wanted so I talked her into looking at a couple more stores.

Our next stop was Nobell. This store was bigger and not even as crowded as the first two. A much better environment for my little claustrophobic baby. She looked through the racks until she found the perfect dress she had been looking for. Frosty blue with just a few rhinestones on the straps. Very pretty, very elegant, very Ash. And it was on sale... very me.

We headed down Santee Alley to look for jewelry and shoes. Here is where I learned that Chels' mom, my dear friend Bet is also claustrophobic. We always joke that Ash could be her daughter and Chels could be mine. Chels and I could have shopped down there all day! I was loving it.

It took Ash and Bet just a few stores and they were done.

That was fine, we had accomplished what we had come down for.

Being that it was also the first of the playoff games for the Lakers we decided to leave the area before the traffic go too bad.

We had a lovely lunch at Cheescake Factory and ended it off with a scrumptous piece of Key Lime Pie to share.

YUM!

**Update - I already have the green light to take pictures the night of the prom. The kids are meeting at a friend's house for all the parents to take pictures before jumping in the limo and going to dinner.** Mark my word - there will be pictures. ; )