Arlene Hittle

Shopping success

Too bad it’s not this easy to win the lottery.

Wait a minute. Did I just say easy? I’d hardly call three shopping trips in search of the perfect awards ceremony dress easy.

On two separate Friday mornings, I hit six stores in Flagstaff. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much — one extremely expensive (and beautiful) gown.  Since I didn’t want to pay $300 for a gown I didn’t completely LOVE, I headed to Phoenix on Saturday.

Bigger city, more places to shop … and better prices, right?

Thank goodness that did, indeed, turn out to be the case. I visited three stores in Phoenix — a store in the mall and two bridal shops.

What is it about bridal shops? At the first one, all the dresses — even the supposedly huge ones — were too small. (The same thing happened on Friday at the bridal shop in Flagstaff. Dresses that, as size 3X, should have fit me … didn’t. I couldn’t even zip the darn things.)

I had better luck at David’s Bridal. I tried on several gorgeous dresses before deciding the one I liked best made my butt look big. It’s big enough already — it doesn’t need help from the dress.

In the end, I headed back to the mall and bought the very first dress I tried on Saturday morning. Keep in mind, this was after a day of driving all over Phoenix, looking for something I liked better. (At least I had a chauffeur. My roommate went with me, and her husband tagged along to go to Lumber Liquidators. He drove.)

GH gown. Obviously, I'll be wearing a different bra — and taking off the chunky black watch. And doing something with my hair.

This beauty was $165 — and I got a discount because some of the beads/sequins are loose and need to be tacked down. I was able to pay for a couple of pairs of shorts for this summer with the savings.

Even better, it matches my blog. I was looking for a purple or red dress in keeping with my blog banner. Success! 😉

The savings didn’t stop there, though. This same store was selling cocktail dresses buy one, get one for $1, so I spent $55 on two short dresses to wear during other conference events. I believe there’s some kind of party one night.

Looking at the photo, I see I need to start toning my arms, though. Shake Weight, here I come! 😉

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Arlene Hittle

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Comments

14 responses to “Shopping success”

  1. Kimberly Kincaid Avatar
    Kimberly Kincaid

    *Love* the purple! It’s my favorite color 🙂 Isn’t there something special about a floor-length dress? It’s a princess thing…

    Beautiful!

    Reply
    1. arlene Avatar
      arlene

      Thanks. If only I’d have known that I wanted the first dress i tried on in that first store, I’d have saved myself a whole day’s worth of shopping — and a few tears of frustration at the store where nothing fit.

      Reply
  2. Abigail Sharpe Avatar
    Abigail Sharpe

    You look so pretty! That deep purple is an amazing color.

    Your post also proved a long-standing point with a friend. He and his girlfriend (now wife) got engaged after a relatively quick courtship. I mentioned this to him and he said, “let me ask you this. When you’re dress shopping and you love the first dress you try on, don’t you buy it?”
    I said, “No! I go to five other stores and then end up buying the first one I try on!”

    Hee. 🙂

    Reply
    1. arlene Avatar
      arlene

      I’m glad I’m not the only one who does that. I asked them to hold that first one because, as I told my roommate, “No way can I buy the first dress I try on!” Technically, it wasn’t the first, since I’d been to five stores in Flagstaff — but it was the first one from this particular shopping trip.

      Reply
  3. Mallory Snow Avatar
    Mallory Snow

    Arlene, I love the dress! It’s absolutely gorgeous and so flattering on you! I’m just so disappointed I won’t get to see it on you, so of course I expect pictures of you all decked out for the big ball. 😉

    Reply
    1. arlene Avatar
      arlene

      Absolutely!

      Reply
  4. Kari Thomas Avatar
    Kari Thomas

    Hey sweetie! Beautiful dress for such a lovely lady! (My fave color, too!).

    Im soooooo proud of you! Even though I was no longer with NARWA, I kept track of your writing success and was soooooooooo VERY happy to hear of your Win! CONGRATS! Its well deserved! Now, dont stop —- keep going forward; youre going to have many more great success stories with your writing!

    Remember the first time we met? Years ago, at that dinner in Flagstaff, when Rita Rainville and I came to meet you and Angie. I told Rita then that you would one day make it AND make it BIG in your writing ….because I could absolutely “feel” your determination and enthusiasm. You proved me right!

    Wishing you lots more great success stories! I’ll be watching —and of course READING!!

    hugs, Kari Thomas, http://www.authorkari.com

    Reply
    1. arlene Avatar
      arlene

      Thanks so much! It’s good to hear I made such an impression. I think meeting you two and going to NARWA meetings was one of the best things that happened to me … I’ve learned so much from the group. I should write the radio station a thank-you letter for sponsoring the “dinner with a romance writer” contest.

      Angie’s been married for more than a year now. We still share the same house (though I spent a lot of time at the Boyfriend’s in Sedona). I live in one end and she and Josh have the other. We share the living room and kitchen — and split the mortgage three ways.

      Reply
  5. Kari Thomas Avatar
    Kari Thomas

    P.s…….

    Are you still roomates with Angie? WHEN did she get married? Way kewl and congrats to her!

    hugs, Kari Thomas, http://www.authorkari.com

    Reply
  6. Hairstyles Color Avatar
    Hairstyles Color

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    Reply
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    Hairstyles

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    Hairstyles VIP

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    Hairstyles VIP

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    Beauty Fashion

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