I took everyone's advice and went with the group to try on the bridesmaid dresses today. You all are seriously so smart and I'm glad you give such good advice because now looking back I would have totally regreted not going.
All in all, (thanks to a new pair of Spanx and the encouraging words of you all) it was a pretty fabulous time. Only 2 other bridesmaids (out of a total of 8) were there and it was pretty low-key. The dress is still a little short for my taste so I'm having an inch taken out of the hem but I can't lie- there was a point today as I was looking in the mirror that I began to feel very...proud of the work I've put in so far on this journey. Wanna hear something AWESOME? When I first looked at the dress on the hanger I began to doubt if even the largest size they carried (a 26) would be big enough...I suddenly pictured myself having to come out of the dressing room and saying that not even the largest size would fit and then have to have the consultant tell me there were no bigger options and then the bride have to completely change her dress or something. Well, the 26 did fit; in fact, it was too big so I tried on the 24, and it was too big until finally I slipped into the perfect size 22! As I'm sure you can imagine, that felt great. The 22 is a little tight on me but I know that six months from now I will probably even need to go down a size (or two!).
It's so cool to be able to go into a store and not automatically have to try the biggest thing they have on there- I don't even know how long it's been since that has been the case but a long time. For sure, a size 22 is nothing to write home about but the fact that there are 2 sizes larger than that available just make me smile from ear to ear :) Not to mention, I bought a shirt today from LB in a size 14/16! Do you know how crazy that is!?!
It's just little things like these that are great motivators that push me to keep going!
For now, I can't wait until I go and pick up my dress in a month or so and be able to see how much better it fits :) I'm sure the picture below can show you some of the reasons I'm still not completely comfortable wearing something like this, but I will be!
Again- THANK YOU so much for your thoughtful, encouraging, and wise words of advice about this- it was your words that allowed me to come out of the dressing room with my head held high today :)