A few months ago Daughter #1 and a girlfriend went shopping for prom dresses.  Daughter #1 found one and she and I went back to the mall to buy it.  While we were at the mall, she tried it on again.  She needed to do this to prove to me this was the perfect dress because I was choking on the price.

The zipper would not go all the way up – it was about an inch from closing.  When I held both sides together with my hands, the zipper lined up nice and straight – I just needed another hand to get it closed all the way.  No, daughter #1 did not want the saleslady to help us.  "And besides Mom, when R. and I were here, we got it shut".

What kind of fool am I?

During these past weeks, I have told Daughter #1 she better try on that dress.  She better make sure that zipper works.  She said she would get to it.

After we found shoes to match, I asked again about the zipper.  She knows, she knows.

She tried the dress on yesterday – at 3 pm to be exact.  No matter what Daughter #2 and I did to that dress, we could not get the zipper closed.

The prom is Friday.

Where is the f-ing receipt???

Twenty minutes of me ripping apart my purse and wallet (while screaming) we discovered that the receipt is stapled to the bag covering the dress on the hangar.

I berated her for at least half of the trip to the mall.

Did you know that three days before the prom, most of the dresses are reduced in price? 

If you live on Long Island, do you know about this place?  Don’t even bother with the mall – go straight there.  They have a much, much bigger selection and it is all cheaper than any of the department stores.

Between the hours of 4 and 9 this is what was happening in Ann’s life ….

• drive to mall
• during the tense trip berate daughter for being so lazy
• tell her I told you so
• cry some tears of frustration
• once at mall, discover that every single dress like the one you want to replace has a busted zipper
• return original dress and feel much better about getting all that money back
• find another dress that is pretty, but not as great as first dress
• buy it ‘just in case’
• go to three other department stores and try on loads of dresses
• rush home to take Daughter #2 to her flute lesson
• take a two minute shower because while helping Daughter #1 in dressing room, you discovered that you really, really stink.
• take Daughter #2 to her flute lesson
• get home from that and take Daughter #1 to Estelle’s Dresses
• realize that you have hit the mother load
• find a dress that is just as nice, if not nicer than the first dress
• buy a cool little purse, necklace and earrings
• save $100.
• tell Daughter #1 that when you two are returning the second prom dress, she will be treating you to a latte – a very large latte.