Today was a total whirlwind. K and I dropped J off at dance rehearsal at 12:30 and headed over to get her hair cut. She got the same as J and just loved herself afterward (LOL). Then we went over to the store where I saw a cute dress (which was even cuter at only $19.99). She ran right over to it before I even pointed it out, tried it on and it was perfect! It's sleeveless, so we also bought a sequinned short jacket to wear over it. We also got a strapless bra and a pair of earrings there. We headed back over to the dance studio and caught the kids running their solos. When class was over, the 3 of us went to the mall. Ok, mall + Saturday + December = BIG MISTAKE. But we somehow found a parking spot and had some good luck. We went first to Payless and got K shoes and a bag. Then to Claire's and got J a bag and some earrings, and both girls got some lip gloss. That's it, we were done.

I dropped the girls home around 5pm and went to get myself a haircut. It's been over 3 years since my last one, so I was due. I look like a new person and I don't know why I waited so long. At home, K put on the dress and said it was really loose. I checked the tag and it said Large. WTF??? I know she tried a small on in the store. Now it's almost time to leave and K was saying to just pin it. I decided to scour her room looking for the tags she ripped off and zip back to the store to get the right size. Thankfully they let me exchange it and I zipped back home.

We got to the party right on time. This Sweet 16 was right out of MTV. My niece had on what looked almost like a wedding dress complete with a ton of makeup and a tiara. The hall was set up like a wedding with numbered tables and assigned seating. There was a DJ and an open bar and tons of food. W wouldn't take his coat off for over an hour and totally refused to stand in front of the Christmas tree for a picture. An hour later his shoes and tie were off and I think his socks were too. Birthday girl called people up to light her candles and we all did lots of dancing. I'm sure I embarrassed the hell out of my kids with my Electric Slide, Macarena, and Cotton-Eye-Joe. I was one of the "old people" dancing. I felt pretty old, too.

K wants a party like this. J does not. I think it was a bit much. But in NYC we have parties like this for any occasion. No one bats an eye anymore over spending thousands of dollars on a birthday party. Does anyone out there have these big ole shindigs where you come from? My relatives in Montana don't do things this big. I mean, they have backyard weddings - which is completely unheard of here. Sometimes I read about how things are done in other parts of the country and I long for that kind of simplicity. I don't know. Maybe everyone feels the grass is always greener on the other side.