Homecoming 2011 - The Dance

     As with any high school homecoming game...soon follows "the dance".  In my day, the games were usually on Saturdays and the dance was Saturday night.  At Megan's school, the game was Friday night and the dance Saturday night.  I may have been  was (secretly) more excited about the dance than Megan.  Her plans were to attend a homecoming dinner at a friend's house prior to going to the dance.  This was to be a girl's night out, and her dad was especially grateful for that!  But first, there were nails to be painted and a soccer game to play.

     If I had my way, we would have skipped the soccer game entirely.  It was in Plymouth, about 40 minutes away and the start time was 3 pm.  Megan wanted to play.  We had to leave just before the half and high tail it back to our house for a quick shower and then a 4:30 pm makeup appointment at Sephora.  While we were shopping for shoes to go with her dress, we stumbled on a Sephora rep who told us they were doing free eye makeovers on Saturday.  I was like "bonus" since we only live 5 minutes away and I knew they would do her eyes better than I could do them in a last minute rush.  Normally, at 14, I do not allow Megan to wear "makeup" yet.  Well, she does wear mascara and lip gloss, but that's it.  The appointment went very well and I thought (but I'm "the mom") her eyes looked great...I didn't think they should be too dark and smokey since she was not going to be wearing any other makeup.

     Now, let me backup...because I can't keep my mouth shut about a deal.  We only went dress shopping one night and I think we got pretty lucky.  First stop was Lord & Taylor...clearance racks, of course!!  We easily grabbed a few dresses and headed for the dressing room.  We narrowed our favorites down to three and were going to have them held while we continued shopping elsewhere.  However, when I had them scan the prices for me (to make sure they really were clearance dresses), one of them was soooo inexpensive and nice that I would have bought it regardless of the homecoming dance.  It was a nicely made dress and it was about 80 percent off, for a savings of over $100!!!  It was then that I told Megan...this is YOUR dress!!!  It fit well, was simple, elegant and black...her first LBD (little black dress)!  Now we just needed to accessorize and get some shoes.  Off to XXI Forever...a great place for fun (inexpensive) accessories.  She decided she wanted deep purple accessories, so we found a nice purple flower hairclip and a pretty scarf/wrap and some earrings and bracelets.  We were almost tempted to get a dress we saw at XXI Forever, however it was not as well made and not quite as flattering of a style.  So, in a relatively short amount of time we had everything but the shoe which ended up being some basic black patent shoes from Famous Footwear.   Happy Days! 

     Back to the dance...  Dry the hair, up in a bun, dress, shoes and ready to go!!  This girl gets ready way faster than her mom.  Oh, to be young again!!  Out the door by 5:30 pm, the start time of the dinner party at Megan's friend Hannah's house.  Soooo nice of the parents to have all the girls over for a major photo session...thankfully all of the parents were snapping pictures, not just me.  I even dragged my husband along and he was not the only dad there, either.  The girls looked great...we got our pictures, they had some dinner and then they were taken to the dance.  I was thinking about the fun they must be having the whole night.

     The dance was from 7-10 pm, and I was there by 10pm to take Megan and her friend, Alexis, home.  They were tired, but said they had so much fun dancing all night.  They were "hot and thirsty" from dancing all night.  Alexis had to get home to see her grandma, so I offered to take Megan for a quick treat at....where else....McDonalds!!  I wanted a few minutes with my "little girl" to talk about her night before she headed off to bed.  I swear we've gone from Happy Meals to a quick ice cream cone in a homecoming dress in the blink of an eye!!  Anyone reading this with little ones...take note!  So happy for more high school memories for her and her friends!!

The Soccer Game

A Quick Getaway-Start Undressing on the Way Home

Our Sephora eye makeup appointment

The Finished Eyes! ;)

Caught Running Down the Stairs on the Way Out the Door!

A quick picture outside

We're On Our Way

Alexis, Sydney, Megan and Katie

Girl's Night Out - Homecoming 2011

More Girls Arriving!!

Megan, Katie and Alexis...Awwwwww....

Still Time for a Late Night Treat at McDs with her Mom...