That Wedding

Mrs. Mac and Ashely have been shopping in bridal stores, looking at typical mother-of-the-groom dresses. I suggested we look at holiday dresses instead. Phillip whined and said he couldn't shop on an empty stomach, so we headed to an upscale mall and had lunch first. We even had wine. I joked and told Phillip since he was whining, he needed wine.

As we walk out of the restaurant and head toward the dress shop, Phillip says, "Hey, do you mind if Dad and I go to the jewelry store while you try on dresses?"

I was ready to lay into Phillip because the whole point of this shopping trip is to find his mom a dress and not sneak off to the jewelry store, where they're probably hoping to find a TV.

Phillip's mom looks at me, sees I'm about it blow, and says happily, "That sounds like a plan. We'll text you when we find something."

She makes a beeline to the dress shop, so I follow along. When we get out of earshot of the guys, she grabs my arm. "JJ, you never, EVER, tell your man NOT to go in a jewelry store. Seriously."

And I realize she probably has a point.

We go to a great little boutique that's fully stocked with holiday dresses, so we have a lot of nice dresses to choose from.

"Do you have a preference as to what color I wear?" she asks.

"What do you think would look good?"

"Well, I showed my friends a picture of the bridesmaids dresses and told them your colors. They thought either silver, light purple, dark purple, or black."

"Hmm, I love black dresses, but I'm afraid you'd blend in with the boys. Your son is getting married. I think you should stand out."

With that remark, I make her cry. "I'm so lucky to be getting you for a daughter-in-law," she tells me while wiping the corners of her eyes.

With our criteria in mind, we enlist the salesperson's help and find six dresses for her to try on, but kinda like with my dress, one just stands out.

The dress is a gorgeous deep purple color. It's strapless with an empire waist, and the skirt flows perfectly over her curves. The bodice sparkles with matching purple beading, and the color looks beautiful with her complexion. Phillip's mom is looking hot, honestly, in this dress.

She loves it. She's gri

"You haven't tried them all on yet, but this is my favorite. You look gorgeous, and I don't think you should look matronly. You certainly don't look old enough to have a son who's getting married."

"You just sold me," she giggles. "But this is fun. I think I'll try on the rest."

"Let me take pic of you and send it to Mrs. D, so we can get her opinion."

I take a pic of her and send it off. She's in a silver sequined gown that's so heavy she can hardly walk when Mrs. D texts back, LOVE IT!!

She tries on the other dresses then puts the purple one back on. I text Phillip to come look at it.

Phillip says, "Damn, Mom, are you sure that dress isn't too sexy?"

Mrs. Mac blushes, and I could've sworn I saw Mr. Mac slide him a twenty.

After she buys the dress, Phillip says, "Hey, we haven't registered yet, and they have great dishes. Wa

I've been dreading registering because Lori told me I needed to picture what kind of dishes I would want to serve my children holiday di

Registering felt like an overwhelming task, but it wasn't.

We walked in, looked at the fine china patterns, looked at each other, and said, "That one." Then we picked out flatware, and Phillip's dad picked out a stemware pattern that I love. It's gorgeous heavy crystal, but the glass is cut in a modern way.

Phillip's mom showed us the items that she loves to use when entertaining, and those things that are too much of a hassle to deal with. Like real silver. Yes, it's shiny and gorgey in the store, but who has time to deal with it?

And instead of registering being a chore, it was a breeze. I think Phillip and I were just overwhelmed with all of the possibilities and here, with their help, all the picks we made, made sense. She even suggested we register for a few holiday pieces. She said people will love knowing we'll use them every year.

When we were done, Phillip took me over to look at wedding bands. I was a bit overwhelmed by all the sparkle in the case, but I didn't see one that was slightly curved like my ring. "I don't think any of these will fit my ring. I don't really need a wedding band, Phillip. My engagement ring is enough."

"No way, Princess. You're not getting out of wearing a wedding band that easy. I want everyone to know you're married." He touches my ring finger. "I also heard you talking to Lori about what kind of band you thought would look pretty, so I had one made. We snuck over here earlier to see if it was finished. Wa

I have to control myself not to jump up and down in the middle of the store and scream, Of course, I wa