Book Review: Girls in White Dresses

I just finished this great book by Jennifer Close, "Girls In White Dresses", read on my very own Kindle-like Nook from Barnes and Noble. It's dangerous, because I've gone through 2 books in less than two weeks.

Anyway, I read about this book in the Metro a while back, and finally bought it this month. As I was reading about girls my age going through the same things I'm going through, I found myself bookmarking like crazy and saying "YES!" at every page.

"One year after graduating, they were finally on their own. It was almost like college, except they had to get up and go to work every morning. They tried (for the sake of being grown-ups) not to go out every night. 

The weather made them restless and irritable while they waited for something to start. They all knew they ought to feel different in their new lives, but they felt the same and it put them on edge...they fidgeted, asking each other 'what next?'" - Girls In White Dresses, page 26

Girls in White Dresses, Jennifer Close

This book, Ms. Close's first novel, takes you on a tour of what it's like to be a girl in her 20's, fresh out of college. She's not quite sure where to go or what to do with this next phase of her life, so she's anxiously taking a job "just for now" and dating to find "The One" so she can get married. And I'll be honest, reading about these intelligent women dating these idiots looking for the right guy for them actually stirred up a lot for me personally.

One guy, obsessed with politics, goes on the road for weeks then months at a time and eventually leaves his girlfiend. Between another self-absorbed stoner who works 4 hours a day, the lawyer who hooks up with the fresh law school graduate then tells her he's engaged when she can't stop thinking of him, and the ladies' man bartender who dates one of the women he works with as a waitress then dumps her after a few days, I kept remembering the tools of boyfrields past: knowing that the reason that women put up with this unacceptable male behavior in their 20's is that they are lonely and always believe that if they just wait it out, it will pay off.

Positively, I found myself to relating to experiences of many of the girls, and especially loved the bridezilla chapter, where their friend Kristi had 6 bridal showers that all the girls had to schlep to. I started losing interest in the last few chapters where the married girls started with the baby-making, because I'm just not in an I-want-baby-place right now. If you are looking for something fresh and relateable, especially when you're drowning in family-centered novels (i.e., Jodi Picoult), this is a great read for you.

Bottom Line: Awesome, go read it and feel better about your LIFE in this WORLD.

Jessica Rabbit Halloween Costume

Now that I'm starting to think Halloween again, it occurred to me that I never came back with the finished product after last year's vicious Jessica Rabbit costume hunt. Here's an image of my final costume: it was a big hit! I only encountered 1 other Jessica Rabbit in Boston, but my costume was obviously way better.

The Gabriella Dancy shoes in red were perfect for the costume, and surprisingly didn't hurt my feet that bad. Unfortunately, the fabric tore on both shoes during my bar crawling, and I had to return them. I tried to find another pair on Zappos, but they are not carrying that fire-red that they did last year: the closest is a deeper red in patent leather.

Full Jessica Rabbit Costume,
custom design by MsMars.
Photo Credit: Focal Impulse

The thing that really made this costume was the wig. I got mine at Dorothy's Boutique near Berklee, and the second I saw the obnoxious orange hair color, I knew it was perfect. It even had the side-swept bang that I could hide one of my eyes, much like Jessica herself. I also bought obnoxiously huge fake eyelashes.

Lastly, after searching the city I broke down and bought long purple gloves online cheap. I don't remember where, but they were like $12: which is good, because I spilled beer all over them. (And no, not me - I don't drink beer. So ha!)

Pictured in this post is the full Jessica Rabbit costume as photographed during a Boudoir Quickie Slam Shoot by Focal Impulse Studios. As I've posted before in my experience with them, I cannot recommend them enough to clients looking for (or even thinking about) participating in a boudoir photo shoot. They were great with direction, have an impressive portfolio, and I was thrilled with the resulting re-touched photos. So don't wear you're *hot* Halloween costume only once: get some great photos, too!

Of course, after this epic costume, I am having problems coming up with one for this year. How do you follow up a bombshell like Jessica Rabbit? Any suggestions welcome - I was thinking Marilyn Monroe...