{celebrating 6yrs cinderella style}

Ever since Matthew joined the Air Force I have been bugging him to take me to a Ball. Most bases have at least a couple of Balls every year, and with living in an area where there are 5 bases, there are plenty of Balls to attend. It all started at the beginning of August when Matthew called me from work asking if I had a formal dress, and asked how I would like to spend our anniversary all dressed up. I promptly said, "I have the dress I wore to your dining out at your OTS graduation." To which he informed me that I better get shopping because we are going to be attending the NDIA Ball in 2 weeks. I was SO excited and immediately contacted Matthew's cousin Sharalyn who lives in Denver. She attends a lot of formal affairs and I knew she would be the perfect person to help me find the perfect dress... plus I just love spending time with Sharalyn and am constantly looking for a reason to visit her. SO off we went to go shopping. She took me to the Cherry Creek Mall in the heart of Denver. They have a Saks, Norstroms, and a Neiman Marcus and a bunch more Name Brand stores... I was in heaven, although we didn't find my dress there. So off we went to another mall the Pine Creek Mall and after much searching I found my dress. I knew what I wanted, and I knew I wanted to look classy and timeless. I was nervous because until last year the NDIA Ball was reserved for Lt. Cols. and above. Earlier that week Matthew had informed me that although we should have fun at the Ball I needed to pull out my charming manners. The NDIA Ball (National Defense Industrial Association) is pretty prestigious. All of the local companies associated with Space Command have the opportunity to purchase a table that seats 10 people for a couple of thousand dollars. Then they are required to donate at least 4 chairs to military members. We ended up sitting at a table that Honeywell Aerospace bought. We were seated with 2 Lt. Cols and 4 men who were various CEOs of Honeywell as well as 2 had brought their wives as a date. So we were in high quality company. The meal was to die for. It was a 5 course meal and I ate almost all of it. I tend to be a polite picky eater. What I mean by that is my mom taught me that if I don't like something to politely decline or suck it up and try it. I knew that this night I wouldn't be able to be picky. The salad consisted of spinach and goat cheese with a variety of fruits. I can't stand spinach or goat cheese, but this meal was SO divine I couldn't pass anything up. We were nervous about the amount of alcohol that would be served. Because lets face it, anyone who knows anything about the Air Force can confirm how much service members like to serve a variety of alcohol. The evening started out with a cocktail hour from 6-7, which we were nervous about because although we knew we could order a soda, we knew that most people there would most likely order so form of alcohol. But to our relief all the beverages were served in a short fluted goblet so no one really knew what anyone was drinking. Then we knew that dinner would be served with at least a red wine and a white wine. The last formal event we attended for the AF we had the hardest time getting the serving staff to keep our glasses full with water. They didn't understand why we would want water instead of wine or sweet tea. Well the Ball was much more accommodating. It helped that 8 of the 10 people at the table mostly drank water. The only 2 people who were enjoying the wine was the 2 Lt. Cols. So we weren't self conscious about that either. The only thing we had to worry a little about was most of our table had coffee with dessert, which wasn't too bad either. I know people tend to like coffee with dessert, but who drinks coffee at 10pm at night and hopes to get home and sleep??? So the night was overall a blast. I loved every minute of it, and Matthew was able to make quite a few contacts who would be able to help him progress in his AF career. On the way home Matthew turned to me and informed me that maybe we should be going to more AF Balls if for nothing else but to meet people and show face. I told him it sounds good to me, it was SO much fun getting all glammed up for the night. It was the best way to spend celebrating our 6yr anniversary.

I had so many complements on my dress that I knew I picked the right one. I was quite nervous about finding the right dress. I didn't want to look like I had just bought a prom dress and I didn't want to look like mother of the bride. This dress was perfect. A majority of the women there wore floor length ball gowns and most were in dark classy colors. I only saw a handful of women in flashing colors or inappropriately short/low cut dresses. I had quite a few women ask me where I found my dress. It was quite flattering.