Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

My practice hairdo for my sister's wedding

This weekend, The Gryphon and I visited my sister so I could help her with more preparation for her June wedding.

Saturday, we tried to be there by noon, because my sister and I had an appointment with her hair stylist to try out hairdos for the big day. I got there a little before noon, but she had already left. So I grabbed some clothes on the way out the door and headed over. I knew we'd be shoe shopping afterwards, so I stopped in a Burger King and threw on a gray wool jumper instead of the black pants I'd been wearing. But of course, I'd left my stockings behind in her apartment, so I was left with only some knee highs I had shove in my purse. I figured I'd put them on just to try the shoes once we got to the store.

By the time I got to the hair dresser's, she was putting the finishing touches on my sister's hair. My sister chose an elegant style, a chignon on the back of her neck with some flowers worked in. They were trying to use red carnations, because they were the only red flowers my sister had been able to find on short notice. They didn't work terribly well, and her hair dresser suggested having her hair dresser put something together on a comb for her to use on her wedding day.

I went for a different hair style, involving a lot of curlicues on the back of my head, and as it turned out, a lot of hair spray as well! I was really happy with it, at first, but as we walked around the rest of the day, I felt really conspicuous. It didn't help that the hair stylist had joked that people might think we were getting ready for a prom, since it was that time of spring.

We left my car in the parking lot and hopped in my sister's car to drive to the Nittany Mall for shoe shopping. I needed shoes that would go with my bridesmaid dress. The first store we stopped in was Kaufman's, where my sister had bought herself some very fancy shoes for the wedding. When I turned over a pair that looked interesting, I saw that it cost $75 and suggested we try cheaper stores first.

"Don't you want to see what else they have?" my sister asked. I followed her as we browsed some more, but the cheapest shoes were still a bit above my price range, so I told her I'd come back if I didn't find something elsewhere.

Next we stopped at the Shoe Department, which is a lot like Payless, with inexpensive shoes. But I wasn't really impressed with anything I tried there.

Then we tried the Deb, a junior store, for teenagers and people in their 20s. They had dress shoes because they were selling prom gowns. I was skeptical at first, but I actually found the perfect pair. They're black with three bands in the front and three little rhinestones. They were also pretty comfortable and easy to walk in. So I bought them.

On the way out of the store, we critiqued the prom dresses, many of which were made in a really cheap nylon material that reminded me of ballet costumes. My sister pointed out that, after all, prom dresses were a costume.

My sister wanted to stop a couple other places. We stopped at Joanne's Fabric for her to get material to cut into squares to make birdseed packets for people to throw at the couple at the wedding. She chose sheer fabric in several bright colors that matched the colors in her bouquet. While we were there, we also picked up numerous candles, which will be used for decoration at the reception. We forgot, however, to buy ribbon to tie up the packet of birdseed. She'll have to get that later.

We called the guys and told them we were coming back. When we returned, we found them in the guest room, playing video games, my sister's fiance on the PC and The Gryphon on his laptop. They seemed like they were having fun.

Next, my sister wanted to show us the house they're moving into in Bellefonte. We stopped first to pick up my car, and then we followed them to the new place, taking note of the directions for the future.

I was astounded at how big their new place was, considering they'll only be paying $600 a month in rent. But I guess that's how rent prices go in Bellefonte. A neighboring town to State College, it no longer has a thriving downtown now that Penn State University has cannibalized all of that. It still, however, has the beautiful architecture left from when Bellefonte was the business center of Central Pennsylvania.

Their new place is absolutely huge: three floors with lots of rooms and lots of large closets. I'll admit that I was jealous, but neither The Gryphon nor I have a desire to move to Bellefonte, and there's simply no way we could find a place this big in the Philadelphia area for a comparable rent.

I took this beautiful picture of my sister at the top of their large stairwell.

While we were there we unloaded a few things from my car. We gave my sister the painting that I'd rescued from the trash a little while ago, of a somewhat disturbing red deer. She's going to prime the canvas and reuse it for one of her art projects. I also gave her a few frames I'd found.

I'd also brought along her old Brownie uniform, which I'd found in my old closet in my Mom's house while clearing out my things. She was surprised to see it, and we looked through all the badges in the pocket that had never been sewn onto her sash. We joked about what they might be, because neither of us remember. For example, I looked at a badge with one red, one green and one blue person. "This is a badge for having friends from different nationalities," I said.

Then we all hopped in my sister's car again and went to a little restaurant in Centre Hall. The restaurant used to be a railroad station, and it featured pretty good variety for a small menu. I had baked fish with Brussels sprouts, apple sauce and salad. I was bad, though. For dessert, The Gryphon and I split a piece of chocolate cake.

Afterwards, we picked up my car and then rendez-voused at the old apartment before my sister and I went to the video store to get something to watch. While we were walking around the store, talking about what we wanted, a guy came in. He was walking kind of stiffly and wearing a silver and black motorcycle helmet and matching motorcycle suit.

"What's with Robocop?" I whispered to my sister, who giggled. We joked about whether or not he was there to rent Robocop. "Do you think they'll even let him?"

We walked past a group of people, and I said, loudly, "Note to self: be inconspicuous as much as possible." We rented Invader Zim, Anchorman and another animated series called Bob and God or something. We left the store giggling, the employees smiling and waving after us.

Out in the parking lot, we saw a Mercedes motorcycle that matched Robocop's outfit, with the strangest vanity plate I've ever seen: "PBBOO."

We had one last stop, to walk to the bar near their place for a six-pack of Amstel Light. The bartender looked at my sister's license and said, "Is this you?" She's lost about 40 pounds since that picture, grown out her hair and gone back to her natural color with highlights, instead of dyed red like it was in the picture. I'm not surprised he was confused. Fortunately, she gets a new one next year.

Back at the apartment, we let the guys choose what to watch first. They wanted Invader Zim, so we settled down on the couch, cracked open a few Amstel Lights and laughed ourselves silly until my sister and her fiance went to bed.

The Gryphon and I tried to get through Anchorman but fell asleep on the couch and gave up.

More from this weekend:

May 3, 2005 - Fresh Air

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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