I bought a pretty dress and wore it out on the town, with my husband on my arm

A little while ago I reviewed my year list (in my sidebar), so I could think on a few things, make some plans for other things, budget for this or that, and my eyes rested on the item that said "buy a pretty dress and wear it out on the town, with my husband on my arm."

I instantly thought, well, I'll have to wait to meet my goal weight for that one, and I carried on.

Which was pure insanity. And I told myself as much later that same day.

I can buy a pretty dress and have a fancy date night with my husband no matter how much I weigh. Retail stores and restaurants everywhere actually allow this kind of thing, if you can believe that.

I bought a dress. I paired it with some funky shoes. I made some reservations that coincided with DFW's Restaurant Week (and therefore broke our "no eating out" August rule for this one special occasion). I found a babysitter (thanks, mom!). We ate. We drank. We stayed up late into the night watching season four of Dexter. We had a baby-free, delicious meal where we talked about vacations, money, a second baby?, home improvements, work, wine, weight, everything under the sun.

We even had dessert.

I've learned so much this year that I want to write a book about it all. But one thing I've learned that I'll share with you today is this: have fun now.

Waiting to have fun until you fill in your own particular blank is downright stupid. And this is coming from a woman who has spent many, many years making many, many stupid choices.

In fact, one such stupid decision was saying "oh hell, why not?" when the waiter asked if I'd like to opt for the wine pairing with my meal. My three-course meal.

(The buzz was just wearing off as I watched the final minutes of Dexter's season four finale. Or maybe it wore off because of those final moments. Lord, I never thought I could sob so much at a television cliffhanger I ALREADY KNEW ABOUT.)

I had a really wonderful night with my husband despite crying at the end of it. (Next time: Modern Family marathon!) It wasn't perfect (see: crying), nor are we, and I still look at the above photo and wish I had dropped those extra 18 pounds because stupid thoughts still creep into my stupid head no matter how I wish they wouldn't.

The point of this year isn't to be perfect or to even strive to be perfect, no, it's to strive to be better.

And to embrace life every moment along the way to better.

Rare family photo! With my chin cut off! (You take what you can get with a hard-to-wrangle toddler.) (And shit if he doesn't need another hair cut just a month after his first/last.)

Comments

[Kerri Anne]

"Have fun now." YES. Yes, yes, and more yes.

You (and that dress) look fantastic.

[SweetKeriLynne]

You mentioned it in passing, but I hope you are serious: please, please, PLEASE write a book. I can't imagine a better thing. You are phenomenal. I will write you a list of twenty reasons why you should write a book if you want. For now, I will just thank you for your blog.

[nicolien]

Love that dress. And it looks SO good on you!

[Bethany]

The dress is fantastic, and you look great! And you're absolutely right in your advice to have fun now, which is difficult to remember sometimes.

[jodifur]

You look awesome. Weight is just a number. Seriously. I think (in my humble opinion) that you need to get off the scale.

[Marie Green]

Yay for a night out! And new dress! And husband on your arm! I love your side-bar goals and feel totally inspired by them.

Also, thanks for the reminder that we don't have to be perfect, just better.

Ya'll are super adorable.

[Hillary]

You look great and I'm so glad you got those shoes. Love them!

[natalie]

You are fan-freaking-tastic. AND that dress looks fabulous on you, lady. Gorgeous.

[Kader]

You look wonderful. And I love love love that photo of the 3 of you.
Thanks, as always, for the great reminders about enjoying where we are now... It's so much more enjoyable when you remind me than when I'm trying to remind myself.

[K]

You look fabulous!

[Kristie]

Don't you look so cute in your dress!

[Shelly]

Holy hotness! Love the dress! Mike looks pretty spiffy too! :)

[Elizabeth]

You look gorgeous and it sounds really fun, I'm jealous.

[Rebecca (Bearca)]

You look amazing in that dress.

[Life of a Doctor's Wife]

You look gorgeous - and I love the sentiment. Fun. Now. Yes yes yes.

[Heather]

I am glad that you marked that off your list. And looking like that, the second baby might just be in the cards ;)

In all seriousness, you look INCREDIBLE, and that dress was MADE for you. Absolutely 100% made for you. Hopefully Mike's eyes bugged out of his head!

[Maggie]

Oh my gosh Jennie, you look HAWT. No, FOR REALS. That dress is SUPER CUTE and your legs are killing it and you look AWESOME. Also: ALWAYS opt for the wine pairing! DUH!

LOVE, MAGGIE

[natalie]

Ow Ow you are one hot mama!

[Katy]

Lookin' good, chica!

This is a great post and so true--let's stop waiting for perfection, right?

Hubby and I just started the first episode of season four of Dexter--I know nothing about the season, so don't tell me, OK?

[Sarah]

I'm a lil behind on your posts and I see that several readers already beat me to it but I must add to their sentiment - Wow, Jennie, you look incredible! Also, thanks for all the inspiration - you continue to remind me, gently, humorously and sweetly, the right way to live life, now. I've even printed some of your past entries so I have your lessons always available! :)

[auntie]

How fun to have a dress-up night out - for most of us, those nights don't come along often enough! Love that you got to buy a fancy dress. And btw, your legs are smokin' hot in that fancy dress!