"Party like it's 1999..."

Well... it's finally over... the much-anticipated 8th GRADE DANCE.... In our town, it's sort of a Pre-Prom, which is code for spending a ton of money for a 3 hour dance, but... it's a rite of passage, and we have to do it right. My dad always said, "If you can't go first class, don't go at all." (easy for him to say, but I try) This is the dance they talked about at her private school for years. And last weekend she had to miss the beloved 8th grade dance at her old school, but the public school she now goes to, has one too (thankfully.) As always with girls, it's ALL about the dress, so it had to be perfect for DD. You might recall I had a blog about finding "the one," but it was really the one I thought was the one, but DD didn't. So that dress went to her good friend at the old school, and you can see the new dress in above photos.

So how did the dance compare? Well, since I was a 7th grade parent last year, and we put on the 8th grade party last year, it took 6 months to plan, and our budget was $2,000. The party is always very impressive, and was extremely difficult for DD last weekend that she did not get to go. But her new school had their's tonight, and all things considered, she loved this one much more. And although the budget was way lower, she said it was the people that really made it fun, and she had a blast. And I realized she had learned a valuable lesson.

Progress...