I must confess that I was a bit nervous as we drove from Westminster to Columbia this morning. I thought I was going to be cool, but there was this little part of me that was on high alert.

Mom and dad led the way to route 32, and then they let us pass them and lead the rest of the way. I'd never been to the Sheraton before, but we found it without too much difficulty, arriving about 10 minutes early. Mr. & Mrs. Cho were waiting for us already in front of the Waterside restaurant. I introduced my parents, and there were smiles and handshakes all around. Mom then took us all aside so she could snap a few photos.

At a few minutes past eleven, they opened the doors to the restaurant, and we were seated. Mom, dad, and the Chos did an admirable job making conversation without needing much help from Al or me, and the buffet did pretty much the job I thought it would—getting us up from the table at different times so that smaller conversations between different people could be started. The main topic of converstaion for me and mom was the food, since we love buffets, and this one was quite good. :) The main topic between me and Al was the migraine that was fast developing, and whether my vision would be clear enough for me to drive. (As it turned out, it cleared before the end of the meal.)

Mom also told the story of how she got the dress that she's going to wear to the wedding: it's the dress that Anne wore to Peggy's son John's wedding last year. Anne didn't want it anymore, and mom had admired it, so Anne mailed it to mom to see if it fit. It did, so mom had a dress. Boom, done. Mom asked Mrs. Cho if she'd found a dress yet, and when she replied that she had not, I think it was Mr. Cho who suggested that I help her find one, and mom who seconded the motion. (Might have been the other way around; I can't remember.) Anyway, I agreed to go to the mall with Mrs. Cho after brunch if she wanted to.

After the meal we all went outside so I could take a few black & white photos of everybody, and then we said goodbye to my parents and followed Mr. & Mrs. Cho back to their condo in Virginia. Mrs. Cho didn't seem too excited about going shopping at first, but Al said he would come too (to my relief), and that seemed to be the thing that convinced her.

Tyson's II is just across the street from the Cho condo, but Mrs. Cho said she'd tried the stores there and hadn't found anything, so we drove over to Tyson's I and went to Hecht's. It took us about 15 minutes of scouring the racks before we decided that the dress that Mrs. Cho had picked out in the first 5 minutes was the only one worth trying on. She did, and it looked fabulous, so that's the one we took to the register. Bonus: it was on sale. Woo hoo! Mission accomplished. Mrs. Cho will be wearing a lovely royal blue chiffon-type dress and jacket combination.

After Hecht's Mrs. Cho took me jewelry shopping; we were trying to find some earrings for me to wear at the wedding. I think she's hoping to buy me a piece of jewelry that I'll be able to pass on to my own daughter someday, should I have one. We found a couple possibilities that involved sapphires, which I love (and which would fill the "something blue" spot), but we've yet to make any definite decisions.

Posted by Lori at September 01, 2002 06:08 PM