If the Shoe and the Dress Fit

This post is two-fold. One, last week’s Parenthood episode reminded me of my Prom. Which led me to really see the beauty in that night. And two, The Glass Slipper Project officially kicked off in Chicago!

First up: Prom. Prom night holds many expectations, which most of us are accustomed to seeing as we survived and made it out to the other side. For me, it was an awkward time. Mainly because a friend’s ex asked me to the dance during a fire drill. And I thought it was a prank. It wasn’t. I learned I sealed my fate with this date while in Spanish class after Homeró (we had Spanish names in class) said Benjamín was going to ask me, but no longer could because Dan did.

Awkward.

Did I mention he was one of my good friends’ exes? Double awkward. The only saving grace was the fact Dan and I basically grew up together as we went to school together for 10 years.

And prom was fun. I don’t remember dancing with Dan, though I’m sure I did. But I do remember dancing with Kelly’s dad. I remember standing on the stage of the Fox Theatre and looking out and thinking, life is only going to get better for me. And I remember being there with all of my closest friends singing Bon Jovi songs.

We also had a pretty fantastic prom song.

Second: As prom season begins to come around, I find myself just wanting to shake girls from the pop culture prom expectations, Parenthood depicted pretty well in their episode. Last weekend, I did my first shift with The Glass Slipper, an organization I’ve been a part of since I moved to Chicago (it’s my 3rd Anniversary!). The organization outfits (see what I did there) girls in the Chicago area with all of the prom fixings; from dresses, shoes, makeup, purses and anything else a gal might need. And the girls get personal shoppers (enter me and thousands of other volunteers) to cart dress after dress around on their arms while commenting on choices. It’s quite a day as the process usually takes 2-3 hours per girl to dress for the event.

The best part besides seeing a girl smile and get excited for her day: it’s all free.

As I’m not a shopper by nature, or much of a girlie girl to be honest, I live for this day. Aside from getting a fantastic workout (I still cringe when a girl picks dresses with heavy beading knowing I’m going to have to lug it around), you get a chance to meet a girl you normally wouldn’t meet. Often times, these girls have completely different backgrounds than I have, making me that much more thankful, while at the same time challenging myself to do even more with what I have.

Kind of makes me wish I still had reasons to get all dolled up for dances. But then I remember the bobby pins and the headaches and suddenly find it’s okay that chapter’s closed.

The Golden Child

Growing up, we were extremely fortunate to host foreign exchange students. Mainly, mom was super nice and let me sign up so the Spanish teacher would think I was an all-star (which I clearly was). Our first go around was with Kovanc. We didn’t really get along, but he taught me that people in Turkey really do ride horses for fun.

Next up was Francesco from Italy (whom Mike penned the Italian Stallion), who stayed way too long with us. How long did he stay? Long enough to send roses to my best friend asking her to Homecoming, stab my friend in the leg with a pen while sitting on the bench for soccer and get himself kicked out of the program.

After those two, I can’t believe Mom signed on to have another one come. I remember being super nervous especially when I found out he was from Germany, those accents just scare me. Matthias (Matt/Matthes/German Destroyer) turned out to be one of the coolest kids around. He fit right in with my group of friends and was even a part of the infamous Treehouse Dash that we still talk about to this day, seven years later. And he’s the only foreign exchange student to truly keep in touch with us. He came back right before I left for college to hang with us one last time. He showed up wearing a mullet. We forced him to get a haircut.

He doubles as Zoolander

Matthias sent HANDWRITTEN notes from Germany all throughout my freshmen year, all of which I still have. I still remember the call when he found out he was going to play football for Central Michigan and then his stop in St. Louis right before I embarked on my own study abroad excursion in Ireland.

While we saw each other sporadically during the past few years, I will never forget when he came back into St. Louis when mom was going through a hard time after losing a friend. That’s when I knew he was a permanent fixture in our home and lives.

Matthias is someone you can always count on, no matter how busy he is with school, sports and girls (yes plural). He’s always willing to hear my latest drama and tell me how it will all work out okay. He’s the older brother I never knew I needed and can’t imagine living without.

He’s going to play Northwestern next week and a few of us are venturing up to Evanston for the game. He actually played Kansas my senior year in Lawrence, so it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the German Destroyer suit up.

Big exciting news: Matthias was named the Scholar Athlete of the Week this week!! That’s right, Matthias Berning is not a BDA (Big Dumb Animal); he’s a BIG (Big Intelligent German). Congrats to the new Golden Child of Mom’s house!