Three Lucky Dresses
I don’t often have reasons to wear fancy dresses. As a writer, I work from home and my daily “uniform” is comprised of yoga pants and exercise tops. His Highness and I are much more likely to spend Saturday night on a date at a local restaurant than attending a formal event. That said, I do love dressing in fancy dresses now and then. Author awards galas have given me my best opportunity to do that in the eleven years since my first novel released.
Today, I’m telling the tale of the three fancy dresses I’ve worn twice. Each time, the second wearing turned out to be wonderfully lucky. . . .
L to R: My aunt Cathy, my aunt Carole, me, my dad, my mom, my sister KristenThe beaded silver dress I’m wearing in the above photo is my absolute favorite of all the fancy dresses I’ve ever purchased. This picture was taken in July of 2016 when I wore it to a RITA Awards gala when A Love Like Ours was a finalist. That event was held in San Diego and several members of my family who live in southern California treated me to a fabulous dinner out, then attended the awards ceremony with me. I have terrific memories of that night despite the fact that A Love Like Ours didn’t win.
In November of 2017, I was packing for a trip to the Christy Awards in Nashville. The beaded silver dress sparkled from where it hung in my closet, seeming to whisper, “Wear me again, wear me again“. I adored the dress so much that I decided to give it a second outing instead of heading to the outlet mall to shop for something new.
L to R: Jocelyn Green, me, Tammy AlexanderHer One and Only won a Christy Award! That result caused the dress to smugly whisper, “I told you to wear me and look what happened.”
I was suddenly motivated to re-wear other dresses from the past! I’d really enjoyed the below navy dress with the built-in strands of necklaces when I wore it to the RITA Awards in Atlanta in July of 2013. My Stubborn Heart was nominated and didn’t win on that occasion. But once again, I had lots of family support and was blessed with a great night.
L to R: my sister Carrie and meI gave the navy dress another whirl in San Antonio in September of 2019 for the Carol Awards. None of my books were nominated but my friend Courtney Walsh won that night for her novel, Just Let Go.
L to R: Katie Ganshert, Courtney Walsh, meThe repeat wearings were feeling luckier and luckier!
I first wore the stretchy dark teal dress (the most comfortable of all my fancy dresses) pictured below in August of 2016 in Nashville for the Carol Awards. I didn’t have a book nominated that night but my friend Katie Ganshert was up for an award and ended up taking home the trophy for The Art of Losing Yourself. The teal dress was lucky right out of the gate!
L to R: Katie Ganshert, Mesu Andrews, meWhen I was preparing for a trip to St. Louis late last month for the Carol Awards, I washed the dress (yep, it’s the type of fabric that can go through washer and dryer cycles) and into my suitcase it went.
L to R: Kristy Cambron and meTurn to Me won a Carol Award!
The moral of this story: RE-WEAR YOUR FANCY DRESSES BECAUSE WONDERFUL THINGS MIGHT HAPPEN. 
