Updated at bottom:

It has been a long time since I have dressed up for Purim. My last true costume was Martha Stewart (Josh went as a protester wearing a Free Martha t-shirt) which should tell you how long ago it was. Growing up, I was always Vashti if I dressed up from the story. I tried being Esther one year in grad school--it just wasn't me.

Tonight, I was getting ready to take the twins to shul for the Megillah reading and I decided to see if I could still fit into a dress that I haven't worn in a while. I took it in the other room, just in case it...cough...didn't fit. But it did and I came back into the bedroom. The twins looked up at me and the ChickieNob said, "you look so fancy. You're just like Vashti."

That was my perfect moment.

Later, outside, as Josh took these pictures, the ChickieNob started to sob and went to bury her face in my arm. She finally explained that I just didn't look like myself and it scared her. I thought it would make her feel better to know that her mother wouldn't dance naked on the table. I mean, who the hell knows what Esther is capable of doing if the king asks--at least you know where Vashti stands.


Unfortunately, I'm covering up the great beadwork at the top of the dress; a double layer of gold beads around the neck. Though it's a great dress--I feel like I should whip it out for BlogHer this summer.

Looking for other Perfect Moments? Head over to Lori's for Perfect Moment Monday.

Update:

The last time I wore this blue dress, we had gone over to a friend's apartment for dinner. I had peed on a stick in the morning and it was negative, but I decided that I really wanted to try one more test that night. But I also wanted to hold in my pee for four hours to give it a better chance of having enough hCG to tip the test (never mind the fact that I wasn't pregnant that cycle and therefore there was no hCG regardless).

No problem; we'd eat dinner, I'd go easy on the liquids until the end, and then we'd head home and I'd take the test. So, we eat dinner, I start drinking water towards the end of the meal, and I soon have to pee. But we're not making any moves towards the door. Then, our friend suggests that we take a walk around his neighbourhood. So I said, "well, I'm not really dressed for a walk." But that excuse was shot down and I had to haul my ass outside and walk around while I had to pee so badly that I was starting to get cold sweats. We were pausing on street corners so I could keep from wetting myself.

Finally, we went back to the apartment to collect our things and I ran to the bathroom because I was never going to make it through the drive home. Josh insisted that the holding-the-pee thing shouldn't really matter and told me to take the test anyway when we got home. And I cursed the friend who made me take the stupid walk instead of come straight home to the comfort of my pee stick. Which, you know, would have been positive if I had just peed at the right time...