The Fashion Show!

i know, I already posted it, but I just LOVE it!

We got to Sak’s at 5 pm, they’d closed down the entire store just to host the show. Peyton and I headed straight for the makeup counter while Pete parked and we chatted up our friends, we saw the gorgeous job the makeup ladies were doing on all the girls and then Peyton hopped up to get her makeup done. Of course, I got out my camera to start my happy snapping…only to realize that I’d left the camera battery in the charger after the tattoo bonanza and never put it back in the camera. NO CAMERA!!

I take pictures of the kids playing UNO, I take pictures of them on the toilet, in the bathtub, for no real good occasion whatsoever. Yet, on this hugely important day, I have no camera. I felt naked.

So, Kay Bertoch runs to the rescue!! She has a camera!! She turns it on and finds out…she has no memory card!!

The next person I ask realizes that she too has no memory card in the camera.

Yes, we cancer moms can rock incompetence like no other.

Cody Bertoch and I take off through the mall, first to the camera shop where the girl tells me in a “duh, whatever” tone of voice, “Sorry, we don’t carry any Kodak stuff”. You are a camera shop, yet you carry no Kodak (the #1 selling camera brand in the US) anything….are you kidding me? I then truck my way over the Radio Shack, where they do carry lithium batteries. YEAH!! Hallelluah!

The 12 year old kid they found to man the counter takes a battery pack out of the package and puts it in my camera and hits the on button. Nothing happens. He hits the on button agan….again, nada. He hits it for the third time and still no response and then he proceeds to turn the camera over and stare into the lens and shake his head. The battery doesn’t work so let’s check whether or not the lens is clean! I ask him, not-so-gently at this point because my daughter is in the process of getting pretty-fied and fashion-ready and I’m stuck in Radio Shack, if it’s possible that the batteries come uncharged. I could almost hear the click as the lightbulb went off for Junior and he enthusiastically grabbed onto my superior reasoning skills.

“Yeah, they probably have to be charged first!”

“What’s the point of giving you batteries that don’t work when you buy them!!!??” I get a little testy.

Seriously, he just looks at me for a full 4 seconds and then says, “Was that a hypothetical question or do you really want to know?”

I left before I could reach across the counter and smack him so hard that all 4 years of high school A/V was knocked out of his consciousness.

After that, I found out that one of the girls had an extra camera and I got to latch onto that one. THEN I got to get my hands on Penny Hawkins’ handy dandy, super dooper, high end professional camera with big bright flash and cool-dude-ninja handles. That was fun. More about that later.

Anyways, Peyton got her makeup done, she got her nails painted, she was ready to go! Where did she go, you might ask? Up and down the escalators with Cody Bertoch. I guess when their grandkids ask what their first dates were, they can tell them they spent a lot of time going up and down in elevators and escalators. Exciting stuff.

We got a chance then to go over to the jewelry counter and pick out some pretty sparkly stuff for her to wear with her dress and then she got to pick out this gorgeous crystal encrusted handbag that cost more than I’m planning to spend on her first year of college. She was fabulous!

Backstage the girls were having a blast admiring each other’s outfits and accessories, they were playing and being loud and it was wonderful. The little girls were just precious, the older girls were so glamorous and stunning, it was incredible to see the survivor girls in their special alumni tshirts. Whenever I’m around these girls that have completed treatment, the ones who are moving into the next phases of their lives, it’s encouraging and it helps me hold onto the hope and faith that Peyton will one day be that girl.

As the show started we watched a gorgeous video of past models and this year’s girls during the Day of Pampering. There was a dedication of the night to two girls who were models last year but who passed in the 12 months since, Taylor Arrington and Camille Rawson. Two girls who were supposed to model weren’t able to make it, Sierra Kesler is currently in the ICU in need of much prayer for a raging case of pneumonia and Emily Lester needs our prayers during her time at St. Judes battling a second relapse. They were missed. It was a reminder that in the night of fashion and fun, the reality is that not all the kids battling this disease survive, it is a FIGHT every day. Whether an emotional fight, a physical battle, or just a struggle to not let the reality of what our kids are dealing with overwhelm us/them, it is an every day war.

Peyton’s walk down the runway was with Tim Wilkins, the host of Studio 10, the guy from the interview we did last week. He and Peyton were laughing and playing before and after the show, Tim is a hysterical guy…actually a stand up comedian…so you know that these two got along famously. When they stepped out into the spotlight, my heart just started pounding, I was so proud of my girl and just fell in love with her all over again. They got to the end of the runway and she looked out at the crowd and gave little waves to her daddy and to Cody, and then she blew me the most precious kiss. Tim dropped to his knees at her side and pulled something from his pocket, and I’m thinking “is he proposing?” and he opens the little packet and there it is…perfect and wonderful…her BINKY! Her reaction was priceless, she got the biggest grin and started laughing and it was this show stealing moment.

And I didn’t get a single picture of it. I had taken so many pictures with Penny’s camera that as I started to click away at Peyton, the memory card started blinking “CARD FULL”!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yeah, I missed the chance to capture those sweet seconds on film forever, but instead I got to put the camera down and laugh at her and receive sweet air kisses. It’s all good, God’s way of saying “Get out from behind the camera and enjoy your daughter!!!” So, the only pictures I have of Peyton on the runway, are going to be the ones that other friends took, so I will post them as I get them all in. Can you believe that? PCF has it all on video, so I will definitely post that as soon as I get it.

It was a tremendous night, one I know that I will never forget and will always keep treasured in my memories. Thank you so much to the [url=http://www.fastercure.org]Pedatric Cancer Foundation[/url] for making the night possible, to Sak’s for giving my girl such a night to showcase her unique personality, for God to bless us with the life that Peyton has and for every precious moment we get as a family.

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
–Anissa

ps. As many have asked about the tattoo, here are some top answers!

1. Yes, it hurt, but not bad. Probably a 3 on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being a mosquito bite and 10 being labor sans drugs (which I did 3 times!!)
2. Afterwards it isn’t too bad, sore a little and I’m a leg crosser so I keep banging it!
3. If you ever get one, remember to shower with lukewarm water the next day, because I put the water on nice and steamy hot and when it hit that spot…well….if you’ve ever watched Seinfeld and are familiar with the “Elaine dance”…it looked a lot like that but with water and naked. Good times, good times.