Yesterday I met my girlfriend who had received my box with the dress-form and picked it up from her. The box was too big to fit in my car, so I had to unpack it to take the mannequin apart to fit. As I removed it from the box, I noticed that it looked like the neck had ripped a bit, but the form was all wrapped, and I didn't want to unpack it until I got home as it needed to be protected in my trunk. Well, after spending an hour or two in the local antique stores(I'll share my treasures from that shopping trip next week!), I headed home. Once I started to unwrap it, I began to realize just how much damage had been sustained in transit. Almost the whole neck/shoulder area has ripped out....not even the seams letting go...the fabric is ripped/torn and I don't see how it can be repaired. (The tears in the bust were there when I bought it, I figured I could darn them and was fine with that amount of flaws, but there was nothing what so ever wrong with the neck). I've called the shipping company, but I'm getting the severe run-around and I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not going to see them pony up the money even though I paid for insurance on the box. My theory? The box itself was in pristine condition, so it wasn't crushed or anything. I think that it wasn't kept upright, and had been laid on its side, upside down and every which way which made the bodice section keep sliding on the center pole. Then, each time it was placed correctly, it would slide back to the correct position, jerking to a stop....sigh. My first time buying an antique that was large enough that I had to ship it and it's wrecked. My mom, trying to bring some levity into the situation (bless her heart), joked that obviously I was not meant to have a Christmas gift last year (2006). Rick had bought me a charm bracelet from Sally Jean's trunk show, but Sally moved homes and the bracelet was lost. Then he said he would buy me a dress form, and when I finally found one that was in my price range, it gets wrecked in shipping....I guess I was a bad girl last year, lol! I'll keep you appraised as to how things work out with the shipping company, but I'm not holding my breath.
No doubt that within a few hours I will no longer be thinking about my dress form as Rick, myself and my folks are heading to the Josh Groban concert in Vancouver tonight. Really excited about it. I love Josh's voice, so it will be a treat. I believe that this concert is to promote his last album which I liked, but didn't love, so I really hope he showcases a lot of his older material too ;-)
Tomorrow morning Rick and I head to Portland for a show with our rep group. We went last year and had a blast. Loved meeting so many store owners and showing Rick a peek into my job. We'll also hit my two favorite Portland antique stores, go to Rick's favorite restaurant and meet some friends for dinner. Yummy!
For those ladies who took my local class on Wednesday and who've popped by to visit my blog, thanks for coming to class, it was fun, and welcome to my blog!
In honor of tonight's concert, I leave you with one of my favorite Josh Groban songs from his new album!