eShakti Love

I have sung the praises of eShakti before (here and here) and once again they have asked me to review their new spring arrivals. eShakti has always been a favorite of mine because of the customization options they have. Have you ever seen a dress and thought, "I'd totally get it, but the neckline/sleeve/hem/color isn't right." Well this site is your solution. With a plethora of dresses in many styles and sizes (0-36W) you also have the option to customize.

In my pre-surgery days I had a terrible time with finding a dress to fit me. If I fit my chest, the rest of me swam in the dress, if I fit from the chest down the zipper wouldn't even close. Customizable dresses change that. You can enter in your own measurements to literally have the dress made for your body. They also have the standard number sizes you can pick from if you just want it as is. Add a cap sleeve, half sleeve or full length sleeve. Change the neckline to a deeper or more modest V, make the hem above, at or below the knee... it is whatever makes YOU comfortable.

The newest addition to the site is a cute collection of bridesmaid dresses, so any ladies planning a wedding should check them out. Their spring collection is adorable, 1950s and 1960s retro inspired dresses and more! Check out this wonderful dress I just picked out and plan on wearing as soon as the warm weather hits Eastern North Carolina... which may be this week if we are lucky!

Sorry, I am obviously not much of a model, but bear with me.

This last one was my favorite. My husband is a patient man! I love how comfortable this dress is and it is so classically beautiful. The colors are perfect for spring and summer heat and I know I will be wearing my new beauty quite a bit.
And here are some of my other favorites:

Buttercup cotton knit dress

Floral corset style dress

Belted corset style chambray dress

Blue hearts poplin dress

Contrast color tipped strapless dress

Tipped trim high waist skirt

 

Knotical chevron knit top

 

Floral cut-out cotton skirt

Sails ahoy poplin dress

Buttoned ruffle frill skirt

 

 Follow eShakti on Facebook and Pinterest for more deals and sneak peeks.

Never shopped eShakti before? All new customers can receive $25 off when they register. And if you enter in the special discount code MYMRNENDME you will receive 20% off your order, now through March 20, 2013... go pick out something nice (:

Disclaimer: I was given a dress to review from eShakti but all opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way. Note: Code has to be entered in the 'Promotional Code' box. No Minimum Order Value. The discount code is not case sensitive. The code can be used any number of times until the validity period. This code can be clubbed with any other gift coupon or gift card in the same order. This discount code is not applicable on our Overstock category. Not applicable on previous purchases.

237th Marine Corps Ball

This year our ball was actually held on base. Most people I talked to went to Greenville or Myrtle Beach, but due to some of the regiment being in 29 Palms and then a rifle range, ours was a little later than everyone else's and close to home. There are perks, like a shorter drive to and from, but it would have been nice to walk up to a hotel room and crash instead of just going home... or to a friend's house for a sweatpants party like we did!

My friend Lacey, from The Mousetrap, came over and did my hair and make up for me. I was so grateful as I am very cosmetically challenged! I think she did a wonderful job and it was nice to hang out with her while we got ready. She even drove us to the ball in Ryan's truck and dropped us off before returning to our house to get her car! It definitely saved us a lot of trouble getting cabs or returning for a car the next day.

The hair and make up

Once we got to the ball it was cocktail hour so we mingled and enjoyed seeing everyone dressed up (and naturally the few underdressed. Most I feel bad for but some in particular I knew were wives who had been before and still looked like they were going to the club)! Every year I take pictures of the cake and this one was huge!

 And a wife in the unit also made a cake that was displayed as well. Very cool!!! I was too full to try both cakes but this one did look awesome.

 After the cocktail hour we made our way into the ballroom on the right side for the ceremony. One ballroom was for the ceremony, the other for dinner. While we ate the ceremony room was cleaned out and set for dancing. Both bars were set up in between... interesting layout but it works!

Waiting for the ceremony to start. Luckily we had decent seats and I could actually see what was going on this year!

Ceremony

This year Ryan's Master Sgt was the oldest Marine in attendance, so I made sure to get a picture of him getting the piece of cake! The youngest Marine was born in 1993 (the same as last year's youngest) but it still makes me feel old.

 After the ceremony we made our way to the other ballroom for dinner. Unlike last year we knew everyone at our table, including some very good friends of ours, and it made a big difference! We were all talking and laughing and had a great time. We had a salad, then the entree of steak and chicken with green beans and mashed potatoes and then of course the cake. All the ladies received roses when we entered the ballroom and we all had unit coins and glass mugs at our place when we sat down. Bonus points for them not being stolen this year!

Ryan and I at dinner

My good friend Chelsea and I

Outside by the river... it was chilly!

The four of us

We also managed to get a few pictures of the entire shop where my husband works. A few serious ones, and then the guys got bored and started goofing off! We were just waiting for the next part of the ceremony to start after dinner so we had plenty of time for pictures.

One of my favorites



I realized I never saw the back of my hairstyle so Chelsea took this for me! I love how it came out!

After the pictures and a small break we went back into the ballroom for the guest speaker. Sgt Major Featherstone is now retired and working at the Pentagon. He was an extremely motivated speaker and definitely exemplified "Once a Marine, Always a Marine" quote... both in person and in his speech. I enjoyed listening to him and the room was ringing with OOHRAHs!

After the guest speaker we went and danced around a bit and talked to our friends. I got to meet some terrific people (and bloggers!) and really enjoyed myself. We only danced a few songs, one slow one and a few line dances and a ridiculous attempt at a tango that literally had me out of breath and made us the only people on the dance floor! But we are getting old now so we didn't cut a rug too much. My friend Jess took this picture of us on the way out and it is definitely one of my favorites from the entire evening.

After the ball Ben and Chelsea drove us home and we changed into sweats, jumped back in the car and went to their house to hang out and relax a bit. I was a little older than a lot of the other girls there but Chelsea and I are about the same age and get along great so I had a wonderful time. By the time we collapsed into bed at 4am I was out like a light!

Happy Birthday Marines! Thank you for giving my husband and I an amazing and meaningful night together.

eShakti Review

Recently I was contacted by an amazing site for a blog review and I eagerly jumped at the chance! eShakti is a unique women’s apparel store online that allows custom changes in the style of the garment – sleeve, neckline, length can all be changed by the customer to her preference.



You can order clothing in the standard S, M, L, XL etc (0-26W is their selection) or you can customize the garments to fit your shape! As someone who has always been curvy/top heavy I find it immensely difficult to find clothes that fit both my chest and my waist, if I fit my chest it is too big on my waist and if it fits my waist that thing will not zip all the way up! So this site is a godsend for those of us who have more tempermental body types.



All clothes, including the custom designs, are shipped within three days to the US and Canada. These clothes aren't the average dresses in your local stores either. They have an array of unique designs that stand out thanks to their print, embroidery and fabric texturing choices.



Everything is always in stock. Every garment, every size, every color, every time.



Shakti means power in Sanskrit. eShakti therefore means the power of the Net. They believe the internet empowers customers and helps companies be customer-centered. Pretty awesome right?



My dress is super soft and comfortable. It is fit to me. I picked that I wanted the side zipper and knee length. I picked my color and my size to my body measurments. I can wear it as is or throw on a fun belt or even a blazer to wear it all to work.



It was a little chilly last night but I had fun taking pictures in my new dress! Thank you eShakti! I am not much of a model (and thanks to work only photographing at night makes me look extra white!) but I higly recommend this site to all of my readers. Especially since you receive 50% off a gift cards and 60% off your purchases until Christmas Day AND free shipping! Go check them out (:



Note: I was given a garment of my choice from the site for my review of the product. All opinions are strictly my own and I was not offered monetary compensation for this review. Thank you eShakti for contacting me for this and to Carrie for being my photographer.

USMC Birthday Ball: Dos and Don'ts

So being slightly bored I decided to look at my blogger stats. My most viewed entry this month is the USMC Birthday Ball post I did last year. It is nothing earth shattering, just me talking about our experience and some pictures, yet google is sending people here for a reason! So I decided to write a post to help those google stalkers out...

DOs and DON'Ts

- DO wear something you are comfortable in

You need a dress you can sit, stand and dance in. Usually before the ball there is a cocktail hour. They sometimes have tall tables to gather around but unless you rock at standing in five inch heels, go for a little comfort! You will also need to sit for the ceremony and the dinner, so do not get a dress you can barely breathe in. As for dancing, you don't want to be pulling up your dress or dragging your hem all night. The two Cs... Comfortable and Classy.


Early in the night...


Later in the night... shoes come off! (during the dancing!)

- DON'T try and recreate My Super Sweet 16

Do not overdo the neon colors, the glitter and the skin exposure. You are a direct reflection of your Marine. Be respectful to him and the Corps.


No

No

No

No!

No!!

- DO try and wear a longer dress

This can be a matter of opinion. Personally, I think longer dresses are more appropriate for the ball. It is a formal event, the Dress Blues are a formal uniform. Now that doesn't mean ankle length is mandatory. Tea length is fine. They won't kick you out if they see your ankles! But wearing a hoochie skirt that lets people know what color underwear you have on is not appropriate. I saw some girls in very short dresses, and I mean really really short. Remember, there is dancing and fun but you are not going out to the club!!







- DON'T overstress

It is not imperative that you color coordinate to his dress blues perfectly. If you want to, go for it! If you can't, don't stress it. Red and blue and black are great. Want to compliment? Wear yellow. I have seen girls in purple or pink or even green and they looked wonderful.

- DO feel free to bargain hunt

Is a veteran spouse getting rid of her old dress? Are you at an event where they have free dresses for military wives? Did your best friend hold on to her gorgeous prom dress? Go for it! I wore my senior prom dress the first year Ryan and I went, and it coincidentally was a nice blue color! The next year I splurged a little and went to David's Bridal for a red dress... I still spent maybe $100 at most. This year I got a dress at a spouse appreciation night for free. It is black and beaded and may border between tea length and long. It is all good!

- DON'T feel the need to spend a lot of money

The tickets and hotel room for the night can be pricey. If there is a cash bar more money will go. If you need to coordinate flying 3000 miles to fly to see your husband to go to the ball, plane tickets cost money (or maybe this is just me?)! In line with the dress thing, it is ok to do your own hair and make up. My friends did mine for me the first year I went which saved me a good bit of money. If you want to splurge and get your hair done and go to the Mac counter at the mall, that is fine, but as long as you look respectable that is all that matters!


My first ball with Ryan my friend Laura did my hair for me, and it looked awesome!

- DO remember you are an extension of your Marine

Be polite, be sociable. Meet your Marines coworkers and chain of command (if you are introduced). Sirs, Ma'ams, Please, Thank you... manners go a long way. Now is not the time to go into that funny story about the time your Marine came home drunk and mistook your kitchen garbage can for the bathroom. With his buddies, maybe, but not his chain of command! If you get a chance to shake hands with the guest of honor, do it! Chances are they are an amazing Marine and are asked to be in that position for a reason. Ever see the Geico commercial Why Drill Sgts Don't Make Good Therapists? Or Full Metal Jacket? Guest of Honor at my first ball... Gunny Ermey! Picture to prove it.



- DON'T get sloppy drunk!!

Definitely not during cocktail hour, the ceremony, or dinner! Once the dancing and stuff starts it is ok to let loose a little bit but getting wasted is not your priority. I have seen a lot of girls falling all over themselves at various stages of the night... it isn't pretty. I am not saying stay sober and have no fun, just be careful!

- DO pay attention to the ceremony

Texting, talking, staring around the room, sighing in boredom, tweeting... not things to be done during the ceremony. I saw a girl last year texting the entire time and I was so annoyed. If she had been closer to me I would have said something, but I didn't want to cause problems. Be respectful. Listen. I find the ceremony very interesting, yes it can get long, but the tradition is important. The Youngest Marine and Oldest Marine cutting the cake always gets to me too, especially as I get older and it seems that Youngest Marine gets younger every year...

My first ball was with my Poppy... he has been the oldest Marine at every ball he has been to in the past decade or so! He is now 92 (as of 2014).

- DON'T wear your wedding dress

Seriously. And I am not talking about the nontraditional slinky white gown... I mean a full on ball gown that you look at and go "Dear Lord she is wearing a wedding dress."

- DO have fun

Take pictures, meet people and enjoy the night with your Marine. It is a fun celebratory night that you can both enjoy. Make some memories (:



This post is not to criticize or judge or anything like that. I saw a lot of people looking at my pretty uninformative post from last year and figured I may as well do one that could help some people! Other bloggers have done similar posts, feel free to link them here if you want (: I hope all you ladies attending the ball this year have a blast. I will be flying out to 29 Palms for my husband's at the end of November and I am pretty excited... even if it is on a Friday!

EDIT: This post is my most read post on this blog! I have updated it to reflect some different things as time has gone on, but the main points still apply. Remember this post was originally published in 2011. For other Marine Corps birthday ball posts from My Marine and Me, see below.


Ball 2007 - Attended with Grandfather, didn't blog then. Pictured above.
Ball 2008 - Attended with Ryan, not blogging yet. The pictures in the blue dress are from that ball.
Ball 2009 - Blogging, but Ryan was deployed to Iraq, so we did not attend.
Ball 2010 - Washington DC (ball in Arlington, red dress pictures)
Ball 2011 - 29 Palms (ball in Palm Springs)
Ball 2012 - Camp LeJeune 2nd Reg (ball on base)

Ball 2013 - Ryan is in Afghanistan so no ball this year.
Ball 2014 - SOI East Ball (student status) in Wilmington, NC
Ball 2015 - SOI East Ball in Wilmington, NC