The evolution of a dress

I have a New Year's Eve dress. It's like "the little black dress" but much, much more than that.

It's little, but it's not black. Yes, it is gold sequins.

Here I am on New Year's, 2007 at Culebra, Puerto Rico.

 The next year I was in Vermont wearing my dress with thick black tights, heavy winter boots, and a red, ankle length wool coat. (Can't find the photo.)

The following year I was at a friend's house in northern Pennsylvania where there wasn't a party, but we joked that my dress brought the party. (Again, can't find the photo.) I certainly turned a few heads when we stopped for gas outside of Scranton, PA on the drive north.

And then the following year I was very pregnant and couldn't wear the dress.

And the following year we stayed home with baby Freja. But I should have worn the dress.

And then the following year we were in Sweden and I was pregnant again and couldn't wear the dress.

And last year we stayed home with Freja, baby Matilda, and my mom. But I should have worn the dress.

The other day, as I was cleaning out my clothes lockers and getting rid of heavy wool sweaters and long underwear and wool socks (good riddance!), Freja found the dress. Her eyes got wide: "mamma, what is thiiiis?"

She promptly put it on and wore it for hours, spinning and dancing and having a ball.

Reuse, repurpose. The gold party dress is now Freja's every day dress-up dress. Because every day is a party when she wears it.