She stood on the American Idol stage in March of 2010.

Didi Benami.

Oh, she had a good voice…and I noticed that a little as I heard her sing her heart out for all of America to hear and vote.

But mostly?

I was staring at her vest.

It was the most colorful, crazy, fun, piece of clothing that this hippie/boho-clothes lover has ever seen in her life.

I swooned.

It might be the only time I’ve. Actually. Really. And. Truly. Swooned. over an item of clothing.

Oh, I enjoy clothes.

But this vest was in a league of its own.

The next day I hopped online, just to see if anyone happened to love her vest as much as I did. It was that short, online, browsing session that confirmed two things for me.

First…Yep, a large portion of the female population of the world adored it.

And, second? Forever. 21.

I couldn’t get to their website fast enough.

I scoured the site and the internet until I found one in my size. (Let’s just say that the U.S. viewers…those lucky ducks…they got American Idol TWELVE WHOLE HOURS BEFORE I did…therefore, they got a huge jump on the cool-vest-shopping.) I found it on the Canadian Forever 21 site, and the price tag ran around $40. Plus shipping to the U.S.

Hubby said no.

He wasn’t mean about it…I mean, we’re talking $50ish.

We were living and working overseas and extra money wasn’t something we had a lot of.

I was pregnant, and my six-month belly was already popping waaaaaaaaay out. (A local thought I was at nine months around then, FYI.) 😉

And $50 from our small salary was a lot.

So I let a tear drip…and then I let it go.

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We moved back to the U.S. a few months later, had our baby girl, settled into life here.

But I never really forgot about the vest.

Occasionally I’d pop over to Ebay to see if one had miraculously surfaced. In a potentially bored (or desperate?) moment, I once even checked Craigslist.

I know.

HA.

HA.

😉

Once every few months…I’d look for a few minutes. Just to see if someone had gotten bored with their wardrobe and needed to rid themselves of the coolest vest the world has ever seen.

I always came up with zero search results.

Then, toward the end of June this year, it was about time to look again, so I did it.

Hopped over to Ebay…and GUESS? WHAT?

I’m pretty sure the neighbors heard my joy.

There it was!

In my size!

And, oh…the bidding war that was already happening. (With five days left, there were already ten bids on it.)

Clearly there are other people out there who agree that this vest is fantastic.

Hubby and I (ok, mostly hubby) are pretty good at figuring out Ebay. We don’t bid right away, we simply watch and attempt to trump at the end. I quickly did the math and realized that at the very moment the auction ended, I’d be in the car headed to Iowa.

And so I asked him to please-please-oh-pretty-please watch the auction for me and do our usual, trump-all-the-bidders, thing at the end.

I told him how much of my birthday money I was willing to spend on it. (I’m just throwing out here that it wasn’t that much…because I don’t want you to think I throw money around like crazy. :))

He set a reminder in his phone, I left a few days later for Iowa.

I was so busy catching up with my dear friend early into the wee hours of the morning that I actually forgot about it. (I know.)

The next day, I shot him a quick text.

Remember the vest?

Guess what, friends?

He. Remembered. It…

And? He. Got. It.

I arrived home a few days later, and there it was on my dining room table in all of its rainbow glory. (Pardon the drama. ;))

I waited until our anniversary last weekend to wear it for the first time.

I love it.

I know there are probably a lot of people out there who look at it and think, Wowza, that’s kind of crazy. I’d never wear that.

And that’s ok.

It’s totally cute.

It’s totally me.

And it makes me break into a silly, cheesy grin (possibly accompanied by a song…) when I see it. 😉

And I have the sweetest-ever hubby, one who went out of his way to make sure I could have a completely unnecessary, once-in-a-liftetime, in-his-words, psychodelic…vest.

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Happy Tuesday, friends! This is one of my favorite parts of the week…the Behind the Scenes link up at my sweet friend, Crystal’s space.

Social media and online relationships can make us feel like everyone else has it all together. We’re edited, proof-read, Pinterest-perfect versions of ourselves (or so some might think!) when – in reality? There is an unfinished pile of laundry around the corner. That cute toddler smiling for the camera just had a massive meltdown seconds ago. That yummy breakfast-for-dinner you just showed us on Instagram? It’s because the cat licked the chicken that was supposed to be for dinner.

“Behind the Scenes” is a fun link up where we show those photos – but tell the real story behind them. The sneak peek behind the scenes, a look past the edges of the photo to the real life behind it.

I hope you’ll take some time to stop by and read about the crazy and fun, the sweet and sentimental, (and sometimes the vests!) of life behind the camera lens. The writers are some of my favorite people, and I know you’ll love their stories!