It's been around three weeks since Marmee was sent away to tend to Father in Washington... It's been tough at times but we Little Women have managed quite nicely if I say so myself... Laurie has been spending time at our home after he and Mr. Brooke are finished with his schoolwork, it's helped us bond even more whilst we are still postponing our courtship... 

In other news, Meg and I received an invitation to Annie Moffat's home as they are hosting a town-wide coming-out party! To give a brief explanation, it's when a girl is formally introduced into society as a potential suitor for the boys in town... I for one, was invited as a regular attendee and Laurie's date to this party, so I won't be participating in the coming-out festivities and staying the night, but rather a guest who gets to enjoy the fun which I'm quite excited about!

I was helping Meg pack her trunk by folding her undergarments, corset, and sheer tights whilst she picked out her dresses... We were interrupted when Amy skipped into the room and fell on the bed. "Curling papers! I knew someone had taken them! " She took a moment to take in her surroundings and realize what we were doing. "Where are you going? " She asked Meg, "On Thursday,  I'm going to stay at Annie Moffat's and Eliza is helping me pack. " Amy gasped, looked at me, and asked, "Are you going too? " "I won't be staying the night but I will be attending as Laurie's date. " I said with a slight blush at the thought, Amy's eyebrows furrowed, " You two didn't say! " "We only just got permission from Mr. Laurence. Marmee entrusted him with all such matters. " Meg responded as she folded her first dress into her trunk, Amy with a look of jealousy on her face remarked, " Marmee also told us to be indigent about our work. Meg, how can you abandon your poor pupils and Eliza, how can you be so enthralled by love? Both of you are gallivanting off at somebody's mansion is surely not being indigent, am I wrong? " My cheeks flushed profusely as I defended myself,  "I'm not enthralled in love! Laurie and I aren't even courting yet so how could you say that? " Meg smirked and spoke up, "The word is diligent, not indigent. And my poor pupils are going to the ocean with their parents because there's scarlet fever in town. " 

I realized how defensive I was toward Amy's remark and tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach. I know I'm not in love with him, yet, but I believe I could one day. What am I thinking, we haven't even begun courting! Yet the concept of love is very mesmerizing to think about... 

Meg placed her petticoat in her trunk and pulled me out of my thoughts. She had a look on her face and I knew she had to tell someone about what the party is about other than me and Hannah. I placed her folded tights over the petty coat as she smirked, grabbed her gloves, and excitedly said, "There's going to be a ball! Annie's sister Belle just got engaged! " Amy smiled and asked, "A ball, at the Moffats'? "  "I'm very excited! It's my first ball and I'm still worried about what dress I should wear! " I said with a laugh, Amy laughed and Meg giggled as she said. "It's all going to be so elegant. " Amy seemed to be daydreaming and asked, "Would you like to be engaged, Meg? "Oh, I'd like to be married one day, with a lovely beaded dress, a small strawberry cake, and a boy who loves me. " Meg said with an imaginative look on her face, she looked at me and asked, "What about you, Eliza? Would you like to be married? " I blushed yet again but before I could answer Amy said, "Oh, I know she does! Particularly with the boy across the street who takes her on walks to the pond every Sunday! " I gasped and felt my cheeks burn as Meg and Amy laughed, I giggled and said, "Amy March! " We all laughed and I answered Meg's question, "Well, I would love to be married! Maybe living in my mother's old house with little children running around, the smell of a fresh bouquet of flowers on the dining table, and a husband to kiss me when he comes home... And, I suppose I wouldn't mind if my husband was the boy across the street. " 

We all giggled for a moment then Amy spoke up, "Well, you won't catch many husbands in that shabby old tarlatan, Meg... Marmee always said the first one of us to get to go to a ball would wear that violet silk dress. The one she keeps wrapped up in the special paper. " Meg looked to be in thought and said, "There isn't time to make it over. This shabby old tarlatan will have to do. " Meg grabbed her old dress as I asked, "What's wrong with the silk dress? " "The collar is too low, the bodice is long and straight so a corset wouldn't fit, and the bottom of the dress flairs out like an umbrella. It's very out of fashion... " An idea struck me, I stood up quickly, went to our old dress and coat closet, picked up the dress while being careful to not crumble the paper around it, ran back into the room, and laid it on the bed. Amy and Meg looked at me in confusion and unwrapped it. It was a beautiful dress that had plenty of potential. Sure, it was older and definitely not fit for today's fashion, but I knew I could make it work. "Meg, I'll make the dress over. " Meg raised her eyebrows and said, "Oh Eliza, that's very sweet of you but there's no time! You'd only have two days. " I shook my head and spoke, "I can pull in and cut the fabric on the bottom to make it not as wide, use the scraps to extend the collar upward, and the frame of the bodice can be cut out, you'll just need to wear a corset. " Meg and Amy looked at me in astonishment, "I can't ask you do to all that, and what about your dress! You have to find one too." Meg exclaimed, I smirked and said, "Then don't ask me! I can take care of my dress as well as yours. " Meg stood up with a grin, walked to me on the other side of the bed, and asked, "Are you sure, Eliza? " "I'm positive. Let me go get the sewing kit. " Before I could walk out, Meg pulled me in for a hug and whispered. "Thank you, Liz. " We pulled apart and smiled as Amy pouted. "How come you never alter my dresses, Eliza? " I smirked playfully, "Because you never asked. " I walked out of the room and heard Amy yell, "What? You just told Meg not to ask! "I laughed to myself as I walked back into the closet to retrieve the sewing kit. Oh, I just love our sisterly banters...

After a brief measurement of Meg's body, I decided to get to work on taking out the frame of the bodice, which took almost two hours to remove completely and sew back shut. 

Meg had finished packing aside from the dress and went on errands with Hannah, Amy was off to school, Beth was doing chores, and Jo was pulling weeds out of the garden. I was finishing up the stitch to close the fabric from where I cut the frame out when there was a knock on the door. I stood up and answered it...

Laurie stood there with a smile on his face and a small bouquet of flowers in his hand. "Good afternoon my dear! These fine flowers are for you. " He said with a posh accent, I giggled, curtsied, and replied, "Good afternoon Laurie and thank you oh so very much for the flowers! " We paused to hold in our laughter but I broke and laughed, he joined soon after I broke and I opened the door wider so he could step inside.

 "Where is everyone? " He asked, I took the flowers and lead him to the kitchen with my other hand and said, "Jo is picking weeds out of the garden, Beth just started doing her chores upstairs, Amy is at school, and Hannah and Meg left to run errands. " "Oh, so what have you been doing? " He asked as he sat at the dining table and looked at the dress I was working on. I grabbed a vase from one of the lower cabinets and used some of the water in the basin to fill it. "Well, as you know, Meg is staying at Annie Moffats so I'm turning over her dress for her. " Laurie looked surprised and said, " You can sew? You're a girl of many talents I see. " I smiled as I grabbed some scissors to cut the stems shorter and placed them in the vase. "Well, I learned from Meg, she's the master seamstress in the house. She's just busy today and tomorrow because she's preparing for the ball, so I decided I would help her. " I placed the vase in the center of the table as Laurie questioned, "Other than mending and making clothes, what is sewing used for? " I thought for a moment and I sat next to him, "Well, it can be used to make items such as toys, small children's clothing, bags, pillows, reattaching buttons, the list goes on. " Laurie sat and looked at the dress for a second and asked sheepishly, "Will you teach me? How to sew I mean..." My eyebrows raised and answered, "Meg is really the person to ask, she's much better than I am at these kinds of things. " He frowned and said, "But I want you to teach me, Meg will think it's strange that a boy wants to know how to sew. And you explain these kinds of things much better than anyone else, even Mr. Brooke. " I giggled in surprise, "Really? " He nodded, "Yeah, that's why I ask you so many questions. You say it in a way that I can understand. It's quite odd really. " He laughed as I blushed and smirked, "I suppose I can teach you, but you won't be handling the dress because she needs it done soon so you'll just watch for now. " "Yes ma'am, I will quietly observe. " He said with a smirk as I looked at him with a grin.

But Laurie did anything but quietly observe, which I didn't mind too much. He asked many questions which I tried to answer while continuing to sew, "Why are you so gentle with the fabric? " He asked, "You want to gently pull the thread through because this is silk and we don't want to cause it to widen the puncture we already made. " "What is the reason behind using a different color thread than what the color of the dress is? " "Because I'm sewing this on the inside, you won't be able to see it. By doing that, we can use a cheaper color thread and not waste the purple thread. " I moved on to the bottom of the dress and removed the extra fabric, "Why do you sew from inside of the dress? " "Well, it's the main part of the dress, so I'm trying to make the stitch as clean as possible. " "Why are you sewing over your past stitches on the edge of the dress? " "Many people could step on the edge or it could get caught on something, so I'm reinforcing it so doesn't come undone while she's at the ball. " 

A few hours later, I was almost done with the collar when Amy barged in the front door and startled Laurie and I, along with a now woken Beth on the couch. "She skipped into the living room, looked at all of us, and asked, "Why are you all staring at me? Is there dirt on my nose? " Amy rubbed her nose as Laurie giggled and Beth unenthusiastically said, "No, you just disturbed us by slamming the door on your way in..." Beth rolled to her side on the couch as Laurie and I giggled while Amy huffed and walked upstairs. Laurie stood up and stretched, "How can you sit so long and not have your legs become numb? " I jokingly, "Who said they aren't numb? " He looked at me with a somewhat concerned and surprised look as I giggled and kept sewing. "Come and take a break with me? " He suggested, "Oh, as much as I would love to I have to finish this dress and-" Before I could say something Jo opened the kitchen door and placed a basket of vegetables on the counter. The bottom half of her work dress was covered in dirt along with her arms and she was sweating like a hog with a red tint on her cheeks. "Jo? Is everything alright? You look quite red in the face... " I asked as she wiped the sweat off. "I pulled weeds, trimmed the bushes, pulled the finished vegetables and fruit... But then I started to feel sick to my stomach..." I stood up quickly and felt her forehead. "Jo you're burning up but I think you're just overheated. Go to the bathroom and I'll get you some clean clothes so you can take a cool bath... " She nodded and slowly walked to the bathroom. "I've never seen her like that before. " Laurie said as he watched her walk away. "Me neither, she never complains about feeling ill unless it's really bothering her... " I looked to Laurie and sighed, I could tell he was slightly disappointed that we couldn't have more alone time, "I'm sorry, Laurie... We'll have to finish this another time." He nodded and asked with a weak smile, "It's alright, but thank you for teaching me... What can I do to help around here while you help Jo? " I thought for a moment, "If you could just fill three of the metal buckets on the back porch with water from the pump that would be helpful. " "I'd be happy to. " He said as he began to walk to the back door, "Wait! " I said and walked up to him. He turned to me and I gave him a quick peck on the cheek. I giggled as his face flushed. "I promise I'll make it up to you, ok? " With a grin, he nodded and walked out the door. I looked at the floor and shook my head as I walked upstairs to retrieve Jo's clothes... 

I swear that boy does things to me...