My daughter is smarter than me.

So my daughter got up this morning at 6:00, 30 minutes before I got up. She comes to my side of the bed, breaking me away from a dream where I was buying a mattress with the Oakland A's 3, 4, and 5 hitters. She only said two words, and those words caused me to get up out of bed right that minute, and follow her into the living room.

Those words? "I'm dressed."

And she was. What was she wearing? Jeans in a light wash, a black High School Musical short sleeve tee, a larger, gray long sleeve High School Musical tee, a gray fleece zip front hoodie, her suede jacket with a fur trim, and an Oakland A's Kid's Club hat.

Sigh.

Anyway, I chose not to fight her on it. She promptly went back to sleep on the couch. I went over to her twice to try to wrench one of the jackets off of her small back, but she woke up both times and gave me the evil eye.

God, she's just like me, and it drives me nuts.

Whatever. Anyway, I'm not mad. I'm not troubled. Sure, if I were her, I would have worn a cute little dress with patterned tights, mary janes, and a beret. But that's me. And I'm not hip, nor am I cool with the 8 year old crowd.

But it's the opera....

I'm consoling myself, so here are more affordable, cute dress choices for those who are over 8 and able to prove their love for pubescent boys in theater productions without wearing it on their chests:

I love this dress. It's from Kenneth Cole, and you can buy it at Macy's. I believe it's $139 smackaroos, but don't quote me on that. Anyway, with the wrap styling, along with the structured shirtdress feel to the dress, this would truly flatter any figure. And you could wear it to a day performance at the opera.

This another great option from UK retailer, Boden. It is $98, and has this season's great shirtdress shape, along with polka dots, which while being very popular, are also very fun. I don't know about you, but this dress reminds me of the dress worn by Gwen Stefani in the No Doubt "Don't Speak" video. I almost feel like buying it, just to keep my 12 year old self, the one who wanted to be Gwen Stefani in every single way, happy.

Last but not least, this dress serves as a big shout out to my grandmom, who is, while being a pretty darn good cook, also the consummate J.C. Penney enthusiast. If J.C. Penney has a sale, she knows about it, and she's already bought what you were going to get. If you need a mattress pad, she's got the woman in the mattress pad department on speed dial, so if you'll just tell her what kind you want, she'll put it back for you. She loves J.C. Penney, perhaps more than she loves me. Or life itself. And being the stylish maven that she is, she would also like this dress. It fits her two requirements: 1) It's from J.C. Penney, and 2). If you wear it, you're not going to fall out of it anywhere. At least if you buy the right size. And she knows how you're always buying the wrong size. Anyway, it's $39.99 (you'll probably get 20% off if you use your Penney's charge), and it's at J.C. Penney.