ah-sessoreez (accessories)

 

This evening, the Mr. and I went out to frolick with my bestie and her boyfriend, who was in town. I knew I wanted to wear my new Frye boots, so I (kind of) built my entire outfit around it. My bestie had also told me that when I wear this jacket, I should pair it with something very feminine – the epitome of juxtaposing. Since the jacket is so dark and utilitarian, she thought it would look great with a flirty or twirly skirt or dress underneath. So, I paired it with a lace/crochet skirt and a soft cream sweater.

Sweet and girly, topped off with a utility jacket.

AND NEW BOOTS.

Additionally, another good friend of mine, Lyndsie (she took some of our wedding photos - check out her website here) mentioned to me several months ago that she doesn’t know how to wear accessories, and could use some help and ideas. So, I’ve decided to do my best to focus on accessories for the month of November – how to wear them, how to pair them, how to use them to complete, or enhance, an outfit (thanks for the idea, Lynds!). 

I tend to view accessories as "finishing pieces," or "completer pieces." Without them, you're fully clothed, but your look might be a bit "blah," or "basic." I tend to be running late in the mornings when I'm getting dressed and forget to ah-sessorize, but have lately tried to make an effort to complete my looks by being thoughtful with my jewelry& scarves&hats&tights&newglasses.

In the above look, I added some jewelry, switched to a fun clutch, and added herringbone-print nude tights. And the jacket counts, too, I would say (and I guess the croakies and sunglasses, too...). Without all of those items, I'm still dressed, but it's not too exciting - accessories help to add depth and dimension.


sweater: American Eagle
skirt: Aéropostale
scarf: gift from a friend
tights: Old Navy
boots: Frye via Nordstrom
jacket: thrifted (Land's End)
clutch: thrifted

Shoosh Shoosh

Several weeks ago, I got to go skiing TWO weekends in a row. The first weekend, one of my best friends, Lara, came up with me, and her new beau joined us on Sunday - my Mr. stayed home with a sick pup (he's a gem, that one).

The second weekend, my Mr. and I were heading up to the mountains and invited some of our dear friends from high school. And they made it! We had a great weekend catching up, and sharing powder skiing stories (the powder that weekend was UN. REAL.). It's nice to get to see old friends and spend some time together, especially since we don't get to see them as much as we'd like.

obligatory foot ski picture

Lara with her beau, M - he's a pretty great skiier. trying to  keep up was TOUGH!

consider this an outfit picture: ski jacket, snow pants, helmet, goggles, and a bunch of other warm weather accessories/layers :)

#skiingselfie

My parents stayed in the mountains the whole week between the two weekends I was up there. My dad kept sending me pictures of the snow (he skiied everyday) - the mountains got TONS of snow that week, and into the next weekend. I can't decide if the pics he sent were more of a "wish you were here," or a "you're stuck at work, look at what I'm doing" - care to elaborate, Dad?

see? SO. MUCH. SNOW.

it just kept coming down

and coming down. and coming down.

another selfie - from my second weekend skiing

on the way to the lift

on the lift 

my and my handsome skiier
#smooch

Both weekends were great, filled with great skiing, great friends, great family (thanks for the invite, Mom & Dad!), great food, and great drinks (Bloody Mary's, Mimosas, wine, and Butterscotch Hot Chocolate - oh my!). 

To quote my husband and his friends "We went gnar gnar in the pow pow (we did some gnarly skiing in the powder)."

Ever been skiing? Are you a pro? My dad's a part-time (weekend) ski instructor, and my husband's a really good skiier, so they help me out :)

seeing [blue] dots

my photographer started doing weird things...

like making shadow puppets...

clearly not amused

I call these my "disco ball" earrings

Piggybacking off of my post from Friday, this is what I wore on Christmas. We had a quiet Christmas, just us two (four, if you count the pups), then had some friends over for dinner. We drank glühwein (a German spiced wine), ate yummy food, had delicious homemade Kahlua over vanilla ice cream (divine, I tell you), and played Cranium & Rainy Day Golf.

Maybe I'm just postponing boxing up all of our Christmas decorations, or that we've been busy every weekend since Christmas, OR that we just celebrated belated Christmases with both sets of parents this weekend, but I have to wonder, why is everyone in such a hurry to be done with Christmas (my mom and mother-in-law excluded - they left the trees & stockings up for us)? 

Seems like the preparation and anticipation and start in October (after Thanksgiving for myself), and come 26 December, as soon as gifts are exchanged and the eggnog all drunk up, decorations are put away and Christmas cheer has to wait another year. It seems almost taboo to think about it after that day, let alone talk about it to some people. It's on to the next consumer driven holiday, Valentine's Day (don't get me wrong, I like V-Day, but let's be real, folks - we can all be a little bit guilty of "BUY ALL THE THINGS!" during Christmas). I'd like to advocate for less consumerism and less hype about Christmas & peppermint mochas & stockings & who has the best lights or the best tree - isn't the point of it to celebrate Jesus's birth, and spend time with loved ones? This weekend with both sets of parents, and last weekend with my extended family really drove that home for me - it's about spending that special time with the people you love, not the gifts, or who spent how much money, or whether or not you got that ONE thing you REALLY wanted, but didn't really NEED. Going forward, I plan to be sure that my actions jive with the words I've just written - easier said than done, I know.

So, in the words of a wise man who called himself Dr. Seuss...

“And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”

― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! 

My intent was not to offend anyone who loves the holiday season - these are just my thoughts & reflections

top: Ann Taylor

pants: Aéropostale sort of similar below

shoes: Kohl's sort of similar below

earrings: Kohl's

Polka Dot Overload

dots on dots

I feel obligated to tell you that this was not the outfit I wore when I wore this outfit originally. 

Make sense? (I feel a bit like a Dr. Seuss book...)

I wore this to work on a Friday. Fridays are "spirit days," so I actually wore a work t-shirt, instead of this polka dot chambray. I know, it's like I'm lying to you, but hear me out! I didn't think you would be too impressed with a boring work t-shirt, so I swapped out the shirts for this visually interesting combination. However, the sweater, pants & shoes are true to what I actually wore. So, really only a quarter fib. Can we still be friends?

While we're on the subject of substitutes, I'm running the Hot Chocolate 15K tomorrow morning! I was supposed to run it with one friend, but unfortunately she hurt her foot/ankle/leg, and is in a boot while she heals. However, she was kind & gracious enough to allow me to ask another friend (this friend) to do the race with me in her place. So, we'll be running & consuming hot chocolate tomorrow morning. Wish me us luck! ;)

shirt: thrifted

sweater: thrifted

pants: Old Navy via Plato's Closet

shoes: Target

linking up this over here, and this over here, cause I'm fab and I love it :)

Bridesmaid loves a Groomsman

Over Labor Day weekend, two of our dear friends tied the knot. We've both known him since high school, and met her several years ago through him and became fast friends - her bachelorette party was the one I went to in Vegas. They're the folks we grill with in the summer, spend New Year's Eve in with, and go "out on the town" with. 

They've got a darling 3 year old son, a beautiful home that they own, and exciting new job prospects on the horizon. She just accepted a job that will take them a few more hours away from us, but their plan is to only be gone for a year or so - thank goodness! Here is what I (and my husband) wore to, before & during their nuptials...

embellished tank: Target
belt: thrifted
skirt: J Crew Factory
sandals: Shoe Carnival

I wore this to get my nails done with the brides & the other bridesmaids, and then to the rehearsal.

dress: Lilly Pulitzer
shoes: Guess via DSW
necklace: Trends

between dinner & dancing

at the cowboy bar, with my margarita - my beverage of choice. always.

After the rehearsal (it was in the morning), I had to run a few errands and was in desperate need of a shower - the rehearsal was outside and it was so. hot. I showered, put on a pretty face with some pretty hair, and my newest Lilly Pulitzer dress (D picked it out for me for my birthday in March). 

We went to the rehearsal dinner, ate delicious food & dessert, toasted the bride & groom, then headed to a cowboy bar. Now, I do not claim to be a cowgirl or country (my "boots" are Steve Madden, not at all suited for riding or wrangling), that's my sweet sis-in-law. 

However, I sure do love country music and dancing. At this bar, there was a live band AND dancing. And there were a few country boys in our group that knew how to dance. I spent the majority of the evening dancing with them and being twirled and twisted and spun so much that I didn't know which way was what. 

It's really fun to dance with someone who knows what they're doing - especially when you have no idea. I like to think it makes me a better dance partner, since I don't know what I'm doing and am definitely not trying to lead - I just follow and twirl and spin wherever they lead me.

We had a really fun evening with the rest of the bridal party, then headed home to get some beauty sleep for the next day's festivities.

I got my hair done for the big day, and I loved it.
the bride got us all matching robes to wear while getting ready

the bride's sister did my makeup, and thank goodness (I'm hopeless with hair and makeup)! s
he used some "freezing spray" on my eye makeup so it didn't run in the heat.
best. invention. ever.

dress: Allure Bridesmaids
shoes: Chinese Laundry via DSW
earrings & bracelet: gift from the bride

on him
tux & shoes: Al's Formal Wear

my bridesmaid bouquet - it's only a wee bit wilted now

he wore gray in our wedding, so this tux on him brought back memories of our own wedding day last summer

hey, we're married, so it's OK to celebrate our love & marriage at another wedding ;)

After the bride & groom said "I do" and "I will", we got down to the business of dancing at the reception. Sorry, I only have a few grainy & poorly lit pics from that portion of the evening that aren't worth sharing - I was really busy dancing and having a grand time ;)

How many weddings have you attended this summer?