Gray + Ruffled = Deliciousness

On a meandering lunch trip to TJ Maxx to stock up on tights, I found fabulous gray tights and (gasp!) these t-strap, gray, ruffled peep-toes by Tahari.



As a fan of all things feminine and frilly (except super floral perfume...), I am so happy with current girly fashion trends. For example, RUFFLES! Add a muted color, i.e. gray, and you have pieces that can go with oh-so-much.

Here are a few other gray ruffle-y items that I covet:

A dress all by itself or add a long sleeve T and some tights for a more cozy version...


Your basic cardigan with ruffley goodness...


Accessorize...


A professional blazer...


Oh the outfits I could pair these with...


So sophisticated!


A little darker, a little warmer...


A tank for layering (not gray but still awesome)...

Green is the New Black: One Plastic Sandwich Bag At A Time...

Environmentally conscious living is, like, so totally in! Little efforts by individuals can compound to have a dramatic effect on saving natural resources and preventing waste. We really need to rethink our daily living if we want to affect change on a broader scale. In an effort to highlight how simple, daily choices we make can impact the environment, I decided to start this series, Green is the New Black, to post simple ideas where a little effort can go a long way!

Starting with: Plastic ziplocs! The excess of plastic in our waste stream is astounding. Even the most environmentally conscious among us cannot avoid it. Take, for example, this NRDC employee's collection of one week's worth of plastic:



So there are a lot of different ways to reduce our consumption of plastic, but what better place to start than plastic ziplocs.

One small change I decided to make was to clean and reuse plastic ziploc bags. While not using them at all would be better, for some things, they function much better than the more permanent alternatives. For example, I like to buy large quantities of food and sometimes cook large quantities, freezing the extra food or leftovers for later. Plastic bags work much better for space and maintaining the quality of the food in the freezer!

My husband calls me cheap, but I save more than money by reusing my plastic ziplocs! If you used five plastic baggies a week, say, for packing a lunch, that would be 260 plastic bags a year. If you use one bag a week instead, that is only 52, which is saving 208 plastic baggies a year! If you think about this on a broad scale, the waste and moolah saved on plastic ziplocs alone would add up to something significant! Plus, it just takes a few seconds while washing dishes to clean each bag.

After years of washing, rinsing, and hanging to dry baggies, I only recently discovered a new way of drying the baggies without having them strewn all over the kitchen... Little creative solutions can really make a difference :)



Ok, so maybe it's not that pretty... but it is much better than having them hanging on cups, utensils, and the kitchen sink faucet!

Happy ziploc washing!

Featured by Twigs & Honey!!

Twigs and Honey by Myra Callan supplied the perfect birdcage veil and silk flower fascinator to complete my wedding ensemble. You might remember from an earlier post, I wasn't into the traditional veil thing, but I still wanted to wear something in my hair that was "bridal"... the birdcage became my accessory of choice. I am so glad I decided to go for it after all!



Myra recently posted a blog featuring pictures of her handywork from our wedding! Twigs and Honey has quite the assortment of hair (and other) handmade accessories (belts, for example!) that would be awesome to add to the wardrobe... The kinds of accessories that you build outfits around :)

A Belated Post About My Wedding Dress

I didn't want to post anything about my wedding dress before the wedding, but got consumed with life after the wedding and am only just now getting to it!

I knew going into dress shopping that I have expensive taste and an eye for fancy details, but I did not have the budget for a designer dress. I went dress shopping long before I was ready to buy a dress at a place called Glamour Closet in San Francisco. The store had amazing designer gown samples that were a fraction of the price of buying them directly through the designer, and I found a few dresses that I thought were gorgeous!

One of Monique Lhullier's full lace ensembles:

"Alice" by Jenny Packham (great for a roaring twenties feel):


But, it was a little too soon (we hadn’t picked a venue yet…), the prices were still above my price range, and I just hadn’t tried enough on yet to be sure.

A few months later, after we had figured out we were going to do a backyard wedding in the country, I went shopping again. This time, we went to the Saks’ wedding department closeout sale. I tried on one that my mother-in-law thought was perfect for me…


(Amsale)

And it was gorgeous! But strapless just wasn’t what I wanted. Either it would be so tight that I would be uncomfortable, or I would be jimmying it up all day and night… Neither sounded appealing to me. Also, it was seven times my budget! My mother-in-law has expensive taste like me!! :)

There was one dress that stuck with me from that day, Kristene by Claire Pettibone, but I wasn’t totally sure it was the one, so I walked away. And the sample seemed a little beat up. The very next day, I went with a close friend to a wedding dress boutique in Windsor (One White Dress, which has since closed) that carried samples of several designers I liked, including Claire Pettibone. I encountered Kristene again, in better shape than the one at Saks, and close to my budget (still over, but the dress was one of the few things I was willing to splurge on).


(I look terrified in this picture, and I actually was! Buying the dress was the most nerve-racking, scary thing I did throughout the whole wedding process! I was a total wreck for almost a week afterwards!)



The dress had an air of country and old fashioned that I loved, and the dangleys added a lighthearted swing that I could just see dancing on the dance floor!

Can you see the movement in the photo below?? :)


A detail shot by New Vintage Photography that I simply LOVE:


My dress turned out to be the perfect one for me, and it inspired a whole bunch of details at the wedding!

The cake (made and decorated by my talented aunt)…


The table decor (doilies in particular)…

(this was just a sample table we assembled before the big day)

And the table numbers...


I haven’t decided what to do with the dress now, though I have been toying with shortening it to knee length and saving the train. But, I am not sure a bridal cocktail dress will be that much more useful than a complete bridal gown… Suggestions anyone?

[the wedding pictures above are by Jen Howell with New Vintage Photography, the others are my own snapshots]

Looking Cute & Keeping Warm...

As our first Winter Storm Warning arrives in Denver, I was browsing several favorite retailers for fashionable and warm things. Girly is in and scarves are all the rage... Looks like I might be in luck!

Maybe not work appropriate, but I would probably live in this otherwise...





















A slouchy colorful beanie keeps the head warm, but maybe messes with the 'do a little less than other hats.























A scarf with colors that go with practically everything (not like scarves have to match or anything...)

























Plush eggplant gloves + ruffles = awesome!

























Tights can add pizzazz, and warmth, but are softer and less restricting than hose!


























Bring it, storm!

Mole for the Spice Novice

I discovered a great mole paste at the grocery store this week!


Dona Maria

Just dissolve the paste in water or broth, and you have delicious mole sauce for your choice of meat... without having to go to the restaurant, eating bottomless baskets of tortilla chips, and feeling feel like you're about to explode!

I made the mole verde sauce (basically made of pumpkin seeds, peppers, and spices) in the crockpot with four large skinless chicken breasts, shredded them up, and we had delicious tacos. The sauce was flavorful, unique, and just the right amount of spice. I can't wait to try the red mole now!

Emerging from the Chaos

It's been quite the whirlwind since my last blog entry (bar exam, loose ends of wedding planning, wedding, honeymoon, moving 1300 miles across the country, starting my first post-law school job...). But, as the title of my blog indicates, I did make it!

I didn't really believe people that blogged about how their wedding was the best day of their lives. Call me a cynic, but I just never really was that into weddings. So, I was beyond amazed at how wonderful the whole day was for me, and how many people came and cried and laughed and danced at our wedding. What a happy day it was! Of course there were little glitches, there always are. But it was a monumental day for the two of us, both because we fundamentally changed our identies and joined our lives, officially, forever, and because we shared it with so many of our friends and family. I am so glad I decided not to elope! :)

I am excited to share photos of all the wedding happenings here!

For now, the sneak peek from our fab photog, New Vintage Photography by Jen Howell!