Showing posts with label shopping friend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping friend. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

My Best Friend's Wedding

Last weekend was the long-awaited event: Shopping Friend got married!

Of course, because it was the two of us involved, the things I took the most photos of were our outfits; shoes, jackets, hair, makeup, and of course the dresses, got the bulk of the attention in my photos. (Actually, since I was in the wedding I mostly took photos of random things before and after the ceremony. They had a professional photographer doing the real stuff. :))

She had a couple of stylists come and do our hair and makeup, and that was absolutely amazing. It took me a bit to warm up to it, I will admit; I had my makeup done first, and I was a little skeptical while I waited for my turn for hair. I thought when I looked at myself in the camera that I looked a bit like (my idol) Hillary Clinton, and not in a good way.

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Once I got in the chair and she started working on my hair, though, I realized it was because my hair was flat and unstyled that the makeup looked out of place. The styled hair pulled the whole look together nicely.

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(Mid-do, I try to snap a photo to send to my husband.)

When we were all done, we got a couple of shots of all of us (that's Shopping Friend's Mom on the left), still in our street clothes.

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You wouldn't know from our unhurried dawdling that there was only 20 minutes to go before she was walking down the aisle, would you? We kind of lost track of time for a bit...

There are no pictures after that, because it was a flurry of bras flying the air and Spanx getting tugged on and just complete chaos. Here, enjoy a photo of her lovely dress. The wedding planner put rose petals around it so it was the first thing we saw when we walked into the suite. Sweet, right?

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And then she was married! It was a lovely, short ceremony, exactly what she wanted.

We went outside for photos. I goofed around with my husband and my other brides attendant (her best man, LOL) in a few shots.

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Kicked off my shoes for a bit too. They were pretty and mostly comfortable, but it was a long day.

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Some shots from the reception...

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My husband, as is his thing, had to wear the veil, at least long enough for me to take some photos. He is always game to wear a silly hat, mostly for the amusement for the little kids around. I'm going to make a book of photos like this some day.

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We convinced the bride to stick my husband's pipe in her mouth to lighten up a couple of poses, and I think we got some of her best photos ever.

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My lovely, silly Shopping Friend. I'm so happy for you!!!

Now...you guys....

can we talk about my hair now? No lie, it was SPECTACULAR.

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Unbelievable. I felt like a princess.

And it only took 27 bobby pins! I counted when I tugged them all out that night. ;-D

Once I got used to it, I have to say that my makeup was pretty awesome too. Never wore false eyelashes before. I loved 'em!

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At the end of the wedding, we both switched into our sneakers (heh, it didn't dawn on either of us to bring cute comfortable shoes).

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When everyone was gone, the little wedding party went to the bar across the street and had a beer. In our wedding attire and sneakers.

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When I got home, we tried to get one full-body shot in the setting sun...

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Then I got changed into a t-shirt and yoga pants and took a few more shots of my pretty 'do and makeup.

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I don't think I will ever look or feel that pretty again. After all that anxiety about the dress, that is just about the last thing I thought I would feel. But I do.

Best of all, my friend married the love of her life.

All in all, it was a damned good day.


Sunday, April 28, 2013

Smart casual for a casual shower

What do you wear to a casual wedding shower at an Irish pub on a Sunday afternoon? Let me tell you, it was a dilemma!

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The gold firefly top started as a Gwynnie Bee rental, and I loved it. I saw it on Eloquii as a final sale for $14, and I had to scoop it up. Pink and gold, pretty and fun.

I added this gold necklace to give it a bit of an edgier look.

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Then of course I had to finish it off with a classic black jacket. This is why we own them!

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I went with a semi-tuck look, which actually cut down on the muffin-top. No picture, but I got a cute black faux-alligator Kenneth Cole Reaction clutch as a freebie casino giveaway, and it went perfectly with it. (I will get a picture next time; I am surprised how much I love that clutch!)

After that, the shower itself was a breeze! Next weekend: the wedding. Hurray!


Friday, April 26, 2013

Casual Friday

Another color question I posed to Jessie this fine morning: what went best with this navy striped Lands End cardigan (Gwynnie Bee, of course)? I had the choice of emerald green, a pretty coral, and white. All new t shirts I picked up from Old Navy for the summer that I am itching to wear. :)

Part of my dilemma on the color was that I wanted to highlight the gorgeous infinity necklace that Shopping Friend gave me last night as my bridesmaid gift. It's just so so pretty, and the sweet story of us being friends through infinity now got me a little teary-eyed. Thank you, my friend. Now lets go get you hitched! :)

Outfit details
Cardigan: lands end from gwynnie bee
T: old navy
Jeans: old navy dreamers in long
Shoes: Clark's artisans
Necklace: Tiffany's, from Shopping Friend

The answer to the color I wore is revealed in the second to last photo. :)

The last photo is the fun clutch I am using tonight when I meet my husband at the casino. I had it handmade along with a larger cross body a couple of years ago at a local studio but I do not give it nearly enough wear.

Have a lovely weekend everyone! Any fun plans? I am going to Great America amusement park tomorrow!















Thursday, April 18, 2013

Two weeks notice

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Emily, George and I have been missing you guys. It has been a busy couple of weeks!

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They like to pretend to be shy sometimes.

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Oh hey, do you like my new knit pants? Eddie Bauer straight legs. They work for casual office days and weekends. They're a little freaky because they're so comfortable they feel like pajamas.

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Ha, see I knew George would ham it up. Emily, of course, wants no part of these shenanigans.

Let's see, what else happened?

I tried on my bridesmaid dress...

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(which will get better fitted once I find a frikkin' low-back bra, which I think I have finally procured, after multiple online purchases.)

I got a haircut...

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(Pretty, right? I wish I could blow it out as well as they do at the salon.)

I wore an adorable hand-me-down Kohls arygyle sweater from Jessie...

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(I also did a lot of mirror shots to send to Jessie in the mornings as we compared outfits. So fun!)

I did some shopping and wore my new stuff as much as I could...

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Black striped (hmm, maybe it is navy) drape neck short sleeved top from Lands End, worn dressy and casual. (Got a couple of pairs of knit shorts too, to be ready for summer.)

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(Teal open cardigan from Eloquii, first worn with new Eloquii white ankle pants in a trial outfit for summer, then again to work for real with my Target bow-tie patterned top, black straight legs and animal-print flats.)

I wore the bejesus out of a couple of Gwynnie Bee tops...

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(The obi is new from Eloquii too. They were having a great sale. My April purchase list is pretty big, but I think I am set for this summer. I'm excited to incorporate all the items into my regular rotations!)

I met my girlfriend A for lunch at Cheesecake Factory after we both got our hair colored...

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(That was really, really delicious.)

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(We could not stop laughing at the giant pile of noodles on her Chinese chicken salad.)

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(Yeah, before anyone is impressed with us for ordering salads at Cheesecake, we also had vodka lemonads, fried mac&cheese balls for appetizers, and of course, cheesecake.)

I laughed pretty hard at my husband's "dress camo pants"...

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(Yes, that is glen plaid and camo mixed together. In a cargo pant. I can't believe he even found these!)

Let's see what else?

Oh, right, I got a new job.

SO HAPPY.

That's been the main secret stressful thing I haven't been able to talk about here, and the reason why I have been so scarce the last few months. I was finally offered and accepted a new job -- a transfer within my company, to a totally new job and department -- earlier this week, and my new and old bosses are figuring out my end date. But it is probably going to be May 3, which is also the weekend of Shopping Friend's wedding. So I may be scarce for a few more weeks, but then I am really, really looking forward to a little stability and back to some regular routines.

Oh yeah, also looking forward to my new job.

HURRAY!!!!!