Showing posts with label dress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dress. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

the last christmas tea


Saturday was the Law Wives Christmas Tea!
It has always been my favorite event, since December of 2011. I won a teapot for being the first to finish a crossword, and I immediately knew it would be the event I looked most forward to every year.
Look out, future law women -- I may just appear without invite in the years to come.

Since it was my last one, I had a lot of excitement and expectation built up for it. 

Some flashbacks:

2011
2012

This year was a bit different, because a lot of friends had graduated and left the law wives. I was still looking forward to it because I love tea, and I drink an exorbitant amount of it at these things...my friend Stephanie and I always joke (although it's more like a tease, because it's real) that we're shaking by the time the tea is over.

The great news is that Stephanie was able to make a valuable guest appearance as an experienced alumnus!
She spoke on the history of tea, and was able to enjoy the afternoon with us.



The mediocre news is that the tea was sub-par this year.
Don't get me wrong, there were still treats and a lot of ladies came and it was a very sweet afternoon.

The problems, for me, were in the tea itself -- the school's catering company did the honors of providing everything for us, and we had plain white dishes and a simple carafe of hot water with a basket of tea bags.
That doesn't sound half bad, but when you compare it to the last two years when we had tables decorated with mixed vintage teapots and teacups and saucers and little silver stirring spoons and fresh flowers, and were served each traditional course and were provided with fresh pots of hot ready-made tea when we began to get low, it seems like a real step down. 
I feel really snooty just saying all of this, but it really was a letdown when you have to make each separate cup of tea with a tiny carafe of hot water that ran out quickly and still had the aftertaste of old coffee.
(You can see last year's tea here.)






We played a few word games and had Stephanie speak on the history of afternoon tea, and we also spoke a bit about the Godparent Home which is kind of our focused project for each Christmas tea.
The Godparent Home is a ministry here on campus for young pregnant women/teenagers who have chosen life, and are planning to have and raise their children or give them up for adoption. 
Each year we collect spa items for these girls, filling stockings and bringing them over and having a spa night with them.








I always love the game portion.
There's nothing more stressful and exciting than a room full of people who are completely silent, trying to find that dang "lemonslice" entry in the timed word finder.
We also had a "best dressed" category for a prize this year, since people had fun dressing up last year and we wanted to encourage people to go all out!

Best Dressed
Word Game
Word Finder


Overall, it was a great group of girls and I still felt like crying a little once it was all over.

I also have been making pots of tea in that teapot I won the first year, both to be nostalgic and because I'm way behind on my normal tea intake for this time of year.







Tuesday, January 15, 2013

dresses and bubblegum

January has been floating by.


The weather has been surprisingly warm, as if we decided to switch places with our now-freezing relatives on the west coast. 
We haven't minded, though, enjoying the change of pace. 
Our first week back we were feeling the jet lag, so we spent a lot of time avoiding unpacking!


Dress: J. Crew, Cardigan: Banana Republic, Scarf: Gifted, Tights: Target, Boots: DSW

This was my favorite outfit that week.
This mint dress is possibly the most-worn dress in my closet, and I love playing around with it. The possibilities for color and pattern-pairing is limitless.

My husband took these pictures for me outside of our favorite new sushi place, Wasabi.



It's not easy taking pictures in the wintertime, because as soon as I'm done with work it's already dark!

I've been really missing Frocktober, and the way it challenged me to work with my clothes and get creative with what I wear on a daily basis.
I would love to start a fashion blog, where I could document my pattern experiments and Frocktober-esque challenges, mirroring some of the blogs I love to follow.
I would still keep this blog for my more personal posts, but I'm in the process of figuring out how and if I could start another one.
Any thoughts/advice?

Maybe someday soon I'll be able to get some help in redesigning this blog space to be less cluttered and more user friendly!


This is one of my favorite Christmas presents, from my best friend Becky. She knows I love green, and with it being the Polyvore color of the year, I'd say it was perfectly timed!
(I also really needed a new purse).


If you have any fashion blog name ideas, I'd love to hear them!
I found this great article today that got me brainstorming for fun ideas. It shouldn't be that difficult to come up with a name, but it's been torturing me for weeks!
With this article's advice, I was coming up with all kinds of gems. Cookies and Cashmere, Hoops and Jalapenos!
So far "Pleats and Eats" is in the top running.
What do you think I should name my fashion blog?

In love,
Cait

Monday, October 29, 2012

Frocktober: Week 4!

This is the LAST full week of Frocktober!

It has been a long and wonderful month, and I've had a blast trying to put daily dress outfits together.
I've had to be way more creative than I ever have before in my wardrobe, and I think it has really helped me to establish my style, and what I'd like my style to be from here on out.

But I'm definitely looking forward to wearing some pants!

This week was another fun and active week.
I dedicated this week to the mixing and matching of different patterns and textures.
I tried to be creative with how I chose different prints to compile each outfit.

Day 1:

Dress (worn as top): Gifted (via Zulily)
Skirt: J. Crew
Blazer: Rue 21
Tights: Target
Shoes: Urbanog



We got to take these pictures where I work, which was kind of fun.
It's probably the largest building on campus, and has a plethora of bricks and large, impressive columns.







Day 2: 

Dress (worn as skirt): Ruche
Sweater: Gifted/hand-me-down
Tights: Target
Boots: Urbanog
Bracelet: Betsey Johnson
Necklace/Earrings: Cookie Lee

I know I wore these boots two days in a row, but I was feeling edgy.
And I'm really loving them right now.







I'm really loving little critter details lately.
When I saw this little elephant, I had to have this bracelet. It was too precious, and ended up being the perfect detail for this outfit!
I'm really thankful for eBay.




I love how there are still some trees that refuse to change for Fall. The contrast is pretty striking.



Day 3:

Dress: J. Crew
Blouse/Cardigan: Banana Republic
Belt: J. Crew
Tights: Target
Shoes: Thrifted
Scarf: Gifted
Earrings: Cookie Lee








Isn't this scarf magical?



Day 4: 

Dress: Gifted/Kohl's
Cardigan: Ruche
Boots: Gifted (via Zulily)
Belt: ?
Earrings: American Eagle










That night, we went over to our friend's house to have dinner and carve pumpkins!
It was such a perfect Fall evening.






The finished products!



We love our friends!



Day 5:

Dress: Gifted
Top: Loft
Belt: Vintage
Shoes: Poetic License
Earrings: Forever 21

When we went to the State Fair last weekend, we were able to go a real mall for the first time in a very long time!
I took advantage of the Loft there, and bought this adorable top there. I love the way it ties in the back!











Day 6:

Dress: Target
Top: Target
Tights: Target
Shoes: Ross
Scarf: Disneyland
Earrings: Noon

This was most definitely a comfy day!
It was the day of the Turkey Bowl, which is the football game between the Law School (my husband!) and The Seminary!
It's always a fun event, and I was excited to go and cheer on our boys!
There was also a Chili Cook Off. We didn't win (but we totally should have...) but it was still really fun being a part of it!








The Law School won (of course!)
And it was such a fun game to watch.
For the first time, they had the game in the evening so we could enjoy the full-on stadium experience, lights and all!

Law School!
Seminary!
My handsome husband!

 All of us joined up to go and root our boys on.





It was a great night!

Day 7:

Dress (worn as skirt): Bought in Ireland
Top: Ruche
Belt: Ruche
Boots: DSW






Rumor has it, there's going to be a crazy hurricane on the east coast this week!




We're not TOO worried but it's definitely stirring up some crazy weather out here.
Tomorrow will be the worst for us.
Classes were canceled today, but I was still required to go to work. We'll see how tomorrow goes!





Thanks so much for keeping up with Frocktober.
We'll keep you updated on the Frankenstorm, but hopefully we'll continue to have power this week!
We don't want a repeat of this summer's blackout!!

Oh, and Happy National Cat Day! ;)


Only 3 days left of Frocktober!

In love,
Cait