What's Up Wednesday Again!

I had fun doing this last few months so I am linking up with What's Up Wednesday again.

What we're eating this week:  I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce over the weekend and even though I froze some of it for later there is still quite a lot.  We ate it with pasta the first time but then I cooked some spaghetti squash to eat with it the other times.  Still yummy but a little more nutritious.  I am also thinking I will make a batch of my bean and veggie soup/stew thing.  I made homemade croutons over the weekend and this mixture would be great with some croutons in it.

What I'm reminiscing about: I am again reminiscing about Disneyland.  I was really hoping to be able to go down during Halloween time and see all the fun decorations but that doesn't seem to be in the cards for me this year.  One of my favorite trips to Disneyland was a trip a few years ago with my parents when we went to Mickey's Halloween Party.  If you are in Southern California and have the chance to go I totally recommend it.

What I'm loving: I am loving that finally my wedding planning starting to fall into place.  I went and got my marriage license on Monday.  It is really convenient that the recorder's office is in my building so I we just went on our lunch. There are still a lot of details to go and I am by no means not stressing about it but for the moment my big stress is gone.  More on that later in the week!

What we've been up to: Work has finally slowed down a bit but home has not so there has still been no sitting still for too long for me.  I headed to Pacific Grove over the weekend to get my hair done.  I usually add highlights to my hair once a year during the summer.  Well, summer didn't happen so fall highlights it is.

What I'm dreading: I am trying to keep a positive attitude at the moment.  There are some things happening around me that I have no control over so I am just trying to focus my energy on the positive and not dwell on what I can't change.

What I'm working on: Still working on those darn Save-the-Dates! I have them and they are beautiful so it is just a matter of writing all the addresses on them and dropping them in the mail.  I have addressed some of them and the rest should be done in time to be mailed this weekend.

What I'm excited about: Next Friday I head to LA with my sister to go the the Anthropologie wedding dress store.  The only two locations on the west coast are in Seattle and Beverly Hills.  My sister has to go to LA anyway for a conference so we are making a weekend out of it and trying on dresses.  There dresses are so pretty and very much my style so I have high hopes of finding something I love.  The nice thing about the particular weekend is I already have Monday off so by taking Friday off I have a four day weekend!  We are coming back Sunday so I will still have a whole day to relax at home and by relax I mean get stuff done.

What I'm watching/reading: I am happy that for the most part all my shows either came back last week or come back this week.  There are only a few shows that my fiancee and I consistently watch together so I am looking forward to curling up on the couch with him and watching.  We watch Agents of Shield, Blacklist and Grimm at this point but we could always use another show or two if anyone has any suggestions.

What I'm listening to: Mostly whatever comes on my Pandora which is usually a mix of country and a random mix of 90s-00s pop music.  Everyone needs some Britney in their life every once in a while.

What I'm wearing: I am loving this super colorful dress that I got on sale at Anthropologie recently.  It is sleeveless but looks great with a cardigan over it for work.  I was a little worried when I ordered it that the keyhole would show off a bit too much but it actually is very thin so nothing shows.

I have not actually worn this outfit to work yet but I am looking forward to wearing it.  I have this same skirt in black so when I saw it in navy I decided I needed to add it to my pencil skirt collection.  I didn't actually have a navy pencil skirt (I know! Hard to believe) so it was a welcome addition.  I also have this shirt in a redish color an it fits so well that when I saw it in navy and white stripes I bought it.  It looks really great with the skirt so I am sure I will be wearing it quite often.

What I'm doing this weekend: This weekend I am meeting a friend for dinner Saturday night at Mimi's Cafe.  I know it sounds like a random place for a girl's night but it is kind of a tradition with us.  We met in grad school and always went to lunch there after our Saturday classes.  Sunday night I am heading to my last country concert of the summer with my sister.  We are seeing Rascal Flatts.  Since the concert is on a Sunday night instead of a Friday night like most of the rest we are meeting for dinner beforehand.  There is a Mexican place near my house that has good food and really good margarita/sangria swirl drinks.  My fiancee hate the place because it is always crowded and there is no parking so instead of subjecting him to taking me he has agreed to drop us off and pick us up from the restaurant.

What's Your Favorite Halloween Tradition?: I am sure that once I have kids I will love dressing them up and taking them trick or treating.  I am always a fan of dressing up so don't be surprised if I join in on the dressing up fun with my kids.  A couple of photos of my friends and I all dressed up in college.

Favorite Scarves

I am linking up with Andrea's and Erika's Favorite Things today.  The topic is favorite scarves.  Despite the warm weather outside it is plenty air conditioned inside my office.  I have worn a few of my favorite scarves over the last few weeks and pretended that the weather outside matched.  

This is one of the older scarves in my collection.  I bought it in BP at Nordstrom a few years ago when I still worked there.  Hello discount! I debated the practicality of a an off white scarf but I ended up getting it anyway.  I am glad I did because it really does go with lots of things and is actually quite warm. I don't generally need something terribly warm in California unless I venture to Lake Tahoe but it does getting chilly sometimes waiting at the lightrail station.

This pretty floral scarf is lightweight and though I generally prefer infinity scarves I wear this one quite often.  My sister bought it for me at a store in Ireland called Primark.  If you are every in Ireland or the UK I definitely recommend checking out Primark.  It has all kinds of basics and trendy things for super cheap prices.  Not the world's best quality but for fun trendy pieces it totally serves its purpose.  Tip: If you go to the one in London go right when it opens because it gets crazy crowded and chaotic fast.  

Another fun scarf from the BP department at Nordstrom.  I bought this scarf recently to send to another blogger named Amber as part of a fun scarf exchange but I liked it so much that I ended up buying myself one too.  Come back on October 7th to see what my scarf exchange buddy sent me!  

My other sister bought this scarf for me last Christmas.  She knows me well so of course it is purple!  This picture is from last winter and I can't believe that I can actually see the difference in my face since I lost a bit of weight.

I have this scarf in a really pretty teal color but I couldn't find any pictures of myself wearing it.  It is a nice warm infinity scarf that is a great color with my hair and skin color.

Looking forward to seeing what scarves other people are wearing.

A Few New Purchases (and some that are going back) Part 1

Over the last few (ok maybe 6) months I have picked up a few fun new outfits.  I have found some good sales on end of summer stuff and for the most part it is still hot as all get out here so I have plenty of opportunity to wear them.  Most of the time all I have to do to turn a summer dress into weather appropriate for the rest of the year is add a cardigan or blazer.  I have also picked up a few new more traditional fall pieces since last fall/winter I weighed about 15 pounds more than I do this year.  I didn't buy too much last fall since I had just reestablished my office appropriate wardrobe last spring after leaving the retail world for the office world.

I bought this dress sometime over the summer and because it is linen it is perfect for when the weather is crazy hot.  It has sleeves so I don't have to worry about the extra warmth of a sweater to make it work appropriate.  I also really like this dress because I had to get an extra small for the dress to fit correctly.  Sorry, people who are actually an extra small this is not the dress for you. I think this dress may only be available in petite sizes so maybe small short people can wear it.  

I was a bit skeptical about this whole romper trend that seems to be going on.  I thought they were cute but was not sold that they were something that I could wear successfully.   When something has to fit my hips and rear and also fit my upper body there is often a problem.  I was pleasantly surprised when I tried this romper on and it actually fit.  It is lightweight so I have been able this summer but I am looking forward to throwing some black tights on underneath it and wearing it as the weather cools off.  That is if it ever cools off here!

This pretty striped dress was a find that I wore to my cousin's wedding earlier this summer.  It looks totally different on the model that it does on me.  Hello hips! It is a bit hard to see in this picture but I have a really cool hammered gold necklace (and a bracelet too) that looked really good with the dress.  I used to wear almost exclusively silver jewelry but over the last year or so I have been gravitating more to gold.  I would say at this point I wear half silver and half gold.

When I first saw this sweater across the store I thought "oh, how cute" but when I went over to it and was a bit more skeptical.  I wasn't sure how I felt about that sort of tassel thing that hangs down the front.  After I put it on I decided I actually didn't mind it and ended up buying it.  I have worn it with jeans and also with a pair of navy blue cropped linen pants.  I often wear a petite in dresses but very rarely wear a petite in pants.  These pants ended up being the exception.

I bought this skirt with the hopes that it would be a nice flowey skirt to wear to work.  I tend to wear a lot of pencil skirts (or dresses) to work but sometimes I just want something that is really easy to sit cross-legged in.  I ordered this online and when it arrived it did not fit in the way I was hoping.  It was technically the right size but the black waistband just kind of folded over and scrunched up when I tried it on.  This skirt went back.

The really cool reversible bag was part of one of my Stitch Fix boxes but it is actually also available in the junior's department at Nordstrom too.  I discovered this fact when someone at work had this same bag in a different color.  My purple and light tan is not available at Nordstrom but there are a couple of other pretty color combinations.  It fits my laptop and is a great bag to take on as a carry on bag on an airplane.  For $48 you can't really beat it.

I love love love this bulldog tee and even though I have only had it a month I am pretty sure a week hasn't gone by where it hasn't found its way into at least one of my outfits.  It is thick enough that I can wear whatever bra I want which is a huge bonus because a lot of my tops require smooth bras.






As I have mentioned previously recently I have found some on sale dresses at Anthropologie that have spoken to me.  I bought this super flow, almost sack like grey dress a few weeks ago.  I wasn't sure if the shape would work on me but I ended up loving it.  It may not be the most figure flattering dress in a traditional way but it is so comfy and such a different look for me that I am embracing it.  I paired it with a big chunky blue necklace at my cousin-in-law's bridal shower a few weeks ago.  I actually wore it with a cropped sweater to work the other day and that gave it a bit more of a nipped waist.

 

When I first started this post I didn't think about how may different pieces of clothing I really had to talk about.  That being said, I got about halfway through talking about my shopping adventures and it had become evident that this was meant to be a two post topic.

On another but related shopping topic the wedding dress I ordered arrived today.  Assuming I can get the top altered the way I want it I have found a winner!

  

Wedding Update

I know it has been a while since I did any sort of update on how my wedding planning is going.  Some things are going along swimmingly and other things are giving me panic attacks.

Let's start with the good stuff.  I ordered my save-the-dates about 2 weeks ago and they are scheduled to arrive tomorrow.  Life happened and we never got around to taking formal engagement photos.  I was freaking out a bit about this because I wanted to have a nice photo on our save-the-date cards.  My fabulous cousin and her fabulous photography skills stepped in and we had a makeshift engagement photo shoot at the winery my cousin works at.

We ended up with a gorgeous photo to use and I am so happy with it.  We ended up deciding to do a postcard.  I have gathered almost all of the addresses I need so the save-the-dates are going quite well and should be sent out in the next couple of weeks. 

I am making progress on getting some other details set for Hawaii and everything is going well on that front.  This is not my bouquet obviously but I am sure my bouquet will have some sort of purple theme.  This is me we are talking about!

Due to some health issues of people we care about, in addition to getting married in Hawaii like we had planned, we are also going to have a church wedding in November here in California.  Yes, I said November.  Two months from now!  Since we are getting married in a church in California we decided to just have a ceremony at the resort in Hawaii instead of a church there.

The church and the reception location (my parent's house) have all fallen into place and we ordered our rings this weekend so that is taken care of.  We are keeping everything as simple as possible for this wedding since we are doing everything again in Hawaii.  We are going to order some food from a local restaurant, get some sort of yummy cake and lots of drinks.  I am planning to do just a little bit of purple decorating to make it festive and call it a day.  

What has not fallen into place is my dress!  I have ordered (and sent back) many white dresses from Nordstrom in hopes of finding something simple since this wedding is not going to be as fancy as the Hawaii one. 

 I have an idea in my head and nothing is working out the way I want it to.  The time frame in which I need this dress also throws a wrench into things.  I have one dress on order that is supposed to arrive on Thursday so I have high hopes for that.  If that dress doesn't work out I really am going to start having panic attacks.

I am planning to wear a different dress in California and Hawaii so my sister and I have an appointment in October in Beverly Hills at the Anthropologie bridal store to look for a Hawaii dress.  Looking at the website there is going to be no shortage of dresses for me to try on while I am there.  So many pretty dresses!

Any advice on not having panic attacks when planning two weddings appreciated!

Fall Decorations

Last week was outrageously hot.  Like over 100 degrees hot!  This week the weather has turned a corner and a breeze has been blowing through the bay area making it feel like fall.  I know this fall weather is not going to last without at least a few more really hot days but I am taking what I can get.

Last weekend I broke out my fall decorations.  My dining table is again a mess of papers and filing but that didn't stop me from decorating.  I filled my wooden bowl some fake gourds and artificial leaves.  Last year I bought real gourds but they rotted before the season was over so this year I bought fake ones.

I added some gourd garland to the basic wreath that has been hanging on my laundry room door all summer.  I didn't actually even hook the garland to the wreath.  I just kind of shoved it in the middle of the wrath and it stayed.

A few leaves and a pumpkin decorate my bar.  There is also a black metal pumpkin there but it is a bit hard to see in this picture.  

I bought these two silver and gold pumpkins at the dollar section of target but I haven't decided if I am keeping them or not.  They were only $3 each but I am not sure they really go with the rest of my decor.

Now that I have the counter between my entry way and my kitchen cleaned off of all the junk that had accumulate there I have more space to decorate.

Another wire mesh pumpkin and some more leaves (I have a whole bunch of them) sit at one end of the counter.

The balls don't look as sparkly in the picture as they do in real life but my candle is sitting in pretty fall colored balls that I just love.  The vase fits right on top of a ring of fall branches which happened to match the vase filler perfectly.

I am really happy that my house is all decked out for fall and that for the moment the weather is cooperating.  I have a few Halloween touches to throw in in a few weeks (hello purple sparkly spider) but most of these decorations will stay up until I put my Christmas decorations up.  

Who I Would Invite to a Dinner Party?

When I think about what 5 people I would invite to a dinner party there are a couple of directions I could go with this.  I can always go for a really fun girls night with my friends since as we get older it is harder and harder for all of us get together at one time in one place since we live all over the world.  I know it is going to get even harder once we all start having kids but I am hoping to see most of them at my wedding next summer.

I decided to go the sentimental route and have a fictional dinner party where my fiancee gets to meet and hang out with all four of my grandparents.  One of my grandfathers is still alive, one grandfather died when I was in middle school, one of my grandmothers died about 5 years ago and my other grandmother died before I turned two.  

I only knew two of my four grandparents as adults (ok one I really didn't get to know at all) so I would love to have real conversations with them as an adult.  

My fiancee has met my grandpa on my mom's side but meeting someone when they are 90 is not quite the same as meeting them at their best.  

My mom's mom got to meet me but obviously I have no memories of her.  I have heard a lot about how much I am like her from my love of shopping to my choice of college.  I am sure she and I would have some fun conversations comparing Scripps in her day in the 50's to my time at Scripps 10 years ago.  I also imagine having some major shopping discussions because she had some fabulous outfits.

I have the types of memories of my Opa one would expect from a kid's point of view.  I remember him being grumpy and goofy all at the same time.  I would love to get to make some memories and have real conversations with my Opa.

My Grannie Frannie was just the funniest full of life person.  She had her opinions and she felt that because she was old she had earned the right to make those opinions known.  I have taught my fiancé to play many of the card games and board games my Grannie taught me to play and I would love to end my dinner party with a few (or a lot of) cocktails and a good game of cards.  I can still hear my Grannie clinking her glass for a refill and denying that she cheats.  No denying that one Grannie!  We all know you are sneaky!

Good food, great drinks and a good game of cards with my fiancee and all four of my grandparents would be a great evening.