In Photos: Wedding Anniversary

Today, I am celebrating my one year wedding anniversary with my one-and-only Trevor.

A year has gone by so quickly! In fact, it went so quickly that I never even had time to share pictures from my wedding reception!

Let me do a quick recap, otherwise you might be confused. We were officially and legally married on May 19th, 2011. I posted pictures from that, like the one below.

However, I did not post any from our reception, which was held in August. 

So I'm gonna stereotype here: I'm guessing most of my readers are female. I'm also going to guess that a large portion of you are like me and really love wedding stuff (even though I'm married, I still want a subscription to Martha Stewart Weddings), so I'm sure you won't mind a long, rambling post about a wedding reception!

Our nuptials were very casual, so we decided to keep the reception pretty laid-back. I borrowed a (beautiful!) dress, we rented a community building at a city park, and dinner was potluck-style. We provided drinks and desert and my amazing father-in-law served pulled pork.

{the invitations}

I think the fanciest part was the invites, which I designed with help from my lovely step-mom.

{the dress}

 It belonged to my husband's grandmother. Miraculously, all of her clothes fit me perfectly. She was quite a stylish lady back in the day (now she's too old to care).

That's my dear, sweet cousin Molly.

{the centerpieces}

My aunts are geniuses. On their advice (and good experience) I went to Pike Place Market a couple days before the reception and ordered 10 bouquets from one of the many flower vendors. I told them what colors I wanted and for $50 they made me the most beautiful arrangements! I put them in vases and jars I bought at  various thrift stores. The candle holders are also thrifted. Some are actual candle holders, and some are neat antique jam jars. They were fun to shop for; it was like a treasure hunt.

{the favors}

We had a candy table, which turned out to be a bad idea, because NO ONE ate the candy. I had about 10 pounds of candy in my trunk for months. The envelopes with champagne drops and buttermints worked out pretty well, though (idea from Martha Stewart Weddings)

{the cake}

OK, this part was pretty fancy, too, and, like the candy, I ate it for months. It was classic yellow cake, with apricot and almond filling and a buttercream frosting. My mom and sisters spent days slaving away on this cake. I'm pretty sure they didn't realize what an ordeal it would be when they offered to make it. We were just gonna get a Costco cake or something, haha. Needless to say, my family is amazing. My sister made each and every one of those marzipan fruits. (I can't remember where the recipe is from, but can find out if anyone is interested)

{the wedding party}

They weren't officially our wedding party (just some friends, sisters and a niece), but it wouldn't have been possible without our wonderful friends and family. Seriously, that's the main reason I had the reception, so I could hang out with ALL of my favorite people all in one room! I feel like I should write Thank You notes again.

A big thank you to Laurel, Tara, and Alana for taking pictures!!

Look of the Day: namesake

Dear Suede Jacket,

Poor neglected little jacket. I'm sorry I forgot to style you. You see, I just wasn't sure you worked with "my style". I was wrong, and I'm woman enough to admit it.

 Thanks for bringing so much boho-vintage chicness to my basic jersey maxi dress. It was in dire need of some bad-assery! (note: I just made that word up). Thanks for making me feel a tiny bit like Kate Lanphear.

Sincerely, Catie

 P.S. I got this super cool, GIANT vintage leather bag at Kaleidoscope Vision on Capitol Hill when I was hanging out with all those cool ladies from the Seattle Style Bloggers meet up. 

H&M Maxi Dress (similar) - Felicee leopard print belt - Vintage suede jacket (similar) - Vintage Liz Claiborne bag - Urban Outfitters sunglasses - DIY infinity scarf - Bracelets are vintage & Forever21

Look of the Day: rain or shine

Seattle Spring: rain, sun, wind, hail.

The clouds are amazing, as they always are this time of year. Big, billowy mountains floating across the sky. I get distracted when I drive over one of our many bridges. Hopefully I won't ever have to blame an accident on "pretty clouds". That's a pretty lame explanation. 

 I was really regretting not purchasing this silver purse from Zara a while back, but it just so happens H&M had nearly the exact same thing. I got it for $5! The cape is a treasure I found at a thrift store in Olympia and the Merino wool turtleneck was $2 at the Fremont Sunday Market.

 Vintage cape - Thrifted wool turtleneck - H&M clutch - Forever21 skirt - Cooperative wedges

Practicality

The Holidays are over, so now it's time to get down to business and trudge through this season we call Winter. Blah.

I'm doing practical, grown-up things, like paying bills, not eating candy (New Year's Resolution), and buying sturdy leather boots. Ok, so buying sturdy leather boots is actually quite enjoyable. I just found these Etienne Aigner boots today. They are brand new and were only $40! I was heading to one of the thrift stores I visit ever so often, and thought "Maybe they will have lots of boots today." When my intuition kicks in, it really kicks in. They must have decided to put all the good boots out just as I thought that. There were several gorgeous pairs, but this pair one because they fit the best. Another pair I wanted badly were a brogue style made of super-soft burgundy leather. I could only get my foot in about 4 inches. I'm not going to complain though, because I ended up with a really good pair of boots!

Hope you all had a good New Year :)

Hobby/Addiction

I don't have any pictures of outfits today or even Polyvore compositions. All I have is this lovely portrait of my Corgi-Chihuahua. Her name is Frida and she is much older than she looks.

Anyway, I've been thinking lately: Do I buy clothes too often? How frequently do other bloggers go shopping? Maybe my habits are normal, but I do worry. Part of me is like "This is your hobby! You are being creative! You're writing!" But then there is another side that just worries about the money and the risk of over-consuming. For instance, this week I bought clothes on 3 different occasions. I went thrifting on Tuesday, shopping downtown yesterday, and then ended up at the mall today. I think I've spent roughly $80 on clothes and $30 on make-up. Doesn't sound like a whole lot, but I'm pretty sure I bought clothes last week, and the week before that, and probably the week before that. I should probably take a break for a while, because I really don't need anything!

So do you consider your closet a constantly growing collection or do you focus on building a seasonal wardrobe and then calling it quits until next season? Do you shop for key pieces or are you a treasure hunter? Personally, it's mostly about the hunt for me! I love finding new things, but I love the hunt the most!