Part of the Fontbonne Table

 If you guessed a wedding for the big event we went to a few weeks ago, congratulations, you win!  That Thursday we woke up early, packed up the car, dropped Ollie off at my parents for a big sleepover, then got on the road to Chicago.  Ethan was invited to be a groomsman at his old college friend, Kyle's, wedding so we wanted to get there a day before all the festivities began to pick up his suit, get situated, and ensure time for travel snafus.

We also wanted to meet up with Andrew and Juliana, which we did that evening!  They picked a cool pizza-brewery hybrid, where we ate, drank, and merrily talked for a couple hours before closing the place down.

The following day was a lazy one before getting ready for the rehearsal dinner.  The venue was a short ten minute drive from the hotel.  When we arrived, the overly-enthusiastic priest lined everybody up to commence the walk-through.  Ethan's bridesmaid couldn't make it so I ended up standing in for her.  We were the best at walking in, for sure.

Once the priest was satisfied with all things ceremony, everyone made their way downstairs to a pizza restaurant for dinner, drinks, and toasts.  The Fontbonne table was quite fun, with the girls and guys telling stories and reminiscing.  It's a little strange being the only one who didn't go to college with all of them, but it's also quite fun to ask all the questions and hear all the stories.

On the big wedding day I dropped Ethan and the guys off at the venue around 1, picked up some lunch on the way back, and had a leisurely afternoon to myself before starting to get dressed.  Weddings are really the only time I get to go a little extra with makeup and a fancy hairdo, so I made a little cocktail, turned on some music, and had a grand old time.

The ceremony was nice.  The preacher threw in most of the same jokes he said the night before, but he told the story of how Kyle and McKenna met, when they knew they wanted to marry each other, and how he proposed.  Their vows were earnest and personalized, some funny and some serious, and they both looked radiantly happy.  Once the I Do's were said, the entire party moved down the hall for a cocktail hour.

A delicious three course dinner was next, complete with the grand wedding party entrance to music and several champagne toasts.  Once the dance floor opened up, that's all we did for the remainder of the evening.  Back at the hotel, everyone met up in the lobby (pre-approved by the staff, of course) to continue celebrating.  We left around 3:30am, even though the party was still raging.  They must've been up 'til the sunrise!

Overall it was a lovely event filled with so much fun and happiness.  Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs!

(photos by r.hunt, a.hunt, e.hunt, and collected from bellesandthistles)

Diplomats, Delegates, and Dignitaries

 And here's a little preview of what we did this weekend!  Can you guess what kind of event we were at? 

(photo by a fellow event attendee)

A Winter Wonderland Wedding

The last Friday in December was my old college friend, Megan's wedding.  The wedding was scheduled to start at five but since it was a Friday and a pretty good drive away into Illinois, I started getting ready fairly early.  First up was makeup.  I wear skin and eye makeup everyday but for special occasions such as this I wanted to spice it up a bit with sparkly, smokey eyeshadow, illuminating highlighter on my cheekbones, and extra of all my usuals.  The real feature though was going to be my hair. 

To make my look a little more winter appropriate, I planned to braid a velvet sash into my hair for a little Katniss Everdeen-meets-Blair Waldorf vibe.  Easier said than done; however, on the third try I got it right!

The wedding was lovely and Megan and Rion did this cool thing at the ceremony where after the procession out, they walked back up to the front and dismissed everybody by rows so they could briefly greet all of their guests, rather than having to go around doing just that at the reception.

After driving the thirty minutes to the reception hall, Hannah, Shelby, and I walked in to the lavish affair that was decked out with lights and winter greenery.  The Drury party was seated at Table 3, so we had a pretty good view of everything, and probably were served pretty early on as well. 

We headed straight to the open bar where Shelby got a Manhattan, I ordered a Tom Collins, which they didn't know how to make so it ended up being a vodka club soda with a twist, and Hannah got a soda (she's pregnant(!) so no drinks for her), and we sat back down to a variety of appetizers being served, followed by a three course meal, and then dessert!

Megan and Rion made a few remarks, toasts were made, and the cake was cut.  Shortly after, the dancing began and we only left the dance floor once to go cool off outside for a bit.

It was great to see a lot of old friends and sorority sisters, many of whom I haven't seen in several years.  Megan looked gorgeous and it was clear she was happy, in love, and enjoying her wedding.  It was definitely a night to remember and hopefully it won't be years before I see these friends again.

(photos by e.hunt)

Winter Wedding Reunion

One of my good college friends, Megan, is getting married at the end of the month.  I just found out that she invited a lot of the old sorority group, so it is going to be a grand old time of celebrating love and reminiscing fondly on our college days.  Not only is it my first winter wedding, but my first formal wedding as well.  I planned on finding a great dress or jumpsuit to order on Black Friday for the discounts.  After a little research on what formal attire actually means (in between cocktail and black tie, if you were wondering), the search party began at my favorite dress sites like Nordstrom, Asos, and Lulu's.

I started by zeroing in on black and navy maxi dresses and jumpsuits.  And to fit with the winter atmosphere, pieces with a little sequin, velvet, or lace embellishment stood out.

Like usual, I was drawn to the rich, jewel-tone shades with a bit of structure, and a longer sleeve length was mandatory.  I stayed away from pattern except for this high-neck floral and sequin midi, which I don't think I would ever actually wear, but I like it all the same.

I came across a few wine red options as well.  I love that the mesh sleeves and delicate lace details tone down the harsher color.

And then a few days later I realized I already own the perfect dress!  It was my backup dress for Andrew and Juliana's summer wedding that was put away in the back of my closet.  It will be perfect with a pretty braided hairstyle, a sparkly clutch, and a classic pair of heels.  Now I just need to figure out a gift for the bride and groom!

(photos collected from asos, lulus, and tobi, and by e.hunt)

In the Realm of Fables and Lore

"I readily believe that there are more invisible Natures in the universe than visible ones.  Yet who shall explain to us this numerous company, their grades, their relationships, their distinguishing features and functions?  What do they do?  What places do they inhabit?"

-T. Burnet, Archaeologiae Philosophicae

(photo by e.hunt)

Women Supporting Women

One of the first fashion bloggers I started following way back in 2010 or '11, Arielle Charnas of Something Navy, is still going strong.  I've watched her go from single girl in the city with a trendy, girly style, to married with two kids and a more luxe, but still girly designer look.  She has over a million followers on Instagram, has a group of fun and interesting women working for her, and just released her first clothing line at Nordstrom this last Monday.

It's been really neat to see her evolution over the years.  She often mentions how grateful she is that what was once a fun hobby of hers (the blog), became a career and allowed her to fulfill her original dream of designing her own line.  I don't particularly like all of her style picks anymore, and her maintenance of the original blog platform has kindof gone to the wayside, but I still enjoy following her success and her family (especially two-year-old Ruby Lou) on Instagram and Instagram Stories.

As previously mentioned, the fifty piece Something Navy line came out at Nordstrom on Monday, with several of the items selling out within hours.  I wasn't a huge fan of any of the pieces they had shown on Instagram before the launch, but I thought it would be fun to go try some of them on in store.  

The line consisted of an accessory table and just two racks of clothing, so I picked out a variety of pieces and headed to the dressing rooms.  There weren't a lot of sizes left so I had to squeeze into a one-size-too-small pair of jeans, and tuck in the one-size-too-big shirt and sweater.  All in all though, I was very impressed with the quality and fit of everything.

The blush pink blazer jacket won this round, in my opinion, but was too expensive to justify a purchase, especially because light pink doesn't really go with my mainly dark and jewel-tone, deeper color wardrobe.  And even though they were a bit tight, I liked the fit and cut of the jeans.  I may have to order a pair online when her November or December lines launch.  Hopefully they'll come in black!

Something Navy was one of the blogs that inspired me to start writing my own blog, and it's been so neat to see Arielle turn into a high profile influencer.  I think one of the coolest parts is that she really was a trailblazer when it came to using Instagram as a blog platform, and she is still using it in new and different ways to define what an 'influencer' actually is.  She is definitely someone I look up to as inspiration, and it was fun to see her hard work and dedication come together into a line of her own.

(photos by e.hunt)

Rosemary: Beach Side

The next day followed suit with more clouds, more rain, and more exploring of local beach towns.  This time we headed East to Rosemary Beach, the European-looking planned community.  Mom dropped me off before heading off to another area for some shopping, and I started my trek along the front left quadrant.

It was quite beautiful in the dreary grey: water dripping off low tree branches and puddling in worn areas of the sidewalk.  The hazy cloudiness really brought out the neutral color-scheme of the buildings.

I particularly enjoyed the little alleyways in between streets, with their close walls and foliage spilling out of trellises overhead.

I love how everything is very "grown-in" looking.  The little town was started in 1995 and the trees and plantings are now very much established, adding to the old European countryside village vibe.

There weren't too many people out and about due to the watery conditions, but I did run across some small-scale inhabitants.  The little lizard guy on the left stopped to show off his orange dragon beard, and I saw several of these monster spiders in their intricate webs hanging between buildings or tree limbs.

I even found a nice, viney wall for some outfit pics!  I propped up my phone on the opposite low alleyway wall and self-timered away!  Good thing I decided to bring one of my rain hats on this trip, because it sure did come in handy for these two exploring days.

(photos by e.hunt)

Storming Seaside

The next day was rainy and dark.  Mom drove Dad to the airport early while I slept in.  We had a lazy morning before deciding to venture out to Seaside.  The rain had slowed down to a slight drizzle so we figured getting out and about would be good.

The bright and pastel paint colors of Seaside stood out against the dreary sky.  We wandered around some of the side streets and into a few shops.  There were a lot of people around who also had the idea to spend the rainy day in Seaside so it wasn't as peaceful and slow-moving as we hoped.

It was still a lovely way to spend a couple hours before the clouds picked up and the heavy rains came back.  We even found a cool wall for some outfit pics!

(photos by e.hunt, and r.hunt)