Monday, October 1, 2012

The Clothes Off My Back (Kelsey's Wedding Edition)

Good morning!

Well, readers, it was a big weekend-- my best friend from high school, Kelsey, got hitched and darned if we didn't do it up right for once in celebration! My partner in crime from Knoxville years and fellow HFA graduate Caroline came in with her fiancĂ© Eric from the great state of Texas, and the enti-i-i-i-ire old crowd from school yard days was in attendance to drink copious amounts of table wine and see our girl off in style.   I've been saving this early fifties'-esque beige dress with black net overlay for JUST the right occasion ($7.99, Gallatin Goodwill), and I think this was it:


The hat is a new one I picked up on the second day of the Inglewood estate sale with Eartha (who also clued me in to a great Hamilton Beach ice cream scoop when I admitted petty jealousy over the one she had her in buying pile... She: "There's another one in there, you know!" Me: [Wile E. Coyote like trail of smoke]), along with the rhinestone double horseshoe pin you can almost see affixed to the right hand side of the dress. The necktie is worn in sad remembrance of the one I left sitting in the cup compartment of my Civic while vacuuming the upholstery at Smith Bros...you can guess what happened it to it (I'd like to say it's in a better place, but I know it's actually in a huge commercial vacuum vat of other people's petrified French fries). My shoes are four inch wedges from Target that make me Clint Eastwood tall (an upgrade from my daily extremely-very-tall)! The gleam coming off my left shoulder is from the hose down of OFF! that preceded this picture session-- my backyard, if I haven't told you before, is like something from Land of the Lost in terms of Jurassic-sized mosquitoes gallivanting in swarms.

Look! Bab braved the insect life for this quick, blurry snap in front of the cars:


I found Matthew's jacket at a sale in Bordeaux, during a period in which I had forbidden myself to buy any more clothes for him-- it's hard to resist because he's just 1950's-60's sized...medium height, broad shoulders, normal waist...and he looks so good in those kind of clothes, which I am always seeing and for some reason no one else is ever buying. At this sale, the owner had been in the Navy long term in some higher-up capacity, and had two dress dinner jackets like this with special add-an-epaulet things at the shoulders (you might be able to see them if you squint at the picture), one in black and one in white, for $10 apiece. I picked up both immediately, then put back the white one, then put back the black one...then ran back and got both. The shopping bug had bitten me! I'm glad I did, though, because instead of looking like a waiter (a reasonable fear), he looks like a Dapper little Dan! The shirt is a grey and maroon paisley from the sixties' Sears Store brand.

I totally stole this from someone else's Facebook. I'm not even sorry! See the bride and her brother at center, and the adorable backyard set up of the wedding seating. The Italian-Lights type bulbs on wires set up was SO. PRETTY.



The ceremony was relatively short and sweet-- afterwards, we ate mashed potatoes with lobster (!!) inside and filet mignon, prepared by Kelsey's cousin who is a professional chef and used to work at a high end restaurant in town (I'd believe it!), and proceeded to party down for the four hour reception. I'm still not sure how we survived. Matthew sang Kelsey an impromptu song about how happy he was she was getting married, so he could eat as many lobster potatoes as he liked (classic). Eric said something funny just as we were taking this photo, so Bab is distracted. I, however, am paying attention. A lot of details have escaped my sleep deprived memory, but it was fun!!

Kelsey, center, Caroline at right, and me on the left. I think you can finally see the horseshoe pin in this pic! I am towering over the girls and eventually did take my shoes off so I wouldn't look like I was on stilts in every group picture. There are many, MANY more group pictures, but in varying degrees of you-had-to-be-there. So just know a great time was had by all!



 Last but not least, here's a top secret picture of me in my new glasses (-9.25 in one eye, -9.00 in the other...can you even believe that, fellow glasses wearers?). My prescription is SO BAD (audience: how bad IS IT!) that even with compressed lenses and all the fancy glass crafting done by the marvelous people at See in Hillsboro Village, I still look a little like I'm channeling Mr. Magoo. However! Without their lense wizardry, I promise you would see my normally Snuffleupagus sized eyes reduced to the scale of dimes, so I am thankful. Are they Elvis Costello-y enough for you? I made this connection as soon as I got home:

At least I'm in good company...?

How was your weekend? Any momentous life events going on for yourself or those around you? What's the best wedding/reception you've been to lately? This one obviously takes the (wedding) cake, hands down, for us! :)

Have a great Monday, and I'll see you guys tomorrow!

12 comments:

  1. Fab dress!! I also have terrible eyesight but I am in the 8s rather than the 9s. Love my contact lenses. I am really terrified of what I would do in a natural disaster in the middle of the night if I lost my glasses. Then my logic kicks in, and I figure I would have other things to worry about! I hope I never find out!

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    1. Re: glasses: you know my pain! I always think of that episode of the Twilight Zone where Burgess Meredith breaks his super-prescription glasses in a post apocalyptic setting and it is SO SCARY. I'm hitting up the optometrist FIRST THING as there's nuclear fallout (again, as if there wouldn't be more important things to worry about, haha).

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  2. Happiest congrats to the bride and groom!

    Your specs are wonderful, fear not, any Elvis Costello lookalike-ness only adds to their fun and charm.

    ♥ Jessica

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    1. Ha ha, thanks! I need all the encouragement I can get!

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  3. That dress is absolutely wonderful on you! x

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    1. I'm seriously considering wearing it to every semi-formal event for the foreseeable future...it's comfortable, fits like a glove, and is resistant to wine stains (we inadvertantly tested this during above event, lol). Thanks! :)

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  4. You guys look so great! And I'm SO glad that you got that pin. And the hat. They are perfect. Such a beautiful bride and the wedding and the food sound great. When I got home, I made the Mister pretend like he was scooping ice cream while I shrieked at him, "Don't the mechanics feel like you're REALLY doing something??!"

    I really like your new glasses. Embrace them! They look great on you!

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    1. Haha, I did the same to Matthew! "Look at the mechanism! No, seriously, it's professional grade or something?" ((light metal scraping noise as I'm clicking the ice cream lever the whole time)).

      Thanks for the glasses encouragement! It's nice to have a backup to the contacts that don't make me feel/act like Phantom of the Opera (hiding in subterranean caves to keep my horrible visage from public view, etc, etc).

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  5. p.s. I just said "great" three times in one comment. GREAT.

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  6. oh i LOVE that dress! it is really beautiful! and your new glasses rule! isn't see the best??

    also, i'm crying a river over here that i didn't get to go back to that sale. i wanted to look at the jewelry more closely and it was too packed and crazy the first day. was the pink poodle pin still there? i wanted it, but 10 was just too much when i already had over 100 bucks in my basket. yikes! that double horseshoe is awesome!

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    1. Thanks for cluing me in about SEE; another cool, quirky librarian here said she got her cute glasses there and I was like ((slaps hand to table)) "THAT'S IT! I'M GOING!" :)

      There wasn't much left on the second day...lots of linens in that front room, and Eartha found some cool earrings and her butterdish snowman. Oh, and our ice cream scoops! But it was pretty decimated, goods-wise. I didn't see the poodle, so he might've "got got" the first day. I can't wait to see your loot from that sale!!!

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