Crossing the blogging threshold...

...and, in a way, being carried by my bridegroom.

My husband has been encouraging me to start my own style blog ever since I discovered (& feverishly began consuming) them as though they were a weighty chocolate dessert. Previously, he had encouraged me by urging me to not hide the lists of "outfit ideas" that I had stuffed in every purse compartment & that I had torn-out, folded & hidden in the back of every notebook. Inspired by catalog pictures, characters in movies, people on the street, (and on and on) I would jot down inspirations & ideas I had for outfits of my own. I would take packing for trips very seriously and plan out each day in advance on paper, always sheepish about it, always hiding my 'work'. He told me to never throw them away he would always repeat the same thing; "keep everything". I was always so embarrassed by my self-indulgent rituals & never thought that there was any chance anyone else would deem this behavior creative, worthwhile or even normal.

Needless to say, I was overjoyed upon my discovery of the style blogging world. I felt so validated, so not-crazy, so like I had a community. In a word, exhilarated. It only took about 2 months of devoted blog-following (and devoted nudging by my husband -- who, in the context of the blog I will now name as Peanut) before I decided it was time for me to attempt this project for myself. For what larger purpose, I know not. I do know that I love style, I love photography and I love to write. I also know that I do virtually nothing with any of these loves except get dressed every day and keep secret notes about it. So away I go...

I feel a bit like a plagiarist in the approach to my inaugural blog, photographically speaking. Since Bird on Your Shirt, my most recent blog discovery, also introduced her style-self by posting pictures of her big day. But it's not stealing, strictly speaking, because I did think to myself before ever encountering her, that it would be most appropriate - if I ever did start a blog - to begin with the biggest event I had ever styled myself for, my wedding day.

The story of my wedding dress is sweet & simple, really, much like the dress itself.

Our engagement period was about 3 months, which didn't leave a lot of time for picking around with a fine-toothed comb for the best dress in the universe. I peeked into a few stores casually looking for white-ish dresses for a few weeks, but I just wasn't seeing anything special enough. Then, while walking home from a watering hole with some friends on Brady St. in Milwaukee, my fiance pointed to the most unassuming little mesh and cotton number in the window of a boutique called Uncommon Items, and said, "What about that one?" and I said, "We're done!" Because it was so late at night, the shop was closed at the time, but we went in the next day and bought the dress. It was a sort-of 20's inspired ivory colored, mesh, bias-cut outer layer with peach and light green floral embellishments on the "collar", waistband and across the 'train'. The under layer was a thin cotton. The dress needed very little alteration and was almost as comfortable as a nightgown. My shoes were a simple pair of gold, jeweled kitten heels from Unlisted that cost next to nothing & that I ditched immediately after the ceremony for the sparkly flip flops pictured above (something new). My hair was too short to style very much, but I wore some daisies and greenery on a small comb on the left side of my head. My necklace was my great grandmother' s gold charm (something old) and my earrings were my mother's pearls (something borrowed). My something blue was Peanut's eyes. :)

Unlike many women, I spent less on my dress than I usually do on groceries AND I have had the distinct pleasure of wearing it again (twice!) on each of my anniversaries. On our 1-year I wore it with a jean jacket and cowboy boots at a rustic restaurant on the lake. And this year, on our 2-year I wore it with a black cardigan and black booties in Milan.