Wedding sandals

These are the sandals I wore to my wedding four years ago. It was not my finest fashion moment. (I wore them with a ninety-three-year-old dress.) But I was feeling rebellious because people were making me have a "real" wedding instead of allowing me to elope, so I went to Target and bought hot pink sandals to wear with my great-grandmother's lace wedding dress. I also dyed my hair black with blonde streaks. Really, it's a good thing we didn't hire a photographer for the occasion.

Most of you probably never noticed this, but I don't wear a wedding ring, and if you're now wondering why, it's because I'm a fidgeter. I wore the ring in the photo below for one hour before I had to take it off because I was so tired of twisting it around and around, and pulling it off and putting it back on, and putting it on my left pinky finger and then switching it back to my right. Eventually I might get a ring tattoo - five minutes of pain; a lifetime without fidgeting.

Pink and orange striped shirt: Venice tee from StyleMint

Pink shorts: Ann Taylor Loft

Pink sandals: Target

Purse: Michael Kors, thrifted from Salvation Army

Earrings: gift from my aunt

Ring: free from my aunt

An anniversary

Apparently I had a blog anniversary yesterday! I've now been blogging for one year. (If you want to see the very first, less-than-thrilling post, it's right here.) Here are a few of my favorite outfits from the past year - the link to each post is under the photo. All of you have my thanks for making my first year of style blogging so much fun!

Thanks Dad

Retro gal

Men and women

Sunday brights

Cotton candy and bubblegum

Witchery

Leopard and snakeskin

War and Peace

Comfort

Monogrammed

Styled by my husband

This one's for you, Tim Gunn

Stripes, stripes and stripes

Love and leopard print

Floral striped dress

Layered

An evening stroll

After spending nearly all of Memorial Day lounging around the house, Josh and I took Onyx out in the evening for a walk up to a nearby park. Now, I love my dog, and like any dog owner think he's the smartest, funniest, cutest dog in the whole world, but man, he was such a brat on that walk. First, he kept trying to eat sticks and garbage. Then he woofed at two people who walked past us. (Okay, so that was actually kind of funny, but I didn't want them to think he was going to attack them. At the most, he would have attacked them with kisses.) And then when we tried to take photos of him and us, he kept trying to climb on top of the hedges in these photos. So we just tied him up to a nearby post and took the photos anyway.

The pattern mixing in this outfit felt very intuitive - I think it worked so well because the top and skirt both contained red. Plus, in my opinion it's hard to go wrong combining stripes and floral print.

Lately I've been trying to use the manual focus on my camera more, but I have such crappy vision that I can't necessarily tell whether the object I'm photographing is in focus. This flower pictured above was one of the few nature photos that turned out well on our walk.

Red striped shirt: Old Navy

Floral skirt: thrifted, hemmed by me

Jean jacket: thrifted from Rerun

Espadrilles: Ann Taylor Loft (about six years ago)

Necklace: possibly American Eagle Outfitters

Red belt: free from my aunt

Blue bracelet: Dress Barn

Red dress

I felt like this outfit was very simple, being comprised of only five elements; but it also felt like there was a lot going on, with the bright dress, unusual boots, and leopard print hat. I got a lot of attention from this outfit at church and Costco on Sunday. I have to admit, I'm a bit of an attention whore when it comes to my clothes. Sometimes I wear things just because I know people will "ooh" and "ahh" over them. Like these boots - they're fun and interesting, but I'd never wear them if I were to spend the whole day at home alone. Shoes like that need to be seen by other people.

Red dress: BB Dakota from Lulu's

Blue boots: Steve Madden (Carnaby heels) from Zappos

Leopard print hat: Albertus Swanepoel for Target

Gold necklace: Dress Barn

Gold bracelet: gift from my mom, from Yosemite

Normally I avoid posting unflattering photos of myself on here, but Josh took this self-portrait of us that's just hilarious, and I had to share it. We have fun together :)

A picnic in the countryside

This outfit was a bit of a fashion hodgepodge (gingham! floral! embroidered belt! bright wedges that don't really match anything!), but I liked it. I've been displeased with many of my outfits lately, so it was satisfying to finally hit on one that felt sufficiently quirky and interesting.

My family went on an early Memorial Day picnic on Saturday because it was supposed to be the nicest day over the weekend, but it was still a bit chilly so I layered some long-sleeved tops and brought a blanket to wrap around my bare legs while sitting at the picnic table. Then we went on a short hike - and yes, I wore these heels, which just proves how comfortable they are. (Or how stubborn I am. Or how determined I am to look stylish even in the woods.)

Blue sweater: Anthropologie

Gingham shirt: J. Crew

Floral skirt: thrifted from Village Merchants

Blue and green wedges: Nine West from Nordstrom Rack

Purple necklace: gift from my aunt

Embroidered belt: Scandinavian Midsummer Festival in Astoria

A rainy day Prince Charming

While we were taking these photos the sky started to darken, so we finished up quickly and walked to the nearest Starbucks as it started to rain. Josh and I shared a coffee, and then, because the rain hadn't let up, we started to walk the half mile home. After two blocks, though, I realized my white wedges were turning yellow! Ahhh! I dashed under a nearby awning, and Josh offered to walk the rest of the way home, get the car, and drive back to pick me up. As a staunch feminist I usually hate the idea of being rescued in any way, but when it comes to my shoes I will take the assistance of any available Prince Charming.

Lesson learned here: don't wear white leather shoes in the rain. (Other lessons to be learned: Always carry a pair of flats in your purse; don't live in a state that rains more than half the year if you want to frequently wear white leather shoes; get a husband who will go out of his way to protect your shoes.)

Black lace top: Quincy top from StyleMint

Black cardigan: gift from my aunt, from Macy's

Gray skirt: thrifted

White wedges: Sam Edelman (Kendall wedges) from Piperlime

Purse: thrifted from Salvation Army

Hair clip: gift from a friend

Pearl necklace: gift from a friend

Black flower bracelet: from my mom

Gray bracelet: made by me

Pointy shoulders and pointy heels

I love these crazy boots, but they're so hard to match to most of my clothes. Technically they don't match this shirt, but I liked the combination anyway, especially with the coordinated spikes on the shoulders and heels. I've tried to wear these boots several times since their inaugural wearing, but I just wasn't satisfied with any of those outfit photos until now.

Striped shirt: Urban Outfitters

Black faux leather skirt: H&M

Black cardigan: gift from my aunt, from Macy's

Pointy boots: Solestruck

Sunglasses: Oscar de la Renta from TJ Maxx

Silver earrings: gift from a friend

Spider necklace: Bauble Bar

Silver bracelet: won in a giveaway