Flower Power

Nicole Miller dress, BCBG shoes, Cole Haan patent clutch, Banana Republic jewelry

New background!  Our house is in a gated complex w/ 5 other houses.  I hurriedly took these photos before any neighbors ran me over with their cars or looked out their windows and wondered why I was taking photos of myself with a tripod in the middle of the driveway.  Getting caught taking photos of yourself is so weird.  Even if it's your fiance.  I make him leave the room haha.

Fiance's cousin got married this past Saturday and this is what I wore to the church ceremony.  This is also the exact outfit I wore to my sister's graduation ceremony the week before but I didn't take any pictures so it's like it never happened.

The wedding was beautiful!  The bride wore a Monique Lhuillier lace gown w/ a lace edged veil.  So pretty!  She had 4 more dress changes throughout the night (including one clubbing dress!) and they were all gorgeous.  I love costume changes.

AAAAND thank you to Hanh of Life in Travel and Steph from That Girl is Hoisin for the award!  I don't think Hanh needs any introductions; I'm sure you've all seen her fabulous travels and SHOES!  Steph's blog is pretty new, but she has GREAT makeup posts which always make me ask myself why I suck at doing my own eyemakeup so much.  

Thanks, gals!

Pepper-Roni

AA Sexuali-Tank and striped bra, UO high-waisted leather skirt, F21 necklace and cuff

After a couple of drinks, this inevitably happens when we get home.

I like how Pepper is all "NO PICTURES."

Color Inspiration

 

What has been consuming my time.  I have a folder labeled "WEDDING" on my desktop where I save random things that I hope to inspire my wedding.  This is just a tiny sample.  It gets overwhelming.  SO MANY IDEAS I WANT TO DO!

The Hyper Prives in [flourescent] yellow patent are currently on sale.  Would it be premature to purchase them....before I set a wedding date?  URgh.

sources: Brooklyn Bride, Style Me Pretty, Etsy, Alexander Olch

The Night That Never Was

AA Sexuali-Tank, F21 mesh bra, A|X double-wrap belt, Frye boots

Me, Fiance, Clouds of Tulle, and her bf Mike wanted to try out this new restaurant/bar by our house.  I wore this.  Fiance wore shorts and his brand new black velcro Sperry Topsiders from Gilt.

We arrived at said restaurant/bar and handed our IDs to the man at the front.

"I'm sorry guys, I can't let you in wearing that."

"Wearing what?" Fiance asked.

"That," he said, gesturing at the shorts.  "With those," he continued, pointing to the shoes.

Defeated, we left the establishment.  Fiance, now on a mission, wanted to go home to change and then come back.  Since our house was only a couple minutes away, we headed back home for a wardrobe change.  

Now adorned with Levi's Capital E jeans and white Gucci loafers, we made our second attempt.

"Aw, guys.  I can't let you in wearing that.  Sorry, I should have told you last time."

"WHAT NOW?"

"You gotta be wearing a collared shirt," he said pointing at Clouds-of-Tulle's boyfriend.  

"He's wearing a tshirt," I said, pointing at a guy I could see enjoying a drink inside.

"Yeah, but he's been in here since happy hour.  Dress code is different."

FOR GOD'S SAKE.

Mike was wearing a striped vneck shirt layered over another shirt with a studded belt and True Religion jeans.  In other words, he was wearing a legitimately styled OUTFIT.  It was by no means "too casual" or "messy."

Granted, the bouncer was quite polite and truly seemed apologetic, but seriously?  SERIOUSLY?  What makes a collared shirt from Express Men (or somewhere equally unoriginal) a more acceptable shirt to wear?  Is a collared shirt necessarily more dressy than a non-collared shirt?  No.  Is a collared shirt necessarily more stylish than a non-collared shirt?  No.

Cursing Houston and its fashion-lameness, we went back home and made drinks in the kitchen. 

On another matter-

Phi #1:  AA Sexuali-Tank and leggings, F21 belt and necklace

Phi#2:  F21 tank and skirt, AA shiny cross-back bra

Me, my sister, and a paper beagle head at my sister's house in Austin.  My sister had her graduation ceremony this past Saturday and we drove up to celebrate.  You can wear a tshirt in Austin.

Status: Living Together

Alexander Wang tank, AA mesh cross-back bra, F21 silk pants, Steve Madden pumps, F21 necklace

I finally caught up on my shows last night and watched the season finale of The Office and Grey's Anatomy.  Let's start with Grey's - O.M.G.  YOU GUYS.  That was CRAZY!  That's the 2nd week in a row that show made me cry.  Also, I'm so glad that Meredith is no longer "dark and twisty."  Frankly, I was growing tired of her mopiness.  And for god's sake, can you fix your hair?

The Office?  So cute!  So I'm sure everyone is assuming that Jim and Pam are expecting - well at least that's what I'm assuming.  The first thing that popped into my head was, "wait, are they married?"  And then (slightly horrified with myself and my Catholic Guilt) I reasoned, "well, it's not like they HAVE to be married in order to have a baby.  I am PERFECTLY OK WITH THAT."

Which led to me thinking about these marriage counseling classes that Fiance and I have to take.  Per my family's insistence, I'm getting married in a Catholic church, which requires a series of marriage counseling classes.  I asked some friends that have been through the class whether or not I should disclose that Fiance and I already have a house together and are living together (in sin).  From the gathered responses, it came down "it depends on the church and whether they're cool with it."

Cut to this past Sunday where I registered as a parishioner at a particular church where we'd like to have our marriage ceremony.  There was a space to circle your status:  

Single / Married / Widowed / Living Together.

Seriously?  "Living Together?"  That is a relationship status?  UMMM.

I nudged one of my bridesmaids who offered to come with me to the registration.  I pointed at the options.

"What are you going to put?" she whispered.

"I don't know!" I hissed.

I left that question unanswered while the registration meeting continued, including a portion where the priest pointed out a Catholic Update article about cohabitation before marriage.  I weighed my options.  There's always a chance that the church denies your marriage application, though I doubt cohabitation would warrant a reason not to marry a couple.  On the other hand, there seems to be something intrinsically wrong with lying to the church (damn this Catholic Guilt) - though I'm not even practicing and largely disagree with the Catholic church.  Also, would we have more to gain from being honest in our counseling classes?  At the same time, I don't want to have to sit through a series of classes where someone is trying to convince us that our lifestyle is morally wrong and that one of use needs to move out before we get married.  I briefly considered being honest to prove a point, but who really wants to argue THAT argument?

The meeting was beginning to wrap up and the priest told everyone to turn in their forms at the front of the room.  I quickly circled "Single" and brought my form up to the front.

I guess I'll see how this turns out.

On a positive note - ANOTHER WEDDING PLAN MADE!

Neon Skirts and a PSA

F21 cut-out blouse, F21 linen skirt, BCBGirls sandals, Viv &  Ingrid necklace

I haven't posted  a "work outfit" in a while.  Since Texas decided that it should skip spring entirely and just move right along to summer (95 degrees what?), I've been wearing a lot of lightweight tops and skirt or dresses to work.  You know.  For that breeze between your legs lol.

The color of the skirt is pretty neon, but is toned down by the textured linen material.  Is there such thing as "work-appropriate colors?"

Going to meet up a friend tonight to register to be a bone marrow donor.  

I didn't know this before, but tissue and bone marrow transplants are not only based on tissue type, but is largely based on DNA.  These transplants are a lot more successful when the donor and recipient are genetically similar; therefore, ethnicity plays a key role in being matched for a transplant.  For example, a black person has a better change of being matched with a black person.  The same is true with Hispanics and Asians.

There's a shortage in minorities registered to be bone marrow donors.  If you're white, you have a 75% of being matched.  If you're Asian, that percentage drops to 25%.

Registering only requires getting a swab of the inside of your mouth and doesn't guarantee that you WILL be a donor.  When the time comes, you can always opt out of course, but the procedure is apparently relatively painless (save for some back aches).

I've always wanted to give blood but wasn't able to meet the requirements.  The only requirement for blood marrow donation is that you're over 18 and under 60 and in good health.

Consider registering too!

CNN.com - Donating Bone Marrow, Saving Lives

National Marrow Donor Program - FAQs

Mayo Clinic - Bone Marrow Donation: What to Expect When You Donate

Angelic

F21 chiffon blouse, F21 skirt, Urban Outfitters double buckle belt, Modern Vintage shoes

My little brother had his confirmation ceremony this past weekend.  OMG LONGEST CHURCH EVAR WHY 2+ HOURS.  This is what I wore.  It is probably inappropriate.  My mom said she liked my outfit though so ALL GOOD.

So I made My First Official Wedding Plan today.  I hired a wedding planner.  Yeayaeyyeayyh!  THE BALL IS ROLLING, GUYS.

Best Woman

Phi #1:  F21 burnout tank, Urban Outfitters highwaisted leather skirt, F21 rhinestone necklace

Phi #2:  Urban outfitters ombre fringe tank, Urban Outfitters leather zipper skirt, F21 bracelet

My little sister officially finished college this past Friday and came down to visit and par-tay.  We "the same, but different."

My sister is going to be my Maid of Honor, but she's insisting on being called my "Best Woman." It's just funnier.

Neck Candy

1. Pearl Chain Drape Necklace - $8.80
2. Jeweled Medallions Necklace - $6.80
3. Floral Cut 0ut Bib Necklace - $7.80
4. Shirley Drape Necklace - $5.80
5. Pearl Bead Drape Neckalce - $12.80
6. Pearl Safety Pin Necklace - $13.80
7. Princess Drape Necklace - $19.80
8. Stone Drape Necklace - $13.80

Time to go visit the accessories department of Forever21.

Bigger, Better

AA Sexuali-Tank, F21 linen harem pant, Chinese Laundry shoes, F21 necklace

These photos are better quality, right?  Less grainy?  Right??

I could not for the life of me figure out why my photos would upload so weirdly.  I've noted this before - my pictures look really different in Lightroom than when upload them on Blogger.  I changed my color management on Firefox, saved my photos in sRGB format instead of the other profiles - all this crazy computer man stuff.

Anyways I was going to just give up.  Then I had the idea of uploading with a third-party host.  I also happened to jump on this domain+hosting deal I found online a couple days later.

Which led to the birth of WWW.PHI-STYLE.COM.

YA RLY!

There's nothing there except a funny picture of Uno.  And I probably will do nothing with it.

I'm a little irked that www.phistyle.com (with no dash) was already taken.  WTF?  What IS that?  Why so weird and AZN?