Wedding Wear

When deciding what to wear to a wedding, one must consider some very important questions:

1. What did the invitation look like? If the invitation is embossed with scrolling letters and tied with ribbons, it is likely that the wedding will be more of a formal occasion. However, if the invitation comes on a postcard with a RSVP website, it's a safe bet that the wedding will be a much more casual affair. 

2. In what season does the wedding take place? For a casual summer wedding, a light, floral dress would be perfectly appropriate. For a more formal winter wedding, a darker, floor-length dress might be the better option. 

3. What time of day is the wedding? Daytime affairs tend to be more casual, while evening weddings are usually more formal. Flat sandals would be fine at an earlier wedding, while heels would be more appropriate at an evening event. 

I attended a formal wedding several weeks ago and wore a black and gold dress and a pearl-drop necklace - both from J. Crew - with black, patent-leather pumps from Cole Haan (similar shoes found here). The dress and necklace were both on sale at the J. Crew store after Christmas, and the I found the pumps heavily discounted at T. J. Maxx. Good clothes don't have to break the bank!

Here are my brothers and sister with me at the reception. Don't they look amazing!

The District of Columbia

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I really want to go to Washington DC for a day. Actually, there are a lot of places I would love to travel to see, but DC seems the most reasonable at this point in my life.

When I was in middle school or high school my family took a trip to see the museums, and I remember two things very vividly:
     1. We waited hours and hours in line to see the Hope diamond (such a let-down, by the way).
     2. We went to two different air and space museums. That's right, two. I wanted to go to the history museum to see all the first ladies' inaugural ball gowns. But no. Apparently my parents thought two museums dedicated to air and space would be beneficial for my brother who wanted to go into the air force at the time. We literally saw every airplane that was available for viewing. I was not a happy camper.

If I go this fall, I would avoid the air and space museums at all cost, and instead I would love to go to:
    1. The National Gallery of Art
    2. The National Museum of American History
    3. The International Spy Museum
    4. A fun cafe for lunch (any recommendations?)
    5. See a show at the Kennedy Center

I'm also slightly bitter about a promised a visit to Mount Vernon that never materialized. Clearly I'm more scarred than I realized about my childhood excursion to our nation's capital. Maybe I'll get to visit George Washington's home on one of my "grown-up" adventures.

Grown Up

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Being "grown up" is kind of scary. Ok, a lot scary. All the newness in my life is exciting, but it can also be massively overwhelming at the same time. I love my apartment, but it still feels like someone else should be living here and I should just be visiting. I also love having a new job, but it's often frustrating to still be learning the ropes and feeling one or two (or sometimes three or four) steps behind.

All growing up and all through college I would constantly think to myself, enjoy this now, because one day it won't be this way anymore. I would lie in bed at night and hear my brothers stomping around the room above me - Don't be annoyed. One day you won't live here anymore. Enjoy having everyone under the same roof. I would walk across campus to an early morning class - Don't wish this away. One day you won't be a student here anymore. Enjoy the days of having a schedule and be thankful you get to study something you love. I would always try to savor each moment, even the difficult or mundane ones, because I knew things would eventually change and I could never go back.

Things have changed. I can't go back. So even though I feel as though I'm standing in a deluge of all that is unfamiliar, I want to appreciate the good moments as well as the hard ones because I know this won't last forever. I don't want to wish this time away only to look back and regret not enjoying these crazy, difficult, fun, overwhelming, growing-up days.