A Wordy Return

My, but I've--once again!--fallen off the blogging bandwagon in a major way.  Insert an audio clip of Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes saying,"Quelle suprise..." here.  (Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the second Sherlock Holmes movie, about twenty minutes into the film...in case you really wanted to know.)  After my most recent post in August, I really have no better excuse for not having written again than a simple lack of inspiration...as lame as that sounds, as lame as that is.  But I can recap easily enough, and move on. :)

August through mid-November held the usual fun that comes with the transition of summer to fall, which I shall attempt to summarize.  In August, we celebrated Mr. Darcy's birthday with the family, helped my bff Jenn and her husband move into a new place (all right, I supervised that process...and transported a few bags and helped do some clean-up here and there).  September is somewhat of a blur to me...I will probably remember something important that happened in that month and later be embarrassed that I forgot it.  Ah well, that's what the edit button is for, right?  

Cinderella's Pumpkin Coach, another Cait and Mr. Darcy pumpkin-carving collaboration

October was when things got more eventful and fun.  There was my sister's birthday celebration with the family, the return of lovely autumn weather and hot apple cider, a Nor'Easter/hurricane that blew through town and mostly just dumped a bunch of rain on us, the annual Sunday school group's pumpkins carving party, and a fun Halloween costume party with friends that included Leonard and Penny from The Big Bang Theory, Gretel the witch-hunter, and yours truly as a pregnant Victoria Beckham.  I wasn't about to dress up as a person holding a beach ball, come on. ;) 

Loved this movie.  Oh, and this image is not mine; I'm just borrowing it from Google Image Search.

November held my birthday, when Mr. Darcy took me to see the absolutely fantastic newest James Bond film, Skyfall.  It is, without a doubt, my favorite Bond movie yet.  Bond films are an absolute must-see-in-the-theater! for me, and for that one, we went twice.  

At the end of the month was Thanksgiving, which we spent with both Mr. Darcy's family and mine--I will never be heard complaining about two holiday dinners, believe you me.  It was a grand time.  Then, the day after Thanksgiving, we traveled to Williamsburg to be a part of the wedding weekend of Mr. Darcy's cousin and his lovely bride.  The wedding was beautiful, and the whole weekend was a fabulous mini-vacation: full of great food, sight-seeing, visiting with our loved ones, and dancing the night away.  Yes, I did, at eight months pregnant, and in heels.  They were sky-high, too, so I feel like I'm perhaps just a teensy bit entitled to some bragging rights, ha-ha.  :P  I almost managed to get down low, all the way to the floor...literally...during the electric slide, though, and had to be rescued by Mr. Darcy's sister.  After that, I decided to get my groove on a little more cautiously, so as to avoid any further embarrassment than I had already subjected myself to.  Lesson learned!  

I have this little 'welcome' banner posted on the nursery door now.  

December brought the beginning of a baby-boom of sorts at our church; two of the little ones belong to our group of friends, which is surreal.  People of my age group, having children!  We must be finally doing that mythical "growing up" thing.  ;P  On December 10th, Jenn and her mother gave me the loveliest baby shower; it had a beautiful and very girly pink Nutcracker ballet theme, and it was perfect.  Lil' Princess received many sweet, thoughtful gifts, and the influx of pink began at our house.  I found my love of that particular color rekindled, starting then. 

The rest of the month went by swiftly, with a fun maternity photo session done for me by Jenn, and preparations for Christmas and the baby's arrival climbed towards a fever pitch.  I spent the better part of the month at my parents' home, as we were in the "any day now!" window for the stork to pay us a visit.  Christmas was wonderful, as always; we had our hearts refreshed by reminders of the heavenly Gift that we have been given, and were surrounded by such bountiful blessings, in every way.

A Beauty and the Beast inspired trinket for baby's room, made from a mantelpiece clock from the thrift store, a silk rose, some transparent thread, a pair of buttons, and hot glue.  I'd like to post a tutorial of this project sometime...it was fun!

In the days after Christmas, the baby countdown began in earnest.  Lil' Princess was due to arrive on the 30th, we had been informed, and so we were very much hoping that she would make a punctual entrance into this world.  There was talk of the possibility of induction at the doctor's visits, but I clung to the hope that Baby wouldn't be late.  I remained at my parents' home while Mr. Darcy returned to the town where we live and he works, and my mom and I went out almost every day for the next few days so that I could walk and--we hoped--convince my little one to get a move on.  But nothing seemed to be changing yet.  She was positioned head-down and turned to the left, the doctor told me, but nothing else had really developed...

And then I had The Doctor's Appointment.  Yes, as I have no doubt that you have guessed, the capital letters mean something significant.  But I shall devote that story to a post of its own.  For now...I'm back, blogosphere!

À bientôt!

--Cait

My Favorite Color

"I love red. Red's a great color."

There's so many wonderful things about the color red.  It's emotionally-charged: passionate, vibrant, bold, romantic, adventurous, and so much more.  Fashionably-speaking, it's both modern and classic.  It's a beautiful color for every day and for special occasions.  It can be the center of attention that immediately catches your eye, or it can serve as a gorgeous background.  I like to use the color red wherever I can--but these days I most like it when it's in a form that I can wear.  Ever since I watched the James Bond movie "Casino Royale", I've been head-over-heels for bright red dresses--

--Inspired by the dress that the character Vesper Lynd wore in the film.  I now have two red dresses in my wardrobe, and a few different pairs of red shoes.  A red dress can be worn with a lot of different accessories, but I firmly believe that if a girl is going to own a red dress, she should wear it with red shoes at least once or twice in her lifetime.  ;)  Red lip colors are also some of my favorite things to keep around...red is a wonderful, sophisticated color for makeup, but I think it really ought to be restricted to the lips, with a little spared to use for cheek color.  Red eye makeup is--I find--tricky, at best.

Recently, I went on a shopping excursion with a friend, and we picked out some fabulous new wardrobe pieces for her, from H&M.  Our findings got me to thinking: I really ought to write a blog post about the versatility of the color red in one's wardrobe.  I think it's a color that's vastly underrated in clothing.  Yes, it is a bold color, but sometimes bold colors can be treated as neutrals, in much the same manner as they can be used as impact-making statement pieces.  In addition to that, red is far from a seasonally-exclusive color; it can be worn beautifully year-round.  Allow me to elaborate, using the styles of three very unique ladies.  

In Micah's set, I used bright, cherry red slacks as the focal point of each outfit.  From left to right, the outfits progress in season from summer-early autumn, to autumn, to winter.  Red can be paired with neutral shades--such as the shoes, handbags, and jewelry accessories with each outfit here--as well as brighter colors, such as the melon shade of the first outfit's shirt.  It can be paired with pretty floral prints preppy nautical stripes, and cozy knit materials.  

The trick here definitely lies in treating red as a neutral shade; the red slacks in each outfit here could easily be swapped out for a pair of skinny-fit jeans, and the effect would be much the same.      

For my set, I chose a piece that I actually have in my wardrobe--a red dress, although it isn't this specific red dress shown here.  Red dresses can be just as versatile a piece in one's wardrobe as red slacks; it all simply depends on what you choose to pair the red dress with.  

For a really bold color statement in the first outfit, I chose most red accessories.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing the matchy-matchy game with your outfit these days!  The combination of the slightly different but mostly uniform shades of red gives the outfit a put-together but not garish look.  For a slightly more casual effect, denim, leather, and knit materials look really nice with red, and the red itself gives a cheery and warm pop of color to the ensemble.  Lastly, a simple leather belt and pullover sweater transform the dress into what appears to be a skirt, paired with tastefully sparkling accessories and never-fail flesh-tone pumps.  See?  Red dresses aren't meant to be relegated to only the holidays!  

For Jenn's outfit sets, I chose to emphasize a color that is always very trendy for the cooler months of the year: oxblood.  (It's seriously in e-ver-y style magazine that's out for purchase right now!)  My and my two friends' styles are very different: Micah tends to go for a preppy-chic look with lots of bright colors and girly accents, while I gravitate towards a layered country-sophisticated look, and Jenn has a classic minimalist style with a hint of edginess.  

Jenn has the kind of style where she lets a statement color shine through in a few key pieces of her outfit: an elegant point-toed high heel in the shade of oxblood, a knit shirt paired with a cozy cardigan and faintly blush-hued jewelry, or a flowy dress with sparkling accessories.  She never plays it too safe, but she never overdoes it either.  If you don't want to wear an all-red outfit, but you still want to experiment with the red trend--be it bright red or the autumn-appropriate oxblood shade--Jenn's wardrobe system of subtle accents is the one for you!

What colors and trends are you looking forward to wearing for the autumn?

À bientôt!

-- Cait

Boy or Girl?

Well, for a while now, I've been promising photos and details about the gender reveal party for Lil' Bit.  This past Saturday was when we held the party, at my mom and dad's house.  It was SO.  MUCH. FUN.  We had so many wonderful friends and family members who showed up to celebrate with us, and it was a lovely time full of friends catching up, people making new acquaintances, food, laughter, and much more.  

So now, without further ado, here are some photos of the occasion!  

  

Individual veggies-and-dip cups, put together by Mom and Jenn: Baby carrots, snap peas, and yellow squash with peppercorn ranch dressing.  

Mini cherry pies, inspired by Pinterest.  They were so cute, and so easy to make!

Antipasto, tapas-style: white cheddar, kalamata olives, grape tomatoes, and salami, with a balsamic vinaigrette marinade.  

Huey, Dewey, and Louey, brought to the party by Auntie Jenn and her husband.

They were the stars of a bowl of punch that was inspired by rubber duckies in a bubble bath; Auntie Jenn found the idea on Pinterest, and made it in honor of the baby's nickname, "Little Duck"*.

*Yes, there is a story behind that. :)  Another time!

Auntie Jenn's punch, and Mom's punch.  The pink punch that Mom made featured raspberry sorbet and cherry juice, while the blue version was flavored with blue Hawaiian punch.  Yummo!

Auntie Micah's fab-u-lous cake!  She went all out on this gorgeous dessert: it was two-layered, covered in fondant, iced with homemade buttercream icing, and flavored with almond.  She did all of the decorating herself, right down to the hand-sculpted baseball cap and rose, and there were tiny little pearls on the polka-dots.  It was such a wonderful addition to the party menu, and everyone agreed--it was delicious!

Mr. Darcy helped me tie these balloons and twine onto the chandelier to create a cascade effect.  He was instrumental in a lot of the party-preparation process--he's such a good man to me.  :D

Mom picked out these pretty napkins: sweet pink with white polka dots, and crisp baby blue.

Hydrangeas from my mom and dad's backyard--and Mason jars!

And now, to reveal the mystery that I've been keeping secret for the past month...

---

GIRL!

Yes, Lil' Bit is a girl, and she is an active, adorably coy little angel who is a bit of a night-owl, we're finding!  She likes to wake up and start her kicking and punching and bumping and nudging routine any time from 8:00pm onwards...and whenever her daddy tries to put a hand on Mommy's tummy to see if he can feel her moving, she tends to get very quiet.  Perhaps she knows we're paying attention to her, and she's playing shy to keep our attention.  ;)  In any case, she certainly has all of our love and devotion.  Neither Mr. Darcy nor I can wait for December to be here!  We're so looking forward to having our little baby girl here with us, to hold and cuddle and love. 

Until later!

-- Cait