presents, snow, sun and fun!

Hello everyone! Sorry it’s been a bit since my last post. You know how the holidays can be. Our celebrations went very well. We had too much to drink, lots of laughs, and had way way way too much to eat. So that is just about perfect in my book.

pretty bird

We spent Christmas Eve at my in-laws home (I love my in-laws! Crazy, I know. I just can’t help it). It was great, we had brie, fettucini alfredo and tres leche cake. Yum! We watched ‘the Ref’ which is hilarious and passed out presents.

Dandy getting into the Santa spirit

As we arrived

Do I like it? What a silly question!

I got my first present moments after I arrived. I was wearing a late 50′s black wool coat when we got there. But my mother-in-law wanted me to try on her mothers mink coat. Then she said I should keep it! WOW. It is such an honor to be given a family heirloom. It is a 1960′s brown mink coat that is amazingly soft and luxurious.

That's me, not believing my luck.

Now, before you get all “fur is bad” let me explain. I have been a vegetarian for fifteen years. I love animals and I do not support the modern fur industry. However, I will wear vintage fur and if it is a family heirloom then all the better. I  get a little hippy on myself sometimes and even say a little blessing for the critter who is now keeping me warm. Yes, I’m a bit crazy. Moving on.

most comfy heels ever! thank you Naturalizer.

Well then, I’m sure you are dying to know about the rest of my outfit. I wore the same green wool felt dress that I wore to the benefit last month and wore the same shoes, tights, bolero sweater and my grandmas sweater clip. I did however add a fur hat that I think came from the 50′s or 60′s. It was my other grandmas and I can not tell what it is from. It is black and seems to have the same texture as mink, possibly fuzzier. So mink, beaver . . . not really sure. What I am sure of is how warm it was and how sophisticated I felt wearing it.

mystery fur hat

 

I usually spend Christmas eve with my Grandma, but she just passed away this October. So I wore it as a small tribute to her.

super fun Pumas

Dandy wore a great orange corduroy blazer that she had taylored to fit perfectly. She paired it with her totally bitchin’ Pumas, jeans and a black shirt with a tiny orange print from Diesel.

Dandy got her mom a pair of funny glasses that we all modeled for your enjoyment.

 

 

 

possibly my favorite picture ever

For Christmas Day we went to my family’s house. Unfortunately the batteries in my camera died and you know there are never enough batteries to be found on Christmas Day. We did get a couple of shots before my camera went kaput. My family always eats Hawaiian French toast on Christmas morning (made with hawaiian bread and orange/pineapple juice in the batter) and then lasagna for dinner. We watched ‘Christmas story’ of course.

please just ignore the background

 

I wore a skirt that I made out of muslin (I painted the design at the hem), a bright red crinolin or petticoat from My Baby Jo (a cute vintage repro website), a black cardigan from Ann taylor, my grandmas black patent belt, my grandmas black wool felt pill box hat and a ice crystal pin from the Metropolitan museum of art. Dandy wore a blue and white gingham button down from J Crew, a black v neck sweater from Northface and jeans.

Yay! Hope you all had a very wonderful holiday. See you next year.

ciao, Mrs. McGee

 

Holiday errands on a snowy cold day

It was our first day off together in a long time. No school, homework, work or cleaning to hinder our day. We decided to sleep in, go out for an early dinner and do a bit of holiday shopping. Not that we have much shopping to do. We are keeping the holidays on a tight (almost non-existing) budget. We are both students and plan on taking more classes next semester. Basically we have no idea how it will work out financially. But we will figure it out one way or another.

Ooh, mistletoe!

Blurry as usual (really trying to get better about that)

I took advantage of the snow flurries and wore one of my grandma’s hats. It is 1960′s, black wool and very Jackie O. I love it. It was an instant glamorizer. I also wore a pink Isaac Mizrahi skirt from target, a thrifted ann taylor wool sweater, black ellen tracy boots and teal over the knee socks from target.

presents!

 

ooh la la

bunny hands!

She is the director of photography (meaning she is the one who suggests poses such as "bunny hands!" here she is acting put out for having to take a few photos.

You get a glimpse of our totally amazing pink tinsel, hello kitty christmas tree in the background. Enjoy!

Ciao, Mrs. McGee

tamale time

Well it’s been a while. Sorry for leaving you all hanging.

My friends throw an amazing New Years Day party every year. They open their home to an abundance of friends. We do a mexican vegetarian pot luck, drink all day and visit with all the people you wished you could see more often throughout the year. We gorge ourselves on homemade vegetarian tamales, YUM!

But before all this deliciousness occurs we have to actually make the tamales. So this Sunday was the tamale making party. Eight of us stood around their kitchen island while wrapping tamales, drinking margaritas and gossiping  catching up. It is always a great time. I really love how great it feels to all come together and prepare food for our friends. I don’t know why exactly. Maybe it’s the whole “it takes a village. . .” concept. I feel the ‘village’ concept is just as important for adults as it is for children.

homemade vegetarian tamales = food coma

The margaritas made for some blurry pictures (sorry, well, only a little sorry) but I think you get the gist.

My friends suggested I pose with an empty bowl and a large baguette. So . . . here you go.

 

I wore a turquoise 1950′s day dress, most likely from Boss Unlimited Vintage, red tights from Macy’s, black t-strap Naturalizers and a vintage apron.

After the tamale making marathon I headed over to an evening soiree. I volunteer at the Center (Denver’s LGBT center) as a receptionist once a week. The Center’s leading man and his husband invited all of us volunteer receptionists over for a holiday party. It was so nice to visit their lovely home. They are avid art collectors and their house could double as a museum. I fell for two of the Salvador Dali lithographs. Dandy and I stayed later than everyone else and made a few new friends. Good times.

Then we went to the nearby gay bar, X Bar for a couple of drinks and dancing. It was fun. However, it spotlighted the decline of my marathon drinking skills. Oh, well. I suppose I’m just a cheaper date now days.

This is the moment I should have stopped drinking.

 

rough week

It has been the week leading up to finals at school for both Dandy and I, my father was in town and met Dandy for the first time ever and Friday was my grandma’s memorial. She passed at the beginning of October but my dad was in the middle of moving so we had to postpone the service. Which I think was for the best. It went okay. My dad put together a great slideshow with pictures of my grandma ranging from the 40′s through more recent times. The only issue I had was with the completely insensitive minister who basically attempted to guilt me into speaking at the service. He berated me in front of family I hadn’t seen in ten years, loudly saying ” so I hear you have no intentions of participating in today’s remembrance.” It was the tone he used, it was vile, he was vile. I did a fairly good job of defending myself. Thank all things good on this earth that Dandy was there with me all day.

She had only met my father for the first time the night before. We met for dinner right as he got in from Pheonix. Yes, you heard correctly. My father is a bit homophobic and opted out when it came time for out Denver wedding ceremony. So here we were having some dinner the night before my grandma’s memorial. He was only mildly offensive and mostly behaved.

Then that night my dad informed me that his friend helped him hack into my fb page to look at photo’s. I have no idea why they did this. My dad has showed zero interest in my personal life and whenever I bring it up, he changes the subject. Anyhoo, he saw pictures of Dandy wearing a beard (for halloween, she was a perfect Richie Tenenbaum) and out of complete ignorance asked if she would be wearing a beard to the service. Really dad?! Really? You couldn’t tell in from the photos that you hacked into that we were in costume. How many times have I explained to him that she is a woman, my wife. Not my husband or the man in the relationship.

I’m rambling, sorry. His actions just spotlighted the fact that he has no interest in me unless it is self-serving. I would have gladly shown my dad pictures of my personal life had he asked or even acknowledged that I had a personal life.

Basically it was a very draining, emotional day. But luckily my wonderful wife got a bath ready for me. I practically overflowed the tub with lavender bubbles, had a glass of wine and some ice water while I soaked away the day. Plus my wife humored me, when I asked her to read me a story. As I relaxed in the tub she read the short story “Debbie” by Augusten Burroughs. It was the absolutely perfect remedy to my awful day.

I could have done it without her but I’m so grateful that I didn’t have to.

 

Ciao Mrs. McGee

Sometimes I wish I were a flapper

I sometimes like to go really vintage and wear outfits that are reminiscent of the 20′s and 30′s. My problem is that I don’t own any casual clothes from that period. So I just took some modern pieces that create the same silhouette. The hat is what really makes it look old timey, I think. This outfit is a typical school day outfit for me and consists of brown brogue heels from Contessa, orange a-line skirt from Old Navy, a burgundy gathered t-shirt (thrifted), Ivory hoodie with eyelet detail from Anthropologie, Brown scarf (thrifted), hat  from Anthropologie and lacey ivory socks from Target.

Oh and I wouldn’t want to leave out the Mrs., she is wearing a crisp, gingham button down from J Crew. They seem to fit her best as she has a crazy long torso and wide shoulders.

Hope all is well in your world.

Ciao Mrs. McGee

Holiday Fundraising Frock

What to wear to a holiday open house fundraiser? This is what I went with. It’s classic, festive and warm. I am always cold, so staying warm while looking fab is a priority for me.

This is a vintage emerald green felt wiggle dress. I believe it is from the fifties or possibly early 60′s. I probably got it at a dress swap or at Boss Unlimited, a great store here in Denver. Anyhoo, I paired it with royal blue tights, a vintage ivory bolero sweater, my great-grandmas sweater clip and black t-strap heals from Naturalizer.

Art for the Nations Holiday Open House

Femme and Dandy

Dandy just got her new glasses the night before. Cute right? (purchased at SEE, Denver)

Well I only have time for that little morsel today.

Hope it ties you over.

ciao, Mrs. McGee

Hitchin’

The Molkery

Dandy and I were very torn over how to celebrate our union. We could just elope somewhere that accepts us or we could have a non-legal ceremony here in Denver. We desperately wanted legal recognition but did not want to go somewhere and get hitched without our friends or family, only to return to our non-legally recognizing state and feel like we just went off on a vacation. We realized that having our nearest and dearest witness our non-legal union would help us feel like our marriage was bona fide (p.s. I love using the term bona fide. It’s so ‘Oh Brother. . .’). We also really wanted a honeymoon. Which added a lot more cost to our already financially taxing plan of getting hitched.

The final decision was to have a smallish ceremony and reception here in Denver then head to NY (Where Dandy is from) to honeymoon and hey while we are there lets hop a train to Boston to legalize this shebang. So thats what we did.

In order to pull all of this off on two baristas wages we needed to be clever. Luckily I love making stuff, re-purpose things, thrifting and bossing people around (kidding, I just tell myself I have good leadership skills). I became a wedding

The grand entrance

coordinator overnight. I loved pulling together all of our community and all of my theatrical visions into one really great event.

We rented the gorgeous Molkery (or Montclair Civic Building) which is a beautifully restored historic mansion owned by the city of Denver. They let us bring in our own booze and let us have a potluck. It is also set in a public park with huge old trees and a playground. Fun!

Okay, then outfits! The fun part (aside from dancing, gorging and drinking of course). Our totally spectacular bridesmaids wore whatever they wanted in shades of green. We were going for a vintagey, woodland, Black Forrest fairy tale, garden party sort of theme. And I think our ladies pulled it off perfectly. Dandy’s BFF wanted to wear something mens wear inspired to show solidarity with the not-so-femme bride. While my three bridesmaids went with flirty, retro looking frocks. I also made teal fascinators that incorporated adorable lace appliques from my mothers wedding dress for the maids and flower girls.

ring bearer and flower girls

M, Dandy's BFF

M wore a great drapey romantic knit top, in a lovely shade of kelley green. She paired it with a super sexy seersucker pencil skirt.

The always lovely J, trusted and true.

J wore a flowing fun tealish summer dress that totally popped with her lovely red locks.

K, I wish we got a better shot of her shoes!

K looked polished in an olive feminine frock with great shoes (I’m always jealous of her shoes).

S borrowed one of my vintage party dresses. It is a 1950′s gauzy concoctions in bright green with yellow swirls.

S and I after the ceremony

Dandy, my love.

Dandy couldn’t have looked more delicious. She wore ankle cropped seersucker britches in ivory/tan, a crisp 3/4 sleeve tailored button down in a whimsical green and white pattern and topped it all of with the softest ivory jacket that fit like a glove. Brown brogues, yellow suspenders and a dashing orange bow tie earned her the official Dandy title. She looked so effortlessly chic, spirited and classic.

Not sure if you can tell, but we are really happy to be getting hitched!

I was offered the most amazing dress! The most glamorous 1940′s Henri Bendel gown in the riches shade of buttery ivory. Dandy’s great aunt wore it originally then offered it to Dandy’s mother who wore it on her wedding day in the 1970′s. I jumped at the chance to wear a perfect condition, vintage gown from the ever posh Henri Bendel. And it had wonderful sentimental value to boot! I chose my multi toned green and white wedges, a pair of my nana’s beaded vintage clip-ons, and my great great aunts hair comb that portrayed a flock of copper sparrows with ruby eyes.

Oh Lotta Body, what a life saver.

watching our rings get passe around by our guests.

Sealing the deal. She can't get away now (insert evil laugh here)! Pus our hands are tied together.

Mrs. & Mrs. McGee

I had a wardrobe change after the ceremony so I could get my dance on. I LOVE to dance and feel no celebration is complete with out dance incorporated. I made my party dress using a vintage butterick pattern out of white pointe de esprit fabric. I kept on my same shoes and hair comb, but added a candy colored red vinyl belt.

Party dress!

Our ceremony was lovely. Our loved ones formed a circle around us for our hand-fasting out on the properties lawn. We had a ring warming ceremony where our guests passed our rings around to infuse their blessings, support and energy into our union. Then we headed back in to eat, drink an be merry! Our friends contributed to every aspect of our big day. The photographer, DJ, Cake Baker, Florists and caterers were all friends.

First Dance to the Detroit Cobras "the Real Thing"

What a joyful day we had. The blistering hot day was my dream come true and I got to marry my very best friend, lover and confidant.

Ciao Mrs. Mcgee

p.s. More to come on our trip to NYC and Boston. Stay tuned. xoxo

Let’s back things up a bit

Date night!

Yes, I am married. I just got married this summer. Legally in Boston and spiritually here in Denver over the summer. Before I dive into that super fun, super sweet and super stylish post I want to post about how I ended up there. A tidbit of my single to dating to engaged life.

First off I have only been out (to myself included) for about three years. I had a slew of boyfriends over the years and never expected to fall for a girl.

Dandy, as we will call her on this blog, was the new girl at work and I knew I was physically attracted to her the moment she walked through the door.

Wait! What?! I’m straight! How could this be?

I had always had girl crushes. I thought all women had super intense girl crushes. Never had I desired to act on it. This desire kinda freaked me out which resulted in her thinking I hated her. When really I was avoiding her as a way to avoid confronting my inner curiosities.

Time went on and my curiosities did not dissipate. My interest in her was barely hiding, bubbling under the surface of my calm and cool facade. That facade was completely ripped apart at the work holiday party. Ah yes, I made a total drunken fool out of myself at the store party. I kissed her. Not just a peck either, I was on a drunken mission.

Dolled up for Denver Pride '09

We were dating for about a year when she proposed to me on her birthday. So here we are now, both students, both baristas, living in an adorable historic neighborhood with our siamese cat, Shoga.

Caio Mrs. McGee

Hello world!

Hi, Im brand new at this blogging business. I’m figuring all the in’s and out’s of word press. I hope to get going on a real topic asap. Ciao!