I must be subconsciously paying homage to B's alma mater, because I realized after loading photos on my computer that I was totally stuck in a purple and gold color rut this weekend. Ha! All this time, I thought I was just wearing comfortable shoes! Personally, I don't follow sports - college or otherwise - but I definitely live in Husky country. (For the record, my own school colors were more like this.)

On Sunday I dressed for a whirlwind of activity - an hour's drive for B's niece's birthday party, than an hour back for a bridal shower (for the bride of wedding #3, which takes place at the end of June.) It was a little more hectic than I anticipated, as originally we didn't think the two parties would overlap, but late yesterday evening we found out the birthday party was a couple hours later than what we'd assumed. The weather was actually my favorite to drive in - clear and sunny - but traffic was heavy both ways and bogged me down, so I was pretty exhausted. I had a great time visiting with B's relatives, who I love, and made it to the tail end of the bridal shower.

While I wished I'd had more time to socialize at each of the gatherings, the time in the car was spent enjoyably listening to the Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McClain, one of my favorite oral storytellers that I've got hooked on in the past few years since NPR became a constant presence on my car radio. The featured story, "Mort D'Arthur", was a tender, hilarious, and heartbreaking look back at the life of the family dog at the end of his life. As the "pet" of a much loved senior dog, who is greatly slowing down but is still in good health, I got rather teary throughout the broadcast, but my sides also hurt from laughing by the time I reached the house.

The bride has always adored purple (and I know it's the primary shade for her wedding), so in her honor I broke out the Grecian hi-low hem knit dress in vibrant violet (which she loved.) Again, the spiced orange ECCO pumps came out to play, leaving my feet comfortable and happy. I really felt like a touch of brightness and white was in order, so I draped several floating pearl necklaces over one another and added my graphic floral print black and white cardigan, which still looks and feels excellent after several years. (My first wear of the cardigan on YLF was over three years ago.) I'm really loving the effect of this purple dress even though the neckline is higher than what I'd typically choose, and even though a year ago I don't know whether I even admitted to being willing to try an asymmetrical (or "mullet" hem.) Again, a different silhouette that works surprisingly well on curvy hourglass me. How did that happen?

The bridal shower party favors were adorable - a pair of green "two peas in a pod" salt and pepper shakers that go beautifully with my apple green Gurgle Pot and spearmint striped teacup and saucer set. Sweet!