image via Modern Hepburn/ source Shay Murphy Photography. I miss Ireland dearly!
A beautiful magazine mostly focusing on unique and beautiful interior design. It also has some DIYs, recipes, cool products, etc. AND it’s totally free, once a month, online.
Tips for successful thrift shopping (great for consignment shopping, too). I’ve read a lot of similar articles, and this probably most closely fits with my methodology.
I’m going to my nearest Anthro for their Holiday Display Workshop next week (attendees get to help them make their holiday store decorations). Interested? See if one is happening near you…they’re free to attend, you just have to RSVP.
I hope you have a fantastic, relaxing weekend! And be excited about next week…I have some cool stuff coming up for the blog!
These are the last of my stocked up photos. I’m excited to start putting together some new outfits that are a little more creative than these last two have been. I’ve actually been having so many outfit ideas lately that I started writing them down…I’ve never been much of an ahead-of-time outfit planner, so that’s new for me. I also have some tutorials and DIYs planned that I’m excited for. So keep an eye out next week for some of that!
top: secondhand JAK pants: secondhand J. Crew shoes: Minnetonka Moccasins earrings: souvenir from Santorini, Greece hair: a horrendous mess
Catching up on posts! These were taken in mid October, and look how green it was here then! I’m so used to living in my college town in the Shenandoah Valley where fall comes when you’d expect it to, so now that I’m home…not in the mountains…I felt like fall was never going to show itself. I went on a hiking trip in the Shenandoah last week expecting the leaves to be beautiful (I read that it was supposed to be peak time for color), but it was mostly brown. It was still wonderful to be “home” again. I miss it. My mom, siblings, and I also went to a persimmon and pomegranate festival in the mountains. We got to try lots of delicious varieties of persimmons as well as some wines (persimmon, plum, rosehip). How have you been celebrating fall?
top: secondhand American Eagle tank: Gap pants: secondhand Lauren Conrad shoes: secondhand J. Crew
And here are some pictures from that hike I spoke of. The trails are Hawksbill (highest peak in the park) and Cedar Run in Shenandoah National Park. This last photo is very Halloween-appropriate, wouldn’t you agree?
I’m in love with every single dress on Anthropologie’s website right now. Someone go buy one, wear it a few times, then bring it to a nearby consignment store, please (size 6)!
Why did I decide to take pictures midday? I don’t know.
I just got back from having my hair cut, so it’s loaded with product and looks yucky. I’m minimalistic when it comes to hair. I use as little product and as little heat as I can to get it to look decent. I prefer to have cuts that work well with the natural texture of my hair, but this growing out stage is a little tough. ANYWAY…
I bought this shirt when I was shopping for warmer clothes. So it’s NOT what I was after, but how could I turn down this lovely slate grey, navy, and olivey-brown floral? It’s 82˚F here today, so I figured I’d wear it now before it gets cold. I decided to pair it with the boots to make the look more autumnal. This is probably the only skirt I own that I would wear with this top. It’s more snug and short, so the looseness and length of the top works with it. A longer or flowier skirt would have just made me look frumpy. Wanna know more about working with proportion in outfits? Check out this post over at Sidewalk Ready. Kayley has some helpful tips.
top: secondhand Loft skirt: secondhand xhilaration boots: Star Ling (Nordstrom), several years old bracelets: free gift at NARTS conference earrings: secondhand
Today I’m going to share with you some halloween costumes that my friends and I have come up with the past couple years. They are all handmade and mostly pretty simple to put together. SO if you need a costume and still have no idea what to do, hopefully these will give you some ideas!
Two years ago, my sister visited me at school and we went to my friends’ party as Willy Wonka and an Oompa Loompa. I bought the purple blazer from Goodwill and painted the W on it with acrylic paint. The loafers are also from Goodwill and the rest of the outfit is stuff I already had. The top hat and the cane were from a Halloween store, and the bow tie I made out of some craft felt. For the golden tickets, I found a picture of the original and recreated it in illustrator. I painted some cardstock with gold paint, let it dry, then printed my design onto it with my regular ole inkjet printer (I covered it with clear tape so the ink wouldn’t smear). For my sister’s costume, we bought some green hair spray (which, as you can see, worked great) and borrowed some of my friend’s white face paint for her eyebrows. We used bronzer for her face and just LOADED it on. The suspenders are just some rope I had leftover from a project, and the rest of the outfit is stuff we already had.
My friend Hannah went as Harley Quinn from Batman. For the top, I think she took a red shirt and a black shirt (Goodwill), cut them in half, and sewed a black half to a red half. She did the same for the pants. She painted one of her boots red, and all the other details like the collar and the hat, she sewed herself. She’s very devoted to making awesome costumes!
Last year, I went as Madam Hooch, the flying teacher in Harry Potter, and Hannah went as Rogue from X-Men. My white hair is the result of a little bottle of hair paint from a Halloween/costume store. The broom is from the same store. My outfit consists of a navy belted dress, a white button-up shirt, a black trench coat, knee-high black socks, and grey boots – all stuff I already had. Hannah’s outfit mostly consists of stuff she already had as well. All the green details are made from a green t-shirt she bought at a craft store.
Here’s a comparison of my costume with the actual Madam Hooch.
I hope you have a fun Halloween! Do you have a creative costume planned?
Guess what dear followers… My ole reliable MacBook Pro gave up on me. Rather than paying to have a new logic board installed, I’m just investing in an iMac – something I’ve been wanting to do for a while and just haven’t been willing to invest in.
So I had outfit pictures for today, but they’re on my unusable computer. So until I have this situation worked out, no post. In the mean time, check out the links up top there above my header – about, my favorite blogs, my Pinterest, etc. Also check out archives or those spotlight posts over on the right. Hopefully I’ll be back by the end of the week.
I was going to do this post last week…but I didn’t.
I have some sleeveless dresses that I LOVE. But in the past, I’ve always just packed them away when the weather got chilly. I’m not going to do that this year, though. So to inspire me (and hopefully you) to make those dresses work through the colder months, here are some inspiring outfits of dresses layered up for cooler weather. All images are linked to Pinterest.
1. Wear a belted shirt or cardigan—or both—over your dress.
2. Wear a knotted shirt over your dress. I think a lot of people think this is more of a summer look, but if you use the right pieces, it’s a great way to transition your sleeveless dresses to fall (a plaid shirt perhaps? Or warm fall colors.)
3. Wear a shirt under your dress. Yeah, use it as a jumper.
4. Wear a sweater over your dress. Extra points if it’s a bright-colored sweater.
And of course, all these looks are great with tights, boots, socks, belts, hats, scarves…just later it up and make it warm! Are there any tips and tricks you have for transitioning pieces into cooler months? Please share!
Occasionally, I remember I wrote this several years ago and it makes me happy.
Seating makeover! I painted and reupholstered this stool (except mine was white with with an ugly faded black pleather seat) to make this lovely. I just spray painted it copper and stapled some new fabric to the seat.
Completely random, but Ebay got a little makeover.It’s not major, but I’m a graphic designer so I immediately noticed.
I often wish I could just transplant a Madewell store into my closet. Check out their fall style tips.
Have you seen this Bad Lip Reading video of the presidential debate? Such ridiculousness. Also check out BLR’s other videos if you never have – the Twilight one is funny, and the Micheal Bublé one…well, you’ll just have to see for yourself.
I’m not used to it getting dark before 8pm yet. So once again, I didn’t get a chance to take pictures until after dark. I bought this jacket in late spring so this fall is really the first opportunity I’ve had to wear it. My dad thinks it looks like a detective jacket. My sister (we were visiting her at school) saw my curly hair and referred to it as curly noodles. So by the end of dinner, those two observations merged and I was dubbed the “curly noodle detective.”
dress: secondhand Old Navy jacket: secondhand Talbots shoes: secondhand J. Crew earrings: secondhand hair: au naturel
This weekend, I went back to my beautiful college town to meet up with my old housemates and see some other friends as well. It was so much fun and it really makes me miss them…and school. These are some highlights from my trip (pictures stolen from Hannah). The first few are of our apple picking adventure. The next are of us playing Quelf (a board game everyone should experience). And the last is of my two housemates, our lovely host/dear friend, and me.
