Hanging with the New Neighbors!!

So the other day I had the best time hanging out with my "IRL" friend, Brittany, who I coincidentally met through blogging!!  She's really so sweet and awesome!  And that goes for her amazing husband Patrick too.  They're just great people:)  Ever since they moved right down the street from Zach and I, it has made hanging out a lot easier. 

For our lunch date we went to the cutest little vegan restaurant called Path and just chit chatted about our life, moving, and of course how delicious the food was.  And we also discussed our new little additions to our families:)  She got the most adorable kitten Lorelie and of course I have Archie. And if you want to know more about Brittany check out her new blog All This Weird Beauty. 

And since we both enjoy style blogs we made sure to document our outfits!  I had a lot of fun trespassing into someone's backyard to do these pics.  To be fair, the fence was kind of busted so it was open to the sidewalk but still, I felt a little rebellious;)  hehehe..I'm so lame. 

On Me:
Red Gingham Blouse, Thrifted
Shorts, Kmart
Report Sandals, Ross
Vintage Handbag, Hummingbird Girls

On Brittany:
I'm not sure but she sure looks amazing!!  I really love her gold shoes!!

The Smell of a Good Rainstorm

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Hello ya'll!!  I'm sitting in my living room watching the peaceful thunderstorm right outside my window and all I can think about is just how wonderful summer really is.  I always love watching, smelling and experiencing a good rainstorm.  It's even better when it's not lightening and you can run outside and play in it:)  What I wouldn't give to experience my childhood again and really soak in the summer the way I used to.  You know, like when we actually relaxed and acted carefree? 

This summer I went ahead and made a bit of a goal list (which is not carefree) and sent it to Zach as a bit of a reminder to not let our summer go to waste.  I am positively stoked to get as much done as possible!!  Here's what I got so far!!

1.  Picnic in a park

2.  Working in a community garden 

3.  Baseball games

4.  Watching fireworks

5.  Baking Strawberry Rhubarb Pie already did that one!!

6.  Taking a hike/drive around the Blue Ridge Mountains

7.  Making booze popsicles 

And about my outfit.  I really just wanted to throw on something easy, since it was one of those days where I was too exhausted to really think things through.  I went with navy and olive as my color choices and then threw on some brown canvas platforms that I've been dying to wear. 

Blouse & Skirt, Thrifted

Platforms, TJ Maxx

Vintage Belt & Sunnies, Thrifted

Bracelet, Flourish etsy

A Break From Being Grown Up

This weekend has proved to be quite the bummtastic time due to copious amounts of chores, chores and more chores.  Thus is life of a grown up I guess:)  Zach and I did take some time to play with the doggies though!  We were at my parents doing what we do best....laundry...and our two dogs plus their three dogs equals lots of chaotic playtime.  The best thing to do with all those dogs is to throw them outside to play with them!

I guess I can talk about my outfit a little bit too, right?  It's summer, it's hot, and I'm trying to add interesting details to my outfits to make them worth while.  I kind of stole borrowed my mom's pretty yellow scarf since it seemed like a fun color to incorporate into a lavender and blue outfit!!  Since obviously I wasn't going to wrap it around my neck, I thought a belted scarf would be cute.  Then my other stand by accessories as of late have been this hat and these sunnies.  I'm sure you all have noticed my all time favorite summer items by now;)

Oh and watch out!!!  Archie is coming!!  hahah..Isn't this gif the cutest!!

Top, Old Dress Chopped up
Skirt, Amanda's Blog Shop
Scarf, Landsend
Hat and Sunnies, Forever21
Report Sandals, Ross

A Happy Mood Outfit

A basic black dress is pretty much a necessity, no?  I mean black can be dressed up or down and when you have a black dress. the options are pretty much endless.  I have a plethora of black dresses hanging in my closet but this one in particular is probably my favorite.  It's vintage from the 50s and it's classic shirt dress shape reminds me of something Lucille Ball would wear on I Love Lucy.  I opted to not wear my crinoline underneath, because it might have been a little customey for working at a bank, but any other day I would've gladly donned a full on 50s look.  Maybe not the hair and make up though.  That would probably be a bit much.  Either way, this outfit put me in a fantastic mood!

Oh, and the best part?  This dress was at my local thrift store for about $6!!!  Apparently whoever priced the dress didn't realize or care that it was vintage since they're vintage selection is supremely pricey.  Those dresses can usually range from $15 to $40!  So I quickly grabbed it and made my way to the register.  I didn't even bother to try it on.

Vintage Dress, Thrifted
Hat, Thrifted
Wedges, Payless
Bag, Giveaway win from Hummingbird Girls
Vintage Snakeskin Belt, Vintage Shop

Update!! Shabby Apple Giveaway!!!

Hello Loves!!  Although I am still on vacation and enjoying some fun times with a new addition to our family (if you follow me on Twitter you can see our new pet, Archie) I wanted to give you all something for being such loyal readers!!

Shabby Apple is a company which makes and designs beautiful women's dresses that are inspired by cities and vintage fashions.  Once you check out their website you'll be happy to see they have lots to offer in colors, designs, and styles, plus they are affiliated with an organization that provides financial assistance to women who are at the bottom of the economic pyramid in India.  For every dress sold, they donate 5% to Unitus. 

Congratulations to Elisabeth G. (Vandango33) for winning the dress!!!  I'll be emailing you today:)

And just so you know, you have until  July 16th to use the code dailyfashionista10off to get 10% off at Shabby Apple

The Daily Ritual

Since my day usually involves work, eat, blog, and sleep I occasionally lose sight of some of the simple pleasures in my life.  One of those being Zach and my walks around our neighborhood after work with the dogs in tow.  We really live in a fantastic place with great parks and great neighbors.  The funny thing is, our neighbors don't actually know our names and we don't know theirs, but we all know the dogs names!!  Anywho, here's a glimpse into our evening:)

And this is my attempt at a shorts outfit that is trying to be a bit more dressy.  When it gets hot outside it becomes so easy to forget about style.  There is no desire to layer and you mostly just want to stay cool.  To remedy these desires to wear just a pair of shorts and tank I decided to make my outfit a little more preppy with my white button down and khaki cuffed shorts.  I think that did the trick:) 

And here is the gratuitous shit can.  I'm not really sure who did this, but it's a running joke amongst the neighbors about this trash can.  All the neighborhood dogs congregate at this huge field in the back of our neighborhood and this is the designated trash can for dog waste.  Isn't that cute? lol!!!

Merona Blouse, 2nd hand from friend

Shorts, TJ Maxx

Report Sandals, TJ Maxx

Necklaces, grandma's locket and NASA souvenir

Belt, Vintage

Sunnies, Forever21

I'm Back with a Vengeance

Correction!!  I'm back with a whole new member of my little family!!  And his name isn't Vengeance... its little Archie!!  Isn't he the cutest little ball of fur?  Well besides my Starla;)  They're both terrific friends...at least after the first couple of days of getting to know each other.  He was kind of a spur of the moment surprise, but Zach and I were talking about getting another pup for at least a few months.

Since we were going to be taking the pups for a walk to the park I decided to dress in a breezy cool dress.  I actually bought this dress from Shabby Apple a couple of weeks ago and I'm happy to say that their dresses are incredibly made.  I never promote something unless I can thoroughly back it up and I am in love with these dresses.  The color is just as vibrant as the site suggests and the fabric is great quality.  Anywho, I totally recommend them to anyone in the market for a well made garment that will last for as long as you want it to:)  And you also have your chance to win a Shabby Apple dress of your own!!!  Just click here to enter the contest!!

And just to give you a little background into our new found pet.  We were originally trying to save a dog from an Animal Control (ie kill shelter) on Wednesday but that dog was adopted right before we had a chance to inquire about it.  The lady who ended up adopting that dog told us about a non-profit organization called Hope for Life and mentioned all the sweet little dogs there.  So we took off!!  His name was originally King and the poor thing was rescued by it's neighbor because King's original owner tied it up to a tree for 2 years!!  Poor little guy didn't even know what a house was!!  Or toys, or friendship or affection.  We fixed that fast and now he's as pampered as Starla. 

Dress, Shabby Apple

Belt & Shoes, Vintage

Hat, Forever21

Rocket Necklace, Kennedy Center---13 years ago

I Am My Father's Daughter

 

Sometimes it may seem like my dad and I have such similar personalities we can hardly stand to be around each other...I'm kidding...sort of.  During my adoloscent years I was quite difficult and stubborn.  As stubborn as my dad actually, but in the end we always ended up seeing eye to eye. 

I can trust my dad's opinion usually more than anyone else's and he's always been supportive of my decisions.   My dad gave me confidence to pursue the things that mattered to me.  That's the biggest gift anyone could have given me. 

In honor of my daddy I decided to post some oldies but goodies to my blog:)  I hope he doesn't mind I raided my baby album to get these fantastic photos of my dad from the 80s.  Can you see the family resemblance?

Guest post: Tieka

Hi everyone! Tieka here from Selective Potential! I was so excited when Emily asked me to do a guest post for her... especially on music! It's not something I typically post about on my blog, but music is a huge part of our lives. My husband has played in bands ever since he was 14 and I've watched bands ever since I was 14. It's just something we've always loved and something we're both really passionate about!

We also live in a great city that has an amazing punk community. We grew up with the most amazing all-ages venue, where we'd spend every weekend. We are also insanely fortunate to have the best record shop! I can't even count on my hands the amount of venues around here that we grew up going to!

Brett and I started a new band called Circle Maybe with some of our friends last November and it has been so much fun. We are in the process of recording now and have only played a few shows, but this is just the beginning of something truly wonderful. We've met all of our friends through shows and music... Brett and I even met through music! He was a drummer in a band... and I thought he was so cute, so I stalked him... and eventually got him to fall in love with me ;)

I hope you enjoyed my music-inspired post! It's one thing that I really love about Emily - our shared interest of music. We both love the same style of music and can talk about amazing bands like The Get Up Kids together! Hope she enjoyed her little blog-cation!