Togetherness

I've had a whirl wind of a week with family visiting from out of town and hanging out with friends.  It's nice to stay busy and be around people but Zach and I are homebodies and can get swept up in our habits of staying home, making dinner, and taking the dogs for walks and it's always nice to get back to a routine when you're plum exhausted from doing what people should do and socialize.

I'm positive that the highlight of the week was seeing my nephew Connor.  He is so adorable that I can hardly stand it!!  Even his pouty grumpy self is cute.  We all took him to the Children's Museum along with my good friend Diane and her daughter Puff and enjoyed some good ole fashioned childish antics.  They loved playing together so much and I was happy to witness the smooth transition of children making friends so easy.  Why can't adults do that?  Within minutes Puff and Connor were holding hangs and becoming instant buddies. 

On Sunday we all met up at our local Botanical Gardens to take Connor to the children's play place with water fountains galore.  I can't think of any reason why a kid wouldn't have fun there.  I think he spent about 2 hours running around and playing with kids all while getting soaked in 100 degree heat. And the heat would explain my minimalist outfit I have.  A jersey dress with opened toe flats and a side swept bun is how I roll when its nearing 100 degrees.

Dress, Blog Shop
Sunnies and Flats, UO
Bracelet, Flourish
Bag, Plarn it All 

Waking Up Sunshine Sunday

Since I'm up sooooo early I thought I'd do a little blog post for Sunday and share my outfit that I wore a week ago.  I've had this vintage 80s (inspired Edwardian) blouse for over a month now and originally I had plans to chop it short and make it a cropped top, but my nerves got the better of me I guess.  I just couldn't cut the fabric.  So instead I thought it would look cuter with the buttons on the back opened up for some summery flair.  It seemed less "risque" too, although I may just bite the bullet and do the alterations anyways.  And I threw on the black jeans to compensate for the ultra girliness of the blouse...but I was insane to do that since it was nearly 100 degrees that day. 

The necklace I'm wearing is from Clydes Rebirth and I swear to you her pieces are extraordinary.  If I had more spending money I'd be buying one of her pieces every season!!!  This one struck my fancy because of all the little trinkets hanging from it. 

Blouse, Thrifted

Jeans, Thrifted ---embarrassingly enough, their Miley Cyrus for Walmart jeans

Hat and Shoes, UO

Necklace, Clyde's Rebirth

Sunnies, Forever21

A Picture an Hour

I've been inspired by a few bloggers (mainly The Clothes Horse and Bleubird Vintage) to try out this photography challenge.  I tried to remember to capture special moments of my day that also appeared to be photogenic.  It's my first go around so I hope you enjoy all the little snippets of my Sunday at my parent's house. 

9 a.m.

10 a.m.

11 a.m.

12 p.m.

1 p.m.

2 p.m.

3 p.m.

4 p.m.

5 p.m.

6 p.m.

7 p.m.

8 p.m.

Lovely Lemon Drop

This particular summer has seemed to be all about sun dresses for whatever reason.  Maybe it's the hot humid air, but trying to get dressed in the morning has proved to be quite a chore.  I just can't seem to stay in my room and try on 5 outfits in the morning to see what I like the best, so I just throw on a pretty dress and put my hair up.  I figured I'd keep it a little fresher on the blog by doing some DIYs or alterations to my clothes so as not to bore anyone;)

This particular dress was once white, but I decided on a whim to brighten it up with some dye and choose a vibrant yellow.  Yellow is such a fun color and thankfully this shade doesn't wash me out too bad.  Although, to be honest, I'm not the best at dying clothes.  There are some parts that are a bit splotchy, so I may try to dip dye the dress to hide some of its flaws.  Does anyone have any recommendations on how to get a more even dye job?  I used boiling water in my large steel sink hoping to alleviate that problem but it didn't work.

  

Dress, H&M

Flats, UO

Hat, Forever21

Necklace, Handmade 2nd Hand

What Ever Happened to Predictibility

This dress was given to me by my friend Brittany and I have to say it's probably one of my favorite dresses for the summer.  For some reason when I put it on I feel like I've being transported to the early 90s and I ought to be in someone's backyard enjoying a family bbq, a long island iced tea and chit-chatting with some lady who has to tell me everything about her kids Muffy and Buffy.  I may not be imagining this and may just be reminiscing a Full House episode.  Point being...this dress is very 90s:)  But I love it.

Oh and I had a very fulfilling weekend and enjoyed it immensely.  I had four days away from work and lord knows I will be paying for it.  Bank holidays = me wanting to jump off a bridge in the mid-afternoon.  So let me just sit her for a little while and pretend I'm still on a mini vacation sipping on sangria and lounging on the deck.  Ahhh....

Vintage Dress, 2nd Hand

Vintage Belt & Sunnies, Thrifted

Vintage Wedges, Friendly Fox Vintage

Straw Hat, Forever21

Coin Necklace, Grandmother's

To Agecroft Hall!!!

So I'm a history nerd.  The fact that I'm not a history teacher by now baffles me, but then again, being stuck in a classroom with a bunch of high schoolers terrifies me...so there you go.  To absorb more history and culture I usually explore old homes and plantations around Virginia.  On Friday I made the spur of the moment decision to drag Zach to this amazing Tudor estate called Agecroft Hall , which was built in England in the 1500s and reassembled in Richmond, Virginia in the 1920s. 

Oh my goodness...the amazing things I saw!!  I only wish they allowed cameras so I could share all the wonderful Renaissance items that were abundant in the home.  Including English, German, and Italian art from the original family, family crests, wood carvings in the panels, and so many examples of how Paganism mixed with Christianity during those time periods.  Religion was a huge part of art during those time periods and they were still trying to figure out how to mix their ideologies of Paganism with Christianity.  For example, a live cat was buried into the corner stone of the foundation of the home to ward off evil spirits.  By the way, this mummified cat was on display at the corner of the home...poor thing.

Ok, so as you can see I am pretty passionate about historical tours.  Most people may have found it boring but I had a lot of fun!  The next part of the trip was enjoying the area gardens which were influenced by English courtyards.  Flower gardens, veggie gardens and herbs...all used for food or medicinal concoctions.  I loved taking photos in there.  It reminded me of the Secret Garden.

And my outfit was just something I wanted to wear to keep cool and comfy while still staying somewhat put together.  A sheer blouse with trouser shorts and a pretty sun hat made for a nice outfit while meandering through Richmond.  If you are ever in Virginia, I always suggests that people make their way to Richmond.  It's such a fun city!!

So if you're a reader from the US please have a safe and joyous Fourth of July!!!

Blouse, UO

Shorts, Target

Vintage Hat, Thrifted

Bag, from Plarn It All

Payless Shoes, Thrifted

Jewellery, Vintage

If We Took a Holiday!!!

Took some time to celebrate!!  hehe..I love Madonna..  Well it's Friday and I took the day off work to finally enjoy a nice holiday break for the Fourth of July!  I have plans to start crossing off some of my summer goals from my list and start enjoying the summer this weekend.  More often than not when I take a random day off, it's met with chores and boring stuff.  I also want to be spontaneous.  I'm not sure how that will pan out since Zach is notoriously non-spontaneous.  He'll admit it too.   I honestly have every intention this morning to trek on up to Richmond and do some exploring.  There's this incredible Tudor home and garden that is chock full of history that I'm dying to see.  Today is as good as any to head over there.

And about my outfit.  I don't think I've ever found a cheaper dress.  I mean this cute 70s dress was handmade with the most perfect liberty floral print and it was only $1.  I love it so much!!  It belts really well and it was totally work appropriate with a cardigan over top of it.  But honestly I prefer the look without the cardigan.  Cardigans are way to stuffy for 90 degree days and it takes away from the summery carefree vibe of a halter dress. Oh and one more thing about my outfit.  My purse is made from recycled plastic grocery bags!!  I love it so much.  It's great for a summer bag since it resembles straw and it's light weight.  Truly perfect.

Well I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!  And if it's a long weekend, then even better!!!  I heard it's Canada Day today so I can only assume you have the day off from school/work and Monday it's Fourth of July so holidays are abundant for North Americans:)  

Vintage Dress, Thrifted

Belt, Fred Flare

Kimichi Blue Flats, UO
Cardigan, Thrifted

Coin Necklace, Grandmother's memento

Purse, Plarn Bag from my Uncle N ---Thanks Uncle N!!  It's my favorite bag ever:)  

You can find them on Etsy