Back in Town

My last post documented the outfit pictures I had to take on the road back to my parents' house; this is trying to find a spot there to take them. The first is in my old room, now my sister's room:

Not the greatest lighting. I made my way outside, to the back porch. (Please ignore how dirty my dog got the back door.)

Shirt: NY&Co. Necklace: Ann Taylor Loft. Capris: Dockers. Heels: Bandolino. 

I don't think I quite love the blousing there, but I'll keep working on it. Don't you fret. I have to say, in my recent quest to leap out of my Loft rut, I am pretty proud that the only Loft item is my necklace! That is progress, friends.

Oh, and while I was there I discovered the Half of Half store - an incredible place where dreams come true. Overstatement? Perhaps. But look at some sweet stuff I got:

Love this Ann Taylor Petites dress; the cut is just very modest and sweet.

But check it with a belt. I KNOW, right?

Yeah, I've shown you my trench, but I just love seeing this hem peeking from beneath it.   : P

And this little beauty? Yup, this is officially my Easter dress. Don't you love it? I LOVE it. The only catch was that the zipper wouldn't budge an inch. I figured it would be worth paying to get that fixed.

Broken zipper? How embarrassing! But you want to know the best part? I wrestled with it for some time and FIXED IT! Now I have a perfect Anthro dress that I purchased for $30. Half of Half, friends!

And there you have it. My goofiest post yet. I hope you have all survived this one. Keep with me, everybody, this too, shall pass.

A Reading Rainbow

Today I have three things for you once again. A fantastic thrifted find, an outfit, and evidence of a photo adventure. Enjoy:

1. Seriously, a reading ranbow

This fantastic little set was waiting for me in my local Goodwill. At $2.50 apiece, I got a cool set of decorations for now, the basis for my first child's nursery decor (perhaps) and some excellent reading material. Bargain!

2. Comfy Casual Outfit

Sweater: Old Navy. Necklace: From Mom. Skinny Jeans: Old Navy. Chuck Taylors: Outlet store. Aviators: husband's.

These totally sweet pictures were taken by my fantastic friend! I was thrilled to see her for this, and MANY other reasons. Example: the necklace I wear in that last picture was from a thrift shop she had shown me mere moments before this was taken. Recognize that incredible skyline behind me? That's right, it's KC, folks!

3. Photo Adventure pictures!

This is on the campus of the college in town, and I think it is the neatest. I was glad to get a shot of it on such a lovely, sunny day.

Why this is funny: the school is Austin Peay. "Peay" being pronounced "pee". (I hope you're giggling at this sign as much as I always do!)

We'll get caught up yet, friends. Hold out for after pics of that long grey skirt I was going to take up. (It's up, now the bottom needs a small dose of being taken in. I'll get there!

Take care, and happy Palm Sunday to everybody! (And happy 2 months of deployment down to me - I'm 1/6th done!!!)

P.S. Sorry about the overly-obvious bra line in today's pics. I would have scrapped them for that ridiculous line, but I otherwise really liked them, and I thought Nikki's work should be displayed.

Gotta Have Faith-uh Faith-uh Faith-uh

I told you I'd get another post up soon! Sooner than I thought, actually - once I posted, I just couldn't stay away!

Anyway, here's two more catch-up outfits, and one successfully-completed crafty project!

1. Old and New

Sweater: Ann Taylor. Pants: Ann Taylor Loft. Socks: NY&Co. Shoes: Naturalizer.

So I pulled this sweater out of the back of my drawer - I had forsaken it a few years ago, thinking it didn't fit anymore. Clearly not! And it's still just as soft and cute as I remembered. Annnnnnd new shoes! I've been looking for red heels for YEARS, and I couldn't be happier with them.

2. Lovin' It

Trench: Old Navy. Button-up: Thrifted Land's End. Denim trousers: Ann Taylor Loft.

Umm, yeah. I am in front of a McDonald's. Why? I was driving home for the weekend (an 8-hour drive) and didn't want to miss an outfit photo. You know, just a normal little restroom, use free internet, let the dog out and outfit picture stop. (And I bought a sundae. Yum.)

3. My Peeps

If you look reeeeeeally close, you can see some little egg and flower window gel clings on my window. That's what $1.50 gets you at a Wal-Mart, friends. (First time I've really shopped at Wal-Mart since we moved. Not my finest hour. But I like the result!)

And the peeps? Well if you skip on over to MADE you can see Dana's aaaawesome tutorial for this cute Peep Bunting, you can see the SUPERcute ones she made up. The key to a really cute result is to use actual felt, like she did. I used some material I had from a thrifted skirt. It was like felt, except it's slippery on the back, so each bunny got a little twisted/warped. But I am still happy enough with it to put it up each year, so Successful Craft!

That's all for now, take care, all!

Did you ever have to finally decide?

I have found the bathing suit that I WANT for this summer! (Note: I have thrifted a nwt Victoria's Secret bikini that is currently acting as some good motivation to tone up just a bit before actual swim weather. I am referring to an additional suit.) I have been wishing for a really good one-piece option, and lamenting that there are never such options around.

Well, I think we've finally gotten fashion back around to the point where lots of us are going to get our wish for gorgeous one-pieces! And as I said, I found my perfect suit. I just can't decide which of these it is:

Bathing Beauty in Wine from ModCloth

Rainbow Graph from ModCloth

Beach Blanket Bingo from ModCloth

The colors on the second one are more vivid than that picture shows - oranges and pinks and yellows; so pretty. I love this style with my whole heart, but can't decide which one of the above is just right. Please advise, friends!

Pictures from my real life are coming this weekend. I swear on my life.

Think of Me

Even though I don't post on here and thus give you no reason to do so. Here's what I've been up to lately:

-Taking a photo adventure/picnic in town with a friend. Fun!

-Taking care of silly, no-fun projects (patching holes in husband's pants and shorts, etc. . . not helpful to him while he's deployed, oops.) to help me feel better about moving on to FUN projects like making baby clothes and toys for friends who are PREGO! My Fb news feed is just a big collage of pregnant bellies lately, so I'm pumped to try every tiny and adorable tutorial on my new beloved craft blogs.

-Enjoying the amazing weather. It's 90 here. I think we have skipped a season . . . Sorry these pictures are old. Clearly I did not wear this outfit today.   : P

-Plucking weeds from my little garden-y planter area in my yard. MAN plants can get out of control when you leave them to their own devices for 6+ months! Amazing.

-Missing you all, naturally.

Okay, on to some pics. Behold, my new, perfect trench coat:

Trench: Old Navy. Sweater: Thrifted Banana Republic. Flower: ON&C. Belt: Husband's. (Now MINE!) Jeans: AE, I think. Mocs: Target. 

The day I wore all this, a friend saw my shoes and asked, sounding completely shocked: "Are those slippers??" I tried to sound normal as I explained that, yes, I am pretty sure they were made to be slippers. But that I wear them outside the house. Frequently. She sort of looked like I was crazy, and I explained that there was maybe a year or two recently when EVERYONE wore slippers and we all just ignored one anothers' feet and it was fine. And for that lovely, brief period, everyone was comfy. Ahhh.

Do you ever find this? You move someplace and things that you SWEAR used to be normal just aren't anymore? At least not to the new audience? It's an interesting feeling.

Also, why am I posing on a chair today? I couldn't seem to get myself in the light . . . and then I just liked the chair.

: P

The Sound of Silence

Aaaaaaand I'm back. Wow. That's quite an unexcused absence I've racked up for myself, there. Sorry about not posting anything, friends! Weak sauce.

The big problem, really, has not been too little to write. Quite the opposite. I have recently made LOTS of clothing purchases (thrifting, exchanging for my old clothes, gift carding, etc.) and am super dee duper excited to show you each and every one! But I only just took the pictures of everything last night. And I also have a big (and growing, obviously) backlog of outfit pictures to put up. SO anyway, whine-whine-whine-excuses-excuses, I'm done now. Here's an outfit:

Jacket: some market in London. Shirt: Ann Taylor Loft. Pants: sale at Anthro. Shoes: DSW.

If you are thinking to yourself, "Man, that could really use an attractive and bold accessory - necklace? Belt?" then we are thinking the same thing. WOW neutral! Some detail shots:

I love the stripe on these pants. It is rather delicate.

I LOVE these shoes! They're the best, and that's all there is.

Oh, and here's my dog. It took like a dozen pictures to get a non-blurry one, but she was looking extra-cute so I had to get it.

I'm hoping not to to go out of touch like that any more, but please be patient as I try out new things. I may show you my first freezer-paper-stenciling or ruching or bunting if I ever do any of those things, I hope you have enough love in your heart to love more subjects on this blog.

P.S. I swear I will make something neat for comment-ers on that last post down there, and I will NOT use your shipping address to stalk you! Probably! (So get commenting.)

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing . . .

Yes, friends, this is a post all about loving one another and taking care of all mankind.

Well, actually it's just a small, neat pay-it-forward project thing and a little (read: LOT) bit of stalling.

Pay it Forward:

I managed to be one of the first five to comment on someone else's PIF post and so will be getting something within the next nine months. Exciting! I decided now was a good time to post this because it's still fairly early in the year and I have a while to try to get some handmade things busted out.

Also, I haven't posted in freaking forever. I took my camera and computer with me on my recent trip home to visit friends and family, but (as usual) spent waaaay too much time enjoying all them folks to spend time staring at a screen without them. Sorry, readers.

The trip resulted in loooots of new clothes (gift card, trading in old clothes for new, thrifting, etc.) that I can't wait to show, but for now I need to take care of my hungry dog, get things put away from the trip, and pick up the house from the disarray in which I left it.

Comment for a free something! (Non-blog-writing readers: I believe this could be posted on Facebook and continued that way. Feel free to be one of my comment-ers!) Note: I just discovered some INCREDIBLE craft blogs (something I've been intentionally semi-avoiding because I knew I would get sucked in. Well, I'm in now, so sign up and I'll send you some of the crazy ideas I'm rapidly coming up with - but in material, not idea, form.