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.

Better Together

Jumping off point: new blue button-up.

I have watched other bloggers rock simple button-ups for the last several months. Under a thin sweater, under a pretty pearl bib necklace, this staple can look great in oh so many ways! (But not if you don't have one.) I didn't, until last week. I had a lovely Old Navy gift card and with it, I obtained the perfect trench coat (which will definitely be showing up in posts shortly) and a great new shirt.

Shirt: Old Navy. Necklace: NY&Co. Belt: Thrifted. Shorts: Old Navy. Shoes: Call it Spring.

"Just ONE outfit picture?" you say? "But you usually put so many pictures of yourself on here!" you say.

True. But it just wasn't working for me the day I took these. The pictures that really came out great are of some other little posers in my house that day. My family came down to visit! Look what a little model my sister is:

I know, right? And yes, she just looks like that. 5'9". Yup. Exactly model-size. And here's my "little" brother:

I was so thrilled to see them last week! There's nothing better than being surrounded by family.

(Not) Fake Plastic Trees

Hey guys! I just found out about possibly the coolest thing to happen to my blog yet - it's going to get a tree planted for it! Bah! Ixpo is planting trees for blogs and websites to counteract the carbon generated by hits to those sites, isn't that so great? Here's how you, too, can join in:

1. Add a button to your header/footer/sidebar (as you can see over on the left of my blog now)
2. Write a blog post about it. (Example: this one you're reading right now. Whoa.)
3. Email them to tell them about it.

That's it!

You even get to choose from a few options for the button that works best for you. Neat, eh? I'm psyched. I guess they email you when they plant your tree, so I'll be sure to let all you out there in blog-land know when that happens. It'll be a proud moment for me, I tell ya.

Want more information? Go here.

Short Skirt

It has recently come to my attention that many of the people who view my blog, as well as several of those I follow, are mormon. I am not mormon.

There's no problem with that, of course, but when I realized this fact I wondered why it was so - I think it has to do with modesty. I tend to dress modestly, especially in the wintertime, as my blog so far would attest. BUT. The pictures in this post may just get me kicked out of that ring of folks!

Shirt: Anthro. Belt: Husband's. Skirt: Hand-me-down from friend. Shoes: Call it Spring via Zappos.

For me, propriety is not dictated by hard and fast rules of any kind. (Yes, there's a point below which I will not allow my necklines to go; and yes, there is a definite point above which my hemline cannot rise. Never ever no way.) But really, I think that it has much more to do with time, place, and company. I wore this outfit to an afternoon cookout with some female friends, partially because I was so excited to receive this skirt from a friend (I love it!) and partially to celebrate the gorgeous sunny weather we were having. I think that was appropriate. Would I wear this to teach? No way. Would I wear this to a bar? Not a chance. That's modesty for me.

Also, do you like my little side bun there? I was loving it. I have never gotten one to work well, but for that I:

1. twisted hair, starting at temple on right side, curving back along hairline to left ear.

2. pull all twisted hair into ponytail holder.

3. curl a lot. (My hair was already curled from the day before, so I skipped this.)

4. pin up in a loose, messy bun-thing.

Edit: When I posted this, I wanted to include the tutorial that showed me how to do this. I couldn't find it, but thanks to pinterest, I saw it again! Go here for better instructions, and in-process pictures. Plus, check out how cute the model is:

Have a good day, all!