remix: the basic shift

past posts: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

I am incredibly fond of dresses. While my favorite, most flattering style of dress is probably the fit and flare, if I was forced to choose one single dress to wear it'd have to be the basic shift. It's the dress I would recommend to everyone as a must-have. It's endlessly versatile and easily remixed. I have wide hips, which I think discourages most people (myself included) to buy shift or sheath dresses... because honestly, who wants a dress that's super tight around the hips, and loose everywhere else?

My advice would be to buy a size up, for a comfortable fit, and fall in love with the many ways to style this wonderfully basic dress. Belt it for the fit and flare that you love, or tuck it into a skirt. Wear it plain with a loose cardigan for a super cozy feel, or throw a sweater over it because it's so easy. 

I've been self-conscious in the past because of how much I wear this dress. But it never gets old (to me - I haven't polled my family and friends). God bless the shift dress.

aside from pumpkin {frocktober, day 2}

Yesterday was a lazy day as far as pictures are concerned. I think the whole mood started when I heard Katy Perry's "Friday Night" on the radio. Something about hearing "tgif!" chanted over and over seems a little unfair on a Thursday. Needless to say, Frocktober was just as fabulous as ever, but we got bogged down with errands and things and weren't able to take any proper photos. I still wore my dress all the day long and thoroughly enjoyed this cool-weather traipse through the desert to capture these couple of grainy photos on my phone.

The desert is gorgeous right now. Still warm during the days, but not too hot, delightfully chilly in the mornings and evenings. Fall gets a lotta love for being the best season around. I didn't really care about it until I moved to Virginia and realized that it actually is the best season around. It's absolutely gorgeous. The colors, the flavors, the crisp air, the coziness, the love for life that comes swiftly and easily every time you step out your door. It really is the best. Being an adopted east coaster for a while really taught me the joys of it. I hope we can eventually design an annual trip out there for the prime golden time.
BUT pumpkin gets crazy amounts of attention for being the Fall mascot, and even though I love it, I'm gonna have to say I love these flavors even more:

Butternut Squash. 
Pumpkin is just another squash, and yet it gets elevated to godhood while little butternutter just stands there begging for love. In Australia they actually call it Butternut Pumpkin, which I think is quite right. I just don't think there's anything better than a warm, creamy bowl of butternut squash soup. Holy gourd, it seeps right through your body like a miracle. It's beautiful.

Caramel.
In my opinion, caramel is best served with a really bitter dark chocolate. Caramel is often too sweet, which is also a big fault of the general pumpkin-flavored multitudes. I need something to offset that sweetness. Which is why I also adore salted caramel and my dad's caramel popcorn. He makes his own caramel, piping hot and boiling, and pours it over a giant bowl of freshly popped kernels. It's honestly the best part of the holidays for me.

Maple.
One of my favorite episodes of Friends is the one where Ross and Chandler go to Vermont, and Ross gets totally crazy and sugar-high twitchy over maple candy. I can totally relate! Maple donuts are the only donuts for me. Slightly warmed up with creamy coffee - yum!
Close flavor favorites to this are crunchy toffee and butter rum.

Hazelnut. 
I really think Fall is the time for nut-flavors. Hazelnut, pecan, walnut, almond. Almond especially goes so well with fall spices, like cinnamon and spiced chocolate. I wish Starbucks carried almond syrup, because that would be lovely. But in that regard, hazelnut is the king.

I recently discovered that Starbucks actually carries a hazelnut drizzle, and I'm seriously wondering how in the world no one told me this before. Thank goodness for that apt barista who followed his hunch and asked, would you like hazelnut drizzle on this? Well of course I do! Where have you been all my life! Your brethren have let me down!                                          

Hazelnut is my daily comfort. It's what I put in my coffee every morning (and occasionally in my iced coffee with drizzle in the afternoons). It's rich and lightly sweet and carries extra special meaning once the weather begins to cool. And also, nutella. That's all.

Pushing the big-headed pumpkin aside, what's your favorite Fall flavor? 

I'm extra excited because tonight is my little birthday get together, and we're having a bonfire with a s'mores bar. Best idea in the universe. And yes, nutella will be an honored guest. 

We spent last night getting groceries and cleaning up. We even hung a little gypsy-garden of lights over a large wooden table and chairs on the back porch. I think I may just move out there. 

Can't wait to show you all photos. It's going to be a great birthday weekend!

a little bit of purple, a little bit of sparkle

Dress (remixed)(similar, similar): Ruche

Day 17: This outfit was one of those providential combinations that happens when two things happen to stand out to you when you're browsing your closet.
Most of the time I randomly pick out a dress, and throw the additional pieces and accessories together later on. This time, I went to the very back of my closet and pulled out this old cardigan -- I've had it for years. It was a gift from my cousin, and I had to be somewhere between 10-12 years old. I thought it was the most amazing cardigan ever created. It was bejeweled! And I mean, it was the 90s for heaven's sake. I was wearing glittery lip gloss when she gave it to me. (Ok, fine, I was probably wearing glitter lotion, too.) How much better could it get?
I went through many phases of trying to decide whether to keep it or not -- was it okay to be bejeweled? Is it in? Is it out again? Who knows.
As I pulled it out, this Aztec print dress was hanging on my closet door, and the two met and decided to get along. I had nothing to do with it.

Then, crazy on top of crazier, I noticed a hint of purple in the Aztec pattern that I had never noticed before. I felt a sudden jubilance, because I have a very sad collection of very few scarves (meaning, like, 10 or 12 which is most definitely a #firstworldproblem) and I didn't think any of them would match this pattern-happy ensemble.
Luckily for us, that little bit of purple saved the day.

Day 18: I'm sneakily including this outfit as well, because a.) I need to catch up on Frocktober posts and b.) it's a frumpy day/after dark photoshoot.
I try to always get a few outfits shots before dark, but this particular day was a busy one, and I had to work late while my husband went to a few meetings that evening. It was a messy bun day where all I wanted to wear was pajamas, so I settled for one of my oldest, softest dresses and my cozy polka dot sweater from Francesca's.

i feel weird saying "booties"

I had this great moment of photographic courage last night.
I went to pick up my husband from a meeting, and as I was sitting in the car listening to music, I noticed the sun was setting. It was a beautiful sunset, but it also made me realize that he was running late, and that we might run out of light before I got a chance to have him snap a few outfit photos for me.

So I did the crazy move - I set the camera on self-timer and propped it on a giant trash can, and took pictures in the parking lot.
I got a lot of stares from passersby, and two girls on a nearby bench literally stopped mid-sentence and stared openly, food dangling from their mouths. (That might be an exaggeration). Even so, it felt kind of great to be openly weird for a second.
My bravery ran out really fast though, and luckily Dusty came out soon after. Maybe one of these days, when I've mastered manual focus and invested in a proper remote, I'll feel less awkward about traipsing around with my tripod in the middle of populated areas.
But chances are...I'll opt for the deserted barn, every time.

Dress (shop!)/Boots (shop!): Ruche

The fashion world: The only place where "booties" can refer to something other than a plethora of butts.

Am I the only one who feels really weird saying it?
Whenever I say it out loud I resist the urge to giggle a little. Maybe I'm not really 25 after all.
In any case, I love my new pink booties. 
Heh heh.
Now I'm laughing again.

But seriously, I could wear these every day.
They're soft and so perfect. I love the heel on them -- and the fact that they're pink, even though it's a soft baby pink (they're called rose!), is so much fun. I can't wait to wear them again.
(Thanks, mom!).

aztec appetite

Dress (shop!): Ruche, Skirt: J. Crew

It's totally a week for the Aztec print.

I got these dresses for my birthday, and I dunno about you, but when I get new clothes I have to wear them at once. If I could just make an outfit change every few hours or so, that'd be ideal. 

This is the second Aztec print dress I've worn this week, and I'm currently wearing the third!

(And I mean, look at all the Aztec items at Ruche. So hard to choose!)

I'm normally attracted to bright colors and crazy patterns, but this black and white version is absolutely fantastic. It may be my favorite, against all color-loving odds. 

Tucking a dress into a skirt is one of my favorite ways to remix all the dresses in my wardrobe!

The quality of the dress is wonderful, as it's fully lined and a tad stretchy. Plus the little keyhole detail in the front is so fun. I'll definitely be wearing this baby on the regular.

Dustin and I were kind of unintentionally matching in black and white yesterday, so I couldn't help but want to get a few pictures of us on this bright green hill.
The leaves are finally beginning to change, and the weather is finally cooling down (too late for our trip to DC, which was 90 degrees!) to an appropriate October climate of 60-65 degrees.
Thus, Fall is moving in, and bright green hills are quickly going out of style!

birthday!

My best friend and my husband and I left on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend in Washington D.C.!
It was the perfect birthday getaway. Becky had never been, and what better way to spend a birthday celebration than eating out at great restaurants every meal, bike riding around the city, and visiting our favorite monuments?

Right before we left on Friday we had a bunch of cards and boxes delivered for my birthday, and one of them was from my mom, containing three amazing dresses from Ruche and the most amazing blush pink boots, which I'll be wearing very soon.
This dress is one of them! I love it. I've been wanting to snatch up one of their Aztec print dresses for a while, and now I have three of them. I love this one in particular because it reminds me so much of Arizona, my home state and soul home.

One of the bloggers I met through Cara Box, Amanda (see her blog here!), told me about a trip she took to Scotland, and how she remembers writing in her journal that if people had soulmates, then maybe they also had soulhomes - and if so, Scotland was definitely hers.
I absolutely love that idea. I felt a similar connection to Ireland when we went, and it's so poetic to think that Ireland and I were destined to meet.

But if I have only one soulhome, it's most definitely Arizona.

Dress (shop!)/sunglasses (shop!): Ruche, Bangle (shop!): gifted/Kate Spade 

I love this best friend bangle from Kate Spade -- Becky and I made a pact to buy it for each other randomly, and I gave her the gold version on New Year's Eve last year, and she gave this silver one to me for my birthday.

Despite the government shutdown, we were able to have an amazing Saturday in DC!
We even got to witness some fervent patriotism, as busses of veterans arrived and people cheered them on into the WWII memorial while the rangers stood by the open barricades, stating that "the park is closed", but not stopping anyone from entering.
It was a rather powerful display!
At one point, Michelle Bachmann moved the barricade and led a large group of people up the steps into the Lincoln monument - it was open for about ten minutes before the police arrived.
Crazy stuff!

While in town, we hit some of my favorite food spots: Oyamel, Good Stuff Eatery, Filomena, and Georgetown Cupcake!

Here are a few snapshots of the day:

(Yeah, we even saw a fox - happy birthday to me!)