style crush: le happy

blog post

I've recently become infatuated with the incredibly popular blog, Le Happy. 

She has hundreds of thousands of followers (over a million on her Instagram), but I actually came across her page on Facebook because she was featured on Chicwish. 

The photo above was the featured outfit, and I think it caught my eye for a couple of reasons. I love galaxy prints, first of all. I also love color-tipped hair. I immediately saved the photo for future reference in case I ever wanted to dye my entire head red with blonde tips. I'm not sure what it is entirely about her style, but there's something that really resonates with me. 

A piece of my style world is perfected in her outfits. The bit of grunge, bold galaxy prints, funky layers, metallics, Lennon-style sunglasses, an affinity for cats and macarons, skinny jeans and tights. 

My style can also be very feminine and romantic at times, with lace and florals and vintage dresses. But I think if my style could be described as a schizophrenic's collection of personalities, Le Happy would be one of them. 

blog post / blog post / instagram post

As I wrote on my 26 before 27 list, I hope to dye the tips of my hair purple this year. I'm contemplating achieving that goal over Thanksgiving weekend. I work for the city's elementary school district, and staff technically aren't allowed to dye their hair. Since I work behind a desk and not with students, though, I'm going to try spending Thanksgiving break with some fun hair and see if I can keep it for a week or two. If not, I'll go ahead and cut my hair or dye it back.

I'll leave you with some of my Pinterest hair dreams:

archives: jimmy jons

Happy Friday!

I decided that today would be a good day to reach back into my blogging history and pull out one of my favorite posts from my first blog, Once Upon a Wife Life. My first blog was dedicated to my friends and family while we were away in Virginia for law school. I posted a lot of personal posts, mostly to keep them updated on our lives in Lynchburg. 

Now that we're back, I've let OUAWL go, although I do need to write a few more posts there to wrap up our time in Lynchburg. All that to say: this was one of my silliest posts. It still makes me laugh. 

I first posted it on June 7th, 2012. Enjoy!

This is from our engagement session with our friend Mike. circa 2010.
He told me to be sexy. I had no idea how.
He said that the key to being sexy is to pretend you're about to say the F word.

Sometimes, I laugh out loud at myself.
It's not because I think I'm really funny (I occasionally think I'm pretty funny) but I'm just really easily entertained, and sometimes when that perfect thing comes to mind, I can hardly contain my glee at my own cleverness.

When we were in Charlotte last weekend, we went into a very high-end department store, Neiman Marcus.
They carry all of the fanciest brand names. I mean, the store name is in cursive, and it's just really obvious that it's not a place where Dusty and I regularly shop. Or ever shop.
We went around admiring the merchandise, and I could have sworn a few hefty men came cautiously in our direction just to make sure we weren't trying to steal anything.

Back off my wal-mart cardigan, dude, it's a fun color and it fits nice.

As we made our way back to the fancy menswear, Dusty began to drool over a ridiculously gorgeous pinstripe suit. It was divine. I nodded my approval, sneaking a peak at the $4,000 price tag on just the jacket. Maybe that's normal for people like Leonardo DiCaprio...or maybe that's just the kind of suit he would buy for his dog, I really don't know. For little ones like us it's a lot of money.
A well-dressed (duh) grey-haired man approached us, asking if we needed any assistance. He had a bit of an arch to his eyebrow that said he was up to no good. We told him we were just looking.

He proceeded to nod and walk back across the glistening tile to another store worker, and whispered, "Eh, just a couple of Jimmy Jons."

Now.

I don't know what that's supposed to mean. My fancy-pants radar was going off, signaling that I should be offended. But that radar is broken (I bought it at a discount) and all that resulted was a fit of giggles. Offended giggles, obviously, but it had us both cracking up, trying to imagine what they must think of us.

We then developed a string of Jimmy Jon scenarios.

Me: "Most of my pants I bought for less than $10...and that's why I'm a Jimmy Jon."
Dusty: "9 of my socks have holes in them, and that's why I'm a Jimmy Jon!"
Me: "Well, I use safety pins to keep my dress intact. Pretty sure that makes me a Jimmy Jon."
Dusty: "Our favorite restaurant is Olive Garden. That, ladies and gentlemen, is why we're Jimmy Jons."
Me: "Ha! I use my panty-hose as a pasta drainer...and that's why I'm a Jimmy Jon."
Dusty: "I buy all my groceries from the bum next door...and that's why I'm a Jimmy Jon!"
Me: "Gee whiz, our entire downstairs is courtesy of thrift stores and Craigslist. We are so Jimmy Jons."

For the record, some of these are true, and some of them are not. I won't say which are which.
I wish I could remember some of the ones we actually said that day, because we were in stitches, we were so pleased with ourselves. Suffice it to say, we're not too upset about being Jimmy Jons.

Then yesterday, I was having a conversation with my friend Becky about fitness. We were talking about getting in shape, and how important it is to keep a tight core, and feel the burn, and bladda yadda work-out jargon.

One of the items of conversation became arms. I think it's especially important to women to have toned arms. The last thing you want is for your under-arm to do a flash-dance in the middle of you waving to the next-door neighbor.
We all want sexy-toned arms.
So I said, "Oh ya. It's a must. Especially in the summertime...I mean...when I put on my new bridesmaid's dress last night, I just kept my arms spread-eagle so there wouldn't be any unwanted skin gathering."
We had a good laugh.
I told Dusty about this conversation, because I thought it was really funny.

After work that night, we stopped by the grocery store to pick up some things for a barbecue we were going to. We grabbed some beans, hamburger/hot dog buns, and then headed down the chip aisle.
A very dangerous place!
I immediately spotted the Puff Cheetos, because I love those, and have been craving them since...the last time I ate them, and realized I never wanted to stop.

This was last year. Proof of our long-standing affair.

After we checked out, I asked Dusty if I could go ahead and open the Cheetos for a pre-barbecue snack.
He said no!
I was upset.

Dusty: "You need to have self control."
Me: Rolling my eyes, "I don't want any of that."
He looks at me critically. We start to walk out the sliding doors.
Dusty: "Oh really? So, what? You just wanna be spread-eagle for the rest of your life?"

Funniest thing he's ever said to me. Except for one other thing, which I can't blog about, because it's super inappropriate.
But I thought I might pee my pants. I had to pause in the parking lot and compose myself.

The moral of the story is, when I think something is really funny, I can't. stop. laughing.
And going on a rant of hilarity is one of my favorite things to do, and I absolutely love that I have so many people in my life that allow me to be ridiculous.
Love you guys :)

Dusty, ya Jimmy Jon, I love ya.

(original post)

christmas week!

A very merry Christmas from my little corner of the world!

This week will be full of family, fun, all things Christmas and all things jolly.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, and I promise I will be back to blogging regularly in no time!

Drink lattes, pray for snow, wear fuzzy socks, listen to carols, maybe sing a few...make a fire, cuddle up, see a film, enjoy the glitter, and say I love you a whole darn lot.

Merry Christmas.

the vintage slip

Vintage has been a cherished theme and idea for pretty much my entire teenage years/adulthood.

Vintage weddings, parties, clothes, dishes, decor. Antiques. 

Perhaps it stems from that long-time love of all things Jane Austen, and the generation that fell in love with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy is finally growing up and getting married and decorating things. 

It could also just be the inevitable infatuation with nostalgia, which every generation seems to have in common. (I will always love you, 90's.)

Some bloggers out there are experts at thrifting and shopping vintage clothing and accessories.

I must confess that I have little to no experience in this area, mostly because I have trouble not knowing the history of an item -- in some cases it can be romantic, like a chipped china teacup or a bit of lace trim. 

But with clothes, I'm always nervous and my most germophobic self comes out in all its irrational glory. 

I have no idea where that item has been...I seem to recall some incident where I tried on an old hat once, and someone yelled at me that it could have lice in it, for all I knew. Maybe I was traumatized?

Whatever the cause for my aversion to vintage clothing, I finally had a must-have moment in an antique store. For a slip, of all things.

I've seen this trend, where a particularly fancy lace-trimmed slip is used to achieve a lengthened skirt, or to simply add some flair. Ruche has a nice collection of slips to choose from, and their winter lookbook Once Upon a Time even featured an outfit with one.

When I saw the vintage slip for a mere $9, I couldn't help myself. I had to get it!
It was something I had been wanting to try, but couldn't bring myself to spend a lot of money on.
I was surprised by how much I loved the way it turned out.
What do you think? Would you wear a vintage slip?

visit me at Ruche

Happy Friday everyone!

I've been featured this fine day over at Ruche's blog, for a feature entitled "Playing with Prints"!
Go check it out!

I'm happy to say one of my favorite outfits of this month was featured, of the leopard cardigan, as well as a fun floral chambray/coral pants combo. Both outfits are featuring one of Ruche's many delectable necklaces, and I would highly recommend snatching a gem up for yourself (especially since mine came with a bonus pair of earrings to go with each necklace...but maybe they just like me a whole lot!)

The Leopard Cardigan

 Targét and the chambray way

Have a fabulous weekend!

self-portraits: outfit 6

I haven't done a whole lot of self-portrait photo shoots. I'm always self conscious, and definitely have no idea how to work the settings for a self-timer, or how to position myself, etc. The second outfit during this challenge was the first time I've taken photos of myself not on my back porch or in my own apartment complex. It was extremely nerve-racking, but luckily there weren't any people around and I was able to get a few usable shots!
I knew I was going to have to challenge myself to put myself behind the camera and give my husband a break from daily photo shoots. I need to push myself to be adventurous with my pictures and my locations, and try and get better at understanding my camera and how to best use it for different situations.
The more you practice, the easier it gets!

Outfit 6 featured my classic orange gingham top, and the purple lace skirt, along with a few accessories.

Top: J. Crew, Skirt: LOFT, Necklace: Francesca's, Shoes: Zulily

I got off work early on Friday, so I was running around doing some errands before having to go back to get Dusty. While I was driving around, I found this odd little lake behind several businesses and grocery stores. I spotted a flock of geese as well, so I was somewhat drawn to it. I decided to bite the bullet and take a quick photoshoot, even though it was still a bit too sunny and hot out!

I feel like this town has a lot of secrets, and with only a year left to explore them before we move back home after law school, I'm more motivated than ever to explore and try new things.
I look forward to finding more nooks and crannies to discover and capture.

a foggy day in london town

There's so much to say about the one and only London, England.

The first day of our trip was spent sightseeing, keeping warm, oohing and aawing and exploring the city.
While this is just a taste of our first day (feel free to visit my personal blog for more), it was truly a magical experience!

Dress: Ruche, Jacket: Gifted, 
Pants: Kohl's, Vera Wang (shop!), Purse: Target, 
Booties: Urbanog (shop!), Earrings: A Child of Whimsy on Etsy

How could I not wear my amazing leather coat on our jaunty trek through London?
Right before we left, I was thrilled to find the perfect little lavender shoulder bag at Target on clearance for $7!
Target is such a great place to look for wardrobe staples and little things to bolster up your closet. Their clearance sections are always a win for me!

It was so cold and dreary (it actually snowed that weekend!) so I was extra glad I had brought some extras for layering!

I've always been pretty hesitant about turtle necks, but this one was my lifesaver. 

I have now vowed to bridge any gap between me and the high-neck blouses, and purchase a few more for such winter weather fashion emergencies.

I've also fallen in love with this pair of asymmetrical earrings that I purchased from a friend of mine on Etsy. Her shop is called A Child of Whimsy and she always has sweet items for sale!

One of the highlights for us was going up in the Eye of London.

The views of the city were incredible. Such a magical moment!

Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Eye of London...
We definitely had an amazing first day!

Hopefully you won't tire of trip outfit posts, as those will be dominating the blog for a little while! :)
The weather was freezing, layering was a challenge, and my trusty old black coat became my daily staple.
But it was still a grand adventure!

Until next time!