Targét and the chambray way

I pulled into the Target parking lot last night, and right as I did, a deluge poured down upon me.
It lasted for approximately 1 minute - aka, the time it took for me to gather the courage to leave my car and sprint the length of the parking lot to get to the front door. I was unceremoniously drenched, and people in the store looked at me like I was nuts, since it had already stopped raining by then.

I love Target. It was the common shopping spot for my roommates and I throughout my time in college, since the Wal-Mart was sketchy and the mall was too much temptation.
Granted, we somehow managed to escape Target with empty pockets and loads of clothes, toiletries and furniture we didn't even need, but it still seemed the sensible option when we just needed "a few things".
That fond feeling of camaraderie with Target has remained, even though I live with a boy now and don't often make whimsical Target trips to try on sunglasses and stroll along the home decor aisle pretending like a fancy (ish, this is Target after all) woman who can totally afford to decorate with an ottoman in each room and giant wall art and lamps with crystals and dozens of ornate picture frames.
We liked to give Target the pseudo-French name of "Targét" (Tar-ZHAY) and waltz around like we owned the place.

I just now found out that people have been jokingly saying "Targét" since 1962, the year the very first Target was opened. I am shocked and appalled we didn't invent this ourselves.
You win again, Wikipedia. 

Top (shop!): Old Navy, Bottoms/Jewelry (shop!): Ruche, Shoes: Zulily

Chambray is the new way.
Most bloggers and basically all-around clothes-wearers own at least one chambray shirt nowadays.
I finally gave in, albeit cheatingly, with this thin $6 Old Navy top that boasts a sweet floral print and the spirit of the chambray trend.
I've really enjoyed wearing it (remixed here), and have also been told by at least four other people "I have that same shirt!"
The curse of living in an anti-shopping town with an Old Navy.
It could also just be the curse of Old Navy, no matter where you live.
But I'm not sure I mind having a few twinsies out there. I kind of enjoy an occasional matchy matchy moment.
So, hey! This top is $6. Go buy it!

flutter on by

I love Monday and Tuesday nights.
For the last few months, we've had two of our favorite friends come over almost every single Mon/Tues for The Bachelorette and SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance).
We order pizza, or make crepes, or grab ice cream, and/or make coffee and enjoy some quality television together.
The result is hours of fun conversation revolved around the dramatic happenings of a woman trying to find love and a group of dancers that just want to try and make their dreams come true.
We've had a blast. With the finale of The Bachelorette this past Monday, there was gasping, crying, screaming, laughing, throwing things. It was the best darn 2 hours of television I've ever experienced.
(And by the by, I was #teamChris from the very beginning!)

Dress: J. Crew, Necklace (shop!) (similar!)/Earrings/Shoes (shop!): Ruche
Bangles: Kate Spade

Yesterday's outfit was very minty fresh.
This dress was one of my favorite buys from our local J. Crew Outlet two years ago, our first year living in Virginia.
It has served as one of my favorite go-tos, and has encouraged my love for anything and everything mint in my life.

During Ruche's jewelry sale last week I snatched up one of the very last listings for this layered necklace!
It's absolutely perfect for this monochromatic look, and I can already see it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
(Especially since Ruche included a surprise pair of matching earrings for every necklace I purchased! They're the best! I would highly recommend scanning their jewelry section.)

After my husband kindly took these pictures for me out on the damp rainy asphalt, we wandered back towards our front door when we noticed all of our friendly butterflies happily grazing away at our front bushes.
There are literally hundreds throughout the summer, and I try never to take advantage of how beautiful they are to watch.
We spent the next 15 minutes or so just taking a few shots of our dear friends, watching them live their lives, just fluttering on by.

Our front door :)

summer's end

I was recently feeling disappointed in the end of summer, lamenting that August has arrived when I feel like we haven't crossed nearly enough "summer" things off of our to-do list.
It's been an odd sort of summer, cool weather and days spent cooped up in the office or huddled under an umbrella. Very odd indeed.

That being said, I was completely rejuvenated by a post I read this week by Christin Willis over at We Heart Photography.
She posts these adorable "little love stories" that I always love to read.
It was called "The Bucket List" - it immediately caught my attention because Dusty and I have an in-progress Bucket List for our last year in Lynchburg!

Christin and her hubby Jacob had a similar experience - they decided to sit down and write a summer bucket list. But by the time August came around, Christin was lamenting over the lack of strikes through their fun summer activities.
She then had a miraculous discovery: the end of summer (aka the official "first day of Fall") isn't until September 22nd. 

That means we still have a glorious month and a half of summer love in the air, and while school may be starting and everything on our summer-to-do list may not be perfect, and some things may not even happen at all...the spirit of the bucket list is much more than that.

The point is, there’s a reason you make a bucket list. The bucket list reminds you of that romanticized dream of summer (or life). It takes you back to the moment when you imagined yourself frolicking, dancing, enjoying your life. Not all of the things on the list will turn out the way you thought. It might be freezing on the scooter ride day and the bed and breakfast might be more of a bugs and breakfast; but, on the night of live music and dancing, your husband might look at you, and see the young, free-spirited girl he fell in love with, and he might just smile and think, “I am the luckiest.”

- Christin Willis, We Heart Photography

I couldn't have put it any better myself!

I'm off to plan that sunset hike, and try and see when we can spend a day floating lazily down the James river...

weekends away

Earlier this summer, my husband and I made a little getaway to Richmond.
We booked a hotel smack dab in the middle of downtown, with a great room and an incredible view.

It's amazing how rejuvenated we felt after such a small getaway. Richmond is only a little over two hours away from us, but we felt like we were far from home and ready for adventure.
Being in a city environment with new restaurants and new shopping areas (and a big theme park that we went to on Saturday!) was like being in a whole new world.
We walked around holding hands, went into a beautiful historic hotel, stopped for coffee, went shopping, and even went to one of those phenomenal theater experiences where they serve you food at your seats. We had delicious blue cheese nachos, pasta and coffee while we laughed out loud at The Heat (and the incredibly drunk girl sitting behind us that had to be escorted out.)

As I was thinking about summer coming to an end, I was looking back through this trip and remembered taking a few outfit photos on our last night. We got dressed up and went to a super cool restaurant called The Boathouse which sat right on the water and overlooked the Richmond skyline. It was a lovely weekend, one I hope we're able to repeat with similar mini getaways to nearby places. Sometimes you don't have to go that far to feel like you're whisked away to something exciting.

Dress: London (similar, similar), Shoes: Poetic License (shop, shop)

august stampede

Remember that time when summer never came?

Today is August 1st and I'm caught completely off guard. 

It's another cloudy day, and my mind is still in May. I feel as if we've skipped the summer months, arriving straight into Fall. 

I can count the number of times I've said "it's hot!" on one hand. And a few of them were just because I was checking on the biscuits in the oven. 

I don't know what to do with this kind of summer. It's been a great few months, don't get me wrong - but it feels like it all just went by in a blur! We didn't have any days at the beach, we didn't grill hardly at all because it rained so often, we never took a weekend for the lake, and we didn't have any grand summertime vacations with pina colada smoothies and sunburns.

Overall, it just feels like summer never came.

Top: Modcloth, Skirt: LOFT, Necklace: Francesca's (similar)

That being said, August has its own kind of magic spark.
With summer coming to an end, every single day is full of desperate possibility.

The countdown begins - 18 days until the beginning of school!
For us, that's 18 days until the last first day of school. The beginning of the end of our law school days.

I can't begin to express my feelings about this coming year, now that we've officially crossed over into less than a year until we wrap up our time in Lynchburg and prepare to move back to Arizona. Back to our blessed summer heat and our families.
Arizona, where the summers are real and gritty and bright and endless.

So cheers...to the first and very last of our summers that never came.