be mine

Happy Valentine's day, everyone!

I'm currently all fancied up and getting ready for Dustin and I's date night. We're seeing Kingsman: The Secret Service and going out to a new restaurant, Olive and Ivy! I can't wait.

Yesterday's outfit was definitely due to my novel dress series. This dress was inspired by The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, and once I posted about it I couldn't help but buy it. That series has been so much fun to read and even though I'm the one that named it a Lamora dress, I needed to own it anyway. I'm really glad I took the leap, because I love it. It's much silkier and brighter than I originally thought, which is totally fine by me!

Overall, this post is just a quick note in honor of one of my favorite holidays. There are plenty of valentine naysayers out there, but I think it's beautiful that there's a day set aside for love every year. Of course, we should always show our loved ones we cherish and appreciate them, but Valentine's Day brings with it sweets and chocolate-shaped hearts, little cartoons of cherubs and Disney characters, Galentine's Day (cutesie term for honoring besties), and so many other fun ways to celebrate. Whether you're dating someone and dressing up for romance or simply dressed in pink and red to go out with your best friends, it's a day worth celebrating. We are lucky to have so much love.

Dress (shop!): Ruche

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)

happy saturday: outfit 7

Outfit number 7 was for a relaxed and fun-filled Saturday.
In the morning I had book club, and that evening we were heading out on the town with another couple for a double date night.

Top/Shorts: J. Crew, Shoes: Zulily, Sunglasses: Ruche

I cheated a little bit in these first few pictures and sported one of my very favorite pairs of sunglasses from Ruche. While they're not an official accessory, they just worked so well with my Saturday ensemble. It was a sunshiney day!

That morning I went to a spot downtown that I had never been to before, to have breakfast with my book club. We read The Poisonwood Bible this month, and are starting on Bread & Wine for next month, which I couldn't be more excited about!

Market at Main is a great spot downtown and I loved my sweet potato pancakes. I really look forward to going there again!
Bread & Wine: A Love Letter to Life Around the Table by Shauna Niequist is a darling book filled with life excerpts and personal recipes. It's a quick and delightful read, and the book club is mixing things up a little this month by meeting at one of our houses, and having all of us make and bring one of the recipes from the book. I'm thrilled!
One of our book club members reached out to the author, and asked if the publisher could maybe provide our book club with free copies of the book so we could read it together, and review and blog about it. And they said yes! And sent us all copies.
Our book club is filled with students and stay-at-home moms, so having these books provided for us is such a treat. I normally just request the book from our library, so having my own copy of this one which I already love is really exciting.

That night we went out to The Dahlia to mark the first day of Restaurant Week.
I love Restaurant Week. It's one of my favorite parts of summer in Lynchburg!

My absolute favorite thing at The Dahlia is the beer cheese soup. It's creamy and flavorful and served with popcorn, and it's pretty much brilliant. Pub food at its finest and yummiest.
After dinner we drove around admiring the old money houses of the surrounding neighborhoods, and enjoyed having the windows down with such gorgeous weather.
It was a great Saturday.

sushi and superman

On thing I've learned this week is that I am so white.

This isn't a racial/Caucasian announcement, obviously I know I've always been white. But my skin is pale right now, guys.

I've never been a super serious tanner, or even a mildly interested tanner. I know that "tanner" means someone who is employed to tan animal skins, but for the sake of this conversation it's going to be a girl who tans herself. 

I've never wanted to spend the money on a monthly tanning bed sort of habit, and though I've spent my fair share of hours by the pool in the sunshine, I've always thought the upkeep was too frustrating.

There's also that whole skin cancer thing, which I think is a pretty big deal.

I'm fine with being milky white, really. But boy, at this point in the year, I think I'm approaching translucent. 

Top: Francesca's (shop!), Shorts: Gianni Bini/Dillard's, Necklace: Cookie Lee, Watch: Fossil

These leather shorts were a winter sale purchase at Dillard's this past Christmas.
I was constantly on the lookout for interesting tights-with-shorts experiments. I never ended up wearing them with tights, but ironically I've worn them twice this spring/summer.
It hasn't really been summery hot yet, so that's probably why. In any case, I love the stars on them and they're funky in a way that I like!
Faux leather is always intriguing to me. Where do you draw the line between a great accent/texture piece and a super weird/tacky piece of clothing? I guess it all just boils down to each individual person and their tastes.
Speaking of tastes - I went on a hunt for a vest this afternoon (mostly because of this outfit worn by Mara on M Loves M) and I think I found the perfect one. I can't wait for these next few weeks, as I'm going to be embarking on another closet challenge, which I'll post about later.

Last night we went on a fantastic date night to see the new Superman movie, Man of Steel.
We're both suckers for comic book and super hero movies, so we couldn't help but hop off to the theaters on opening day for this new one! (And I couldn't help but dress to match - red and blue it is!)
Beforehand we went to our favorite sushi spot, so it became a theme date - Sushi and Superman.

Needless to say, it was a great evening! I love date nights!

Stay tuned for the rest of June - I've decided on a summer challenge! I posted yesterday about trying to find a new challenge, so here it is: for the next 15 days, I'm going to be taking 15 different items from my closet, and compiling a different outfit for every day using only those items! Wish me luck!