tgif {frocktober, day 8 and 9}

Outfit 1: Dress (remixed): gifted

Outfit 2: Top: zulily, Dress: borrowed, 

Leggings (remixed 1, 2): Pink Blush Maternity

This weekend has already been speeding by. Any time we spend working on the house seems to eat away at our days. A full day seems less effective somehow. So many projects, so many minutes slipping away. It's hard to feel like real progress is being made until you take a peek at those "before" photos and realize how incredible the difference is already!

Yesterday we finished the wood floors (!!!!!) downstairs; the only room that still needs them is the front office, which will remain closed off for a while until after we move in. No rush to get that room finished. I'll confess, I took a little break from working on the house to have a little girls lunch to celebrate the return of Reign. Season 3 premiered this week, so we had a themed lunch with Scottish Potato Leek Soup, French Bread, Madame Macarons, and Nostradamus' Brew. It was a blast.

The last two outfits of this past week were for basic comfy layering. As you can tell, I've been on a stripes kick. I don't think I've ever worn stripes with stripes before, but I really wanted to wear this cozy striped maternity top my mom got me for my birthday. I love the orange sleeves. I didn't want to wait until after Frocktober to wear it, so I needed to dressify it somehow. It's so long that it might almost be considered leggings-appropriate, but not quite. I used one of my borrowed bodycon dresses to add length and continue the stripes all the way down.

Now, I'm getting ready to don a big t shirt and workout shorts to go work on the house some more. I'll be dressing up this evening for a little belated birthday gathering with friends. Have a beautiful Sunday, friends.

27 before 28 list {frocktober, day 4}

Remixes:
Dress: 1, 2 // Cardigan

Eegads, it's that time again. An entire year has gone by and I'm sitting here as a fresh 27 year old. I very vividly remember lamenting my last few days as a 25 year old last year, and 27 somehow seems like a rather giant leap from that version of myself. So much has changed, and it has been a wonderful year.

Last year I made a list: 26 before 27. A little list of big things and small things that I wanted to accomplish over the course of 1 year of my life. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out. Although I didn't get a pixie cut or a nose ring, and I didn't travel to a new country or ride in a hot air balloon or complete a rough draft of my book, I made conscious choices all year long to do things I love (and I may have changed my mind about getting that pixie cut. Again). We bought a house and are getting ready to have a baby boy. We saw the Grand Canyon, discovered new local favorites, made new friends. I started writing for Hello Giggles, and have read a ton of great books. We have experienced joy, struggle, heartache, and love. So many of the things I was stressed or worried or unsure about have been resolved over the last 365 days, and I am left feeling incredibly grateful for it all.

I'm not quite as nervous about turning 27 because it's going to be the best year of my life. I spent my last day as a 26 year old making French macarons, which allowed me to cross one last thing off that old list. But I'm ready for this new list. It is going to be full of wonderful, monumental things.

Without further ado, here's my 27 things to do before I turn 28.

1. HAVE A BABY {due 12/30/15} William Boyer! 1/6/16.
2. visit north carolina in the fall A September surprise is close enough!
3. move in to our house! #casaschan is open!
4. decorate baby boy's nursery we settled on Harry Potter/Winnie the Pooh/Lion/Adventure etc...
5. host a dinner party
6. learn to speed read
7. set a weekly date night
8. wear a fantastic halloween costume {big belly and all} Emperor's New Groove!
9. stencil a statement wall
10. sign up for eMeals again
11. finish 12 paintings (only accomplished a few!)
12. baby's first plane ride! {take a trip} many trips! Portland, Chicago, Columbus, Charlotte...
13. attempt to DIY concrete countertops attempted...and we'll be getting real countertops ASAP!
14. go camping it was freezing but I got my hammock time
15. use my pressure cooker (nope...that thing still scares me)
16. buy house plants {and keep them alive} bought one cactus...and he's hangin' in there
17. send more snail mail
18. make cat coasters
19. plan an out-of-country vacation
20. start learning a new language Italian!
21. deck out the new house for winter wonderland!
22. find and purchase a bar cart
23. clean out my closet had an Instagram sale!
24. average at least 2 published articles a month
25. read a new book series The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg! Love all of her books!
26. upgrade to a better camera / lens
27. reconfigure the day job Full-Time Mom! Woooo!

This will be a great year for learning, changing, decision-making, loving, nurturing, creating, nesting, dreaming, planning, snuggling, struggling, and more. I'm looking forward to every bit of it. 

new hair + parisian flair

It was almost warm enough yesterday to go without a coat in the early evening. Almost. 
Today, it is a boiling 66 degrees and I'm already planning on getting a snow cone after work!
I can't wait to soak up the warmth of the afternoon.

Cardigan: J. Crew, Scarf: Gifted/World Market (shop), Dress: Ruche (similar, similar)
Jeans: Forever 21 (shop), Boots: Urbanog (similar, similar), Headband: J. Crew

I did it.

I cut my hair!

I talked about it earlier (last week), and managed to get to the salon for a fresh bob.

It's not super short, which I'm happy about! But even so, my husband cringed a little at the first cut.

Men do love long hair!

For the first time, I went for the a-line lob look. Unfortunately, I made that bangs-cutting mistake earlier this year, so they're still growing out and get in the way of a true, straight a-line cut.

To me, this outfit speaks volumes in favor of travel. 
I think Melina from The Caffeinated Closet has been a subtle influence to that effect!
I'm dreaming of Paris often these days, hoping we can make a trip there soon.
I think my subconscious was working toward a Paris-worthy outfit yesterday, with the classic stripes and layers.

Short dresses make for great layering tools in cold weather.
This dress served as a very comfortable tunic yesterday, layered over jeans, combat boots and a scarf and cardigan!

This spot on the hill is a pretty incredible view of Lynchburg.
I got a bit distracted from picture-taking as lights started to twinkle in the early evening light, lit from all the houses and businesses sprawled out below.

 Without the layers, the dress is soft and sweet, little fabric-twist bows on each shoulder.

Warm weather will definitely be welcome!

Can't wait for that snow cone in an hour or two. :)

Enjoy your Tuesday, too!
Cait