Sunday Style Inspiration

I don't know about you, but I'm itching to pull out all of my fall clothing already. And putting together so many outfits in my head with all of my existing and soon to be acquired pieces. Three key elements are my primary inspiration when currently dressing and shopping for fall:

royal blue on top and on the bottom

(little tin soldier) / (kendi everyday)

pops of red

(a thought is the blossom) / (the daybook)

leopard on everything

(pink horrorshow) / (vanessa jackman)

Just a little burst of style to keep you occupied this Sunday afternoon! I'm going to spend mine getting  real close with the new J. Crew catalog.

OOTD, Road Trip Edition

I think Alicia's direction for these was, "Okay, now ham it up!"

Right. No, actually she pretty much said the opposite. I'm like a wiggly puppy when someone else is trying to take my photo. I never sit still long enough for anyone to get a shot in. Despite my animated posing for action shots, she managed.

This was a random rock face by the side of the road right outside of Summerville. (Isn't Summerville the cutest name for a Southern town? We kept seeing the road markers counting down the miles to the town and couldn't help but squeal in glee as we approached!)

I chose the lightest and most Southern fried dress I could rustle up for the trip. I'm usually monstrously uncomfortable on car rides and comfort was key for exploring the unknown. As sweatpants would have likely contributed to heat stroke, a prim little frock was the perfect outfit.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

Outfit details:

• Annie Greenabelle Open Back Bow dress from Topshop
• Saltwater Sandals in Navy
• TOMS Classic 101 sunglasses
• J. Crew Timex Traveler watch
• Nikon D90 with limited edition Homemade Grits strap

(photos courtesy of Alicia)

Southern Field Trip: Unclaimed Baggage Center

So Alicia and I decided to take a trip out west. Yup, we road tripped all the way to the Grand Canyon, just for kicks. Ok no, I'm kidding.

We did, however, take a winding trip through North Georgia and Alabama to visit the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, AL. For those of you unfamiliar, this store resells the contents of lost and unclaimed luggage at thrift store prices. So it ends up being more curated than your average Goodwill, with the items in better condition.

Being the adventuresses we are, we chose the scenic route. Warning for the easily carsick or afraid of heights: the road was winding and there was a steep drop off on one side much of the way.

I spent the majority of the 2.5 hour drive occupying myself with activities to ward off any carsickness. And boredom. And sleepiness! Self portraits and road trip documentation were among these activities...

Fortunately, Alicia is willing to give into my Ultimate Tourism requests and pull over for impromptu photoshoots. I managed to squeeze some silliness out of her serious self.

I really think these are accurate portrayals. True life: Alicia is really cute and silly and is super duper fun. Don't let her movie star style fool you!

We finally made it to our destination and set about with our treasure hunting. Here is a sampling of goods that caught my eye:

Kate Spade slingbacks. I left these behind since they were a little too bridesmaid-sy for normal use and also were priced at over $150. But they are very pretty and looked brand new.

French Connection sequined frock. Great little NYE dress.

Giant (?!!) fake (real?!) bottle of perfume. First off, I didn't know you could buy/obtain these from department store displays. Secondly, why would you buy or bring this while traveling? It was so bizarre.

International section!! This was my favorite and Alicia had to talk me out of trying on every African wax print fabric piece and hoarding all of the saris. Sorry, but I need all of the authentic ethnic garments. Even if they are tourist souvenirs. Needs.

This might have been the largest section of all: the lost neck pillow assortment.
There were LOADS!

After much giggling at our awesome (and bizarro) finds, we were starved. Luckily there was a highly recommended joint right down the street. We stuffed our faces at McCutchen's Magnolia House before leaving the state.

Pre-feast and food baby.

The historic home in which the restaurant is located is beautiful and exemplifies everything you expect from a classic Southern home. So of course, we couldn't resist more photo ops.

YTAPOMTAPOY

Our last pit stop before heading back to the A was a little fruit stand we spotted on the side of the road. It was a hot summer day and we could see the watermelons from almost a mile away. Even post-feast we needed some produce and preserves.

I came home with a full tummy and a bag of assorted goodies. Stay tuned for the details of my haul and more in-depth outfit shots before the weekend.

And...Check out Alicia's blog for her take on our adventures!

(photos 12 + 13 courtesy of Alicia)

Bonny and Blythe

Just a quick outfit snapshot for the rest of you up late on Thursday night. Most of the summer I haven't been inspired to dress in anything other than easy or carefree, but the bits of shade from the stormclouds have re-inspired me to pull out my favorite preppy pieces.

A crisp blouse, super dark unembellished jeans, and a pop of red are enough to put me back on track and ready for fall dressing!

Outfit details:

• J. Crew Silk Blythe Blouse in Apricot
• J Brand the Deal jeans in Ink
• Swedish Hasbeens for H&M clogs
• Orla Kiely handbag (comparable current version)
• J. Crew Timex traveler watch

Raindance in Polka Dots

So of course after I do a ranty-pants post about the sweltering tropical heat in Atlanta, there is suddenly a series of serious thunderstorms. Of course there is.

But I can't really complain--is there anything more exciting than pulling out your rainboots? Bring it on, monsoon season! Puddle splashing and umbrella carrying are two of my top life skills, so I'm all set.

Of course the danger with battling this weather (besides the grey skies and giant puddles) is the moody blues. I can't help but want to do nothing but hibernate when the sky is brooding. To combat it, I had to pull out this little lady. I couldn't help but feel cheerful all day long with the little dot pops of color.

Outfit details:

• Anthropologie Maple Across the Land dress
• Hunter Original Tall rainboots in Navy
• Hayden Harnett for Target umbrella

July Valentine

As I'm sure many of you can commiserate, it's felt like Indian Summer all summer long. Down South specifically, this means feeling like you got smacked in the face with sticky bathwater steam each time you step outdoors. For me this means going from Point A indoors to Point B indoors is from tepid to hothothot to lukewarm.

Not even the fancy fan from Dyson manages to keep that sticky slick of sweat from forming on my brow and hanging around all day long. Yucky yuck yuck.

My greatest efforts (i.e. when I'm not in cutoff shorts and the skimpiest tank I can find) are cotton and silk ensembles like this one. Anyone else melting out there?

Outfit details:

• Anthropologie Deletta A-Bit-Unruly top
• Anthropologie Rebecca Maysles Victorian Valentine skirt
• Madewell The Wooden Wedge
• Kate Spade Pocomo Gwen bag

Hold Onto Your Pocketbooks: Dynamic Zigs

I've been enough out of the blog loop and strayed from following my favorite Anthro blogging ladies in fear for my wallet, but I was thrown when I saw this little lady went on sale. I get the feeling that the navy/red colorway is more popular, but I couldn't help but be attracted to the neutral version of this frock.

With pale leather sandals and blushy pink accessories for the rest of summer and warm pumpkin spice layers and brown boots for fall, it could easily transition. I'm thinking of adding this frock to my Tracy Reese hoard. What do you think?

Dynamic Zigs Dress by plenty by Tracy Reese
was $158, now $89.95

Sunday Style Inspiration

I realized my favorite posts on any given blog I read are the outfit inspiration posts people put together. In particular, Erin of Calivintage's Weekly Roundup and Beatrice of DearBeatrice's Style Inspiration posts are at the top of my list, and I pore over their culled choices when I'm stumped in the mornings.

And since I hoard photos and photos of outfits and bloggers I love too, I thought it would be nice to bring back a little Sunday treat. I fell off the weekly Etsy love wagon over a year ago, and I miss having a regular feature to sign off on the week.

So to preemptively pull myself out of fashion slumps (and maybe you too!), here are some outfits and details that caught my eye this week.

vintage glam

(fashion bananas) / (atlantic-pacific)

peaches and cream shades

(steffy's pros and cons) / (fancy treehouse)

diy dressmaking

(esther-from the sticks) / (what i wore)

Hope you're having the best weekend!

Happy Birthday Markus!

In between endless packing, loading, and moving, I managed to pack in a whole day to celebrate my dear Markus' birthday this weekend. He had a selection of activities planned for the day, and we made sure to do all of them. We fit in vintage shopping, a mall excursion, korean BBQ, laser tag, and even karaoke in a twelve hour span.

This is how we do: ultra compacted activities to mega maximize days we have to spend together. Which sometimes fall on random dates, so it's serendipitous that pork/laser/sing-a-long fell on one of my days off!

Mary and Matt came!


And they brought lovely gifts. This is Markus' best Steve Brule.

Iron Age spread: sauces and veggies to accompany your meats

Sometimes I wonder if Markus thinks I say, "Ok now do your best Morrissey," whenever I'm taking photos. But I guess I act like, "Okay move a lot so you are blurry in every photo," when he takes mine.

Proof:

Outfit details:

• Promod dotted blouse (purchased on France trip in May) (similar: here and here)
• J. Crew Wednesday poplin skirt (similar current skirt)
• Alexander Wang baby Rocco via Gilt Groupe
• Gap ballet flats
• Feather hair extension (no, I did not dye a random strand of my hair blue :) )

Moved In, Tied Down

Hello! See, it wasn't so long... I didn't convince you to let me stay up that late, right? The magic switch was finally flipped today, and I finally gained access to the web at the new place.

It's really idyllic here, and I think the surroundings are just perfect for showcasing anything from rusting cars to kittens to everyday outfits. (Okay, so only two out of the three were really spotted. No way would I want to live in a weird abandoned car lot.)

Today was jam-packed with activities, as usual. I went from working a major sale at work to school to meet and greet new students to my program. So requirements ranged from comfortable, cool, and cute to conservative, modest, and mature. Ultimately I ended up in all neutrals, but I think my new little bag added a bit of fun!

That sale I was blathering on about? I finally had a spare hour to make my way to the local Kate Spade outpost. I was armed with a 20% off coupon I had finagled from completing an online survey and wanted to try on a few of the dresses I was drooling over. Of course, I was completely absorbed by this little darling instead. It was on secret double rainbow sale, and I've been carrying it every day since.

So glad to be moved! Moving annually is not my favorite.

Outfit details:

• Anthropologie Tied Down dress by Maeve
• Madewell braided belt (on sale in store for $29.99, shop similar)
• TOMS canvas wedges in Ash
• Kate Spade Pocomo gwen crossbody bag

Hola it's Mira

I feel a little bit like a kid stalling for a later bedtime the way I've been dodging posting on the regular. And since all of my wardrobe and blog gear will finally be reunited tomorrow, it's still gonna have to wait.

But I thought a Monday diversion would be fun! Now, you've already met my sister Mira, but you haven't seen her new blog: Hola it's Mira! She promised it's not a parody of mine, but it's hilarious all the same.

I read this too, it's totally intense!

Mira's got quite some sass and her self deprecating humor makes me belly laugh each time she updates. As she describes it her blog "will be dedicated to her non-fashion sense and how many t-shirts she owns and how long she can wear the same shirt before washing it."

So for those of you curious about what I've been wearing. This is a pretty accurate representation. Moving and the summer doldrums pretty much dictate the comfiest dresscode ever.

I'll get dressed in real clothes tomorrow. Today it's a tee and running shorts while lifting boxes kind of day.

Things I Like: Right Now

I decided to retreat into a IRL hidey hole this past week from blogging--in fact into a brand new hidey hole. Yes, I've been totally preoccupied with one of my least favorite activities: moving house. My wardrobe's at one place and I've only got access to the web at the other, so right now my Internet presence has been limited to (Super) Google Reader reading and pinning things like a madwoman.

So since I don't have so many of my own, here's my week in other people's pictures:

packing my lunch

(source)

retro styling

(source)

friendship bracelet making

(source)

obsessing over this tote bag

(source) buy it here

decorating the new place

(source)

Bon week-end!