currently

the southern humidity-filled heat has finally hit here at home. i found myself complaining in a pretty serious way to austin on a drive to his parents' house. i really cannot describe how much i hate hot weather. thank goodness for my new short hair, though, right? eep.

currently, things are calming down and looking up. :)
(again, inspired by danielle of sometimes sweet) - currently, i'm

planning: a sweet little skype date with my best friend in chicago, becca! this was a perk that came with my mac that i had totally and completely forgotten about. she only just left town, but i get so used to her being here that it never gets any easier when she has to go back.

attempting: a more serious way of writing. one of my little treats to myself from my trip to charlottesville was a pack of three pretty little rifle paper co. journals. when i was in college, i was writing pages upon pages of essays, journal entries, and opinion pieces, and i miss that. i don't think i'll ever share many of these little bits of writing, but i'm glad that i have a pretty place for them now. :)

supporting: my friends at sewn together records are putting together an album of local bands covering local bands. having been attending shows since the age of 12 (TWELVE?! that will only get weirder to think about, won't it?), i couldn't be more excited to own such a cute and meaningful chunk of history. however, in order to do this, they need to raise the money.. so they started a kickstarter to do it. take a look, and listen to the trailer - maybe consider a donation! all of the music they collected for it rules.

dreaming: of buying my sweet niece a dollhouse! i know it's pretty early to be thinking about it, but i figure with all of the options, i need all the time i can get to choose one. i love the idea of something like this, but something bigger would probably work better for a longer period of time. we'll see! she's only one, haha.

saving my money for: a new comforter! maybe this one (it's almost never in stock when i actually have the money for it) ? our roommate, sam, is gearing up to move out in a week or so, and it's making me want to redecorate every square inch of our apartment (not that it's exactly decorated to begin with..).

so now, i'm sitting on the couch, eating baked beans, watching gossip girl, and catching up on the internet. i'm a happy girl. <3

favorite unnecessary thrift finds

sometimes, being a serial thrifter isn't so great. i find things that I HAVE TO HAVE OMG but really don't need. luckily, i usually have someone with me (austin or becca, generally) who can give me a clear idea of whether one should outweigh the other.

enter these p e r f e c t books.

so, they're clearly for children (the spines all say "the bookshelf for boys & girls"), but they're GORGEOUS. i could have taken pictures of every single cover and every single page, but i limited myself.

the covers are sort of odd.. they're SO simplistic, and most of the drawings make little to no sense in the context of the books. they're beautiful, though, and colorful, and i would probably happily display every single one of them as art, if austin wouldn't think i was an insane person.

my favorite book is "things to make and do."

the cover is perfectly indicative of the wide variety of subjects covered within the book

there are chapters on making paper flowers, creating a puppet theater (including the puppets and the scripts), photography, sewing, making fabric badges, dancing, cooking, and the list goes on and on and on. the table of contents for this one is like 4 pages long.

needless to say, this is one of the i ACTUALLY have to have this finds, and i ended up bringing it home. austin agreed that all of the books together were magical. and while i can sometimes sucker myself into buying vintage children's books by promising i'm collecting them for avery, i'm planning on keeping these to myself (just in case...).

do you ever find things that you honestly cannot make a decision about while thrifting? <3

sweet little things like these

today, i noticed my doc martens sitting next to austin's and i had to take a picture. as cheesy as it sounds, i got little butterflies in my stomach. things like this are like love notes to my sentimental heart.

our living together was accidental and sort of unwanted, but it has become one of the most important aspects of my life. he is truly my very best friend, and i can't imagine getting through any day without getting to share every thought, serious or otherwise, with him.

i have to admit, though, that it resonated when one of my favorite people on twitter wrote that living with her boyfriend had made them too weird to hang out with other people. anyone else know how that feels? ;)

<3

so.. i did it

sorry for the super goofy close-up, but look! half of my hair is gone! my hair appointment was last thursday, and i honestly did not think that i'd have the guts. i showed my hairdresser the same picture that i posted here and she freaked out (in a good way), which i think gave me the confidence that i needed. so, here it is. my short and sweet summer cut (unless i decide to keep it longer!).

today was my day off, and austin and i did what has become our sundays off ritual: estate sales! we also cooked a yummy dinner, and now he's with his brother while i blog/watch gossip girl/eavesdrop on the fireworks outside. ;)

i'm pretty open about how much i dislike getting dressed for the summer weather, because layering is my thing. outfits like this just usually feel so boring that i over-accessorize, or spend 2 hours changing a million times (and ending up in cut-offs and a tshirt..). thankfully, i was in a rush this morning and couldn't do that, because now i really like the simplicity in this outfit.

top: jason wu for target (yep. i was one of THOSE girls that sunday morning..)

skirt: many belles down via modcloth

wedges: urban outfitters (not online anymore, but they were $19.99 in store!)

sunglasses: leopard print via journeys

purse: fossil

i LOVE the flatforms as much as everyone said that i would.. now i have my heart set on this pair.

days off are so relaxing, i'm off to read one of the new books on my kindle (aimee bender's "the particular sadness of lemon cake," in case you were curious). have a good week! <3

i get by with a little help from my friends

the past week has been really, really hard on me. i've been incredibly stressed out over some fairly important things, and, to make things worse, i'm not entirely sure of the best way to handle them.

three notable things have been helping me through this little blip of unhappiness:

can you tell this is actually a picture from last summer? whoops.

my best friend becca is in town from chicago. and last week, we took a spontaneous road trip to charlottesville. we're known for our quick (usually a few hours, tops) trips out of town, and this one was similar to the rest: a little bit of shopping, huge slices of pizza, and getting lost.. even with two gps's.

i'm consistently broke, but i treated myself to a couple of little trinkets. good for the soul, you understand. ;)

aziz is bored

last night, austin (finally) bought the online aziz ansari stand-up, dangerously delicious. i actually generally hate stand-up (with the exception of mitch hedberg), BUT i honestly do not think that i have ever laughed that hard, for that long, in my entire life. i highly recommend it.. $5 is nothing compared to the quality of the entertainment. ;) i had to hide my phone to keep from live-tweeting my viewing, haha! i just wanted to share the jokes with eeeeeveryone.

another old picture (obviously). i have no shame.

another sweet girl in my life took me out for ice cream this week. kayla and i hadn't seen each other in weeks, and she just graduated college and is about to become a police officer (whaaaat!), so i want all of the time with her that i can get. we walked from my house to a cute-as-can-be ice cream parlor down the street, and chatted away while dripping ice cream all over our hands. it was so nice to see her, she's one of my favorite confidants.

i work roughly 60 hours a week, and get very (very!) little time with my friends. seeing two of them in one week was almost indulgent. :) they really helped me in my sorta serious time of need. <3

things i can't stop thinking about

quick update: i'm still not really sure how to use my computer!! all of my questions seem like really, really silly ones, so i haven't even worked up the courage to ask my mac-owning friends yet. :) while i'm getting these kinks worked out, i'm sure my posting will be really silly and short and sweet.

right now, i want to focus on some things that i can't stop thinking about lately.

thing 1 that i can't stop thinking about lately: getting my hair cut!! my next hair appointment is a week from tomorrow (eep!) and i'm pretty sure that i will be showing my hairdresser this picture:

source

i saw it on modcloth's tumblr back in february, and i haven't stopped thinking about it since. the heat is really getting to me lately, and working in retail, my hair mostly does nothing but get in the way. i can't wait to see what happens next thursday (ie, whether i chicken out or not..)!!

thing 2 that i can't stop thinking about lately: flatforms. bekuh has been wearing her new pair so often, and i'm super jealous. we're both tiny little girls who date (/are married to) big tall guys, and i miss when i worked in an office and could get away with sky-high heels and wedges. flatforms seem like the perfect marriage of wearability/functionality and height :)

i'm leaning towards the most affordable/highly recommended pair that i've come across right now:

blowfish gypsy shoe

but these are a CLOSE second (in that i almost feel like i may change my mind and spend the extra $100+ on them).

either way, i will own flatforms SOON. :)

thing 3 i can't stop thinking about lately: laura jane grace. i sort of saved the most important for last. i don't know how many people have heard about this, but one of my favorite musicians has recently come out as being transgender. tom gabel, of against me!, will now be living her life as laura grace.

found in this month's issue of rolling stone magazine

this story has brought me to happy tears many times already, and i don't think it's stopping anytime soon. i have no personal understanding of what tom was feeling, but i do know what it's like to wake up in the morning and feel 100% uncomfortable and inhibited in the body given to you. what laura has done is courageous and inspiring. there are so many aspects of the story that i love (LOOOVE), and i highly recommend tracking down the issue of rolling stone and reading the article yourself. :) i have seen against me! before, and would love to see them again with their new, badass female lead.

i hope everything is well. <3

getting used to my new laptop

yesterday, my laptop officially died for good. we knew this day was coming (it was coming on 7 years old!), so we've been preparing. i picked up my new laptop today! i got my first macbook :) unfortunately, i've only ever used PCs, so i feel a little bit like i'm seeing a computer for the first time ever.

i'll probably be spending the next week or so getting acquainted, and figuring out how to get my old files onto my new computer!

see you soon <3

little wish list of sorts

right now, i'm dealing with a few money issues (who isn't?), but that'll never stop me from online shopping/stalking pretty dresses. i thought i could start sharing them here, sort of in hopes that someone else will buy them so i won't have to see them anymore, and sort of in hopes that someone will buy them for me. ;)

memento mori cuff, of a kind

have you ever heard of of a kind? i found out about it when i was frequenting tumblr, and i've been obsessed ever since. i usually only admire the pieces, but there have been a few that i've really, really wanted to buy! this is one of them.

1970s maxi dress

i've been obsessed with maxi dresses, since i took a chance on the red velvet weekender dress (which i wear weekly.. sometimes twice a week). lately, i tend to search more for vintage maxi dresses on etsy than i do sundresses, which used to be my old standby.

red and white polka dot dress

 apparently now i'm also really into red, which is a new thing.

book scarf

i've been obsessed with these book scarves for awhile now (and i'll probably end up buying one at some point), so i couldn't help but sharing them, too. the words would look so pretty with almost any other pattern, and who can have enough black and white accessories? :)

have a good weekend! <3

ps, i just claimed my blog on bloglovin.. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

currently

hi! today has been a ridiculous mayday. i don't even want to get into it, eep.

i decided it'd be fun to start doing currently posts, inspired by danielle of sometimes sweet.

reading: "super sad true love story" by gary shteyngart. i've had this book on my kindle for a few months now, and i had even attempted beginning to read it several times, but never fully committed to it. well, apparently saturday was it's day, because i started it again, and i haven't stopped! it's dystopic literature, set in a futureish america (something i can't get enough of lately..). it is also scaring the crap out of me, but things like this do things like that to my overly sensitive sensibilities. :) i'm about 30% of the way through it, and so far, pretty awesome.

watching: lately, austin and i have been switching between "psych" and "louie." in case it isn't clear, "psych" is usually my first choice, and austin always goes to turn on "louie." i can't help but have a bit of a crush on shawn and gus, and austin thinks louis c.k. is hiiiiilarious (i spend half of the show laughing out loud and the other half being overly offended).

thinking about: my job, my business, my future.. sometimes i think i'm having a pretty serious quarter-life crisis, but i think these thoughts are things every deals with, pretty much as soon as they get their first "real" job. i know exactly what it is that i want to be doing, it's the process of getting there that i'm stuck on. i just keep wondering when that one moment that makes my current job not worth it anymore is going to happen.

loving: it's really silly to say this, but lately i've been super loving austin. like more than normal? i don't know about that, but my love is deepening for him all of the time. it's ridiculous. i spent a couple of hours the other day being really nostalgic about how i'll never have another first date or first kiss or any silly things like that, but then i realized that i'm totally cool with that, because for the rest of my life, i get to have firsts with him. because i figure those are never going to go away? there are always going to be things we haven't done together, and i want to spend the rest of our lives doing them.

anticipating: my day off! ;) i have a couple of plans, but mostly on my days off i get the most excited to see my sister and niece. and we're going to do a photoshoot for the store, since we'll have another update in a couple of weeks!

listening to: i've been switching back and forth between ben kweller's new album, go fly a kite, and (obviously) jack white's new album, blunderbuss.

i've been listening to ben kweller since i can remember (literally, elementary school with his 90s band radish), and i have a serious soft spot for everything that he creates. this release reminds me SO much of his early solo stuff, and even though i really did love his foray into country music, i missed his indie pop side even more.

after searching for this song to post, i got sucked into this youtube rabbit hole of ben kweller live videos. i just think he's so cute, and i'd love to see him again sometime soon.

eating: grilled cheese has become my current go-to meal while i'm at home. i've been trying to cut down on the mall food, because it's disgusting, but grilled cheese isn't that much better. ;)

feeling thankful for: my grandma, for her kindness, her understanding, her help, and just for always being there and believing in me.

hope you're having a good week so far! <3