Extra sleepy

Hi! Tonight I got to go to dinner with my sister, my dad, and avery. It was dad's birthday and even though I guess he didn't want to make a big deal of it or whatever, I liked hanging out with my family for a second. I don't really see my dad very often & I'm afraid I'm not going to be seeing Kendall very often soon, because she's starting a new job. So having a dinner with them was cute and special.

in other out of the ordinary news from this week, I found out I have hand foot & mouth disease which is weird and disgusting and painful and makes me feel like a freak. I get the weirdest illnesses all of the time, which I wish I could blame on the fact that I take an immuno-suppressant for a different illness, but I can't because I've always gotten them! When I was little, I had the chicken pox I think three times. I also got attacked by weird bugs in a tent with three other people who weren't affected at all. Later, in high school, I got Rocky Mountain spotted fever and also SHINGLES. Haha, shingles are not common in 18 year olds. :'( this whole hand foot & mouth thing just makes me feel super icky, even though the doctor assured me that it was 100% my sensitive and infant-like immune system. ;) I'll just be glad when it's gone!! Thankfully, I really do think I'm right at the tail end (knock on wood).

Also another thing that I don't think I've mentioned here is that we're planning a big trip to Colorado for this summer and I can't wait. I thought about starting a countdown on our chalkboard, but it isn't big enough ;)

Buuut, we're going to see aziz ansari next week (austin got me tickets for my birthday) and that will definitely fit on the chalkboard!! I'm so excited, especially since I've missed aziz before, when I worked at my old job that wouldn't give me any nights off (womp womp). Also when we see aziz, it'll only be 5 days for my birthday !!!! And maybe by then I'll have mailed out becca's birthday present!!!! Buying everything from etsy makes receiving everything in a timely manner kinda impossible sometimes.

This is kind of the silliest thing I've ever posted on this blog, but I drank too much tea at dinner and I'm super wide awake and I've already weirdly middle-of-the-night plucked my eyebrows so typing a lot of nonsense into my phone seemed like the right thing to do. ;) I think maybe I'll read a little bit now, and edit through this tomorrow, haha. <3

outfits from instagram

i realized recently that i take a lot of pictures of my outfits for instagram. i thought i'd share them here. :)

on saturday, it was 73 degrees outside and i couldn't not spend my break sitting outside on a bench and just kind of enjoying it. i'm not really that into the heat.. but i can't deny that this time of year is kind of magical. shedding jackets and tights is welcome right now. :)
(this shirt is my favorite from our new stuff at ae)

but then i finally decided to bare my legs and it started SNOWING! i was at my sister's house, it was 60 degrees outside, and then we looked out of the window and really couldn't believe how heavily flakes were coming down. i loved it, but i didn't want to go outside until it stopped, obviously..
(this shirt is from uo, the skirt is vintage, and my phone case is from society6)

i also recently wore this little camo jacket, but had to layer a sweater underneath. i can't wait to try and pull it off with florals in the spring. everyone's doubting me, but.. ;)

sometimes when i get dressed for work, i realize that i'm head-to-toe ae, and looking more brand than usual. i always think it's kind of funny and weird and it makes me feel a little like i'm being lazy? i don't know. but i did like this outfit, mostly.
(top is from christmas time, cardigan: here, shoes: here)

i redid our sunglasses at work and found these cute ones to get for austin. when i got home, i went through a box of vintage/antiques that a friend of my dad's gave me and found these green glitter ones that are the same design. i'm kind of obsessed with them. plus i get really excited when we match? ;)

<3

stuff i'm loving lately

becca is one of my favorite people to shop for, because i can buy her things i could never really buy anyone else. i don't know if that makes sense, but i think that's how all best friends are? anyway, i started shopping for her birthday present extra early this year, so i could have things shipped to me before i shipped them to her. then i remembered how soon my birthday was, and started shopping for myself, too. ;) so here's just a few (aka, a lot of) things from etsy that i love right now (and i think there's only one accidental hint to becca as to what might be coming her way for her birthday).

mountain printed maxi skirt by thief and bandit

lime green scalloped mini dress

bunny shadow puppet brooch by hungry designs

"paper" towels tea towels

grey and red sweater
ok, by the time it's my birthday this would be totally unnecessary.. until next fall. but it's so pretty!

butter dish by tuesday bassen

swan boats print by field guided

blue ridge mountains brass cuff by dinosaurtoes

a year's subscription to what did you buy today by kateconsumption

golden protective hand bangle by datter

donut ring by petitplat

johnny cash i walk the line print by concepcion studios

i love etsy. <3

obsessing over this

so lately a lot of my free time has been spent looking around tumblr for tattoo ideas. but then i find all of these other things to obsess over, too. tumblr is weird and i always forget how much of a bottomless pit it can be until i end up staying awake until 3 am clicking around (whoops).

a couple of nights ago, someone posted a picture from this blog, and i was immediately obsessed. what my daughter wore is comprised of drawings of the author's ten year old daughter, sons, and their friends. the drawings are so pretty and the kids dress better than i do, so i mean. obsessed.

i thought i'd share some of my favorites here.

cat and mouse vintage skirt

flowers

al pacino t-shirt over vintage dress

boy scout shirt as dress

summer

bon lapin

star wars t-shirt and tropical scene dress

i hope you guys like this blog as much as i do! any other hidden gems of blogs you can share with me? <3

letting go

i haven't really talked about the button factory closing. i still don't really have much to say about it.. but i am finally ready to let go of it. this is how i'm going to do that.

one thing about the button factory is that we were planning on making it a real brick and mortar store one day. which means, every time we found a dress or some sheets or a purse, we had to decide if we wanted to hold it back and keep it for our future store, rather than sell it on our funds-building etsy shop right away. since the decision to close the shop and stop collecting vintage was incredibly quick, we were left with about ten boxes of stock. i wasn't sure what to do with it, and it's been sitting in my guest bedroom literally since the beginning of the year. these items are the ones that we loved the most, the ones that we wanted displayed in real life and bought by people in front of us, rather than online. it was really, really hard to want to give it all up. bekuh and i both went through it all, keeping things that we'd secretly wanted to keep all along (this was kinda the coolest part), and i've let some of my friends go through it, as well. i was especially excited to share with lindsey, and i'm sure you can see why from that post <3. but i STILL had ten boxes of things.. somehow. i've played with a bunch of different ideas on how to get rid of it in a way that felt deserving of how awesome everything was, and i finally decided to do a "quick" instagram sale. things are priced about as low as i could imagine pricing them, and there are sizes xxs-xl. i spent a few hours today, but there are still things to post, so i'll be updating it a few more times over the next couple of days.

if you see something that you like, but are curious about measurements or color (i didn't use any filters, but you know) or don't have a paypal account, comment on a picture or email me at katie.thebuttonfactory@gmail.com. we'll figure something out. i desperately want these pretty things to go to worthy homes.

in case you're about my size (a small in tops, a size 2 in pants, a small chest, and a mini belly) and you're interested but don't want to go through 90+ items, these are some of the ones that i would have kept if i was allowed to wear whatever i wanted to work: this wrap skirt, this pendleton skirt, this party dress (insert the emoji with the heart eyes here???), this yellow top (the whole thing screams adorable), this clover crop top (how holiday appropriate), this neon tunic, this grid button-up (i wore this all the time tucked into skirts at one of my previous jobs, but it isn't ae appropriate), this perfect silky maxi dress, and this one is my FAVORITE dress that i'm leaving behind.

if you feel so inclined, you can share this instagram with any vintage-loving friends. the prices really can't be beat for what we're sharing.

lately

lately, i've been thinking a lot about the fact that seasonal depression is a real thing. ;) haha. i'm not going to drone on and on, but i think maybe my funk was more than just a funk. but things are looking up, especially since the groundhog saw his shadow. spring is soon! and i'm staying busy, which helps.

i made a quick collage of things that have been happening lately that i don't think i blogged about? or instagrammed (mostly), so i'll share them for posterity's sake.

1. it's been so cold lately that i had to buy a furry hooded puffy coat. dramatic. usually my peacoats get me through just fine, since i layer like crazy, but not for a little bit there. my southern blood, i guess. also can we just talk about the fact that i didn't edit that picture at all and it's really scary? haha, really scary! man.
2. that's our new bathroom floor! it's so pretty. and the tile on the walls is pink. ;) i'm kinda obsessed and i think austin is kinda over my obsession. i take pictures in there like everyday, for no reason.
3. i finally hung the prints we got in nashville at hatch show print in our kitchen. i'm not sure why i never hung them in our old apartment, but it just didn't feel right. i was saving them. what a dork.
4. becca gave me this print for christmas, and i love it. it's such a sweet sentiment. also the frame was hidden under our couch at our old place, so it was unearthed when we moved.. i love it.
5. i caught a pretty awful stomach bug on sunday night, and this was a picture i took when i got to work on monday afternoon.. after 2 spotty hours of sleep. :( rough times. i only just recovered fully like, late last night.. and i can seriously tell how much weight i lost just by getting dressed. ugh. i never get stomach bugs like that, and i know i was a dramatic baby about it. glad i got the sweetest boy and sister to take care of me. :)
6. avery and i had a really good naptime this week. this is one of my favorite pictures ever, guys.

so, now that we're officially moved in and unpacked, i realized that i have a sewing room! for the first time ever. :) if that isn't reason enough to find out what's wrong with my sewing machine, i don't know what is. also, i want to make a quilt from this fabric sooo badly. and i'm really feeling like i COULD. especially since i know austin's mom would be willing to help me. :) so, i'm going to go in there today and look at the machine.. wish me luck!

what are you up to these days? <3

in a funk

do you ever find yourself in an unrelenting funk? just super sad, out of it, and annoyed constantly? i've been there for about the entirety of the last week.

what's even more frustrating is how many fun and adorable and exciting things are going on right now. this is my official white flag.. i'm giving my funk a whole day to take over (tomorrow) and then it's got to go. i have plans!

here is a silly photo dump of really cute things that should be making me happy on their own. good to put things in perspective, you know.

this app is perfect and probably my most favorite iphone thing to date.

this is my new lovebirds sweater

and my favorite thing of all of the things:

this baby face timed me this morning! oh geez. i almost couldn't handle it.

so, here goes: kicking the funk out. starting now. or tomorrow. i mean, whatever. <3

snow day

it snowed last week!!! !!!!! as someone who is considering a snowflake tattoo and hasn't seen snow in just about a year, this was the best/ biggest deal. i was at work when the storm started, so i left and it looked like ^ outside. magical. :) of course it didn't last very long.. but it was perfect and i got to build a snowman and i'm not even mad. just a little sad. ;)

the day after the 'storm,' i was off of work and had some outside-of-the-house plans. so i got dressed. and austin took pictures.

scarf: ae
sweater: a million years old uo
shirt: christmas present from becca :) <3
belt: target
shorts: ae
tights: target
socks: uo
rainboots: steve madden, via ebay, via my dad
my new purse: ae

i went with kendall to get her new phone.. i played with/distracted little avery (who is all of a sudden a teenager, idek) while getting really excited to finally be able to text kendall emojis. then we had lunch with kayla, who i haven't seen in a million years because she's busy becoming an officer of the law. it was really cute and then austin & i had a date night and i just really like the snow, you guys!!

now i'm gearing up for my all-time favorite holiday, valentine's day. i want to give every human at my job a little card and some candy. ridiculous.

<3

oversized sweatshirt & tight shiny pants

i can't believe january 2013 is already halfway over. we haven't even started packing and we're moving in two weeks! oh geez. actually, on the day we took these pictures, we went through our closets and got rid of about 4 trash bags of clothes. i'm sure the number of things we get rid of will double when we start packing.. things look a lot less necessary when you start thinking about lugging them to a new house. :)

i gotta be real, i'm not even stressed about moving at all. really, we're going about two blocks down the road, and i get to use my grown up job pto to take time off to pack. ;) also, now that things are calming down from the holidays, i'm feeling so much more comfortable and less anxious all of the time. relaxing has become my #1 activity, i guess.

even though this sweatshirt is a little big (it's austin's.. a christmas present from me, omg), i really loved this outfit. these pants are ridiculous (see below) and i wanted to calm them down as much as possible. i think the combination is perfect.

see?! they're shiny! damask print! pants! !! ridiculous and i love them.

necklace: anthropologie
sweatshirt: kinship press
belt: christmas gift
pants: ae
flats: steve madden

<3

super 70s

since these pictures, i have gotten a haircut.. in case you were wondering.

i found this dress a million years ago at the goodwill, but then it got buried under all of my dirty clothes and i totally forgot about it. actually, i think i found it the same day that i found my boy scouts shirt. ;)

i'm pretty sure i didn't think that my face was in this picture.. but it's kind of hilarious.

then, when we finally washed it and i re-rediscovered it, i realized that it was more of a tunic length than the cute summer dress length i had assumed. which is weird. dresses are neeever too short for me. but this one is. so i just went dramatically 70s with my look, which i liked a lot. i'm not totally sure how else i'll ever be able to style this, but we'll see! i love it. besides the length, it fits perfectly.

this was the first outfit that i wore in 2013. :) on this day, i met up with one of my best friends from college, jeff, and his (new!!!) fiancé (you may remember jeff from my halloween post). i had never met her before, and he's never ever in town anymore, so it was pretty nice to get to have grilled cheese sandwiches and coffee with them. after that, austin and i got to see our new house!! we'll be moving in february and i. can't. wait. i'm already dreaming about moving around furniture and wall art and everything. eep. this year kinda rules already.

necklace: thrifted in high school
cardigan: pacsun
dress: vintage
leggings: ae
socks: ae
boots: frye

how has the first week of 2013 been for you?

velvet

how was your new years eve ? i spent a big chunk of mine at work, which was insanely and unexpectedly busy. but then i came home and cooked dinner with austin. we watched a movie, shared some champagne (and leftover ice cream cake for me), and practically slept through the countdown. geez.

we had the day off together today, and i think we were pretty successful in our errand-running. our plans were to get lunch, get to the bank, and stop at the cell phone store before austin's band practice this afternoon.

i have this ridiculous habit of running every phone i have into the ground. i refuse to get a new one for no reason other than to get a new one, but once my old crappy phone starts dying.. i rush out to replace it as soon as possible. so, my new phone is in my hands. i've already downloaded all of the necessary apps, including instagram (littlegirlkatie) & snapchat. ;)

one of my new years resolutions was to do more than send texts of my cute outfits to becca, and share more on this blog. it's kiiiinda one of the reasons i started it to begin with. this is what i wore to work yesterday.. i felt like a little extra glamour was necessary, haha. originally, i had a sequined cardigan on, but, paired with the velvet leggings, it somehow felt like too much - even for nye.

i tried to pile on the accessories to make up for it, though. ;) you may recognize the dinosaur toes necklace from previous blog posts - austin got it for me for christmas! and the little bunny necklace was last year's gift from him.

i've been wearing a loooot of rings lately, too. this year, almost all of my favorite people gave me rings as gifts.. in my head, i've been thinking of it as the year of the rings (not to be confused with the year of The Ring - har har).

cardigan: ae
top: ae
belt: ae
velvet leggings: aerie
socks: ae
boots: docs
rings: ae, pacsun, catbird

<3