our trip to chicago/renegade

the most flattering photobooth pictures ever? probably.

mine and bekuh's chicago trip was so perfect. it was basically the quintessential girls' trip.. lots of chatting, shopping, and eating. i had been harboring a lot of reservations about the trip as a whole and they were almost all gone from the very beginning. as a warning: this post is a modgepodge of my cell phone pictures, becca's pictures, and bekuh's pictures..

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the twelve hour drive seemed to go by preeeetty quickly, which helped. we only stopped a few times, for coffee and mcdonalds. ;) of course.

i went with my own advice and wore a cotton dress, leggings, and boots.. my minnetonka fringe boots, to be exact. it was perfect for driving! i didn't need to make the switch to the passenger seat until a little bit before we got to the city (i had asked bekuh earlier if she could do all of the city driving for me.. i'm a baby).

the first night, i was exhausted but also just so happy to be reunited with becca! we drove around to find a parking spot (i was really nervous about where we were going to leave my car for three days), and then ordered a pizza (obviously - we were in chicago) to eat in becca's apartment. i hadn't gotten to see this apartment yet, so it was nice to be able to piece together all of the pictures she had sent me of it. ;) and also to go through her closet! it was huge and awesome. i want to share a closet with becca one day.

lately, i've been waking up at the crack of dawn (even if i'm still sleepy.. annoying), and chicago was no different. i got up and took a shower before the girls were awake. this was the outfit i wore to renegade!! only i took off the tights for the daytime. the skirt is vintage, found at an amazing vintage attic sale that bekuh and i went to a couple of weeks ago, and the shoes are becca's. :)

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mine and bekuh's feet on the platform, waiting for the l

originally, we were hoping to meet up with katherine (my lovely package exchange partner) for donuts before renegade, but there was construction on the l that got us to wicker park right when renegade was starting. our first stop was the tumbleweeds booth, where there were THREE be(ca)(cca)(kuh)s surrounding me. it was ridiculous. we all oohed and ahhed over the glasses that they brought with them, and bekuh and i both left with some pretty sunglasses.. :)

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at first, we thought it'd be best to do a walk-through and see everything before we started buying, but that quickly dissolved, and we just started checking everything out. there was so much to see! and we even realized that we missed a few booths that we were looking forward to, but it was seriously impossible to navigate around all of those people.

we had lunch at a really cute cafe right off of the festival.

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after about 6 hours (!!!!!) of shopping, we figured it was maybe time to head back to becca's to refresh and go over our purchases. i got a few gifts for family and austin, and my favorite finds (besides my sunglasses, omg) were these little things for our house:

these prints caught my eye early on in the day, and i'm glad i remembered to go back for them. i had been envisioning a tattooed lady/tattooed man print pair for hanging over our bed, but these changed my mind completely. :) they're from methane studios, and you can buy them here and here.

this tea towel is, hands down, my favorite thing that i bought in chicago. it's ridiculous! it's a tea towel with little naked ladies on it! ahhh i'm obsessed. i almost never want to use it so that it's never dirty, but. yeah. it was from bespoke uprising.

this tea towel is a little more traditional. ;) i couldn't pass it up, it was so stinking cute. i actually bought two things from the little canoe, but one is a gift, sooooooooo. i love everything she does, though.

via becca :)
waiting on the l to go shopping, day 2

the next day, we decided we'd be doing more shopping. bekuh was super excited to visit a topshop, and i was looking forward to picking up my dream sweatshirt from an urban outfitters. :) we got so lucky this day, with sales and things we had our hearts set on fitting and being cute. becca took us to an urban surplus store, which was nice because i could get a few things for austin on the cheap.

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this trip came and went SO fast, and i'm so glad that i stressed so much over getting to take it. it was necessary. i wish i could have had more time with becca, but i know we'll see each other again soon. ;)

renegade was everything i thought it would be, and i'd love to go to another one next year! hopefully this time with austin in tow, so i can do more home goods shopping.

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we're back !

i have so many thoughts and things to share from our chicago trip, but i just wanted to pop in and post this picture of me and my girls. this is us sharing a two-seater on the l. :)

thank you, becca, for letting us take over your teeny tiny precious perfect apartment. thanks for handling my car parking neuroses like a champ, thanks for letting me sleep in your bed and being the sweetest about my kitty allergies, thanks for letting me borrow your shoes, thanks for taking us to the cutest restaurants and being cool with my being a serious granny, thanks for being my favorite girl forever.

thank you, bekuh, for the 24(+) hours of constant conversation in the car. thanks for going with the flow when i know you're a planner, thanks for being up for such a silly adventure and being so awesome with my annoying schedule, thanks for letting me borrow your tights!, thanks for encouraging me to go for some of my most favorite goofy purchases, thanks for having the best sense of direction, thanks for constantly pushing me to remember just how much is out there for me to explore (whether you know it or not).

seriously, i missed austin more than i thought i could and i kinda want to go ahead and plan on taking him to renegade next year, but this girls trip was PERFECT. i was sleepy and my sinuses were not feelin it a lot of the time, but we ended up loving renegade more than i thought we would and even the parts of chicago i was nervous about ended up being fun (and yummy).

i'm excited to see bekuh's pictures and to write a more descriptive post at some point. <3

chicago & renegade bound

as you're reading this, bekuh and i are on the road towards chicago. yay! i'm so excited to spend this weekend shopping with two of my favorite girls (becca lives in chicago, so we get to stay with her, too), and taking in all of the handmade at renegade.

i thought a small round-up of some vendors i'm excited about would be appropriate. :)

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alternate histories seems like a store right up austin's alley, and since this trip is partially dedicated to christmas shopping.. i'm excited to check out their booth.

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surprisingly enough, tea towels are something that we're SERIOUSLY lacking at our house. why not stock up on some pretty ones? bespoke uprising has some promising prints on their etsy.

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i knew i was going to love boyfren girlfren solely based on the name of the shop. i'm excited to see what goodies they have at their booth.

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i just really want a jackalope pillow. that shouldn't be a surprise.

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i think i'm maybe becoming a notebook hoarder. but i'm OBSESSED with these from kelso doesn't dance.

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i don't think i'll be able to afford them, but i can't wait to see garth borovicka's bookends and other wooden sculptures. the pizza?! omg.

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i've written about homako here before, so i'm extra excited to finally get my hands on something!

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i basically love everything in iamhome's shop, but i think i'd get more use out of these swimmer magnets than a trophy. but they're so. cute.

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i've been a fan of little pancakes on etsy for a looong time, but i don't think i've ever bought anything. i can't wait to check out her work in person.

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i would kill for one of mimi kirchner's tattooed dolls, but since i definitely cannot afford one, i'm sooo excited to just look at them! so. excited.

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i actually wish that i could buy this valentine for becca, but since she'll be right there with me, it wouldn't be as awesome. i'm excited to see what else owly shadow puppets stocks their booth with.

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obviously i'm excited for tumbleweeds! beca posted a picture of a polka dot pair on her instagram, and i instantly started calculating how much money i was bringing. ;)

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i love everything on uncommon's etsy.

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i'm obviously super excited about all of the jewelry at renegade. water and salt's stuff is gorgeous.

other things i'm going to be on the hunt for: a midwest is best tshirt (because i think it'd be hilarious to own one, idek), a ring for kendall, maybe matching tshirts for avery and i, handmade frames for christmas gifts, and A TON of presents for austin for letting me take this super selfish trip. :)

see you guys next week! <3

a little button factory update

i don't know if i've made this clear, but working with the button factory stuff makes me SO. HAPPY. happier than i can put into words. i'm just so glad that bekuh and i found each other, and decided to make this happen.

a couple of weeks ago, we combined our inventory, and were SO excited over how much we had collected. i hung the dresses that we're keeping for our (crossing our fingers) one-day-real-life-store, and i see them every day and swoon and dream over the whole thing. while combining inventory, we realized how many pretty shoes we had! so bekuh uploaded them today for you ladies to snatch up. :)

this pair is my FAVORITE (unfortunately they're a whole size too big, wah):

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someone please buy them and post a million outfit pictures and make me an even happier (albeit jealous) girl?!

on top of THAT, we're gearing up for our first fall update! fall dresses are actually my favorite, which is probably obvious now that you all know me so well. here are some super top secret sneak peeks (and can we talk about bekuh's photography for a second? omg):

and that's only three of them! eep. also, i know you're mostly wondering where we find our pretty models.. first caroline, and now lauren? we're just lucky when it comes to having gorgeous friends.

last, but definitely not least, we're offering free shipping(!!!!) in the shop until october 1st with the code "BACKTOSCHOOL"

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pretty things around the internet

hi guys! i hope everyone is having a good week. i've been running myself ragged - i had to set aside my day off for errands (minus a sweet lunch with old coworkers.. i miss them all of the time), and i haven't been able to sleep in any day this week.. i know, poor me. but these late retail nights really take a toll on a girl.

this week, i finished "the particular sadness of lemon cake" and started margaret atwood's "the year of the flood." i'm really excited for this one - margaret atwood is one of my favorite authors, and i've tried to space out reading all of her books, instead of reading them all at once.. so that they last longer, obviously. that's normal, right? ;)
even though finishing books is actually one of my favorite things in the world, i was kind of sad to finish "the particular sadness of lemon cake." although it was absolutely not what i was expecting (at all..), the  storytelling really pulled me in. i found myself understanding rose and even anticipating her actions. a couple of the book's subjects hit kind of close to home, too, and the way she handled them was the exact opposite of the way that i did.. something i really like finding in books. i recommend it. :)

here are some things i've been saving to share all week:

bekuh wrote a post about a date night austin and i shared with she and ryan. her photography is so incredible, i love seeing even my life through her eyes!

a cup of jo is one of my favorite blogs. she is always introducing the coolest things, like this. her blog was also the first place that i saw the trailer for mindy kaling's new show (SO excited).

i've had wedding fever lately (for literally no reason), and james of bleubird just posted her enchanting wedding video.. i can't get enough of her pretty life. :)

i have this ugly baby blue dresser (you may have seen it in the background of a post or two) since before i can remember, and i could never decide what color to repaint it. now i'm thinking yellow.

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