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

if only i was organized

so, this is the time of year that i always wish i had my life together enough to send out christmas cards. obviously, austin and i would not send out cards with our pictures because ... who cares. if we had a puppy, it'd be different. ;) but, with all of the pretty and fun options on etsy, i know i could collect a different one for everybody on my loved list. since we decidedly do not have our lives together enough to send out christmas cards, i thought i would share some of my favorites here.. in case you DO have your life together.

quill and fox

runaway handmade

this one is from my best friend becca's new etsy shop. she has a few others, including a pretty one with snowflakes, that i had to choose from. generally, when i like an artist, i really like an artist and (lucky for me) she's one of my favorites.

the little canoe

this shop was one that i discovered at renegade, and it's still one of my favorites. i had like four of her holiday cards open to choose from!

vintage confections

i just want to be a cool friend who sends you lollipop greetings.

freya art

<3

i'm obsessed with this

do you ever randomly re-stumble upon an artist on etsy (or anything, for that matter) and have them TOTALLY resonate? lately, i've been obsessing over julia pott. i like everything so much that i can't decide what to order! i thought i'd share a few of her pieces here.. it's been a long time since i've shared one of my etsy obsessions.

here with me

you made me a mix tape

walter (this one is my favorite)

hello i love you

cut it out

i want to jump your bones

why won't you love me (this was actually the first julia pott piece i ever saw - on tumblr. aw)

who are your etsy favorites right now? which of julia's pieces should i snag? ;) <3

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.

<3

whoopsy daisy

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the little canoe was basically our favorite shop at renegade.

uhmmm, i totally spaced and avoided my blog for a long, long time. sorry, dudes. didn't mean to!

to catch you up to speed:
- work has been crazy, which i guess is okay since i took four days off of it to shop in chicago.
- i'm still dealing with residual kitty allergies (or i'm just getting sick, but. i can't be getting sick!), and i wake up with itchy, swollen eyes every morning.
- lots of changes are coming my way pretty soon, which is super exciting and i can't wait to share!
- austin and i have been framing all of the pretty prints and using all of the pretty tea towels i picked up at renegade.
- all of my recent outfits have been -on point- (if i do say so myself..) because it's fall in virginia and i can finally break out my tights and sweaters!!!!
- austin and i have been spending a lot of time watching supernatural and workaholics. it's a pretty good mix.

i'll write about chicago (i promise) and some stuff i've been up to this week, but check out these cool things til then:
- this article about an early love of barack obama's was super interesting.
- well, i'm officially obsessed with kilim pillows (and this blog makes me want to be better at making my house pretty).
- i really want to make these daisy tights like, tomorrow.
- i've been suuuper sentimental lately (mine and austin's 3 year anniversary is in two weeks!), and this first date story killed me.
- this diy rules and as soon as i can figure out a word i really like, it will be on the list for our new place.. whenever/wherever that happens.
- austin and i are obsessed with halloween decorations, and i can't wait to find a spare couple of hours to sit down and make these.
- avery is getting to the point where i'm ready to start making her awesome stuff like this bookcase dollhouse.

see you guys soon. promise! <3

in my dream suitcase

i've been struggling with what to pack for chicago, because i don't know about weather (although becca has been super helpful) and i hate comfortable shoes. since renegade obviously requires those.. i've been dreaming a little bit. these are outfits that i wish i was packing.

dress/ necklace/ leggings/ boots
i've shared thief & bandit on the blog before, and i love this dress. it's a little short, so i'd pair it with leggings. everyone says this, but it's totally true: if you aren't buying $5 leggings from forever 21, you're probably paying too much for your leggings. haha, i love theirs. this necklace has been in my etsy favorites for a loooong time - i need to just snatch it up. and frye boots. i have a pair - a friend of mine from school gave me her great grandma's (they're over 100 years old!!!!), but i get nervous to wear them and they need to be resoled. i may ask for this pair for christmas, or start saving up. because they rule.

skirt/ tshirt/ boots/ tights

my doc martens are the comfiest shoes that i own, and i've been obsessing over this skirt for months. gnome enterprises is actually going to be at renegade, so i might come home with this little bunny tshirt (and a matching one for avery?!). also i hear it might be tights weather in chicago. ;)

skirt/ tshirt/ shoes/ necklace

i have been super into graphic tshirts lately, which is weird.. but i really love this one (it says "don't cry, it's rock & roll" haha). i need to pick up a solid color, flowy midi skirt for the fall (i have my heart set on this one, which will be available from hello holiday when they launch). andddd i'm pretty sure that i've linked to this dinosaur toes necklace before. still obsessed. these button factory shoes are too big for me, or else they may have found a temporary home. :(

even if none of these pretty things are coming to chicago with me, i'm just so excited for this little trip. for time with bekuh and becca, for exploring renegade for the first time, and just to relax far, far away from the stress of trying to become a responsible adult. haha.

<3

pretty things on the internet

i really only have two things to share today, so i almost didn't even do this post. but these two things are SO perfect and SO beautiful and SO interesting and SO awe-inspiring, that they are definitely worth both a post, and your time. :)

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first, remember the lauren moffatt fall 2012 presentation back in february (remember how i got the idea for my haircut from one of the models?!)? well, it was pretty then, but now.. i'm obsessing. because, you know, it's almost fall. and i can wear these things. i maybe just maybe am dreaming and scheming about how much money i can save in order to own sooooomething from this collection. here are some of my favorites:

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seriously groaning at how pretty everything is. if i had to choose one collection of clothing to wear forever and ever, it'd be this.

second, this adorable article: the blogger and the radio star. tavi has been an inspiration of mine since she was 12, which is both ridiculous and awesome. i try to keep up with all of the talks and interviews that she gives, even though i avoid reading rookie because honestly, i'm too old. but she rules, and so does ira glass. even if you only care about one of them - this article is so cute. i've read it like three times this week, and never could let myself close the tab. i only do that with things i really like. ;)

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have a good weekend! <3