t-shirt: Old Navy
capris: Target (belt came with them)
flats/boat shoes: Famous Footwear
necklace: Express via Discount Fashion Warehouse
Guys, our house was without internet for the entire weekend! I don't know how that would really affect you, but I seriously just typed "Guys, our internet was without internet." Suffice to say I experienced some serious withdrawal. And of course, no internet means no Netflix/Hulu, and I had a whole weekend of Matt-working-so-I'm-home-alone to fill. Fortunately, the lovely Ally serendipitously came to the rescue! She recently finished watching Wonderfalls, a 2004 show that was cancelled before its time, and thought I'd enjoy it as well. So she sent me the DVD box set! It arrived late last week, just in time to entertain me through this difficult time. I blasted through all 13 episodes in three days. Thank goodness for good friends, amiright?
I also got a lot of wedding crafting done this weekend. I'm handmaking all the flowers for the ceremony reception--that's my bouquet and tossing bouquet; eight bridesmaid bouquets; nine boutineers for Matt/his groomsmen; various corsages/boutineers for parents, grandparents, readers and ushers; plus approximately 30-or-so bouquets for the centerpieces. I'm not gonna lie, the whole thing was really overwhelming and kind of had me in cold sweats at first, but I've since narrowed down the styles of flowers I'm making (some are on my Pinterest board, others I learned from my cousin, who did the same thing for her wedding next month) and the materials I'm using. I'll probably do a full tutorial on each of the bud styles I'm using and how I stemmed/arranged them once I'm done.
I've also been using the string-and-fire method (a la this) to cut the tops off of wine bottles to make vases. I've ruined several of my first attempts, but after a little trial and error I think I have the process almost down. Which means I just have to keep drinking lots and lots of wine, I guess. Tutorial to come on that one as well, though the video I linked is pretty entertaining in its own right.
Oof, I didn't mean for this whole post to go wedding-centric, but lately I can't help myself. We'll be at the 11-month mark as of Monday, which is unreal, and I'm going dress shopping this weekend, so my brain is on semi-permanent wedding mode for the time being. Sorrynotsorry. Here's a pic of me making a weird face to make it up to you.
t-shirt: Old Navy
capris: Target
belt: came with the capris
sandals: Walmart
necklace: gifted
Well, these are the last of my outfit photos shot at the new house. I used the alley between our garage and our neighbor's as a backdrop. I've used it before, but only rarely. We were really close to a heavily trafficked road and I had this dumb (but given the events of the summer, totally understandable) fear of my camera being snatched while I was shooting.
All in all, these shots didn't even turn out 100% as great as I had hoped. The t-shirt isn't plain white; it's speckled with tiny, bright neon splotches. (You can see a close-up of it here.) I avoided the neon trend for a long, loooong time, but I've finally jumped on the bandwagon, albeit in a tiny way. I'm way more comfortable with small accents like flat shoes or a skinny belt than I am with big, flashy pieces.
So tomorrow I have to go in to work an hour early, meaning I'll be out my front door before 7 a.m. I'll try to have a post ready, and I want to post a little before-and-after of how the new house is coming along this weekend...but life, as usual, may have other plans. Gotta love deadlines and taking on more projects than really is wise, right? Story of my life.
dress: thrifted
blazer: secondhand
heels: Target
belt: came with capris from Target
bracelet: Etsy
So I started writing this post last night and completely forgot to finish it. D'oh!
In my book, the perfect weekend means I have enough time for stuff I wanna do and stuff I wanna get done. As far as I'm concerned, this weekend was a textbook example of just that.
Friday nights are usually reserved for a few glasses of wine and some episodes of whatever Matt and I are currently plowing through (we're on Dexter season 2 right now). But this past Friday, my friend was helping out at a fundraiser for her friend, who was recently re-admitted to the hospital because he has cancer. So I was more than happy to be able to help her with that. We raised a great amount for the cause, and I'm pretty sure I even won a silent auction bid on a gift certificate to my favorite local tattoo shop! Fingers are crossed, as I'm still waiting for confirmation on that :)
Saturday Matt and I had a much-needed sleep-in/lay-in-bed-half-the-morning-for-no-reason sesh, and it was freaking glorious. Then I headed down to meet a friend for a little pre-game drink (Go Bucks!) before running off to another fundraiser — this time for a climbing co-op that some of Matt's friends are trying to get going. So after grabbing an awesome burger at Columbus' Audubon park, we did a little climbing ourselves...for like three hours. It. Was. Epic. I'm so out of practice, but I still managed to surprise myself by tackling a final route that I thought would be beyond my ability. By the time we got home and ate dinner, it was nearly nine...just enough time to shower and head over to our friend Chasity's house (aka our old house) to help her celebrate her birthday.
After sleeping in a little on Sunday again (OMG TWO DAYS IN A ROW WTF), I turned into a whirlwind. Laundry, sweeping/mopping, more laundry, hanging curtains, running errands, hanging art...all while Matt rewired my closet so I could stop stretching an extension cord from the bathroom. Yeah, we're pretty awesome lessors, we know. Or at least, Matt is. Because he can do electrical stuff. Me, I just punch a billion nail holes in the walls and hang shelves everywhere.
I know this is a long post already, but can we just talk about this outfit for like a second? As I was wearing it, I was struck by another of those "blogging really has helped me develop a sense of style!" moments. I've always loved blazers and dresses, but the little pop of neon is so far beyond anything I would have worn a few years ago. It just wouldn't even have occurred to me. Ditto the faux snake-print heels, and probably the rose gold spike bracelet too. And old me probably would have wanted to throw a necklace on with this too, instead of realizing that the belt and blazer add enough detail on their own. Thanks, blogging world, for introducing me to trends and styles I probably never would have worn otherwise!
My friend Kellyn asked me this very question when I invited her to come with me to the Aveda Earth Jam fashion show/fundraiser last week. She unfortunately wasn't able to go after all (stupid work!) but it did get me thinking. Last year I just wore all black and heels—a reliable go-to for any fashionista. This year, however, I decided to get a little more trendy with it.
shirt, necklace: Old Navy
skinnies, booties, bracelets: Target
nail polish: Old Navy's brand in Melon Glow
First I asked myself, what would a style blogger wear at an event where she's representing herself and her blog? Of course, I had no real answer, because seriously, it's not like I do this professionally (or even all that well, if I'm being brutally honest). So then I thought back to the spring fashion trends article I wrote recently (cute how I snuck that link in here again, right?) and came up with a few ideas: black-and-white, cuffed skinnies and a hint of neon.
Now, I know I've expressed my extreme distaste for the neon trend before, but I'd like to amend that statement. Neon shirts/pants/skirts/dresses? Hell to the no. I stand by my original statement. But neon accents, like these nails (or some of the great picks over on Fashion for Giants recently)...well, let's just say I'm warming up to them. It helps that when I bought this nail polish, it looked like more of a sorbet shade...but once it was on and dried, it was full-out glowing. No joke. Here's a pic of the same nail polish after I dug out my garden last weekend:
Anyway. Talk about a tangent. So yeah, to conclude, this is apparently what a style blogger wears to a fashion show :) Now, I'm off to finish transcribing interviews (please, shoot me now) for yet another freelance package...this one is four stories about the arts scene in Columbus, which has been a BLAST to research! But it's due Friday, and I still have to pieces to go...so if I'm not back until after the weekend, you'll know the reason why!
