A Weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains

So this weekend was a much needed break for me. And I must say I enjoyed it to its fullest. It was definitely a great mini vacation. I got to see quite a few of my friends, get out in nature and hike and letterbox, and enjoy great food. What more could I ask for?

So on Saturday I went to the cascades with some friends to go swimming. It's a two mile hike to the cascades, which I knew... but made me realize just how out of shape I really am. I will be taking up walking/running pretty soon...


Allison, Jasmine, Me, and Gracie

I love that Allison's sweet dog had her own backpack, though she wasn't so fond of it. We were laughing hysterically in the parking lot about Gracie wearing a backpack. The entire hike is gorgeous and your first view of the falls when you get to the top is breathtaking.



It was so unfortunate, however, that by the time we got to the top and Jasmine tapped my shoulder to point out the falls, the only thing I could manage to say was "Oh thank god." haha... I really enjoyed the hike, but it was even more fun to hang out around the cascades, even though the water was ICE cold and Jasmine practically threw me in... aka picked me up and then proceeded to slip and we both went under... SO COLD. Gracie, Allison's dog, was also not fond of the cold cold water... she was ticked at Allison when she finally drug her into the water.

I had a really old water camera with me and there are some fun pictures, but they're super grainy and I don't think they'll scan well... this has lead me to looking into a waterproof digital camera, so if anyone has any suggestions for that, I'd love to hear them!



So, for all my fellow Star Wars fans/geeks... which seems to be most of my friends in real life... on Sunday morning Jasmine and I decided we would test out these AWESOME pancake molds from Williams-Sonoma and make Star Wars pancakes. Ours were not nearly as pretty as those in the picture on the Williams-Sonoma website, but we had a lot of laughs making them.



The first one oozed every where to which I replied "the force is not strong with this one." and then the next one burnt horribly while we waited for it to start to solidify.



But we got a few good looking Stormtroopers and Darth Vaders out of the bunch. Yoda's huge ears wouldn't fit in the pan, so we didn't get to test that one out. But safe to say these are going to be a staple in my apartment.



And then I went hiking again on Sunday with Jasmine. We hadn't actually planned to go hiking, but got the bright idea to go letterboxing while we were already out and about... so naturally I was not dressed for the occasion. It seems to be common place these days that I go letterboxing/hiking in a mini dress.


Jasmine and Me

We found a couple of letterboxes up on Mill Mountain and one even led us to this gorgeous view of Roanoke. It's definitely one of my new favorite places. I miss the Blue Ridge Mountains so badly, aren't they beautiful?!

Daily Outfit: An Egg-zellent Weekend

What:
Shirt: c/o my ex's closet
Skirt: ModCloth
Shoes: Restricted, from Ebay

Comments:
So it was a nice little weekend off from life in general. Going back to Roanoke always feels like coming home. I swear one day I'm seriously going to move back there for good. So I took these pictures in one of my favorite spots on the Hollins campus. It's a little bridge out by the Library. I wish the background wasn't so blown out, but you can still see how beautiful our library is. One of the things that makes Hollins so beautiful is all of its brick buildings, most of which date back to the 1800's.

So this was what I drove up in and it was very comfortable and great for the heat and humidity both at the beginning of the drive and once I got to Roanoke. I do however always manage to wear lightweight, short skirts on days when there's wicked wind. This was no exception! And I love how my camera captured me cracking up after I got a text message and my blackberry vibrated itself of the railing, smashing against the bridge and separating into three pieces before tumbling off the bridge into the grass below. The phone seems to be fine, so I guess no harm, but it was pretty stinkin' funny.

And the shoes... I broke my online shopping ban for the month of June to purchase these on ebay. But I hate a logical reason. I was planning to buy them as soon as July rolled around anyways, but then ebay offered a promo code for 15% of from certain stores, and the store these shoes were at was one of the participating stores and the promo code was going to expire the next day. So logically it made more sense to buy them now then to wait and buy them later for more money. And I love them, so I have no regrets in breaking the ban to buy them!

More tomorrow about my weekend. I have a few pictures to share with you... One that I think Suze will be particularly amused by since it has to do with Star Wars geekery, which we have in common!

When:
June 25, 2010

A Little Time Off

Just a heads up that I will be MIA this weekend. I'm headed off to a mini vacation, which is much needed these days. I promise you many silly pictures when I return! And I'll leave you with this old picture of me acting a fool.

My Take on Jewelry Storage

So I gave you a glimpse into my closet not that long ago and I've talked before about trying to find a way to store my jewelry so that it's out where I can see it, but doesn't look cluttered and tacky. I looked around a lot for inspiration and from there I got creative and came up with a mix of my inspirations that suited me.

Necklaces were easy. I had this fun snail hook rack that I bought at Anthropologie years ago and never quite figured out what to do with it. I have a weird love of snails so when I saw it I snapped it up even though I had no clue how to use it. I did a little jump for joy when I realized I finally had an acceptable use for it!



Next were my rings and bracelets. I'd seen a few different places where people had used teacups for storing rings and I thought that was a cute idea, plus i have an abundance of white teacups in my apartment because I bought them to go with my dishes and then realized that no one needs 10 identical tea cups, especially when one does not entertain often. So I tried them out in my drawer and they fit perfectly and looked so quaint. I ended up deciding that they should also be used for my bracelets and bangles since I had no idea how to store those either and three teacups looked so much better than just the one.



And last were earrings which I was having a really hard time figuring out what to do with. So many people hung them on screens or fabric or other such things. That's just not for me. Plus I do not need something else cluttering up my bathroom counter... that's another organizing dilemma to be tackled another day. I saw how one woman had used some cool ikea trays with little spaces in them that fit in her wardrobe for all of her jewelry and I really liked it. Unfortunately I don't have the space for something like that, so I thought about it for awhile and then realized what the little trays reminded me of... a mancala board! I called my mom and she just so happened to have one that was missing most of its pieces, and I snatched it up... I think it works beautifully. Even giving me a place to store the loose pendants that I have.



I still have some organizing to do in my bathroom drawer, as you can see, but overall I'm very pleased with the accessibility of my jewelry.

Daily Outfit: Heat and Humidity Will Be the Death of Me

What:
Dress: Vintage, Etsy, Kittenteeth Vintage
Shoes: Vintage, Etsy, The Stitchkeeper

Comments:
Let's be honest here... I just put shoes on for these pictures because I worked from home today and barely bothered to get dressed. It's just so miserably hot and humid right now. I am not a fan! I actually stood in my closet trying to pick out the thing in my closet that would a) breathe the most and b) not touch my skin in very many places. And so clearly accessorizing was not happening today. This was about not melting in the heat, plain and simple. And these are my just barely dry from the shower natural curls, jealous much? hehe.

These shoes took a trip to my favorite cobbler to get resoled after they mysterious ended up with a chunk taken out of one of them. I was really upset that they were going to have to put black soles on them, but my mom picked them up for me and magically they had found white soles to match them and used those instead. I am so happy to have these back. They are my go to summer sandal.

What:
June 22, 2010

Daily Outfit: Running on Empty... in Stilettos

What:
Slip: Vanity Fair
Blouse: H&M
Skirt: Thrifted, America's Thrift Store (Chattanooga, TN)
Shoes: Steve Madden
Necklace: Vintage, Eagle's Wings (Buchanan, VA)

Comments:
So if I had my own personal energy gas gauge... my light would have been on all day... I was seriously coasting on fumes. I laid awake until 3am last night and then was up and unable to sleep at 6:45am(ish). And it was not the kind of day where I can nap on my lunch break and then eat while I work... no no... I worked straight through my lunch break today... I was going from about 7am till about 5pm... and in stilettos. Today was like a landslide, but I wont go into all that... safe to say, however, I'm in for a rough couple of weeks.

I don't really have a lot to say about this outfit. I really like it, the mixing of black and brown... which is one of my favorite combination. I thrifted this skirt for like $2 and it still had it's tags on it stating it originally cost in the neighborhood of $90. Sweet deal. It reminds me of a skirt that Elizabeth from Delightfully Tacky has, except mine isn't leather. So of course I instantly loved it, because I have been lusting after hers for some time.

Edited: and then I got a text from my wife (aka best friend Carol-Ann, thanks Wife!) at 9AM asking if i was sure i added photos to this post... apparently that's when my brain quit working yesterday. My bad guys!

When:
June 21, 2010

Daily Outfit: I Really Should Give Up on Painting My Fingernails

What:
Shirt: Gap
Jeans: Miss Sixty
Shoes: Ruby Toesday Flats, ModCloth
Hat: Target
Necklace: Express
Ring: Vintage, Antiques at the Factory (Fanklin, TN)
Nail Polish: Re-Fresh Mint, China Glaze

Comments:
It's Sunday so I was just looking for something to hang around the apartment in and do a little baking. Plus I have been missing these jeans for weeks and now that I've found them, I don't want to take them off again. They were hiding UNDER my hamper. When i lifted my hamper and saw them, I hugged them to my chest and yelled "Oh how i've missed you!" I know I'm nuts... but i love these jeans. They fit so well and I even had to have them tailored to fit lengthwise... so I invested in these babies and I didn't want to see them lost to my carelessness.

I swear I repainted two of my nails three times because I kept chipping or smearing them. This is probably why I haven't painted my fingernails in six years. I am so hard on my hands on a daily basis. I have cuts and scraps all of them, so naturally i can't keep nail polish on them either. And lord help my rings and bracelets. That's probably why I don't wear a lot of jewelry on my hands and wrists... I end up damaging it all. Notice that in the week I've had this ring I've already lost three of the little stones in it. tisk tisk!

When:
June 20, 2010

Daily Outfit: Strange How the Ears Ring After a Night of Wrong Doing

What:
Tank Top: LOFT
Vest: LOFT
Skirt: Thrifted, Goodwill (Roanoke, VA)
Shoes: Calvin Klein
Hat: Ralph Lauren
Necklace: Unknown

Comments:
Forgive me for the amount of color adjusting I had to do with these photos, but I really liked the light in these pictures for this outfit and so even though I took another set of photos in them in a different location first... i ended up going with these because I liked the feel of them much better. Does anyone else do that? Take outfit pictures in more than one location because the first set just doesn't feel right when you get them on the computer and really look at them?

So while editing these I thought to myself, I bet Suze would put this in the shockingly short category... haha. And it is pretty short, but I wore it in public anyways. I think I have poor judgment when it comes to skirt lengths... I routinely wear dresses and skirts to work that are probably wildly too short for work. But what can you do, eh?

No night of wrong doing here, but my ear is indeed ringing. I don't know what the heck caused it either, but its been stopped up and ringing for a day and a half now. I probably should be more concerned and less annoyed, but I'm honestly just annoyed. The title is from a Rainer Maria song. I rediscovered them last night when I was talking to a friend of mine about music. I can't believe it's been so long since I've listened to Rainer Maria and Rilo Kiley... well they are making a comeback in my playlist!

When:
June 19, 2010

Daily Outfit: I Was a Young Troubadour When I Rode in on a Song...

What:
Shirt: Old Navy
Jeans: Miss Sixty
Vest: LOFT
Hat: Target
Shoes: Calvin Klien (c/o my aunt)
Belt: Steve Madden

Comments:
No less than three people told me today how cute I looked. I felt so gross today. My hair was still wet from the swimming pool late last night and I had very little sleep and felt like I was running around like a crazy person all day. Somehow... I apparently managed to look adorable doing so according to others. haha. How about that.

I know I know... enough with the hat already, huh? I really love this hat. I can't get enough of it. But today it served a purpose more than anything... my bangs were sticking straight up and there was nothing I could do to tame them except shower, which was out of the question, so I threw on a hat to hide them and gave my dirty hair a quick braid. So glamorous this one. I kind of felt like a musician in this outfit for some reason. I can't explain these things... I have weird associations.

I am however wearing fabulous shoes. And when all the discussion was going on about c/o items someone made a comment jokingly about people disclosing things that are c/o daddy's wallet or something like that, which made me laugh really hard. So I felt the need to tell you guys that my lovely aunt INSISTED on purchasing me this beautiful shoes. She's pretty fantastic, I'm just saying.

When:
June 15, 2010

Daily Outfit: Hot Summer Day

What:
Dress: Thrifted, Goodwill (Roanoke, VA)
Belt: Vintage, Etsy, The Stitchkeeper
Shoes: Vintage, Etsy, Hand Me Down Owl
Bag: Vintage, Etsy, Miss Farfalla
Ring: Vintage, Antiques at the Factory (Franklin, TN)

Comments:
I took the day off to spend with my mom and my aunt in Nashville after the Charity Softball Game and we did a bit of shopping. I didn't realize this outfit was entirely thrifted and vintage until about halfway through the day, and I was pretty proud. Is that an odd thing to be proud of? And I also found myself not really interested in most of the clothing at the mall. The only actual clothing I bought the whole day was a vintage sink dress from Sugaree's in Murfreesburo for $20. I would frequent that lovely place if I lived closer. A friend of mine from high school recommended that I got there because she thought that I'd like it. Boy was she right. Not only do they have a really nice selection of vintage clothing, but they also have great vintage shoes and bags as well and they carry BB Dakota as well. I wish I had had more time to spend in there. But I will definitely be back when I'm in the area.

I did find this lovely ring while shopping in Franklin, TN at a little antique store. I was surprised that it fit my tiny little fingers, but it did and I snapped that beauty up for 6 bucks. I've been wearing it ever since.

My mom was nice enough to snap these pictures for me outside of The Factory in Franklin and I laughed so hard when I saw the last picture. She had snapped a picture of me flipping my hair out of my ponytail and I just had to post it.

When:
June 14, 2010

Daily Outfit: Take Me Out to the Ball Game?

What:

Jersey: #51 Gerald McRath, NFL.com

Short: Gap

Shoes: Ruby Shoesdat Flat, ModCloth

Hat: Target/Trade from Ashley

Comments:

So my mom, my aunt and I went to the Jeff Fisher and Friends Charity Softball Game in Nashville this weekend. It's always such a fun event because you get to see all the players cutting up and really having fun. It's also a great time to get autographs from the players as well and to interact with them for a little bit. I was so excited that Gerald McRath signed my jersey and took a picture with me that I dropped like five things... and I've met him twice before this so I honestly don't know what was wrong with me. I don't know how many of you follow football at all, so this might not interest you, but I was really sad this morning to wake up to the news that McRath was suspended for four games for using performance enhancing drugs. He's still one of my favorite players, but I was definitely disappointed.

Anyways... so these shoes... lovely though not good for all day in the hot sun. By the end of the day my feet were swelling from the heat so they started to get rather uncomfortable. I swear people were looking at me like I was nuts when my mom was taking these pictures for me... we were after all standing right in front of the entrance to Greer Stadium while people were coming in for the game. Eh... I'm getting to where I just don't care who stares!

When:

June 13, 2010

Daily Outfit: Apparently My Stylishness Hides My Ridiculousness

What:
Dress: Vintage, Etsy, Eye for Vintage
Belt: Unknown
Scarf: Vintage
Tights: Steve Madden
Shoes: Nine West

Comments:
This would be the dress that I was talking about that showed up on my doorstep and I had completely forgotten that I bought. See cute. And just what I needed for a meeting that I had to throw an outfit together and race two hours to the main office to be at on Wednesday. We had a meeting with the entire department and our new director, so I wanted to look presentable... aka not like I had been mauled by a bear cub during reunion shenanigans. So I wore tights and a scarf in June. It was actually pretty comfortable as the main office is usually kind of frigidly cold, so it worked out fine, no one even asked... I think they just assumed it was my usual dressing up thing. Glad my stylishness can hide my ridiculousness from time to time.

When:
June 9, 2010