pretty dots and flowers

 

Is it incredibly vain to say that that right there is one of my favorite pictures of me ever? I love the way I look with shorter bangs way more than I ever thought I would. I've been cutting them shorter and letting them grow out quite a bit before trimming them again for quite some time now and I always am happiest when they're really short. Occasionally I think about growing them out again because I think I would have more options for hairstyles but I think bangs are just right for me. That's not saying I won't try something else, but it's pretty great to find something that suits your style and face. Which is also what I think about winged liner. I've been liking myself a lot lately, ok?

 

blouse - target, shorts - target, shoes - gift

summertime memories

a fair day

skirt - h&m, shirt - thrifted in finland, sweater - target, shoes - pf flyers, purse - clothes swap, fascinator - greenwich market, hair feather - ben franklin crafts

There is something I just love about parades and fairs and other ridiculousness, especially when they're not huge. This is the second year I've walked in the Derby Days parade, next to this aaaamazing pink Cadillac (my boss' car!), and handed out candy. I also had to work the kids craft booth until we ran out of supplies, but then I was free, finally, to enjoy the fair. Called up some friends, found the carnival rides, ate snowcones and curly fries, and just generally enjoyed the total awesome-ness that is a small town fair. Although this one has a shocking amount of spandex, since it is centered around a series of bike races. Yucky!

I was obviously really feeling the whimsy of a parade/fair and dressed in a way that reminds me of a Dr. Suess character crossed with a children's librarian. Bright colors, patterns, hair accessories, and just general sweetness. The teal and black striped bit in my hair is a hair feather, which we sell at work. I kind of like the look of them, but I didn't leave mine in for long. Those things are damn pricey, so I'm glad I got mine for free. They wanted us to wear them so everyone would know to buy them at the store. I felt more than a little ridiculous later that night when I went to the Blue Moon, a total dive bar, to see my friends' band, So Pitted (again) play.

happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...

Today was my birthday! And I went to Jetty Island with the fam and had a great day. I've been wanting to go to the beach and hang out lately but our weather has been so lousy. Finally the last few days have been nice and I thought a picnic on the beach would be great. But then I woke up this morning and it was raining and cold and grey. We decided to stick it out anyhow and drove up to Everett and took the tiny ferry across to the island. Seriously, that ferry is mini. Cutest thing ever, and the trip across takes about a minute.

We had a great picnic, with sandwiches and cheese and olives and veggies and hummus and crackers, which my mom put together (she read my mind and had exactly what I was going to suggest she get) and I made little mini apricot-ginger crisps in mason jars. We put a candle in one, just for cuteness. It was all delicious and perfect. Oh, and my mom also got a bottle of Orangina which seemed super nostalgic and I loved it.

Eventually the sun DID come out and it turned into a gorgeous day. I even had to wear sunglasses! But I got some sand in my eye and one of my contacts came out and I couldn't find it so I was kind of weirdly half blind. If you don't wear contacts you probably can't imagine what that's like, but it's kind of surreal. It's not like one half is blurry and one is clear, it's more like you can never find the blurry or clear spots and they're all mixed together. It was weird.

mad electricity

dress - vintage, belt - thrifted, shoes - steve madden

This simple electric blue shift is one of my favorite summer dresses. Although I wear it somewhat infrequently because I feel like the color makes it really noticeable so it's too obvious if I wear it often. It would be super Mad Men if I had some of Joan's amazing curves but as it is, I style it a little more casually. I also feel like that could get really costume-y if I put this on with heels, a beehive, and red lips. Instead, I like to wear it with a funky belt and flat, casual shoes. Last year it was my braided rainbow leather belt and moccasins and this year it's a kind of western belt with loafers.

long skirts and long days

tank - gap, skirt - mom's, belt - thrifted, clogs - jeffrey campbell, purse - vintage coach

I know I go on and on about it, but summer really is my favorite. Lazy afternoons, warm evenings, floaty skirts, and tiny tanks are all things that make me incredibly happy. I spent the day sunbathing and eating popsicles before heading to work in the afternoon. Even after I got off it was kind of the perfect summer evening. Warm enough I don't need a sweater (although I did have to wear my trusty long grey cardigan at work) and full of nostalgia. Both the skirt and the purse were my moms. As a little kid, that skirt was a favorite of mine for dress-up. I would wear it hiked up to my armpits because it was way too long for me.

I'm still playing with the length today. As I sort of mentioned before, I'm trying to branch out of my comfort zone with certain shapes of garments. I talked about wanting to get comfortable exposing my belly in crop tops, and now I'm trying longer skirts. I find I often feel frumpy in anything that goes past the knee, and I feel most comfortable in short little things. I didn't want to wear this skirt at it's full, ankle length glory, so I folded over the wide elastic waistband a few times and belted it. And I'm happy! This was one of those outfits that come together perfectly. I've decided I like this length of skirt, so let's consider the experiment a success. At least as far as this particular skirt is concerned, I am no longer afraid of longer lengths. Although I do insist on heels. I think flats would bring me right back to frumpville.

strawberries pt. 1

shirt - weekdays (copenhagen), jeans - uo, boots - thrifted, jacket - cotton on (sydney)

I picked massive amounts of strawberries both this day and the next. I'll post pictures from that later since there was a lot. This day I was just tired and it rained a bit and I was kind of dirty but I picked 14 lbs of strawberries. This field is my favorite pick-your-own place. Berries are only $1 per pound and all the employees are high school boys. While we were picking, on of them was leaning against the little shack they weigh your berries in, playing acoustic guitar. I don't really like listening to people play acoustic guitar and I think most people that whip out a guitar at any opportunity are annoying, but it was kind of perfect. Small town, cute fresh faced high school boy, playing something super generic while he sits around at his lazy summer job. He also flirted with me a bit when he showed us where to pick, in a funny awkward way and complimented me on my glasses.

skating! fireworks! keyboards! barbecue!

Guys, I had such a blast yesterday! The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I think because I just love summer! JAR hung out at Amanda's with her family. We ate SO MUCH good food. We had sangria, like 5 different kinds of chips and guacamole, watermelon, kebabs, potato salad, green salad from the garden, beer, brownies, and lots of candy. Summer barbecue foods are my favorite! I loooove potato salad and watermelon so so much.

We lit off some smoke bombs in the front yard before it got dark and we headed to Carnation for the big fireworks. I loved Liam's matching outfit/smoke. It should be an album cover or something, don't you think? It's fun watching Liam get so into the fireworks. He was setting up all sorts of "funny" shots, like making it look like he was farting smoke or smoke was coming out of the car's exhaust. These two of J and him are my favorites though.

Then of course we busted out the keyboard that was in my car, the most ghetto-fabulous kid-style keyboard ever. It's a Casio Rapman, with scratch and voice effects. I think we might have written some songs, sitting on the hood of my car. I keep a lot of random things for entertainment in my car. In addition to the keyboard, there's usually a skateboard (which shows up later in this post), a kite, sometimes an inflatable raft, and all sorts of other things.

shirt - handmade (london), jeans - uo, boots - thrifted, jacket (not pictured) - cotton on (sydney)

I bought this tank at the Greenwich Market while I was in London. I love the print, but I might still be struggling with the shape. I'm trying to get comfortable showing my abdomen, but I don't think I'm totally there yet. But I want to wear tons of crop tops this summer, so I need to get comfortable. This outfit was fun because it reminded me of two different trips, the London visit, of course, and also once it cold dark and cold and I put on my jacket, I was reminded of my trip to Australia when I bought my favorite summer jacket ever. That thing gets so much use. 

While we were hanging out in the front yard, I found my old skateboard in my trunk and we started goofing around. I was trying to ollie, but I'm not very good. Summer always makes me want to skate, so I think I'll try some more this year. I know I'm never going to be any good, but I'd like to be able to do a few simple tricks and just be comfortable on a skateboard. Enough that I can fool around and have fun with skating.

After getting home from the fireworks in Carnation, which were a little disappointing this year, to be honest, we lit more sparklers and Amanda's brothers lit a bunch of other fireworks. Some pretty good ones actually. Shane and Shiloh came over too, and I had too much to drink and teased everyone. I really love my friends!

someone tell me to shut up about the weather

shirt - thrifted, sweater - uo, cords - gap, pink moccasins - target, bag - liberty of london for target, strawberry popsicle - safeway

Seriously, don't I sound like a fucking broken record? Yay, it's hot! Now it's not, when will it be hot again? That's all I talk about. Am I old? This picture kind of is, like maybe the beginning of the month. It's a boring work outfit I wore on a nice day when I wanted to feel summery.

summer needs to come alreadyyy

cardigan - urban outfitters, dress - target, tights - target, shoes - steve madden, purse - thrifted dooney & burke, sunglasses - topshop, nail polish - revlon minted

I just recently bought this cute sundress at Target. And this new nail polish, it is the best summer pastel-y color! That place is like girl-crack, for real. I returned some pants and ended up buying this dress, the nail polish and a bunch of other stuff. I loooove the dress though, and I think I'll be wearing it all the time this summer. I am in love with this kind of easy summer dress. And I've been surprisingly drawn towards pink sundresses, despite my general meh feelings towards pink.

I took these pictures last week sometime, I think. It was sometime that was actually sunny and felt like summer. I'm trying to find more open crochet type tights because they are the best thing ever for those in between days when you want some leg covering but it's too warm for anything opaque. Also, here's a secret: You totally can't tell if you have skipped way too many days of shaving your legs. I guess telling you that ruins my illusion of being classy and girly and ladylike lately. Oh well, I'm really scuzzy and I'm ok with that.

I took the following picture so you can see both my awesome nail color (it reminds me of Miami and the 80s but in a good way!) and my Topshop sunglasses. I like buying clothes and accessories when I travel because then every time you wear them, you are reminded of your awesome trip. So now every sunny day I will think of London. But don't look too terribly close at my manicure because I totally reached into my purse before they were dry and fucked it up. Another girly failure and one I seem to be doomed to repeat every time.

part two of dressing like a girl

Went to this art thing in Olympia the other week. The weather was beautiful and I decided to wear this vintage dress I picked up in London. It's got a sweet, super easy shape and a kind of funky pattern. I like that it's not super fitted and there's no zippers. I can see myself wearing it a LOT this summer. I ate ice cream (pistachio gelato YUM), watched a goofy parade, saw my friends band play, and bought a weird apple print smock at a thrift store. I'm going to try pairing it with cutoffs this summer. I think it might work.

dress - vintage (london), cardigan - uo, tights - target, shoes - steve madden, belt - thrifted, purse - thrifted coach, sunglasses - topshop (london)




the fabulous downey brother (otherwise known as fabdownbros)