Contrast

Ever since the orangy/tan colored boots became popular I have been dying to have some.

I'm not sure what it is about this look but I.Love.It. 

I've seen many girls wear their light brown boots with a black outfit and at first I wasn't a fan

but then it started growing on me.

It's kind of rebellious to wear brown and black together.

And I love it!!

Chase bought the boots for me for Christmas, they are from Rack Room Shoes

it's like a Shoe Dept. kind of place.

(Funny Fact: Chase refers to it as Shoe Depot instead of Shoe Department!! LOL)

The outfit would not tie together without the belt, which I found at Target on clearance. Score!

So there you have the brown elements.

All that's left is to find black tights with a black dress or black skinny jeans with a black top.

The key to the outfit is that the top has to be paired with a skinny belt. 

Maybe a blousy button up or a classic v-neck with a cardigan.

The contrast of the black and light brown look so classic. 

This outfit looks nice but is also comfortable! See, I even drove a bus route while wearing it!!

 I hope you all stay safe whatever the weather brings. 

Operation Retro {2}

My mother~in~law found this dress for a great deal. She very kindly offered it to me and it just so happens to fit into my Operation Retro wardrobe. Yay!! 

With Labor Day quickly approaching I couldn't pass up wearing these white wedges. They were a Payless find from three years ago, I originally bought them to wear with my wedding dress but decided on pretty white slippers for comfort (an idea I totally recommend even if it's a switch to comfy shoes once the reception starts). 

I paired my summer shoes with some pearls to pull it all together since the dress probably would have looked best with black heels.  My bracelet was gifted from a great college friend and my necklace was a bridesmaid gift from my sister~in~law.

If my dress was browns and reds I'd blend in!!

Garden City 2012

Last week, we vacationed at the beach with Chase's family. To say we had a great time would be an understatement.  It was a blast!! My in~laws exemplify "full of life" they enjoy life, laugh often, and possibly dance like no one's watching.  If in~laws were flowers I'd pick a giant bouquet of the ones I already have!! I just love them. 
 

  

Thanks to my momma for the dress!!

Ingredients for the Perfect Beach Week

1. 1 night of Karaoke with a pinch of Faithfully by Journey
2. A plate full of crab legs
3. Sprinkle in shopping
 












4. 2 helpings of Bocce Ball 
5. Mix with an attempt to fly a kite
6. A dash of Putt Putt

 












7. Add Fro Yo (generously)
8. Stir with a boogey board 
9. Sift out husbands to go golfing 

10. Pour all ingredients into a large bowl of: "where should we go today beach  
      or pool?" 

Finally enjoy with family while listening to a beach week theme song: 

Haters Gonna Hate

Favorite Things

July's Favorite Things  

This romper I bought from Marshall's last summer for my sister-in-laws' rehearsal dinner.  Happy One year Anniversary!!!

That seashell wall paper is also...GONE!!!

Spending the mission trip and just everyday time with Xalt students! If you aren't already involved in a church whether it's attending the main service or a small group, give it a shot! It just might brighten your life!

$10 floral wedges from The Shoe Department

The midnight premier of The Dark Knight Rises and all of the conversations  since then dissecting it with the ultimate Batman fan aka my husband!! If you have a question about the trilogy he's seriously the person to ask.

The dance for Sunday's So You Think You Can Dance message about Career {video to come} and the super fun ladies who joined in, the guys are pretty cool too (and amazingly talented) I just don't have a picture of them.

Our one day visit to Virginia!! {that's a post in and of itself...more to come}

Thanks to Dancing with Ashley for the link up!!

 

Accessory Awareness

Inspired by a college friend and fellow blogger I decided to post about my jewelry space savers. I had the problem of my jewelry not being easily accessible. These items helped me to have full awareness of my organized accessories so it's easy to wear them more often.

Something like this can be purchased at T.J. Maxx or Marshall's. It has plenty of storage for earrings.

A cork board with some snazzy push pins can do wonders for a mess of necklaces.  I love love love this idea...{for the life of me I can't remember who I got it from, so if you know who you are...thank you and please feel free to comment!!} If you are more creative than I, you can secure fabric over the cork area before you apply the push pins.  You could use fabric that matched the room or give a splash of color to your vanity area.

 

I've had this little beauty for quite a while. It was a gift from my parents for Christmas when I was in high school.  It holds all kinds of things.  The middle door has a ceiling rack with hooks for bracelets or rings. The floor of it has rows to insert your rings.  I store chunkier bracelets in the drawers.  

The two side doors have hangers on the door and on the inside of the compartment, perfect for necklaces.

 

sorry this pic is darker...with all of the glass the flash seemed blinding.

There you have it...all of my jewelry space savers. 
What are some of your cute and creative organizers?

Niagara Wear

We experienced absolutely perfect weather for visiting Niagara Falls, the sun warmed us while a gentle breeze blew to cool us off. I never felt hot or sticky like the humid heat of NC.

I wore a childhood inspired outfit. My family camped/hiked a lot and my dad always preferred - pants with lots of pockets. I thrifted these beauties for a total of $3.50 which included tons of pockets. We're talking pockets inside pockets, zippers, Velcro, hidden pockets, you name it these ultimate hiking shorts have it.

For the Cave of the Winds tour, we all got ponchos and matching sandals. We went right up to the bottom of the American Falls. On the "Hurricane deck", even with all of our gear, we still got drenched from the water gushing down over us. Hearing the rushing water all around us and feeling the blasts of water pelting our bare skin made for an experience we'll never forget.

Marshall's

My last pair of sunglasses bit the dust at a ripe old age of 2 years and a month. For me and sunglasses that's a relationship record!

Today, I traveled to Marshall's to fill my sunglass need. I found not one but two glamorous (but functional) pairs.

They have super cute ones for great prices if your sunglasses have met the midsummer slump.

Marshall's is the equivalent of T.J. Maxx if you live in a different area.

Favorite Thing: Flea Market

My Favorite Thing about today:
The Webb Road Flea Market met many needs in our life today. We went originally because Chase needed to buy a gameboy so he can play Pokemon with the boys when we go on our mission trip. Through the journey I found a sweet pair of cloth polka dot pants that I'm pretty pumped about. In a huge table of piled up shoes, we sifted our way to some Tom's.

Now I know used Tom's #1 scream of foot disease and #2 defeat the purpose of the whole Tom's organization but they were being sold for $15 a pair or 2 for $25. That's half of ONE pair at regular price!! So...we bought some.

We Lysol'ed them for good measure.

Finally at the end of our trip, Chase found a gameboy and haggled his way down by a whopping $1 difference. What a success!!! If only we'd traveled there on a cool Spring day. Afterward, we refreshed ourselves with some delicious fried ice cream.

Yum!!

Operation Retro!

We've been watching a show set in the 60's 

and I've come to realize I was made for those outfits!

I love the colors, the shape, and the emphasis on dresses and skirts.  

 A dress can make you feel like a million bucks 

or 

a dress can be the perfect comfort on a lumpy sort of day.

I told Chase I'm going to clean out all of my clothes 

and revamp my wardrobe 60's style.

I probably won't actually go that far but 

as you can see I'm one dress in and kinda hooked. 

dress: NY&C cami: Maurices shoes: Kohls necklace: thrifted costume jewelry earrings: Kohls
Photos by Chase via iPad (he was so excited to use it)  

Party Nail!!

Awhile back, I saw the ring finger nail referred to as the "party nail." This transformation from ring finger to party nail happens once it is painted or designed different than the other finger nails. I couldn't wait to try it out!! This afternoon I went to Greystone Salon and Spa for my manicure!! Amazing place and people!!

Prom Hair-Do

I had the fun and honoring privilege of being asked to do a friend's hair for prom.  

THE REQUESTS:

• Bangs stay out of her face and eyes

• Most of hair down

• Smaller, tight curls 

 THE RESULT:

• We started with a Waterfall Braid on the side of the part that included the bangs. 

• Start off french braiding regular, so that the hair in front stays out of the face. The regular french braid will last for two to four pieces of hair.  From there, you continue to french braid the pieces that are being added from the top but when you add hair from the bottom you pick up new hair that you intend to add to the bottom piece.  Now here's the twist, instead of adding the piece of hair to the bottom section of hair you drop the bottom section of hair and braid the new piece in by itself.  

• Once the braid reached the crown of her head, we secured it with bobby pins and curled the rest of her hair with a half inch curling iron.

The Waterfall Braid gives the appearance of sections of hair falling between your braid.

 

 

 

 

The many views of the "Prom Hair-Do." Doesn't she look pretty!!

Eye Sea

A few weeks ago I heard that people with brown eyes should stick with blue and purple eye shadow in order for their eyes to stand out.

I learned the least complimentary colors are brown, tan, and pink which used to be my go to colors.

I've been on a journey to pick out new colors and learn new ways to apply my eye make up.

Here's a blue color scheme I found.  Crystal Waters by Cover Girl

Blue is definitely risky. I mean, I didn't want to end up looking like this:

I wanted my eyes to pop so I decided to try the bold blues. 

The colors have an ocean beach feel to them.  

I used the two shades in the middle. 

I applied the lighter color up to my brow bone and the 

brighter color on the left, I put on my eye lid making it darker on the outside corner.   

Now, eye sea what blue eyeshadow can do for brown eyes.