Style this: Little House Dress

I've had a few people ask how to wear certain items, so I thought it might be fun to create some fictional characters and play with Polyvore to come up with a few ways to wear different items in the boutique. First up, the Little House Dress.

It was finals week for Greta. Only two more hours and she would be done with college forever. Sure she was a journalism major and didn't exactly have a job lined after after school, but it was comforting to know that her best friend - who was a business major- didn't have a job either. Deciding to make the most of her last day as a school girl, Greta put on her favorite plaid dress and some fun patterned knee highs. Her chunky heeled oxfords and plastic frame glasses added to the look, and just to keep the theme going she grabbed a fitted blazer since it wasn't quite summer weather yet. She threw her notes into her battered, vintage messenger bag and slipped a beaded headband across her forehead so she wasn't too costume-y. One last exam and she was going out in style! 

Food Post 2

This is the second part of my old food post from Traffic Jams and Tracing Paper last September:

The next installment of recipes I want to try. This time, desserts!

Mini Apple Pies

Chocolate Cake and Espresso Frosting

Strawberry Topping

Upside Down Fruit Cornmeal Cake

Peach Galette

And some fun things to go along with cooking:

Recipe Cards

Printable Jam Labels

Mmmm, food

A few months back on my old blog, Traffic Jams and Tracing Paper, I posted all these recipes that I wanted to try to make. Then my life became extremely busy and I just now finally have my own kitchen again, so I wanted to repost the tentative recipes and then actually make them. In fact, I just finished making one of them and it's delicious! Here is the original post from September 2009:

 Going along with my plan to transfer some of my favorite blogs posts to here so I can access them easily (and share the pretties with you!) I decided to organize all the recipe links that I have been meaning to try because they look delicious. This was going to be 1 post, until I realized that it would be extremely long, so I'm breaking it up into 2. First up, appetizers and drinks. (Note: I haven't actually tried any of these, but perhaps I should do a comparison post when I get around to it?)

Click the pictures to be taken to the original blogs with the recipes:

Pesto

Mango Salsa

Cubed Hacked Caprese

Simple Syrup (not a drink, but a mixer)

Sassy Water

Melon Agua Fresca

Citrus Thyme Water

That's part 1, stay tuned for deserts!

Literary Inspirations - Louis Lamour

This isn't a classic book, nor is it even a specific book, but this week's literary inspiration is based on the collective series of western stories by Louis L'Amour. I have to thank my boyfriend for introducing me to his works, they are highly entertaining and all of them (at least all of the ones I've read) usually seem to have a few similar elements:

Sitting around a campfire after a long day of riding the range, taking your tin cup and a pack of coffee out of your saddle bag to prepare for dinner. Rolling out of your blanket the next morning and putting on your hat and boots - it's the first thing a cowboy puts on after all. Some good solid jeans and a comfy shirt to get you through the day, and a pair of moccasins to slip on when you need to sneak through the brush unheard. Add some native jewelry to dress it up, we are women after all, and since most places frown upon carrying a six shooter with you, you'll have to do with a necklace instead.

Things I love Thursday

A mini version of TILT:

I found a new favorite Tumblr! I Love Reading and Writing. I'm not a writer, but I love reading so this makes me smile.

All photos from I Love Reading and Writing

Wedding Series Part 1: Wedding Wears

It's almost summer and you know what that means....it's wedding season! This seems to be especially true if you have graduated college in the past few years and all your friends (or perhaps you) are settling down, but it's true for all ages. I have 5 to go to this year but that's nothing. Last year one of my friends was invited to 11 weddings! This brings up the complicated question of "What do I wear?!" No white because you don't want to look like the bride, and you don't want to end up matching the bridesmaids either. And if you are a bridesmaid and have your dress already taken care of, there's still the rehearsal dinner to think about. I used to wear black, but then I read an article on how traditionally people wore black to a wedding as a silent protest against the marriage. No one follows that anymore with the popularity of the little black dress, but now I have the irrational fear of someone's grandmother coming up to me and yelling at me for not supporting the marriage or something. Besides, there are so many other fun colors to wear in summer! Here are a few dresses that fit the requirements and that I wouldn't mind wearing to some of the weddings I'm going to this summer!

Florals: Topshop, Topshop, Forever 21 
Brights: BCBG, Modcloth, JCrew
Neutrals: Anthropologie, Topshop, Neroli Blossoms Boutique

Decorating fun

I had grand plans to start updating the blog more often once the company launched and I wasn't busy getting everything ready. And it would have worked, if I hadn't moved into my new apartment last weekend. Needless to say my life has been a bit chaotic lately, but in another week hopefully everything will calm down and be back to normal. The depressing part about moving is that there are boxes and boxes to be unpacked and organized and not having everything clean makes my life feel like a mess. Happily, I was able to get most of the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen put away, so it's just the living room and office (which resembles a junk yard with all the empty boxes and miscellaneous stuff I keep tossing in there). Since I can see the light at the end of the tunnel I've allowed myself to start thinking of the fun stuff - decorating! I have all sorts of ideas buzzing around my head for fun ways to make my new apartment feel more like a home.


My bathroom is all black and white, the tiles, the fixtures, everything! I'm thinking this shower curtain from Urban Outfitters for the bathroom would be fun (except my bathroom is teeny tiny so I think this curtain might overwhelm the space - but it's ruffly!)

Since my bathroom is so small and has no storage space I need some wall hooks to hang towels and bathrobes, maybe these from Anthropologie?

Moving on to the living room, I think I need to make this giant pocket watch - tutorial at Design Sponge

And add some fun pillows from Pier 1

And a coffee table made from recycled vintage wood such as these from Roost:

As for my office, my dream would be to have this exact one:

I have many more ideas floating around, but I suppose I should probably finish unpacking first...

New products on the site and a giveaway!

I had a couple deliveries of lovelies last week and they are finally up on the site. A quick peek here:

Zip Me Up Tank

Inca Tank 

Picnic Dress

I really like all of these new styles, but I especially love the Inca Tank. Too bad that red is NOT my color! I pretty much look terrible in it because of my coloring, which makes me sad because my friend tried it on and she looked fabulous. Sigh. I guess that means you guys will have to buy it and I can live vicariously through you. 

Also (and perhaps more exciting?) I teamed up with the wonderful Roxy from Effortless Anthropologie and am giving away one of the super cute Owl Tablets on her site. If you want a chance to win check out her fabulous blog and leave a comment there. She is doing the drawing on Monday for the winner. Good luck!

How cool is this?

I was featured in FIDM's blog!

http://blogs.fidm.com/my_weblog/2010/04/merchandise-product-development-alumna-launches-new-website.html