Regal

Purple and leopard feels like a royal combination for me.  Not a 21st century constitutional monarchy kind of royal, mind you, more of a medieval royal with smoke-filled halls and feasts of whole roasted animals.

 

Dress, vintage, thrifted and shortened; belt, Walmart; flats, Mossimo, Target; earrings, handmade by me; necklace, handmade by me.

 

This dress is from Goodwill.  I shortened it just a little bit since the last time I wore it, and I like the length even better now.  It has pockets- always a bonus.  

Beachy Keen

I love the ocean.  I love the beach from chilly Maine to balmy Cozumel.  I love this dress because of it's beachy star fish print and how incredibly comfortable it is.  I love the semi-patriotic vibe of the color scheme.  There's just lots of love going on in this outfit.

 

Sweater, Sweater Project, Younkers; dress, thrifted and shortened; belt, thrifted; shoes, Montego Bay Club, Payless Shoes; earrings, ebay; necklace, handmade by me.

 

One of my very important goals for this summer is getting to the ocean.  We have a beachy mini-vacation scheduled next month, and I can hardly wait!

I love this outfit.  I love how this necklace turned out.  I love the beach.  Lots of love in this post.

I hope your day is as full of lovely things as mine is.

Mint & Cake-less Hawk

Hello people of the interwebs!  I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  

The dot in the center of the bridge
is a hawk sitting on her nest.

Yesterday my mom and I went kayaking on the backwaters of the Savannah River.  We got caught in a few sun showers and then a thunderstorm.  We took our boats out of the river and portaged along a trail for awhile, but then the sun came back out and we paddled the rest of the way home.  It was a fun but exhausting kayaking adventure.  


We saw a hawk nesting on a railroad bridge over the river.  Unfortunately I only had my little cell phone camera, but in real life you could see the little baby hawks poking their heads out of the nest.  


We also saw dozens of turtles, herons, egrets, ducks and wood storks.  One of the reasons I enjoy kayaking so much is that you can get up close to wildlife.  


Memorial Day makes me think.  Two years ago over Memorial Day weekend Stephen and I got engaged.  Last year at Memorial Day my mom came to visit me in Georgia for the first time.  Now Stephen and I have been married for over a year and half and we are all living in Georgia.   


"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  Ferris Bueller




Now back to reality...

Photo bombed by Wonton.  She doesn't
usually get in on the photo bombing action.

 

Sweater, Banana Republic, thrifted; slacks, thrifted; sandals, Bare Traps, Younkers; necklace, earrings and bracelet, handmade by me.

 

Unfortunately you can't see that this delightful sweater is sheer and mint green with silvery stripes.  Oh well, try another day!

Things I Made...

Here is the jewelry I made this weekend.  As I made each piece I thought "Oh, I like this one too much to sell.  I'll sell the next one..."  

Three-strand necklace:
glass beads, seed beads, gold-plated beads and clasp.

Purple mother of pearl necklace:
chain and shell.

Unakite and rose gold necklace and earring set:
unakite, rose quartz, and rose gold beads and clasp.

Blue "pearl" necklace, bracelet and earring set:
glass pearls, seed beads, and silver-plated beads.

Tiger eye and gold necklace and earring
set:
tiger eye, seed beads, and gold-plated
beads and findings.

Color-blocked red and blue necklace:
blue dyed freshwater pearls, red coral beads,
and red and blue seed beads.

Now I just need to figure out which of these I can part with and get them listed on etsy.

Avenue Q x 2 Plus Shoes

I saw Avenue Q on Friday and Saturday nights.  Friday night was a girls' night and Saturday night was with Stephen.

Friday Night:

Me and Mom.

Dress, CitiKnits, thrifted; wedges, Mossimo, Target; necklace and earrings, handmade by me.

Shortest dress ever.

Apparently my mom and I have a similar sense of style, at least in shoes.  I got these Bjorndal Ally Clogs from Rack Room Shoes for my mom for her birthday after she admired them at Christmas time.  There is definitely a similar feel to those clogs and the Mossimo Black® Payton Wedges from Target.  As an extra bonus, the gigantic wedges somehow manage to make my feet look small.  I'm not too hung up on the size of my feet, but sometimes my size 11s can look kind of enormous.

Image Credit: Rack Room Shoes
Mom's.

Image Credit: Target
Mine.

 

Saturday Night:

 

Dress, Miss Tina, Walmart; shoes, Merona, Target; pendant watch, gifted (thanks Pop!); earrings, handmade by me; cuff bracelet, Claire's

Bear With Me...

Alternate post titles:

• Bear Necessities
• Bear in Mind
• Grin and Bear It
• Bear Naked
• Bear Bones
• Can't Bear It
• Bear-ly There 

Whew.  Now that I've got that out of my system...  I spent most of last night beading, trying to develop stock to put in Chenille's etsy store.  I found some bear-shaped mother of pearl beads that I've had for a long time and decided that I would finally put them to use.  I made some earrings with the bears a couple years ago for a craft sale, but they didn't sell.  Now I don't know if I can bear to part with this set.

Bear Necklace: mother of pearl bears,
white howlite beads, silver-plated spacers,
sliver-lined glass seed beads.

Sneak peek of first strand of color
block necklace with freshwater pearls
and coral.

I often have a hard time parting with the pieces that I really like, and it shows in my overflowing jewelry box.  It is actually easier for me to give my favorite pieces away than it is to sell them.  I'm working on a cobalt blue and red color-blocked necklace with cobalt blue freshwater pearls and red coral beads next.  I have already decided that I'll probably need to make two of those if it turns out like I think it will.  That way I can keep one and list one.

I have a girls' night tonight and a long weekend ahead of me.  Look for a post about my amazing shoes later tonight and more jewelry pics this weekend.

So, do you like my bears?

Whatever

Here is my style philosophy in a nutshell: wear whatever makes me happy, and accessorize with whatever makes me happy.  

I am acutely aware that it is not about me in general, but when it comes to my clothes it isn't about anyone else.  My clothes don't need to "go together" in anyone's estimation but mine.  Sometimes I coordinate, sometimes I contrast, sometimes I just wear a bunch of things that I like all at once.

 

For today's outfit: Animal print consistently makes me smile.  Turquoise plus red is one of my favorite color combinations right now.  It is reflected in my jewelry, my belt and shoes, and my fingernail and toenail polish.  I could have worn this as a super-short dress, but I decided I'd be more comfortable if I followed Gracey's lead and wore my short dress as a tunic with leggings.  

 

Animal print dress, thrifted; leggings, No Boundaries, Walmart; belt, thrifted; shoes, Merona, Target; necklace, brancelet, and earrings, handmade by me.

Two Peas Necklace.
Please excuse the cell phone picture quality.

In other news, I have made a few more pieces of jewelry lately, and these pieces are destined for sale on Chenille's So & So etsy shop.  


One of my favorite pieces I've made for sale is the two peas necklace.  I am fortunate enough to have amazing friends with whom I connect on so many levels, and this necklace is inspired by them. 

I'll shamelessly self promote when my items are listed on etsy, but in the meantime, check out the lovely things Chenille has listed on So & So.

Check back tomorrow night for a special bonus girls' night post with AMAZING shoes!

Rust & Sky

I struggled with a title for this post, but here's my rationale for why it ended up what it is: The shirt dress is rust colored.  The turquoise in my necklace, earrings and toe nail polish are kind of sky colored.  Owls (necklace and earrings) and arrows (belt) are things you might find in the sky.  

 

This is another outfit that wasn't planned in advance but is very pleasing to me.  The whole outfit today started with the belt.  It is from Goodwill.  (Goodwill may be the best place to shop for belts.)  I paired the shirt dress with the printed jersey dress, added the belt, and coordinated the earrings with the turquoise-y green-y color in the belt.

 

Shirt dress, Miss Tina, Walmart; jersey dress, En Focus Studio, TJ Maxx ; belt, thrifted; sandals, Bare Traps, Younkers; necklace and earrings, thrifted; bracelet, gifted (thanks Mom!).  

 

 

In other exciting news, I found the most amazing shoes at Target last night.  I am saving them for my Friday night outfit.  I'm having a girls' night at a local production of Avenue Q.  If you haven't seen or heard of Avenue Q, it is like Sesame Street for grown ups.  It is crude, irreverent, and hilarious.  I highly recommend it.