Outfit Post: Back in Black

Who knows WHY I thought it was a good idea to run around in head to toe black in the 90+ degree weather of the Chicago summer, but it really didn't get too bad until the end of the day. I needed something that was not too revealing, comfortable to walk around in all day, and not too risky when it comes to those Chicago winds vs. Skirts/Dresses. Just for the record: Quickest way to take a black outfit and make it pop: ridiculously colorful scarf. Voila!

Outfit
Dress, Leggings and Ring: Target
Scarf: Old Navy
Shoes: Gap
Earrings: For Love 21

Yesterday we started off with breakfast at the Bongo Room on S. Wabash in the South Loop. It was REALLY delicious, but way too filling. I'll be posting a review soon over at Wonderland Kitchen (Along with several other amazing restaurant reviews from this Chicago visit! You can currently find a review for the South Loop pizza joint Flo & Santos).

(Red Velvet Pancakes with Vanilla Creme Sauce. You better believe I'll be trying to find my own recipe to share with you guys in the very near future for this delicious little creation!)

Then we had school visits at Northwestern for the little bro, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for both of us. I've been looking into a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Communication Design, but after being told that I'd basically just be blowing a cool $80,000 to play around with "studio time" for two years, it didn't seem exactly like what I wanted to pursue after I graduate... as much as I'd love to sit around and craft for two years and call it an education. It did, however, look like a really cool school for anyone who is specifically pursuing art and has an actual undergrad background in it.

We ended the day (night, really) at a White Sox game (the REAL Chicago team) followed by watching the fireworks at Navy Pier from the drive out by the Planetarium. It was a busy busy but really great day overall!!

By the way, big thanks to Pearls, Lace, and Ruffles because I was one of the winners of her 300 followers giveaway! I can't wait to get this adorable little collection of jewelry and put it to good use. I promise to post as soon as it comes in :-) (And thanks to all of MY new followers! Again... it means a lot that any of you actually read this! I've been working on pulling stuff together for a giveaway of my own, and that will be happening soon!)

Mila's Daydreams

I could NOT resist sharing this blog when I came across it... truly the cutest thing! I love babies and little kids, so this is right up my alley. Check Mila's Daydreams and all of the precious pictures out for yourself... these are some of my favorites.

Outfit Post: Strapless Dress Coverup!

Ok, so these pictures are not the best quality/lighting/etc... I had Lauryn take them for me the other night while we were in the middle of making dinner for everyone so we were kind of in a hurry. The main point is that I have discovered that these vests are IDEAL for covering up bra straps with strapless dresses. *REALLY EXCITED* I hate strapless bras, but LOVE this dress and have only ever worn it once with a cardigan. So, to say the least, I'm hoping to buy another one of these casual vests in black in the very near future.

Dinner was a huge success. She made a delicious Bruschetta and experimented with a new Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe (If she gets any posts up on her blog soon I'll be sure to link them) and I made Rigatoni alla Carbonara. I'm pretty excited that it turned out really well and that everyone loved it, because I kind of just took the basics of a Carbonara recipe and did my own thing from there. One of these days I'll try to make an actual recipe to put up, maybe. I'm going to be that future mom/grandma that the whole family is irritated with for not having any written recipes, I just know it.

Outfit
Dress and Vest: Forever 21
Wedges: Old Navy

Guns and Sundresses: Don't try this at home!

Tonight we went out to our friend's property (in the middle of NOWHERE) for another round of shooting. Sometimes Evansville just brings out my inner redneck! I'm really becoming a big fan of this gun thing. I don't think I could ever actually hunt anything, but I just like shooting as a sport! The only exception there might be deer, just because I'm so completely scared I'm going to hit another one again while driving... but even then I don't think I could do it, too sad! I'm still working on actually being able to aim and consistently hit things, but... it's coming along a little slowly. Thought I would share these pictures with you from tonight's little adventure, compliments of Ashlee and her extreme paparazzi skills.

(Gangsta for sure! If only we would have had some of these to use as props when we went to the Senior Christmas dance together with a 20's mafia theme!)

(.45 and a .38 Cowboy Revolver with our shooting mentor, Cody!)

(Ashlee insisted that I "looked like Robin Hood", but I don't think Robin Hood had a .45-70!)

And yes, I may be one of the only people you'll ever see shooting while wearing a sundress. Keeping it classy, ladies! ;-)

(I would also like to clarify that the "posed" pictures were taken with guns that were NOT loaded! I do not endorse playing around with loaded guns just for the sake of picture opportunities!)

Outfit Post: A Little Bit Country and a Whole Lotta Rock'n'Roll!

Finally back from the weekend adventure in Chicago and then Bloomington! It was a great weekend. Ate *too much* good food in Chicago, and at this point I'm just dying to be back in Bloomington for good for the sake of getting back on a regular work out schedule!!!


This outfit is from the Tom Petty concert, which was amazing as usual. He's just so great live... I definitely recommend trying to get out to see him for anyone who likes him even a little bit!!! I drug my dad to Forever XXI on Saturday while we were running around town, and ended up getting two new dresses, a vest, a shirt, and a handful of cheap accessories... many of which made it into this outfit!!! I really love the vest, and I think I want to get one similar to it but in black from Charlotte Russe, because apparently they have them for only $10 right now. (I wish I had a picture of the detailing on the top of the back of it, but I'll try to get one of those the next time I wear it.)

Outfit
Dress: Target
Vest, Earrings, Bow, Necklace: Forever XXI
Boots: RCC Western
Ring: American Eagle
Purse: Target

(With Dad and Mr. Jack Daniels)

(Joelle and Stephanie... and the kid who was really annoyed that we got up to go get more drinks every twenty minutes... hence the double fisting.)

Brother Sister Craft Bonding!

Currently: procrastinating on packing for this weekend's Chicago trip, REALLY frustrated with my bank and the seemingly never ending troubles with this online banking system, and needing to take some advil from this ridiculous headache that has somehow snuck up on me in the last hour! A yi yi!

Ok, thanks for listening to that little vent... now onto something much more pleasant: CRAFTING! My little brother wanted to make a tie-up blanket for his girlfriend (I think, no one really ever knows if they're officially dating or not) for her birthday, so he had me help him with it. It was so cute, he came up with the idea for it himself and picked out the fleece pattern that he thought she would like! He even insisted on doing most of the work himself. I did the cutting to make sure that the ties would all be the same length, but he did all the knotting himself. Too adorable.

Penske getting in on the action, napping with all the scraps.

The blankets are really simple to make- I recommend doing a yard and a half of fleece for each side, in one pattern and one solid. You then just line the two pieces up together (Make sure they're about the same width and everything... it's ok if they don't line up exactly) and cut strips all along each side, and then knot all the strips together! Most craft stores also carry kits with fabric already cut and paired up, and these should have directions on them as well.

After I was done with the cutting I just had to take it for a test run and make sure it was comfy enough ;-)

This definitely had me wanting to make another one, because I haven't made one for years, and I think I want one that's a little bigger than the first one I ever made. Now just to decide on the pattern I want!!

Outfit Post: Back in Heels!

It's official, my ugly ugly blister from Chicago has finally healed enough to the point that I'm BACK IN HEELS! Hooray! I guess I don't normally wear them much in the summer anyways, but with these new pairs of Old Navy wedges, I'm glad I'm able to again! These wedges really are the most comfortable heels ever. They only start to get a little painful when you have been standing on them for too long, but that's a given with any pair of four inch heels.

I'm really trying to keep up with outfit posts, but it has been SO DAMN HOT that I mainly am just living in sundresses, which, as you can imagine are not all that exciting of an outfit by themselves. This weekend I'm off to Chicago again, this time to see Tom Petty (!!!!!!!!), so I've been trying to think of something good to wear for that... we'll see what happens.

Outfit
Dress: Target
Wedges: Old Navy
Bracelets: For Love 21/Charlotte Russe
Necklace/Purse: ??

***Photo credits again to Ashlee who conveniently stopped by right as I was getting ready to take outfit pictures and head out the door... I'm starting to think she can read my mind.

Outfit Post: We're Off to See the Wizard!

The school corporation I graduated high school from always does a summer musical, and this summer it was none other than one of my favorites of all time... THE WIZARD OF OZ! It was a really great production, particularly on the parts of the Scarecrow, Lion, and The Wicked Witch! (Ok, the Wicked Witch is my good friend's little sister, so I'm a little biased, but she really was fantastic!) It was really tempting to try to get a picture of the actual musical, but, since they told us no photography, I tried to actually follow that. I REALLY wish I had a picture of Glinda's dress, because it was absolutely amazing!!!


I wanted to wear something casual but not too casual, so here's what I ended up with. This is actually the first time I've worn these shoes! They're really similar to the black strappy wedges from Old Navy that I've worn a lot this summer, and they're SO comfortable! I stuck with the gray/metallic accessories with this purse I just rediscovered in my closet and the metallic belt. (Photo shoot again compliments of Miss Ashlee Lynn!)

Outfit
Skirt/Lace Cami/Wedges: Old Navy
Plain Cami: The Buckle
Bracelets: For Love 21, Charlotte Russe
Necklace: For Love 21
Flower Ring: Target
Sunglasses: Delia's

Steve Madden: Peace, Love, and Bedding?

Those of you who have been around a while know I have what is a probably a slightly unhealthy obsession with Steve Madden shoes. (Well, unhealthy on my bank account anyways...) Steve Madden goes beyond shoes with handbags, accessories, and even some apparel, but it was recently brought to my attention (Thanks Mandy!) that the company also makes BEDDING. I've also mentioned my slight obsession with interior decorating and/or my bed before, so this REALLY excited me.


I think the bedding definitely follows the overall theme you can see throughout Madden shoes, with a fun, young, and slightly sophisticated style. The picture of the bedding above (From SteveMadden.com) actually is really similar to the bedding I have in my room at my parents' house now. Below are some of the other styles offered at Bed Bath & Beyond. Some of them are a little "younger" than others, but overall I really like the line, which is also extended to some bathroom decor.

Pop on over to one of the links above to check it out for yourself!

Blast From the Past!

Yet another themed party from Miss Ashlee... last night she had a "Blast From the Past" night. The idea was to "dress like children", play a bunch of games, watch movies, eat foods from when we were kids, and MAKE ICE CREAM SUNDAES! I think anyone looking at the pictures of it on Facebook must think that there's no way we weren't drinking during all of this, but it's true!








It was actually REALLY REALLY fun. I was exhausted afterward and slept like a baby last night! I think one of the high lights of the night was the face painting. Justin originally convinced us to paint Steven's face like the "Wal Mart Smiley Face", but it really turned into some possessed demonic looking Roll Back guy. Oh, and did I mention there was a pinata and nerf guns? Talk about a good way to get aggression out!