Music Monday: Current obsessions

Artist: Joshua Radin
Album: Wax Wings (listen on Spotify)
Why I love it: It sounds just similar enough to all the other Joshua Radin albums that I love. And trust me, that is a compliment.
Favorite song(s): My my baby
For fans of: Joshua Radin, Matt Wertz,
Peter Bradley Adams
Bonus: You can see Joshua Radin at Workplay in B'ham on Oct. 15th.

Artist: Cowboy Indian Bear

Album: Live Old, Die Young (listen on their website)

Why I love it: They have a very unique sound.
Kind of like mixing folk with some good old fashioned ambient pop. 

Favorite song(s): Washing, Seventeen, Let it Down

For fans of: Seryn, Gotye, Peter Gabriel 

Artist: Young Readers

Album: Family Trees (listen on bandcamp)

Why I love it: It's my favorite blend of mellow melancholy.

Favorite song(s): All I have

For fans of: A.A. Bondy, The Felice Brothers

Artist: Count This Penny

Album: Pitchman (listen on Spotify)

Why I love it: It's lovely and peaceful and has great female/male harmonies. Oh and I forgot to mention a little bit of pickin', too. 

Favorite song(s): Roll Up Your Sleeves,
Big Tall Pines

For fans of: The Lone Bellow, Carolina Story

Artist: Courtney Jaye

Album: The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye
(listen on Spotify)

Why I love it: It's a little bit country, a little bit island-y and maybe even a teensy bit 60s pop.

Favorite song(s): Need Love, Tiger's Eye

For fans of: Brandi Carlile, Juliana Hatfield,
She & Him

Bonus: You can catch Courtney Jaye at the
Cask & Drum music festival in B'ham on Oct. 12th. 

Life lately

So life lately has been just a bit more insane than usual. Still the typical something going on every night, but day job and freelance work have both picked up recently, so I've been a super busy girl!

First of all, there seems to be at least one concert a week that I've either attended or wanted to attend. It started with Mumford & Sons a couple of Monday nights ago. Super great show and I'm so glad I actually got to see them perform live, but I struggle with really big shows like that. I'm just so used to the smaller, more intimate shows these days and I enjoy them so much more.

Like the Carolina Story show I went to the following Thursday of that same week. Such a great time! Ben and Emily sounded great and I really enjoyed hearing some of their new songs (off their upcoming album!) and it was a super good time for me and J to be able to hang with them after the show as well. Definitely looking forward to them coming back to town in November.

I also went to the FUN. concert in Tuscaloosa on the actual night of my birthday with a few friends. Again, awesome to see them in person and the lead singer has the most ridiculously amazing voice, but still...big show. I just feel so far away from the musicians! I need to be all up in the action and I just can't afford to do that at bigger shows.

In between all the concerts, there have been several birthdays, including myself, my friend Joy and J's twin nieces. And my friend Peaches' birthday is coming up! So lots of celebrating going on these days.

And of course, after all the celebrations, what does one do but take a nice Sunday afternoon backyard nap in the awesome eno hammock that J gave me as my bday present! This thing is going to be used often, I can already tell.

Under the (fashion) influence: Striped skirt

Confession: I'm not entirely sure where this photo came from or who the model is or how to appropriately credit it or the skirt...eek! I'm pretty sure I swiped it from Who What Wear and it is a Joie skirt, but I can't seem to find it online now. My bad!

Anyhow, of course I didn't realize this until after I had set up the photoshoot and got my pics back, so obviously I am still going to use it. What's funny is that all I remember is seeing the skirt and thinking I needed to save the photo because I knew I had something similar.

And until now, I've only ever worn that skirt as a dress. So this was a nice piece of fashion inspiration. Can't let it go to waste!

Ok, cheapskate outfit breakdown:

1. Striped skirt, thrifted ($2.50)
2. Top, Ann Taylor Loft ($19.99)
3. Sandals, Rugged Wearhouse ($9.99)
4. Hobo purse, ATL Market ($30.00)
5. Vintage Ray Bans, gifted/passed down (thanks mom!)
6. Squirrel necklace, gifted (thanks Em!)
7. Earrings, Stella & Dot ($34.00)
8. Love ring, gifted (thanks Em!)

Total: Under $100.00

Photos: Laura Menconi

Splurge on: Polka dots

The polka dot print seems to always be lurking around. It's just a classic that will never go out of style. And here lately I've noticed quite a few items with this adorable print that I'd like to get my hands on—ranging from prim and proper to casual and laid back.

1. Lulu's Dots Amore Beige Polka Dot Sweater, $46.00.
2. Necessary Clothing In the Net Pencil Skirt, $18.99
3. Charlotte Russe Canvas Polka Dot Lace-up Sneaker, $12.50
4. dELiA*s Polka Dot Tube Dress, $39.90
5. Forever 21 Polka Dot Shirt with Bow Tie, $19.80

How to style: Ankle booties

As I mentioned in a recent blog post, I'm a huge fan of ankle booties. Especially when it comes to helping you make the transition between the warm and cold seasons.

So when one of my fav bloggers, Samantha of The Banged Blonde, commented she had several pairs of ankle boots but felt like she didn't know how to style them, I thought that sounded like a pretty great blog post idea!

Because it would have been almost impossible to compile all the photos of my ankle boots outfits (and maybe a tad bit of overkill too), I decided to pick the top six that best illustrated the versatility of this type of shoe and how you can pair them with skirts, jeans and dress to accomplish different looks.

Here's hoping this photoboard gives you a bit of style inspiration. Happy Friday ya'll!

Feeling feminine

There's just something about wearing a midi skirt that makes you feel super feminine - am I right? Maybe it's because the skirt is longer and flowy and therefore more romantic. Or maybe it just makes me think of the mid-century time period when women's hemlines were longer and all the women seemed to be real ladies back then. Either way, I definitely feel like lady in this skirt, and that rarely ever happens!

As Leslie and I scouted quickly for a photoshoot location yesterday, I saw this part of downtown Birmingham that I haven't walked past in a while, even though it is just a couple blocks from the office. These two empty diner/restaurants and their marquees seemed like the perfect step-back-in-time kind of backdrop for this outfit.

Even though our downtown area has been booming lately, it seems this part of town hasn't quite made it yet. I've definitely had daydreams of opening a diner and pie shop in the Cameo Cafe, basically like on The Waitress. But I certainly don't anything about making pies, so maybe I should stick to the marketing day job.

Ok, here's the cheapskate breakdown:

1. Tank top, gifted/passed down (thanks Aunt Faye!)
2. Skirt, thrifted ($2.99)
3. Heels, Charlotte Russe ($15.00)
4. Purse, gifted (thanks Shannon & Jara!)
5. Bangles, gifted (thanks Ashley!)
6. Heart locket necklace (had since I was a baby)
7. Bangles, gifted (thanks Ashley!)
8. Square ring, Brooklyn Flea ($5.00)
9. Vintage cocktail ring, gifted
10. Vintage Ray Ban sunglasses, gifted/passed down (thanks mom!)

Under: $25.00 

um WOAH, I didn't even realize how little this outfit cost until now. This has never happened!

 

photos: Leslie Evans

Life lately

In case you didn't notice, I was a little MIA on the blog over the holiday weekend. That's because J and I headed out for a long weekend trip to see some friends.

We started on Thursday in Nashville to see some friends of his and go to the Ole Miss vs. Vandy game. Other than a not so great start with trouble getting to our seats (Vanderbilt needs to get control of their student ticket situation. Welcome to the SEC Vandy.), we had a great time. The game was intense, and things got nerve wracking toward the end, but Ole Miss pulled out a win, so we were pretty stoked (side note: I am now an Ole Miss fan....only when they aren't playing my Crimson Tide).

We left out late the next morning to hit the road for a long drive up to Winston-Salem to see my friends Emily and Blake. We basically made it in time to see Blake before he left to work as the sideline doctor at a high school football game. But at least we were able to grab dinner with Emily at First Street. Afterward we sat on Emily and Blake's deck talking with them and one of their neighbors until close to midnight. Such good times with these people!

Em and I were up again early the next morning to go for a run. I miss running with that girl! The rest of the weekend was filled with football, food, more food and tons of laughter. We had such a great time with the Perry's...fingers crossed they move back this way sometime soon!

This past weekend was just a solid good weekend, nothing too crazy. Friday night me, J, Amy and Beth went to the Barons baseball game where we watched them win the second game of the playoffs that ended with a pretty good fireworks show. Saturday night we watched the Ole Miss game and cooked out, followed by a Sunday night $1.50 movie to see World War Z (which btw, if you haven't seen it yet, you should!).

Hope you all have had a great couple of weeks as well!

What's in my piggy bank for September?

Even though I live in the south and I should know better, I really feel like fall is just around the corner. I'm sure we still have another month or two before there is a chill in the air down here, but that's not stopping me from picking some great items to get ready for autumn weather.

1. Forever 21 Southwestern Shawl Cardigan in Navy and Wine, $29.80.
2. Mossimo Supply Co. Floppy Leather Tie Hat in Tan, $16.99.
3. ModCloth Girl’s Fest Friend Skirt, $57.99.
4. Forever 21 High Voltage Faux Leather Booties, $42.80.
5. Fred Flare Rust Jesse Sunglasses, $12.00.
6. Joe Fresh Boyfriend Jean, $29.00.
7. Necessary Clothing Reverse It Clutch in Gold and Black, $30.99.
8. Lulu's Moon Dust Grey Skinny Belt, $11.00. 
9. Charlotte Russe Textured Metallic Collar Necklace, $6.00.
10. H&M Knee Sock in Natural White, $9.95.

Design project: Four year old girls birthday party invitation

I was talking with J's sister-in-law recently one night after church about her twin daughters' upcoming 4th birthday party. She mentioned she hadn't really had time to get invitiations together, so they would probably just do an evite since it was going to be a low key affair.

Of course I immediately offered my design services. And even though I kept insisting it wouldn't be any trouble at all, I was pretty sure that she wouldn't take me up on the offer. But to my great surprise, I got a text from her a couple days later asking if I was sure I didn't mind.

After a couple of texts later I learned there was no theme for the party and she just wanted the invitation to be simple and that pink and blue were good color choices. I was able to get her to send me an idea of something she liked and I basically just improved on it a bit. It's not anything outrageous, but it's fun, cute, festive and (I think) exactly what the twins' mom wanted. So I think I did okay!

Disclaimer: Names, dates, etc have been changed.

Real vs. Deal

With cell phones in palm of all of our hands, I think it's rare that anyone really uses a watch to tell time time anymore (or wait, is that just me?). But man oh man, what a beautiful fashion statement the Michael Kors watches make. I don't think it's possible to make a wrong choice in his collection, but I personally have been diggin the oversized options in rose gold.

However, as usual, I don't dig the price tag of this one. Worth it? Maybe. But I just don't have that kind of extra cash. Instead, I'd opt for this pretty sweet oversized version from Charlotte Russe. It's definitely more at my price point and at a glance, it doesn't look like too far of a cry from the real thing.

But of course, you guys can decide if you want the real...or if you'd rather take the deal.