What's in my piggy bank for June?

I have to admit, these aren't my typical boho style picks. In fact, as I look at all of these polished pieces in this month's round up, I am literally asking myself if I really picked them! Maybe my taste has evolved into something girly and "put together"?

Nahhhh. Yall know my fashion sense is bipolar. Stick around. I'm sure I'll be craving the most random collection next month. It's always fun to mix things up a bit!

1. ASOS Full Midi Skirt with Box Pleats in Emerald Green, $64.49. I can't imagine anything more feminine than a full midi skirt. And this shade of green is just gorgeous.

2. Nasty Gal Bright Future Shades in Yellow, $18.00. I'm not sure I need to gush about these sunnies. I feel like they do all the talking for themselves!

3. Necessary Clothing Posy Blouse in Ivory, $14.99. I envision this top being paired with cutoff denim shorts...and anything else really. It's just so pretty and lady-like and versatile.

4. Sinful Colors Snow Me White at Walgreens, $1.99. I'm thinking white hot nails for the summer.

5. Forever 21 Buckled Open Toe Sandals, $19.80. I love how expensive these sandals look, but obviously they aren't pricey at all.

6. Mossimo Black Paisley Pump in Cheetah, $29.99. How is it possible that I still don't own leopard print heels? I have no idea, but I need to fix this problem soon.

7. Zara Leather Effect Shorts, $59.90. I love how these leather shorts don't look trashy, but somehow manage to look classy instead. It totally changes the way you could style them.

8. Ruche Jenna Woven Bag, $65.99. Such a gorgeous shade that can be used as a neutral and worn all year long.

9. Charlotte Russe Metallic Spike Stretch Bracelet, $6.00. I'm still into hard, edgy accessories obviously. But there's something about this bracelet that also gives a sophisticated vibe...at a very cheap price!

10. Forever 21 Essential Floral Pencil Skirt, $17.80. The perfect bright floral print for summer work days (which sounds like an oxmoron, am I right?).

Life lately

I wish every weekend was a three day weekend —don't you?! And apparently by my lack of a post yesterday I must still be in the three day weekend mode!

Since I can't actually have another long weekend yet, I guess I'll just tell you guys about how great my Memorial Day weekend was instead. J and I got the invite to go camping at the Ocoee with some friends of mine that I met through the climbing gym. We've been hanging with them a good bit doing trivia nights and what not, so we knew it'd be a good time.

We got extremely lucky that John and Katie went up a day earlier and checked out a couple of campsites. They ended up snagging the six of us a prime spot about 15 feet away from the Ocoee. Nights were spend around the campfire listening to the river and grilling amazing food, while mornings were spent sitting on a rock, drinking coffee and heckling watching the rafters and kayakers coming over the rapids. I also managed to get in a run one morning with everyone. Well, if you call mostly walking straight up a mountain and then running back down a "run" :) We also floated the Toccoa River one day and then rafted the Hiwasee the next. It was good times all around.

J and I decided to split from the group a little early and spent the day in Chattanooga on the way home. We had an amazing breakfast at Aretha Frankensteins and then walked by the river and eventually ended up visiting the Hunter Museum of American Art. We saw this incredible special exhibition by Whitfield Lovell called Deep River. Seriously, it was amazing. I've never seen portrait drawings so beautiful like this. If you're in that area, you should check it out.

That weekend has definitely been the highlight of life lately. I've also been to another Barons game, attended a crawfish boil going away party for a couple at church and the baby shower of a mutual friend of mine and Shannon's. Oh and I managed to squeeze in a little bit of pool time with Ashley on Sunday afternoon. Working towards that tan! Hopefully you guys will be able to see it first hand in some pics soon.

The dish on Birmingham: a love letter to my town

I can't lie. On Monday, when driving home from an amazing long weekend of camping at the Ocoee River in Tennessee, I actually groaned out loud as we approached town and I saw the "skyline" of Birmingham (that is, if you can consider four tall buildings a skyline?).

But the thing is, even though I groaned, I truly do love this place.

As I think I heard someone say recently, Birmingham is a city that is neither too big nor too small. But like the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, it's 'just right.' I like that it's not so big that I am too timid to get out and explore roads to see where they will take me and who they will take me to. And it's also not so small that there isn't anything to do on a random weeknight. I always feel like I could run into anyone that I know at any moment when I'm out on the town, but suprisingly I very rarely do.

Don't get me wrong, Bham definitely has its fair share of problems. Traffic can be annoying (though I know we have it easy compared to many other cities), jobs (or at least really fun, cool ones) can be hard to come by and of course there is the always ongoing political mess that I don't even completely understand (or want to understand for that matter).

But as an optimist, I like to look at the bright side. I like to look at all the amazing things my city has to offer:

• Railroad Park, an award-winning urban greenspace that hosts free exercise classes, concerts & other events
• a beautiful new stadium downtown for our minor league baseball team, The Birmingham Barons
• incredible restaurants including those owned by award-winning chefs like Chris Hastings & Frank Stitt (but let's be honest, you're more likely to find me at the J. Clyde, Rojo, El Barrio, Saw's or Slice)
• UAB Health System—one of the top four largest academic medical centers in the country
• a pretty decent music scene thanks to venues like The Bottletree, Workplay and the new Iron City
• new developments including an entertainment district downtown and the revitilization of the Avondale area
• three top-notch colleges: Samford, Birmingham Southern and UAB, which was recently named the 10th best medical school in the nation by the U.S. News
• a variety of offerings for the outdoor enthusiast including 50 miles of biking and running trails at Oak Mountain State Park, more biking & running trails plus a zip line at Red Mountain Park and boulder fields for climbers at Moss Rock Preserve
• the unbelievably gorgeous renovated Historic Alabama Theater, which hosts concerts and their summer and holiday film series
• the Sidewalk Film Festival, which I think is the coolest event Birmingham hosts all year long
• and of course plenty of great shopping opportunities at both small boutiques around town and larger stores at the Summit

I swear my list could go on and on, but I'll stop here and hope that I've covered most everything I love about my (now) hometown. I'm sure I left a few things off, but I can always save those for another day.

And honestly, when you get down to it, it's not just about the awesome things I can do in Birmingham, but it's more about the awesome people that I get to share my adventures with. I have been so fortunate to have developed my framily here in Bham and now I've started to branch out with other great friends, thanks to the tons of people I have met through the climbing gym and church.

Basically what it all comes down to is, if they say 'home is where the heart is', then my home is in Birmingham—whether I live here forever or not.

Or to make that a broader statement, as the group Alabama sings "My home's in Alabama, no matter where I lay my head."

ps. If you want to see/read an entire 40 page piece on the state of Alabama which will be featured in the upcoming Delta Sky magazine, you can find that here.