Well Hello Again

Hello again, blogland. Waiting for my nails to fully dry from a fresh paint job seems like the perfect time to catch up on this blog a bit.


So much has been going on in my life this Winter/Spring. Between working full-time and wrapping up my graduate school obligations, "free time" has been a rare opportunity and obviously blogging fell to the wayside.  The great news is, today is graduation! I am hoping that this will leave more time to get to the other priorities in my life- and hopefully blogging again will be part of that.


Thank you to everyone who has said that they "miss the blog" or wish I would post again.  That was some of the encouragement I needed!  I have lots of great ideas about some things I can share with you all and lots of BIG changes to my small studio to share as well.


In the meantime, here are my outfits for graduation this weekend. I think a big occasion is a great reason to sport some new threads and I am loving these fresh spring/summer looks!  Obviously I am very into lace/ crochet right now...

polyvore set here

polyvore set here

Good Things Come

Good things come to those who wait.

Or at least that's usually what you try to tell yourself when you are waiting on things.

This post is not "deep" at all.  It is about stuff. Awesome stuff.  Stuff from the United Kingdom.  (Sadly, no- not Prince Harry or the Duchess of Cambridge. But still awesome.) 

Way back in May I became a woman obsessed with a certain purse.  I've always loved bags- like had an obsession since the age of two.  I used to walk around with a purse at age two.  Anyway, as you well know, I fully jumped on the Middleton sisters bandwagon.  When I saw the pictures of Pippa leaving the Goring Hotel the day after the royal wedding, I became obsessed with the "Pippa" bag by Modalu London in "Shark."  (It was formerly named the "Bristol.") 

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So I debated about getting the bag for the longest time and by the time I decided to pull the trigger, it was on backorder until October.  Well, I ended up getting my bag a little sooner than that- I got it in September and I've been loving it ever since. 

Here's what my bag looked like when she arrived:

Ahh, so pretty!  And a great color that is neutral but still stands out.  If you are on the hunt for a really detailed review of the "Pippa" bag, Sparrows & Sparkle has a fantastic one that all but convinced me to buy it! 

I absolutely love, love, love.  

The second thing that came from the U.K. were these lovelies:

These babies are the Catalonia boot from Duo in Tan. These arrived super fast and when there was a problem with my card (word to the wise: you need to order with a credit card, not a debit card) the customer service team was super helpful! 

Please limit the judgement on my enorm calves.

This is my second pair of boots from Duo (I also own a grey pair- are you seeing a theme with the grey?) and I love the boots I already own.   And I want to point out something about Duo Boots- they fit my big ole calves!  This is seriously not easy, folks.  And if you have bigger than normal or smaller than normal calves, chances are they will fit you too!  When you order from them, you choose a shoe size and a calf size.  HELLO!!  Come to mama.  They are more expensive than the boots you'll find at DSW.  These were $285, plus free shipping and a 10% off coupon.  For a pair that will last, that fit me and that I will wear often, I can invest.  (They were an investment for me- I've been toying with ordering them for a long while.)  Anyway, I just wanted to spread the wealth of knowledge out there to any fellow big-calved ladies and small-calved ladies, too!

I think I am absolutely ready for fall now!

What's in My Bag?

I feel like this is completely random, but does anyone else love the "What's In Her Bag?" feature that used to be on instyle.com? I'm pretty sure that feature is no longer around on In Style, but the PurseBlog has a very similar series.  I have always loved reading "What's in Her Bag?"  I think this is because: a.) I LOVE purses, and b.) I'm nosy!  I thought it would be fun to share what's in MY bag, so here goes!

Here's my bag. I purchased this last summer. It is a great bag- It has two handles that are comfortable for the shoulder. It also has a cross-body strap and that cross-body strap that converts to another (longer) hobo-style shoulder strap!  It is a great bag all around.

I know it's kind of a random color, but I have wanted an emerald green purse ever since I first caught a glimpse of Katie Holmes's Emerald Green Balenciaga bag. 

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I kept looking and looking for a bag that would be practical for me, my budget and was the perfect color! I finally found it! 

Here's what's in the bag:

My wallet- a Marc by Marc Jacobs wallet, iPod nano, hand sanitizer, four pens (not sure why I have four...), my camera case & camera- a Cannon PowerShot from a long time ago, my Target aviator sunglasses, and various lip glosses. 

The spherical shape is this amazing lip balm. It's about $3 at Walgreens or Ulta. The others are Bobbi Brown, Sephora (from a free birthday gift set- Holla!) and a random brand that I bought cheap at Ulta. For someone who doesn't love lipstick/ color... I sure have a lot of options in my bag. 

What do you carry in your bag?