Red Retro...

I love red. I love retro. Put them together and you've got one happy lady. I have to say, it doesn't get much more retro than this... Sparkly vinyl, cherries, red collar, spectator shoes. Four definitions of retro style if you ask me.

blouse & skirt: modcloth

shoes: bait footwear

purse: lux de ville

brooch: luxulite

cardigan: local shop

Since getting my first Luxulite brooch, I've been wanting to wear it every day. Last weekend, I was feeling casual, so I style it with this blouse/cardigan combination. The difference? I wore dark jeans and black cowboy boots. Loved it! It's definitely going to be one of my go-to winter casual looks, that's for sure. I was going to style it that way for the blog, but my jeans were in the wash. I was just too excited, so I paired it with my black skirt and red baits. I have to say, while I like this look, I have a hard time wearing so much black! It's not a problem if it's a dress... but a black top and skirt just feels so dark! Thank goodness for all the pops of colour!

I've been having a hard time blogging again recently. Not for lack of motivation. I feel like I'm finally getting back on track. With the time changing, it's almost dark when I get home from work now, so I'm finding I need to take pictures outside for decent lighting. As you can see, we've already gotten snow, so that's a challenge with shoes, and temperatures of course. This weekend was a busy one, and I didn't get a chance to take a slew of photos for the upcoming week, like I normally do. I feel like I need to plan a photo-schedule, just for taking pictures! Wish me luck!

What's cookin'?

These pictures are so phony. I feel like such a poser. Me? Cooking? Riiiiight. Baking, yes. Cooking, no. But this skirt just screamed "Kitchen Pictures", am I right? This was another of my amazing scores from the clothing swap group. Pair it up with some polka dot tights and bait shoes... it's the perfect baking outfit! I'll definitely be wearing it to bake up some Christmas goodies!

skirt: clothing swap group (modcloth)

shoes: bait footwear

top: forever 21

tights: modcloth

brooch: luxulite

Trivial Pursuit Pie Dress...

Lately, I'm on a tight budget. Between the wedding and upcoming honeymoon, spending has been a no-no for me. However, with the ModCloth 70% off sale, I did do a little splurging. A girl has needs, right? I had my eye on this dress since it came out. Why? It's the exact same style as my beloved Pie dress. Knowing a dress fits you like a dream is a hard thing to pass up, especially when it's in such a fun pattern!

dress: modcloth

shoes: bait footwear

belt: target

flower: vintage box 1947

necklace: kate spade

This dress makes me want to have a Trivial Pursuit party! While there's definitely more pieces to the pie in this pattern, it reminds me of the pie in Trivial Pursuit. Thankfully, it even with all of the extra colours, there's still only one dreaded Orange slice (sports), which is practically the bane of my existence... at least in Trivial Pursuit definition.

I've worn this dress a few times since receiving it, and this is one of the ways I styled it. I also paired it with my teal Chelsea Crew shoes. I'm pretty matchy-matchy, as I'm sure you've gathered, but it was fun to add a splash of colour with this dress, and it's actually the same teal that is in one of the pies!

Also, in other 'exciting' news, I chopped my hair off last weekend! I know I mentioned thinking about it some time ago, and it stayed with me. My ends were in terrible shape from having done the ombré a few times to it. I kept the length, not wanting to admit defeat, and then for the wedding. It was time to chop it off. So far I'm liking the new length. I can still do a lot of my old styles with it, and it still has a similar overall look to it. So much so, in fact, that I might end up cutting even more at my next appointment. 

Roses are Red...

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but Dominic has a huge green thumb. We had a garden last year, and by 'we', I really mean him, but fortunately I got to share in the eating part, if not the growing part. This year, he expanded our garden to included a small potato field and a pumpkin patch. I love pumpkins and go crazy in the fall, decorating our driveway with them.

This year, he also decided to plant some flowers. In the land we purchased in the winter, there was a rock garden already in place.  It was so overgrown, I didn't think anything would come of it this year. We already had so much to do, with the wedding in June, and tidying up the yard, planning, getting things ready... planting flowers didn't seem realistic.  I got home from work one day and found this surprise waiting. Dominic not only cleaned out the entire rock-garden, but he planted some flowers for me. Most of them are annuals to fill it this year, and we'll plant other long-term flowers in the future. But the best part was in the center. A gorgeous red-rose bush.  He told me if ever he can't afford to buy me flowers, I'll always have roses from him. Completely melted my heart. I didn't expect roses to grow on it this year. Or for it to grow as much as it did. But it surprised me, just like he did, and there's tons of roses in bloom right now. 

top & pants: forever 21

headband & pin: modcloth

shoes: bait footwear

Bachelorette: What I wore... almost.

Yesterday, as promised, I gave the details of my amazing bachelorette weekend.  Today, I decided to do a post on what I wore... almost. Although you've already seen some photos of my outfit, I felt it deserved a post of it's own. Why? Two reasons: 1. because I honestly just think this dress is so fabulous that it deserves an outfit post, and 2. because I almost didn't buy it, so I need to encourage anyone else who is hesitant to buy this dress!

 dress: lindy bop ophelia

belt: forever 21

shoes: bait footwear

flower: vintage box 1947

lipstick: besame red hot red

As I mentioned in past posts, for my bachelorette, I was told to pack an ivory or white dress.  I didn't know how fancy or casual it should be, and that really was the reason I almost didn't buy this dress.  I assumed that we'd be hitting the town, and so something more casual / going-out-appropriate was what I was supposed to buy. Dilemma. Going-out clothes don't seem to appeal to me. I like fancy, flowy outfits. So, when I shared this dilemma with Melissa, she said "That dress is 'you', and that's what we want. You to be you. Buy it!"... and so I did.

This dress could have been my wedding dress. It's gorgeous on, flattering, and it twirls like a dream.  For the price, it's such a steal of a deal!! It is a satin-y fabric, but it has some stretch to it. It was the fabric that made me cautious of just how fancy it would be, but I felt comfortable wearing it. I suppose for someone who wears dresses every day, what's fancy to most is still in my comfort zone. 

Confession: I didn't wear these shoes out. I ordered them for my wedding, but they weren't the right shade of mint. And they were too small (I'm not sure if it's the new B.A.I.T. line, or just this style, but they are much smaller than my other bait's of the same size).  I sent them back to exchange them, but they somehow got returned to me. Alas, they didn't arrive in time for my bachelorette, and they would've killed my feet. So I wore Melissa's mint Ida's (also too small, but worth the pain). 

Hydrants & polka dots...

In true 'me' fashion, when I borrowed this dress from Marisa, I just had to wear it as a top with my black essential elegance skirt! The print on the dress is little fire hydrants, so cute! While the main colour is red, there's also some yellow and mint in there as well, so pairing it with my yellow head-scarf was a must!

dress as a top: borrowed from Marisa

skirt: modcloth

headscarf: ruche (old, same available at modcloth)

shoes: bait footwear via modcloth

belt: from another dress

So this little road I'm on is actually the continuation of our driveway, and on top of the little hill... is the field where we'll be married! I love that it feels like a little escape up there.  You can't see it from the road, since our property is on a hill, and there's trees surrounding the field.  It's like when you see it, it just magically opens up! 

I know, I'm talking about the wedding a lot. But truth be told, which a three month engagement, the wedding really is a constant thought, with never-ending planning and excitement.  There's no time to stop planning it, because it's trying to finalize all of those little details that will make it that much more 'us'. 

And in true Hendrix fashion, as soon as I kneel down for a photo, here he is, making his cameo appearance and trying to give kisses to mama.