Forever 21 Finds

I will always love Forever 21. Yes, I know their clothes are not the highest quality buttttt they deff. are affordable!! I'm not gonna lie, if I could shop at Urban and Anthro with an unlimited amount of money I would do it in a second. But, since that is not really an option of mine right now I will gladly settle for F21 (at least for some fill in pieces). They are usually hit or miss. Sometimes I have to sort through the neon fishnet mini skirts that people should not be allowed to wear out of their bedroom let alone in public to find something decent. So imagine my (delightful) surprise when I left there the other day with two full bags of adorable floral and pastel finds!! They really have some great stuff in stock, I even got a couple of the clothes pictured below...

$24.90

$22.80

$15.80

$19.80

$29.80

$24.80

$19.80

$17.80

$27.80

$24.80

Want It: Black Studded Bag

I have been in need of a good black bag for a while. I always tend to get brown or tan bags and wear them with everything. I guess brown goes with most outfits, but I really do want a cute black bag, just cause. That being said, this bag from Spotted Moth totally fits the bill. I love the studded detail on the bottom sooo much!! I saw this bag a couple of days ago and have not stopped thinking about it so.... I think this means I should get it!! With logic like that how can a girl go wrong??




P.S. here are some of the Passion Pit pictures!! They were awesome! BTW Gabby and I are now fighting over who is going to date Michael (the lead singer) he is sooo cute!!

Friday Finds #4

Hey guys!! Let me catch you up on what I have been doing lately... My life has pretty much been school, work, sleep, and repeat lately. We all know taking summer classes will do that to you. In my little bits of free time I have been working on my "Brown Owl" studio. I am proud to say I have conquered the Ikea furniture and my desk and shelving unit is up!! I can't take all the credit though, I did enlist the help of my Dad and a trained professional, but that was only for minor help I swear! I will post pictures of how it is coming soon. It is in the "raw" stages if you will, because I have not gotten a chance to decorate yet, which I can NOT wait to do!! That has been what the bulk of my time has been going to. As soon as it's done I am going to go in there, shut the door, and not come out till I have made at least 20 headbands! I have some new colors I am going to work on, and some new accessories, even some home accessories!!! So stay tuned for that! I would love to get my headbands out there more, does anyone know of good craft fairs in North Carolina?? We don't get the super cool Renegade Craft Fair here or anything so I'm not sure what to do about that... Anyways, I think I'm going to let you look at these Friday Finds now, enjoy....

1. Cupcake Decorating Set

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How cute is this?? Maybe it is because of my last post that i am on this ballerina trip, but I love these!! I love the combination of the floral cupcake papers and the pastel ballerinas. These would deff. look great on the table at a party.

2. Accessories Photo Shoot

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I love this photo shoot for the Hopelessly Devoted Etsy Shop. I really want to get the headband pictured above!! It is so vintage and super cute! At this moment the shop is on vacation so I can not wait to look when it returns!!

3. Camera Collection

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I have always wanted an awesome vintage camera collection. Since I love photography so much, and even do a little on the side, I thought it would be the perfect thing to collect and display. Mine is very small so far, so seeing this collection is great inspiration to look for some more!!

4. Color Profile Necklace

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If you are a graphic design nerd like me, or even just love using Photoshop you will flip over this necklace! CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black) which refers to the inks that are used in some colored printing. Most designers have to set their documents in this color profile if they want to print what they have correctly. Seriously, a very clever necklace, I deff. want one!

5. Baby Owl Costume

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I know by now it has been made fairly clear that I love owls. So of course I love this little costume to pieces!! Know that when I have a little one they will deff. be sporting this!! Ahhh I just love it!! P.S. Are those hands coming from the background not a little creepy?? I know the baby can't stand by itself but still...

6. Nancy Drew Stationary

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Nancy Drew Mystery's probably got me through my middle school years, and for that I love them to death! Yes, I totally stayed up all through the night with the flashlight trying to find out when Ned was finally going to come help Nancy out of whatever predicament she was in. Now that I think about it, for how intelligent this girl was she sure got into a lot of stupid situations... Anyway, when I saw this stationary I fell in love! What a cute way to use those awesome book cover images! I might even frame some or make some art out of these because Lord knows I am not giving them away!!

7. Leather Camera Purse

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When I saw this purse I fell in instant love, you may even call it love at first sight. But then I saw the price tag and started telling myself it's OK it probably still lived with it's mother. This pricey ($300) bag is sooo stinking cute! Of course I still want it, but I am going to have to catch this cutie on sale or maybe even get it as a gift!!!

8. JCrew Color Pallet

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When I saw this picture the first thing that I thought was "What an awesome use of color!" The colors in this outfit are great! And really work well together!! I love love this color pallet and might even try this out sometime soon...

9. Scooter

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Who doesn't want a scooter?! OK, so like three people just raised their hands, but who cares you probably are not very cool anyway, just kidding!! I really do want this scooter though! I have no idea where I would actually ride it (my streets are not made for such a small vehicle to safely drive down) but that is not discouraging me a bit. I think it is incredibly cute and would like this as a present also because oh sweet Jesus, look at the price tag!!

10. Short Video

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I found this video while stumbling through blogs yesterday and LOVED it! I believe the girl that created this is French?? We'll, her blog is in French at least. So, I do not understand everything she writes but that does not matter when you have awesome visuals like this!!

Alright, that's it for today!! I am off to help the sister pick out an outfit for the PASSION PIT concert tonight!! Soooooo excited!!

Inspired by It: Edgar Degas

I have loved Edgar Degas for as long as I can remember. I actually think I can pin point the moment when this love started. It was fifth grade art class, and my teacher had just written "Impressionism" on the board in big bold letters. I had no idea what this meant. Next she held up a picture of a beautiful ballerina dressed in a gorgeous pastel tutu. She looked so elegant and graceful, almost fragile. I wanted to be that ballerina. Needless to say my ballerina talent was very limited and only lasted for a couple of years (those point shoes should be used as torture devices in foreign skirmishes). But, what I do continue to appreciate about that ballerina is the artistic skill used to paint her.

The reason I loved this portrait so much was the way she was painted. Degas did a wonderful job of using color (pastels! pastels! pastels!) and cropped some of his portraits to help focus on a beautiful detail. His paintings were not detailed in themselves (quite the opposite actually) but they focused on a beautiful part of the portrait whether it was the back of a woman's neck or a shoulder blade. The feeling of his paintings instantly make you fall in love. To this day his paintings inspire me in my color pallets for outfits and even my own artwork. Yes, a lot of my clothing choices are even inspired by Degas!! I know that might sound a little strange, but I love to wear pastels and sometimes looking at how they work together in paintings helps me choose which will look better in a real life ensemble. Anyway, I hope these paintings inspire you like they inspire me! Enjoy!!












[images from google images]

Thrift It: Vintage Dresses

I thought I would share some thrifted vintage dresses today!! These three are some of my favorites and you can not beat the prices!! One thing I do need to work on is my hemming skills. A lot of thrifted dresses are super long and need a good chopping to make them look more updated and stylish. Thankfully these three are at a pretty good length. I do have a couple of dresses I am working on getting hemmed soon and I will share those as soon as they are done! I also want to let you know vintage dresses are sometimes hard to come by at thift stores, don't get discouraged if you don't find some each time you go. You really have to hunt for them, and you will probably need to alter them in some way. Whether it is hemming, fixing a button, or small tare. I know it sounds like some work, and it is, but remember you only paid $4 for the dress which will probably make you feel better about it! Enjoy!!


$3.50 Value Village

$4.50 Salvation Army (this is actually the dress I have on in my polaroid profile pic)

$3.50 Value Village

Featured Favorite: Kendi Everyday Blog

So I have decided that I am going to do a "Featured Favorite" every once in a while. I am not picking an exact day I will do them, so be looking for them to pop up whenever. A Featured Favorite will be either a Blog, Flickr, Etsy Shop, or something along those lines that I love so much I just have to share! My first Featured Favorite will be Kendi, from Kendi Everyday. I absolutely loveee her blog. Almost everyday she posts pictures of what she wore that day, and where she found everything she is wearing. I am sure you have seen blogs with a similar format, but what makes me love her blog above the rest is I can relate to her outfits. She is not wearing a pair of Christian Louboutins that no one can afford, but instead a pair of Steve Madden boots that I almost bought at Macy's. She is super cute and always wearing something I love! Her outfits are always creative and a great source for inspiration. Here are some examples of her great outfits (I have the dress and skirt from the first and second picture, see what a mean totally relatable!)... For her blog click HERE












Hope you loved her blog! (even though I know you did!!) If you have a Blog, Etsy Shop, Flickr, or whatever, feel free to submit or suggest one. I love finding new inspiration and might even put it in a Featured Favorite!!

Seen It: Laura

I don't know about you, but I loveee old movies, especially if they are in black and white. I don't know why, maybe they seem more romantic this way. I am a big Alfred Hitchcock fan and am proud to say I have seen almost every film he has made (that are still available, some of those rare ones are hard to get a hold of!). When I first started the search for old movies it was very confusing and I did not know where to begin. A lot of movies from then have not aged well and are almost inaudible or difficult to watch. Some are really ridiculous and not even worth watching. It was a lot of trial and error, but I would never take it back. I found some of the best films I have every seen this way. The first film I will share is my absolute favorite. Laura is a murder mystery (of course film noir is the best kind of old movie!!). It is about a young women who is murdered and all of her close friends who are left as suspects. There are PLENTY of twists and I promise you will never figure it out until the end. Not only is this an entertaining movie, but it has some great actors. Gene Tierney is one of my favorite actresses (and gorgeous to boot!!) and Cliftin Webb is his usual amazing self. I have had many friends reluctant to watch this because they think it is another "boring old black and white movie" and by the end they are screaming that it is their new favorite and want to know where they can buy their own copy. I promise Laura is deff. worth the watch...