Showing posts with label meghan trainer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meghan trainer. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Castles and Dreams // What I Wore in Elgin IL

Well, these photos are slightly oldies. They're from last month when I spent the weekend with the lovely, Laura of Thrifting Through Life. We've been friends for over a year (ever since the Blog Days of Summer meetup in Pittsburgh), but have actually only spent one weekend together IRL. The saddest part is that she's been just an hour from my house for seven months and this was the first time we got together since her move to Illinois! We've both been so busy with work, boys and moving that we hadn't carved out anytime to see each other. She also doesn't have a car right now, so meeting half way or her visiting me is hard to manage. As such we decided the best, and easiest way to get some girl time was for me to just spend a weekend at her house.

Obviously such a weekend included thrifting, donuts and lots of photography (also one of us may have convinced the other one to sign up for Tinder - which lasted all of, like, an hour - but that's a story for another time). However, the highlight of the trip was definitely finding and photographing this castle. Who knew Elgin, IL had a castle!? Certainly not either of us! Obviously this discovery demanded a photo shoot complete with dresses and bright lipstick.

My outfit was largely influenced by Meghan Trainor's new music video, Dear Future Husband. The styles in it are so swoon-worthy, and I just so happened to find this dress at Walmart for $15! It took me a while to get the cat-eyes, just right, though - I haven't done a bold cat-eye in so long! I think it all turned out well, though. I was pleased, at least. 

This castle is by far one of the coolest things I've ever seen! It even had a moat and bridge and I'm pretty sure I went into geek mode and started randomly quoting the Lord of the Rings. I wanted to yell out "I cannot jump such a distance you'll have to toss me!" or "You said this keep would never fall as long as your men defend it. They still defend it - they have died defending it!" Haha! I was worrying Laura, though, by walking back and forth across the bridge though. It wasn't so much of a "bridge" as it was a bunch of (semi) sturdy boards. It bent a little in the middle and the boards were not flush and she was convinced I was going to fall in the moat (that would have been a Grey's Anatomy worthy hospital trip!).

Head on over to Laura's blog to see her photos and hear her side of the the story!

Outfit details:
dress - Walmart :: faux leather jacket - Top Shop :: shoes - Francesca's :: necklace - Francesca's :: lipstick - Rebel by Mac

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Shake it Off

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All photos copyright Molly Dahl 2015 - used with permission

I'm finally getting around to share the photos from one of the other photoshoots Molly and I had while were on vacation at Koinania Valley Ranch two months ago. (I can't believe it's been that long! This year is just flying by!) We had very limited supplies for our photoshoots, but even so I think we got some really great images! I was totally coming up with characters for each of the photoshoots and I decided that this gal lives in a small, studio apartment in a trendy city like Portland or Pittsburgh or something, shops at ModCloth, and listens to 1989 while she gets her daily coffee from her favorite indy caffe everyday. So of course that's what I listened to for the duration of the photoshoot - after all, it's all in the details, right?

Speaking of 1989: I've been listening almost exclusively to female artists lately - not purposefully, mind you, I've just been super feeling the girl-power, independent vibe. Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor and Miranda Lambert are, of course, all high on the list. I especially love Taylor and Meghan's music because they're both about being a twenty-something woman and all of the trials, victories and heartbreaks that come with that.

This past year has been a difficult time of trying to find "my place in the world." Lot's of friend drama, love-life drama, learning to budget, moving (twice), and generally just feeling very adult but at the same time very vulnerable and weak. Hearing such awesome, feminine songs helps remind me to be true to myself and not settle for anything less than purposeful, uplifting relationships in my life.

So if you're interested, go ahead and check out my top 22 Favorite Girl Power songs of the moment.*

*Disclaimer: A couple of the Meghan Trainor and Miranda Lambert songs feature a cuss word or two - so don't say I didn't warn you.