Where the Corn Grows Ten Feet Tall // What I Wore + Meetup with Hannah

Holy posts, Batman! I'm so behind! These pics are from the beginning of July when I drove further into my beloved Wisconsin to meet up with Hannah of The Outfit Repeater! We spent the day thrifting, eating ah-mazing BBQ and taking outfit photos - of course!

Getting to meet online friends for the first time really is one of my favorite things to do - especially if it takes me to towns I've never been to before! Hannah was a total doll to show me around her hometown, and boy oh boy is it adorable! Nestled among farms and ranches, it's seriously one of the best towns I've been to (and did I mention the unbelievable BBQ restaurant she took me to?)

I was trying to be frugal with my money so I didn't buy a whole lot while thrifting, but I did get a frame for my art wall as well as a cute vase for on my dinning room table. After that we went to take some outfit pictures (and Hannah further proved what a doll she is by letting me borrow an SD card since I left mine at home), and then we stopped at Culver's from some much-needed frozen custard before I had to hit the road back home.

I couldn't help but stop at Big Hill Park on my way home though (what can I say? The name intrigued me) which is where the last photo was taken. The park was simply breathtaking and I can't wait to go back sometime and further explore it!

All in all it was a great day. Thanks so much for being my hostess, Hannah! We have to do it again sometime soon!

Outfit details:

jeans - Target :: shoes - target :: top - Francesca's :: sunnies - Francesca's :: purse - Francesca's

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

Backyard Swagger

{skirt//Francesca's :: blouse//Francesca's :: denim button down//Plato's Closet :: socks//DIY}

 "You can't ride in my little red wagon
The front seat's broken and the axel's dragin'
You can't step to this backyard swagger
You know it ain't my fault when I'm walkin' jaws droppin' like
Ooh, ah, ooh, ah"

~ Little Red Wagon by Miranda Lambert

Sorry for the long absence. My computer went kaput and I've yet to remember to bring it over to my dad to fix it.

This week Molly and I are staying with our aunt and uncle in the sticks of Missouri for some much needed R&R. It snowed here shortly before we came which is pretty unusual, so naturally the only logical course of action was to do a photo shoot in a mini skirt out in the 20 degree weather.

It was a really fun set to shoot because we just had fun. I had my phone out playing some Miranda Lambert songs and just danced around. Usually I'd be too self conscious to be this goofy or wear such a tight skirt, but I've come a long way in self acceptance over the past few months and I actually had a blast shooting these photos - even if I did almost freeze to get them. 

Designer Skyline // What I Wore

{photos courtesy of Laura and Hannah}

I had so many photos from the Blog Days of Summer picnic, that I decided to split them up into two posts, and this is my proper "outfit post" post. *wink*

I've always been really interesting in traveling, and I was so, so excited to see Ohio and Pennsylvania for the first time, but the best part by far was getting to hang out with so many lovely gals! Laura and I ended up (by a really amazing set of parallel circumstances) sharing a hotel room - despite the fact that we'd only talked once or twice before this trip. In all honesty, I was more than a little nervous that we wouldn't end up getting along and it would be really awkward, but when it came down to it, it was really more like preschool- instant BFFs! Seriously, within the first two hours of meeting Laura, Hannah and I were crashing in my hotel room venting about crappy former-love interests. (What did you expect from three teenagers/20-somethings??) And I was so, so sad to say goodbye to her. For reals, you guys, if you've never checked out her blog do it now because she is such a doll. ♥

I don't really have all that many photos of the dinner after the picnic or the brunch on Sunday (I looked like such a mess on Sunday due to a wardrobe emergency and not having a blow dryer in my hotel room. Grrr!) but I'm probably going to do one more Pittsburgh with some random posts of Pittsburgh in general. Just as soon as I finish editing those pics... Ugh! Let's do that next week, kay? Kay.

♥ ♥ ♥       

dress: ModCloth

belt: Pitaya

necklace: vintage

Steve Madden wedges: Forest Bootery

watch: Francesca's Collections

bracelet: vintage

sunglasses: Betsy Johnson via Little Black Bag

Blog Days of Summer Picnic

{photo credits to me, Katherine and Hannah, Sarah and Laura}

Phew! I've been slowly, but steadily going through all my photos from last weekend, and goodness, there are a lot! These are all the non-outfit photos from the Blog Days of Summer picnic last Saturday. It was held at Grand View Park in Pittsburgh, which is ridiculously hard to find using Apple Mapas, as Laura and I found out the hard way. Boo! Construction is what started it - we couldn't turn left where we needed to, and Siri could no for the life of us figure out how to route us around it. Add in a few extra long turns, and we ended up being lost for nearly two hours! Yeah, it was pretty much hell.

I (mistakenly) thought that since I've been frequently driving in Chicago for the past year and half, that I was prepared to drive in any city, but Pittsburgh proved me wrong. Let's get one thing clear: I live in the prairie state. The prairie state. And while my aunt and uncle's ranch in Missouri has made me accustomed to driving on hills out in the back woods, driving on San Fransisco-like hills in the city was a totally new experience for me! And then with the whole Siri thing, the whole "driving in Pittsburgh" part of the trip was just miserable! Laura and I didn't get anywhere on time except brunch on Sunday. Way to go, us! *sarcasm*

Later this week I'll share some proper outfit photos from the picnic, including one of my favorite ModCloth dresses. Eep!

Hope all of y'alls week is starting out well, and good luck to all who start school today! I'm really excited for life to get back to normal. :)

(P.S. Thank you all for the kind and encouraging words about my re-brand! All the lovely comments/Instagram comments have seriously made my week. ♥)