monday inspiration

Indigo chambray dress via eShakti

i just bought this dress! for those who don’t know, i am always a tad skeptical of dresses. i feel incredibly awkward in a dress but i also adore them as a fashion item. for years, i’ve been working on finding dresses that i don’t feel awkward wearing.

i’m not particularly tall (somewhere between 5’5″ and 5’6″) but i seem to be just tall enough that dresses are either very short or just too long for my style. in recent years i have come to love my muscular legs and want to show them off in springtime and summertime, but with an athletic build comes the inevitable problem of short shorts or short dresses becoming indecent. and if dresses or shorts are too long, then i feel a little truncated. my height comes from my torso, so my legs are actually shorter than most women my height and this can become very obvious with too long hemlines.

so i’ve been eyeing this dress, and today my friend Nicole of Writes Like A Girl has a promotion code for eShakti on her blog; her followers can save 20% off a purchase! i wonder how much 20% would save me, so i head on over to eShakti and discover that new customers are given a $25 gift promotion, as well! now i’m sold. and the dress is sold. to me. i can’t wait for it to arrive!

also, eShakti offers customization of their items and the first one is free! so i was able to order this dress hemmed above-the-knee instead of its usual hemline below-the-knee.

but now, for some (p)inspiration! 

Source: behappy.me via Bailey on Pinterest

Source: ilikegardens.tumblr.com via Bailey on Pinterest

Source: pinterest.com via Bailey on Pinterest

 

also i created a new blog button. all by myself. it’s not that great but i’m learning GIMP. design isn’t really my bread & butter, either, but i want to learn some skills.

happy march, y’all! spring is just around the corner.

february re-cap

I know y’all aren’t surprised that I disappeared from the world of blogging because this happens. In fact, my disappearances are probably more reliable than my posts, at this point in time. But it’s the end of February, and I thought I’d share some February things with you.

We booked our wedding venue.

We also booked our photographer (I could not be more excited about working with our photographer!) this past week, and now we’re working on the caterer, the baker, and the florist. March will also be the month I shop for & purchase my wedding dress, eek!

Grad school is still happening.

But not for long! I try to ignore this most days, but there are 10 weeks until my graduation. Which is so not enough time to finish all the things that must be finished — most importantly, my Master’s portfolio & defense exam. This is the main reason I don’t blog these days, but I should be back in full form in early May!

Inspiration for Feb. – March

I see a lot of bloggers posting inspiration & photo posts via Pinterest, and I really dig it on others’ blog, so why not do it here? Here are some pins that have been working for me in February.

Source: shop.outofprintclothing.com via Bailey on Pinterest

Source: shop.outofprintclothing.com via Bailey on Pinterest

Source: this-is-glamorous.tumblr.com via Bailey on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Bailey on Pinterest

Who knows if Faulker actually said this last quote (quotes are often mis-attributed on the internet), but I do still love the sentiment.

Enjoy March, everyone!

breakfast at tiffany’s

Yesterday it rained from the middle of the night until late in the afternoon, and showered on & off again throughout the night. Being a girl from the desert, and being from the sunniest state in the union, yesterday’s massive downpour & two days of constant cloud-cover had me a little antsy. Today it’s finally sunny again, and even Cat is delighted.

Yesterday I also received a rain-soaked package in the mail from my sister, Kenzie. The book is The Diviners by Libba Bray, which Kenz promised to send for weeks & weeks & weeks, and look, she finally did! Not that I’ll have a chance to read it before May. On top of The Diviners is a Deathly Hallows bracelet she made, and while she thought I wouldn’t wear it ever, of course I am! It has yellow yarn, and yellow is a wonderful color. 

Finally, during all the rain yesterday, I picked up this book – Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote. I’ve seen the movie countless times (though not in a while), but I’ve never read the story, despite having it handed down to me more than a decade ago from my oldest cousin on my mom’s side. It’s kind of epic because my cousin is an artist (and now also an architect), and his doodles throughout the pages are so simple, and yet, such a piece of him.

But Breakfast at Tiffany’s gets me thinking about where my Tiffany’s is — where is that one place I can go and know, no matter what, I’ll feel better. Of course, it isn’t this simple, not in real life, and not in the story/movie, but I still think it’s an interesting question to ponder. I think usually, for me, it’s a particular Barnes & Noble. Growing up, I was allowed to go to the bookstore any night of the week, so it became an escape. In college, I spent so much time at a particular B&N I moved across the street. And now, I don’t visit the one B&N in my town nearly as often as I’ve wanted or needed to in the past, but I do still like to go look at new displays & read a book while drinking a coffee. If I have time to kill, it’s definitely the place I go. And usually, it’s a place everyone knows me. Not so much now, here, but in Albuquerque and Austin, definitely.

Where’s your Tiffany’s?