Falling for the Indian Summer

Given my deep Cherokee roots through my grandmother's family on my father's side, I am surprised at how many years it has taken me to openly confess my love for the "Indian Summer". Consider this my Fall Fashion Wishlist:

Not only am I loving the "rawr" printed accessories, surprisingly I also adore the capris paired with some stylish ankle boots. Though I wish I could pull off the horizontal stripe, given the opportunity to style Danica or Barnes I would definitely put them in this outfit. Actually, I take it back..this outfit screams Amy H!

The colors scream Indian Summer along with the fringed orange tank. Love the aviators and military-inspired jacket!

This outfit is a good "early" Autumn ensemble. Cuffed capris, sparkle "v-neck", and mustard yellow cropped blazer. The coffee mug didn't sway my vote in any way ;)

You know what the best part of fall is? Comfy jeggings, throwing on some boots, a tank top and coordinated cardigan. (Be on the lookout for my DIY embellished cardi)

Looking at this outfit I can feel that cool, crisp Fall air. I love this because I can see it as something Danica would be wearing when it's 50 degrees outside and then complaining because her bum was cold. "Put some pants on" .. "I ain'ts gots none". Man, I miss that girl.

The perfect outfit for class, especially on the windy campus of UNT. Simple, yet sophisticated and the colors are perfect for October!

PS: For more on this season's looks click here

I'm a dreamer

I like to spend some time each day in la-la dreamland world. You see, I'm a bit of a dreamer. So here's a couple of scenarios I could foresee myself in after graduation:

1. Moving to Colorado and working at a boutique. Owning a log cabin in the mountains. You know, a tall cobblestone fireplace with the bearskin rug, sitting in a leather chair while drinking some hot coffee while it's freezing outside. Sounds like a great life if you ask me.

2. Moving to Ireland aka The Mother Land. Working in town somewhere but living on the country side. Drinking ale while singing folk songs in a local pub where I meet a tall, dark handsome Irishman and we have beautiful Irish babies.

 

3. Living in a small town like Tree Hill (yeah, I'm a One Tree Hill nerd) and owning my own boutique. Sensing a pattern with the whole boutique thing?

4. Taking a tour of California. Starting up north in the wine country, down to the Golden Gate in SanFran, through some redwoods, to San Diego, and stopping in Hollywooood. Dream.

5. Oh the trouble we'd get into if my friends and I journeyed to Vegas for a few days. But man, the memories and stories we'd have to tell...

Friday Favorites! (Fall Edition)

Hello readers :) Friday Favorites is back! It's been too dang long since I did one of these so I figured it was long overdue. Enjoy, and as always...Happy Weekend!

Favorite Fall Wreath:

So cute! Very earthy, and love the natural elements of texture with the leaves.

Favorite Fall Flavor:

Mmm. Pumpkin Spiced Lattes and Creamers. (And Pumpkin Pie :)

Favorite Fall Outfit:

This just screams cool, fall weather! (Hello Mother Texas, I'm still waiting!)

Favorite Fall Porch:

It was a tough choice, but I chose this one because I love cobblestone exteriors, the color story, and simplicity.

Favorite Fall Photo:

Bucket List Confession -- To drive through the "changing of the season" autumn leaves...like up in Vermont or something.

Until next time...

DIY: Wonder Woman (Part 1)

So we all know how much I have been anticipating Halloween this year...so, Barnes and I decided we are going to make our costumes! Thus, yesterday we marched on over (well, drove) to Hobby Lobby to pick up our materials. We can't wait to have our costumes finished. Needless to say, when we got to the counter to have our fabric cut...and dumb Fabric Lady (that is her name, we've decided) tried to crush our excitement with her reponse "Well...yeah...I figured that's what this would be for. I wouldn't think you would just go out in public with this type of fabric". And that's why they stuck her in the back with the fabric! (Needless Rant)

So, without further anticipation I would like to announce my 2011 Halloween Costume....Wonder Woman :) She's a beauty, badass, wears a cape, has her own invisible jet AND a lasso-of-truth. Who wouldn't want to be her. (If you follow me on twitter or facebook, you probably already knew so there wasn't much hype). Anyways! I found this great YouTube tutorial on how to make my own costume which I've posted below in case anyone else in the world wants to make their own also. I'll have to do some slight adjusting because I want a tutu skirt instead of just a leotard, but I am sure it will be tres cute. I've got some glittery foam stars I'll be adding to it as well. Along with my festively themed posts over the next few weeks I'll also post my progress on how well this is coming together. With the help of my lovely friend LB, we were able to construct my tiara!

Ta-Da! I wish the quality on my phone were a little better, but oh well. The gold, animal-textured fabric is from Joanne's that I picked up for $14 which was a little pricier than I had anticipated but thought the textured adds a bit more va-va-voom than traditional satin fabric. The other materials used was fun-foam (for support of the tiara), a hot-glue gun, and a red, glittery foam star which I picked up in a variety pack at Hobby Lobby for $5. The last material used was a small strip of velcro in the back for easy adjust-ability. 

Next Step: Belt & Skirt

Ghastly, Ghoulish, and Gruesome

These next six weeks tend to be my favorite time of the year. I absolutely love fall and all that it has to offer; a break from the oppressive Texas summer heat, football & tailgating, pumpkin carving, and...Halloween!

Over the next couple of weeks I will be doing some Autumn/Halloween inspired posts about style, home fashion, craft and costume ideas. I've been waiting ever so patiently to decorate my door for Halloween, and I think before the end of the month I will definitely have it done! The decorating around this place just never ceases. This week's festive post theme is in preparation of my door:

Porch Decor:

Love this idea of mixing the white and orange pumpkins together. There's also a good mix of design elements (Balance, Variety, Color). Also diggin' the tree branch at the top of the door. It definitely compliments the wreath!

This is a cute idea for a door-deck. The black rose wreath with a classy black ribbon keeps a very feminine feel. Also, this is a very easy DIY project.

We all know I love tulle. So, this wreath is an even easier DIY project. All you would need a wreath base (Styrofoam one available at Michael's for only a couple bucks), some black tulle available anywhere fabric/ribbon is sold (I prefer Hobby Lobby), maybe a hot-glue gun, add some festive orange ribbon and voile!  

I just can't get over how cute, cheap & easy this DIY decor is. Finally, a way to put your empty milk jugs to use! 

I saved the best for last! This is by far my favorite festive porch decor. There is not one thing I don't love about this: the orange door, the white steps, black benches by the door, the pirate tree pot, and of course the lanterns -- especially the white pumpkin with tall, black candles on the right!

Happy Decorating, everyone! Be on the lookout for next week's festive post.

(PS: All of these images are available on Pinterest)

Design on a College Dime

I know I said I would be posting more apartment pictures as I got a chance, so here they are! My "Bar" Vignette is pretty much finished. So here we go:

Pardon the quality, I wish I had a super fancy camera to take pictures...but I don't, so if  you want to see better quality pictures umm..buy me one ;) Anyways, this is the left of the bar. Obviously I still need to fill the photo frame. I think it was like $6 from Hobby Lobby? 50% off of $12? I don't know. The two black candle holders are also from Hobby Lobby. Always look out for when this stuff is on sale! If you can kind of see behind it on the wall in the kitchen is a Paris set of 3 hooks thing that displays my pot holders. I was also able to find matching straws at target for $1 and you can't see but I have a Teal Blender from Target as well which was like $20.

Okay, so here is the right side of the bar. At first I wasn't so sure about the cursive writing, but I liked that it said "Dream" instead of somethin' hokey like "Love" or whatever. Barnes actually helped me decided to get this and I'm really glad she did! This is also from Hobby Lobby but unfortunately it was not 50% off :-/ The pink orchid flower behind it adds a nice little pop of color and balances well with the pink frame on the other side of the bar. I bought it some time last year from Tuesday Morning for like $8. You can't really see but the sign hanging behind it in the kitchen says "Paris Dress Boutique" which surprise, surprise I found at Hobby Lobby years ago and yes, it was 50% off! Also, I'm going to have to get a picture of the paper towel holder I found at the Container Store for super cheap. It's Acrylic, super cute and goes well with the Hollywood Glam theme I have going on.

Last but not least (Excuse the dishes and Brita pitcher in the pic) is the 3 tier candle holder I found at Target for like $10! I decided to add a pinch of variety with the purple candle (Lavender scented..love) offset by two unscented white candles.

That's all for now but I'll be updating and adding to the "Design on a College Dime" series soon!