Blog of the Month... Swing the day away

Welcome to another rendition of "Blog of the Month." I got out of the habit of posting my favorite blogs but am now getting back into it. I feel that it shows a good "sense of community" for all us lovely lady bloggers out there. I love to share with others whom I follow and who inspires me as a blogger and who knows.... you may discover an awesome blog that you've never heard of or seen before. 

Well this little doll is Sara of "Swing the day away". I just adore her and her cute sense of style. Sara hails all they way from the shorelines of New England. Feel free to discover more about Sara here. 

Coming from New England you bet you are going to see some nautical wear peppered with 

light houses and shoreline scenery (my favorite). How I adore light houses and anything nautical.... as if you haven't noticed already. I've selected a few of my favorite outfit posts by Sara to share with you all.  This gal is seriously an inspiration to me... I know that sounds super cheesy but it's true. I just love her sense of style. Maybe because her love of dresses and cute little skirts runs as deep as mine or the fact that she is so dang cute. I don't know.... both I'm sure.

I've been drawn to classic pieces lately such as this red cardigan paired with a small healed red shoe. I love that these key pieces re-appear in some of my most favorite outfits. I mean come on.... the little sailor get up (seen above). I can't even.... how adorable. The hat!! Gah!

Did I mention that Sara is a little adventurer at heart as well? She's been everywhere! I just love how she incorporates her fashion into everyday life... apple picking and raspberry picking. I wish we had that here in Austin! Oh and an Orange grove where she wore the most adorable citrus pattern scarf. I've seen her looking all cute at a Renaissance Festival and in Disney World..... and that's just to name a few! Sheesh!

Love these classic red sunnies paired with a red lip. Her hair is always looking amazing in a cute little bob worn curly and straight. 

Cherry picking. I mean....come on. What a doll!

Also.... loving how she transitions her looks into the Fall season. I miss Fall so much!

 (We don't have a Fall in Austin). Tights... a cardigan and an awesome scarf make the look.

Lastly, one of my all time favorite looks. This amazing dress by Hell Bunny. Sara looks flawless in this little sailor frock. I had a seriously hard time editing down my favorite looks. You must head on over to Sara's blog Swing the day away and check her out. 

You can also follow Sara on Instagram and Pinterest and don't forget about Facebook.

xoxo

Cherry Pop!!

Hi there Lovies! I'm super excited about this post! Eeeeeep! I finally found the perfect skirt to wear with all my pretty tops that never get worn! I found this little black tulle skirt at Forever 21 for $6 dollars! Whoot whoot! The cut and fit is super flattering and it even shows off my favorite asset of mine.... my gams. Yay!

This last weekend has been a whirlwind! I have so many things on the table right now but it actually feels good. I'm a little scared about the amount of crochet work that I have to do but ya know what..... if it gets done good. If some it doesn't... then that's okay too. I have three events coming up in early June that I'm preparing for. I'm actually going to be participating in First Thursday with my friend Jodi of Art Genius once again. We had stopped for quite sometime but are kickin' it old school June 5th on South Congress... so if you're an Austinite come on out and join in the fun. I'll be selling my 

Faux Crochet Taxidermy and Jodi will be selling her Lego creations! 

The second event (that I hopefully get accepted to participate in) is Austin Flea. They have a super cool new location down on the new Boardwalk on Ladybird Lake that is opening up. It should be a great location and hopefully a permanent one. So if I get accepted I have to have some creations ready to go for that event too. Eeeeeep.... and that's June 7th. 

Then I got an e-mail from my old buddy Keith who owns a gallery down on Springdale in East Austin called Invenio. He was wondering if I'd be interested in showing some of my work in his gallery for an upcoming event. Um...... yes! So that's coming up on June 12th... which unfortunately I won't be able to attend in person as I'll be in Ohio shooting my dear friend Anna's wedding. Matt will be there in my place (what a sweetheart). I got to visit Keith and see his space and met the Son of a Sailor team and chatted it up with Jessica (the creator and owner). She gave me some really great advice.... she and her husband are so inspiring! The event should be a lot of fun. Here's the deets: Drinks will be provided by Deep Eddy Vodka and the El Cubico Taco Truck will be serving complimentary delicious bites from La Condesa. There will be a silent auction benefiting local non-profit LifeWorks, an Annie Ray Photo Booth, and music from DJ Khary Alexander of Dub Academy. Guests will be able to tour the studios and newly added retail spaces in all of the Canopy buildings.

Whew! I told you I had a lot going on! 

To top it all off I'm shooting a wedding which I've also been preparing for. I've been playing around with my DSLR and ordered a new backup battery and even purchased a really cool new tripod. It's going to be a busy week indeed. It'll be great though to see my old friends and catch up with them and their lives. I'm really looking forward to seeing my sister Taryn whom I am very close to and miss dearly. I'll be staying with her and her new Husbear Brian. I can't wait to kick back and share stories with her. I do miss Ohio especially in the Springtime... sigh.

Did I mention that I finally got to meet Dus of Cuddly Cacti and her sweet Husbear Jonny? The Mister and I had so much fun showing them around town. We saw Mount. Bonnell... which in all the years living in Austin haven't ventured to. Then we followed it up by having a bite to eat at Guero's 

(one of my favorite restaurants). They are the most delightful couple to chat and hang out with. There will definitely be pictures to follow....

I was supposed to go paddle boarding with my bestie Christopher on Memorial day but I woke up with a bit of a headache and canceled.... which was for the best because it ended up raining cats and dogs. It's nice to stay indoors sometimes and wear your "jammies" all day. The weather has been crazy humid the past week in Austin which has made it hard to do anything outdoors. I started jogging again... which is something I haven't done in years. Not by choice but because I was sick and couldn't. I love it... and hate it somedays too. Lol.

The important point is that I'm doing it and getting "out there" again. After I lost that first 10lbs my body came to a halt if you will but now that I'm running my body is in a little bit of a shock and I've started to loose a few more. Yay! It would be nice to lose 10 more pounds but I'd be okay if I stayed were I'm at right now. As long as I'm working out daily and am eating right I'm happy. It feels good to be healthy again... after losing 3 whole years of my life due to illness I'm finally getting some control back. 

I know that was a lot to read and take in... sorry. I just have so much going on in my life right now. Business wise and personally speaking. I have only covered just a portion of what is to come. I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day and now it's time to get back to the "daily grind".

xoxo

Blouse: Urban Outfitters

Skirt: Forver 21

Sunnies: Target

Wedges: Target

Lipstick: Revlon "Love that Red"

Watermelon nail tutorial...

I'm not a Pro as you can see... but sometimes it's fun to experiment with nail art. I was totally inspired by Keiko Lynn's Strawberry Nail Tutorial seen here. I had all the colors for the watermelon/strawberry nails anyhow... and my nails were already painted red (the base coat) so I figured... why not? It's not perfect by any means but I'm okay with that.... it was fun and I was happy with the outcome. 

Here's all what I used. For the base coat I used a cheap polish that I purchased from Forever 21 called Love & Beauty in "Red". I only needed one coat because it's highly pigmented. Yay! The green I used for the watermelon wedge is a tiny little bottle by Cover Girl in "Appletini" and the black for the watermelon seeds is by Essie in "Licorice". I pretty much use the red and black all the time but the green color I bought just for fun. I wear it occasionally and use it for "accents". The black and red are my "go to" colors.... they match almost everything and you can't go wrong with a classic "red". You can use whatever colors your little heart desires. I actually saw some really cute nail tutorials on Pinterest were they used pink! 

Prep your nails before painting by filing and buffing them and make sure to wash and dry them. Apply a clear base coat first.... I used Kiss "Jet dry" as a base and as a top coat. Let dry and then apply the red or pink polish. 

Next, use washi tape or Kiss strips (shown here) to mark off the area to paint the green wedge part of the watermelon. I actually prefer using washi tape after experimenting with this Kiss brand. It left a sticky residue on my nails that I couldn't get off (hence the sloppiness).

Paint the tips green... let dry completely (that's pretty important) then remove the strips. I know it's exciting but don't get all impatient like I did and take off the strips before your nails are completely dry... I know it's hard but restrain yourselves. You'll end up botching the whole nail job and it's not worth it.... trust me!

This image came out a little blurry (sorry). Next you're gonna want to clean up all the mess around your nails either with a nail pen corrector or a Q-tip always works just fine for me. Then if you have a dotting tool (I used a pencil tip) you can dip it into the the black and make as many dots as you'd like for the seeds. Mine came out super big.... I was hoping they would be smaller but life's a bitch. I only did three dots but it's super cute to do a bunch of little tiny ones as well. Let dry and apply a top coat.

Voila!!! 

There you have it. A fun Summery look! Next time I'm going to ditch those Kiss strips that I used and go back to using washi tape (which doesn't leave crap all over my nails). I'll have way more patiance next time and wait till the polish completely dries before removing the tape/strips. A dotting tool always helps and you can test out the dot sizes on paper before you attempt it on your actual nail. Weeeeee!

Love & Beauty in "Red" Forever 21

Cover Girl "Appletini" Target

Essie "Licorice" Target

xoxo

They call me mellow yellow.... quite rightly

Hi there my lovies! I'm blogging over at Flock Together today. Pop on over and take a looksie at my remix post and see how I styled this lovely "borrowed" dress from Erica Leigh of Sweets and Hearts.

Yay!

xoxo

tutti frutti

TGIF! Am I right? I'm super excited about this weekend! I have some awesome news about my growing business "Nothing but a Pigeon" that is still under wraps.... and I'm finally going to meet Dus of Cuddly Cacti! Life is good. I'm wearing the cutest little Strawberry top borrowed from Sammi of The Soubrette Brunette. See how Sammi styled it here.

I'm really into fruit patterns right now! It seems fitting. Ya know.... since it's almost Summer and all. There's nothing like fresh fruit on a hot Summer day. Speaking of hot.... I was literally melting during this shoot. It's getting super hot in Austin and I can't wait till the pools open on Memorial Day! It's not like I can't escape the heat in other ways.... I do live in a city that is built around a HUGE river so it's always easy to find a place to cool off. Barton Springs is an old favorite... and then there is always tubing along the Guadalupe which I'm certainly planning on doing this Summer! 

As you can see in the background our little "Backyard Garden" has really taken off! We've gotten a small crop already from the tomato plants and the squash (which we ate last night). It was delicious! I even found a few black berries that I plucked and ate right away before the birds could get to them. We have a ton of Inca Doves in our backyard. They are super adorable and small but manage to get to our berries before we do on occasion.

I'm in the middle of an "awkward" grow out phase with my bangs right now. I had a hairdresser cut them so they could grow out (to the side) a little more gracefully but every now and then the wind catches them "just so"... and ruins everything. Ha ha... I'm so dramatic!

I'm sporting a classic red nail polish a lot these days... you can't go wrong with a bright red. I'm slowly adding what I feel are "classic pieces"to my wardrobe here and there and the color red is definitely one of them. (Hence the red cardigan I've been wearing a bunch) Ooooo! I also just bought the cutest red, white and blue sailboat dress from Ruche a few days ago! I can't wait for it to arrive! Squeeee!

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend! 

xoxo

Shirt: Forever 21 borrowed from Sammi of The Soubrette Brunette

Skinnies: Forever 21

Cardigan: Target

Wedges: Target

The Suburbanite....

Hey lovies! This mini photo session I had with the Mister a week ago cracks me up every time I look at it. I look like a little Suburban housewife from Hell. Lol. It reminds me of those old timey magazines where the wife (all doped up on quaaludes) is watering the front yard (with a martini in one hand) while waving to the passersby with the other. Do you see where I'm going with this? Well.... you'll be glad to know that it's quite the opposite here in the city (although we do live right on the cusp of Travis County). No quaaludes or martini's for this little lady..... just watering of the ol' garden on occasion.

I borrowed this sweet little peplum top from Erica of Sweets and Hearts. I love peplum tops as they flatter me most indefinitely. I especially love this top because it's Navy and goes with basically everything I own. Check out how Erica styled it here. I adore Erica's style... she really has a knack for putting together an outfit. I'm always drawn to her looks and I feel as though (on some level) our style is similar. Let's put it this way.... I want to borrow everything in her closet. Lol! 

I feel as though my style has changed somewhat over the past few months... as I used to be all about the "Bohemian look".... now I'm more into "classic pieces". Don't get me wrong.... I love "festival clothing" but I think I'm drawn more to "timeless "wear" such as this peplum top. I don't foresee this piece going out of style anytime soon. I also love the fact that I can either dress it up or dress it down. Which as you can see I chose to "dress it down" in this photo shoot. Nothing like wearing skinny jeans in 90 degree weather! Ha! 

Dying laughing..... this is what happens when I try to be serious in a photo. I love my scarf though. I'm obsessed with scarves at the moment.... oh and lipstick. I've never really "experimented" with makeup before but I am now and I have to admit it's fun! I never really wore lipstick in the past on the count of the fact that I'm a skinny lipped... pale white girl and it just seems to draw attention to the fact that I have a "lack of fullness" in the lip area. Ha. I don't really care too much anymore. I'm gonna wear lipstick and that's it. That should be the name of my blog.... "Skinny lipped pale white chick". I'd probably get a lot of followers.... hmmmmm. 

Here's our sad little front yard garden. We lost the "Pride of Barbados" over the Winter. It couldn't handle the Texas weather and froze. It's sad because it had such glorious orange blossoms every year and really "made" the front yard. The lizards are out and about... sunning themselves on our weathered wood. They always scurry away when we walk out of the house... but if we're lucky we get to see them on occasion. 

We received a few blooms already.... our cactus is currently blooming as we speak.

Here's the happy housewife now! Lol.... no really. I love living in Austin and owning my own business which is taking off! I'm still always surprised when people buy my creations... I don't know why. Old habits die hard I guess. I'm working on that though... changing the way I think about myself. It's hard and is going to be a long journey but life's too short. I've been talking a lot about "improving myself" with my BFF Chris. We went kayaking this past weekend and had a little heart to heart. He's always a good listener. I feel change is underway.... which is a good thing.

Working on "improving myself" is not only about my appearance (working out regularly and eating right) but it's also about "healing" from within. I have a lot of issues (more issues than Vogue) that I've been dealing with lately and am trying to sort them all out. I'm basically trying to be the best person or best version of myself that I can be. You know... in life morally speaking and physically as well. I don't like to talk about it too much (although my friends will tell you differently) but I was sick for the past few years and when I say few I mean the last three years. I wasn't able to enjoy life or do anything physically speaking that I'd want to do or normally did. Since I've gotten better (mentally and physically) I've shed a few pounds and am way more active and feel that mentally I'm more stable. I still want to make some changes in my personal life (for the better) and now want to live life to the fullest! Which is why I'm sooooo excited about this Summer. I'm going to do everything that I couldn't do for the past few years.... like kayaking with Chris... or hiking or biking. You get the picture.

I want to surround myself with positive people that make me a better person as well. I will no longer put up with "negativity" from myself or others. Like I said "life's too short." You only get one chance. I've kind of gone off on a little tangent here... I do apologise. Just thinking out loud about what's ahead for me. I don't like to get too heavy into serious life on my bloggy... sometimes it's alright though. 

Now let's change the subject and talk about these shoes!

I bought these at Target on sale for $8 dollars! I love a good wedge and these fit right in with my new and improved style. I'm so into red right now... which is funny because it's such a "loud" color and I would normally shy away from it. Not anymore.... maybe that says a little something about myself right now. 

Well.... thanks for stopping by. I know it was a lot to read. Sheesh! I'll try to keep it on the lighter side of things next time. I don't want to be a "Debbie Downer" as some people would say.... lol. See you kittens later.

xoxo

Peplum Top: Forever 21 (borrowed from Erica of Sweets and Hearts)

Skinny Jeans: Forever 21

Shoes: Target

Sunnies: Target

Earrings: Claire's

Scarf: Thrifted

The Austin Flea

Hi there! This past weekend the Mister and I ventured out to ABGB for Austin Flea. It was pretty hot in Austin on this particular Saturday... it's starting to get to be that time of year when the temperature shoots through the roof and it starts to get unbearable. Luckly ABGB brews their own beer! I've never been to ABGB but it was pretty fun.... I have to say. Did I mention the fact that they have ice cold beer? I inititally wanted to go to see "Honey Punch" a very fun band that I've become quite fond of. I was also tickled to see some old friendly faces. Ashley of inviting letterpress boutique was in attendance. We were booth neighbors a few Flea's ago. I just adore her cards and stationary. 

Ashley of inviting letter press boutique.

"Blerg"

- Liz Lemon

I just attended Pop Shop Houston and saw Evelina Nappier there selling her bags and quilts. Evelina designs and sews custom bags and quilts for her shop "all with love". I got to know her daughter Tiffany at last years Austin Craft Riot (ACR) Summer Show.

I just love these burlap bags!

I was delighted to see Natalie of "Ornamental Things". I just couldn't walk by her booth without checking out her merchandise and purchasing a sweet little compass. I seriously can't get enough of her jewelry... all her stuff is awesome and did I mention she's super sweet too?

Meet Jenson of "Carvin Marvin: Custon Stamps & Stationary". I met Jenson during the Christmas Flea.... we were booth neighbors and she had brought her new adopted sweet as can be puppy Clemintine. I just love Jenson's stationary. I even have a little "Rx" card framed and sitting on my shelf in our bathroom. I thought it was only appropriate since people usually store there Rx prescriptions in the medicine cabnet. Lol.

Last but not least is "Honey Punch". These girls are too adorable and have lovely voices to match. I caught the last song just in time to snap some images. Aren't they just too cute? Here's their link so you can join in and listen here. My favorite is "Goody Goody".

Gretchen Du Pre - Vocals, Ukulele, Banjolele, Mandolin. Alicia Wennstrom - Vocals, Ukulele. 

Virginia Jackson - Vocals, Ukulele, Tiny piano, Accordion. Michelle Soto - Guitar, Ukulele. 

Virginia Luff - Double Bass. 

xoxo