on the road to kentucky lake

Photos by Neil!

Vintage White Lace Blouse, Black Leather Macrame Belt - Thrifted

1950's High Waisted Shorts - The Hip Zipper

Crocheted Knee Highs, Gray Felt Hat - H&M

1970's Black Strap Wood Wedge Heels - Crafty Crow Vintage

I'm back! And man alive, I've missed you guys.

My blogging break was uneventful, lazy, and just what I needed. I hung out with friends, had Borders dates with Neil, finished a computer game, and got bit by a chipmunk (really. I did.). Neil and I even spent a couple of days at his parent's houseboat in Kentucky, leaving our laptops at home. We explored the back roads, grilled out, and went antique shopping, where I found a rust colored 1940's dress and navy spectator pumps for just eight dollars each! Most of the time, though, we were on the boat. Falling asleep on the water is a wonderful thing.

See how beautiful Kentucky can be? I spent my growing up years in the country wishing to live in a city. Now that I live in Nashville, I find myself getting really excited and nostalgic when I run into country pastoral scenes like this. This outfit was inspired by a recent post my sister Rhiannon wrote, where she wore this magical white blouse with a pair of high waisted black shorts. I'm lucky to have stylish sisters to look up to.

Did I mention I did a whole lot of shopping while I was away? Quincy recently moved to Nashville, which means I have a new thrifting friend! And finds have been good. Of course, you find plenty of vintage when you don't really need it. I found railroad stripe overalls, navy and white patterned crop tops, floral 90's dresses with lace up backs, liberty print dresses with lace yokes, and my two favorite finds - a pair of denim jeans from the 70's with pastel yellow flowers and a 1970's autumn colored velvet mini dress. I'm planning on adding a peter pan collar to the mini dress, and I may or may not be converting the floral jeans into cut off shorts.

The shorts I'm wearing in these photos are another recent purchase. They'll be in the shop soon, as I'm not allowing myself to hold onto them for too long. They're from the 1950's, with a metal zipper on the side and a great shape to them. The glory of these shorts is they're reversible! The inside is a black and white gingham.

Shop update tomorrow! My sewing room is filled with prairie dresses that need to find new homes. As for other good news, I will be updating regularly every Monday night from now on.. every piece will be added the same day. And speaking of the shop, this 1940's powder blue striped dress and 1960's gingham sun dress have just been added!

You guys, I really do feel recharged and inspired again. I can't wait to share with you all of the ideas I've been having. Hope you all had a wonderful week!

tennessee prairie. a gunne sax dress in floral and velvet

Vintage Velvet Gunne Sax Maxi Dress - Tennessee Antique Mall

Brown Wood Wedge Sandals - Madewell

Wide Brim Straw Hat - Forever21

What a weekend! Right now, we're in St. Louis nearly on our way home to Nashville. We came to Missouri yesterday for a wedding of one of Neil's high school friends, and we ended up staying out til after 3 this morning smoking hookah and hanging out with good people on the Loop. Today, we celebrated Father's Day with Neil's dad by going to the Science Center and eating a big brunch at Rooster. Friday, I had a chance to go to the Frist with lovely Nashville friends and check out their latest exhibit, all about the golden age of couture. Before that, I did some thrifting for the Etsy shop and then spent time with a great lady who sells vintage for a living, having a good talk over coffee and picking her brain for wisdom, and after, Neil and I had dinner with some family who were visiting Nashville for the weekend.

And today, I am tired.

Finally I get a moment to show you these photos! This outfit post is another blog anniversary celebration.. I originally bought a cute chambray mini dress with a white ruffle collar and sleeves to celebrate in, but when I saw this 1970's era Gunne Sax dress at an antique mall earlier in the weekend, I had to buy it. I'm short, so I never, ever wear maxi dresses.. I don't think they look good on me. But if I were to make an exception, it would be for Gunne Sax. Especially a navy and coral dress with a velvet bodice, ribbon detail, and floral skirt. I REALLY love this dress, you guys.

This is also the first photoshoot featuring my new Canon XS! We're still getting used to the camera, so we're using the Auto feature much more than we should be. The more we play around with it, the more we learn how to manually control the photo, so hopefully it won't be long before we have a good handle on things.

As life has been filled with a good kind of craziness, my Sewing Saturday post is again postponed til Tuesday.. this won't become a trend, I promise! Tomorrow will remain my shop update, and later in the week, I'll show you photos of my Frist visit!

Alright, we've got to hit the road for home. What have your weekend plans been like?

a prairie look.. railroad overalls and liberty print in the spring

Photos by Neil!

Vintage Striped Denim Overalls - Local Honey Vintage

Vintage Liberty Print Dress (worn as a blouse) - The Cat's Pajamas Vintage

White Thigh High Socks, Wide-Brimmed Straw Hat - Forever21

Cutout Lace Up Heels - Urban Outfitters

Here are the overalls and the dress I've been talking about.. and I love them both. Jessica and I made an Etsy trade (her shop is adorable.. check out this mohair cape, it's pure awesome) and I've been wearing the liberty print dress ever since.. even as a blouse sometimes, as you can see in these pictures. I wore it on its own to my fun blogger meet up that I'll post about in the near future, and I'm probably going to wear it out tonight to the movies with friends. I've seriously been wearing it too much.

And the striped overalls are another favorite, from Local Honey in Nashville! They might be the first pair of overalls I've ever owned. Like I said before, I've been searching for the ideal blouse to wear underneath (a white button up with ruffles, but not too ruffle-y, and three quarter length sleeves and maybe a high neck), and I haven't found it yet. So I improvised with this outfit because I loved the contrasting patterns. It's very Little House on the Prairie.

Imagine my surprise when Neil and I go to Borders the exact same night that we took these pictures and I find an awesome Nylon spread all about liberty prints and overalls. It was really beautiful and if I had caught it before we took pictures, I would have cited it as inspiration.. check it out, before the next issue comes out! Katy Perry's on the cover, but don't let that scare you away.

When we were at Borders, I also caught a glimpse of the latest British Vogue with Alexa Chung on the cover. It had great articles about a couple latest trends.. lacy, feminine items and a lot of whites/creams/nudes.. all so beautiful. The article on Alexa Chung was written by her and featured denim. I read most of it. I don't know. When people talk about jeans I lose interest, even if they throw in stuff about dungarees and chambray in the process.

I think I've gotten so sick of the prevalence of jeans.. sure, there is something elusive and kind of magical when you find the perfect pair of jeans simply because all jeans are shaped so differently and frankly, so are we.

But jeans are everywhere. Men and women and kids wear them to work and to church and to the movies and the grocery store and everywhere in between (I don't buy into the comfort myth.. I am a million times more comfortable in tights and an oversized button up or romper than I am in jeans). If you wear a dress or tailored trousers or a suit jacket or a skirt outside of a wedding, people ask you why you're dressing up. I remember in high school (and much of college), I had about seven or so identical pairs I cycled through. Long sleeved shirt, jeans. Cardigan and tank top, jeans. Different long sleeved shirt, jeans. I wore brightly colored socks just because I was desperate to add some personality to my wardrobe. I'm not vehemently against jeans, they can look spectacular and sometimes, a certain top or jacket calls for them. And everyone should probably own them. But they don't need to be an outfit staple every single day of the week, like they used to be for me.

I think that's enough ranting for today. Hope you guys are having a great week!