What I Wore: The Modern Vintage Edition

You're all a smart bunch of people, I'm sure it hasn't escaped you by now that I love vintage and retro style and even sell my own finds on Etsy. Well, when the Internet first starting being a huge shopping hub (wow, that sentence makes me feel ancient even though this was probably only 10 years ago or so), it opened up a whole new world of vintage possibilities! I spent so much time searching online for the perfect 40s style dresses and rockabilly handbags. It was a sickness. Still is, I guess. However, back in those days, your options for true vintage and vintage reproduction were limited and pricey. I would drool over styles from Stop Staring! hoping that I could one day afford something from their collection. And I still do.

Of course, now the Internet has made it easier than ever to find vintage reproduction styles for any price range. It's really nuts how easy it is and I find a new favorite site every day. The dress below is from a store in the UK called Voodoo Vixen that I just discovered a few months ago!

Things I Love: Pretty Pastels

This past weekend I noticed that the trees were starting to bloom all over the city and I couldn't have screamed more like a little girl. It's official! We're done with the dreary days of winter and moving to summer! When you live in the Midwest you're never really sure that winter won't come back and bite you in the ass in the middle of May, so I try not to get too excited until I see the trees turning green.

With that in mind, everything that caught my attention shopping around this week was light and colorful, like newly springing leaves. I'm in a mood to throw out all of my black and grey clothes, but I'll hold off on that I guess. But there's nothing better than shopping for sun dresses and open-toed shoes when you can actually start wearing them!

What I Wore: Sheer Vintage Dresses Edition

Oh some days it feels like spring will never come. We'll get one nice day accompanied by three chilly ones. I'm starting to give up hope here. But, it just means that I try to take advantage of the nice days when we have them, like this past weekend. It was the perfect day to test drive this little vintage number. This lilac vintage dress is one of my favorite finds, but it's super sheer so it really only works on warm days. But when it does work, oh it works.

The Dreamy Getaway - Storybrook Cottage Vacation Rental in Tennessee

Do you ever see a cottage and think "Hell to the yes! That is the cottage of my dream!" Well, for those of you that have cottage dreams, anyway? No? Oh, well be prepared to be blow away, because I found it and it's been hiding in Tennessee with a bunch of other cute vacation rental properties.

Mother's Day Gift Ideas from UncommonGoods

I don't think I've talked about UncommonGoods on here before, which is odd because I love suggesting it as a destination to anyone who asks me for gift giving advice. The site was actually recommended to me when I was in a bind trying to find a quick Christmas gift for someone I didn't actually know too well. Needless to say, I found something that was perfect and have been a fan of the site every since. So, when they approached me to do a little review of their Mother's Day Gift collection, of course I agreed!

Interior Design: Rustic Charm in the Polish Countryside

Oh, all know I have a soft spot for the rustic thing. I don't know if it'll ever go away, but there's nothing like a country style kitchen and a some reclaimed wood touches that get my heart racing. Yes, hearts can race for interior design and mine does all the time dammit! It was no wonder that this stylish country home caught my eye. 

Home Tour: A Chicago Apartment with Rustic Touches

Surprise! Today's home decor feature is my apartment! I was inspired by Compass, a real estate website in NYC, and their Starter Stories project to share with you my new apartment and all the work that my boyfriend and I have put into making it home. Since it's our first apartment together, it's most definitely been a learning process that has involved a lot of compromise. We've only been in the space for about 6 months, so there are still a lot of things that we're figuring out how to make work, but I am finally ready to do a little unveiling and let you all into my world! Especially since I've been talking about this new apartment constantly (like here and here and here, for example).

DIY: Simple Beaded Necklace Tutorial

Sometimes you're in a bind and need a quick gift for someone. Sometimes you have some beads and some chain. Sometimes that turns into a present and the day is saved! Like in the case of this necklace. I just couldn't find the perfect gift so I decided to make it.

You can never go wrong with a handmade gift. People will appreciate that you took the time to make it even if they don't wear it. But, hopefully, you know the person you're trying to buy a present for well enough that you know they'd love your gift (or at least fake it). So here's a quick and easy DIY gift that you can put a lot of love and personalization into. 

Easy Beaded Necklace Tutorial

Loving Right Now: Kitschy Vintage Kitchen Decor

I'm still in the process of trying to make my new apartment feel like a home and it's been so hard to focus on just one room. I want to buy everything, for every room, all at once! Anyone else understand this feeling?

Of course, I can't do that because as much as I wish I am, I am not a millionaire. So, I've been doing it slowly — paycheck by painstaking paycheck and cutting corners where I can. Like the responsible human being that I am. Unfortunately, all this has allowed me to do is continue adding items to an ever growing list of "wants". That combined with my inability to focus on one room has created an odd list and caused be to buy things on impulse - making for some very odd, half-finished rooms. To combat this insanity, I've decided to share it with you! Aren't you excited? In an effort to focus, I'm just going to share my wants, my loves, my hopes, and my dreams for my new apartment room by room. Maybe that way I won't wonder why I have an extensive plate collection for the kitchen walls but still no table for the craft room (yes, this is a real problem).

Favorite Things: Cozy Winter Necessities

If the constant snow storms and freezing cold are any indication, we're still in for a long month of winter ahead. Luckily for us, there are plenty of ways to bog down, get cozy, stay warm, and pretend that the outdoors don't exist. So to help each other out through these rough and windy days and dream of blankets, candles, and warm tea, I've put together a collection of all my favorite things that make winter hibernation not so bad.

First off, what everyone needs to start hibernation season is something warm to drink and nothing makes tea better than an adorable tea pot with an even cuter infuser. I'm a loose tea drinker mainly because I like the idea of wasting less packaging, but with all these new and adorable infusers, it's hard not be a loose tea drinker!

What I Wore: The Winter Wonderland Edition

We've had quite a few inches of snow here in Chicago the last few weeks. Meaning that I've hardly been away from my Dr. Martens and fleece lined leggings at all and while I do adore both of those things, sometimes you do start to hate wearing the same shoes every single day. This is why I own like 40 pairs of shoes - I like variety. Winter does not like variety. It's cold and bleak and snowy pretty much the whole time, meaning there is no place for tights or heels or anything cute unless you want to freeze and you like having everyone look at you like you're a maniac.

10 Funny Valentine's Day Cards for the Romantically Challenged

I don't really make it a secret that I hate Valentine's Day. Yes, hate. I'm not single or bitter or whatever else you assume about people who say they hate Valentine's Day but only really hate it when they don't have someone to celebrate with. I just greatly dislike the super forced fake sentiment that comes with it. If you love me, great! Tell me all the time and take me out on date on the regular. Don't save some grand romantic gesture or a day in February when you're jammed in a restaurant with 40 other couples. Oh geez. I'm going to break out in hives just thinking about it.

That being said, I like cards. I think they're funny and they're a nice gesture any time of the year to say, "Hey you, I was thinking about you. Here's a piece of paper I found to prove it." Cute, right? I'm sure I'm not the only romantically challenged girl on the Internet, so in a show of solidarity here are a few card options you can still pick up if your way of saying "I love you" involves Netflix and pizza.

10 Funny Valentine's Day Cards for the Romantically Challenged

First off, for the cat lovers:

By Tattoos and Love Letters on Etsy

What I Wore: The 60s Shift Edition

Ah, estate sale shopping. That is the life. If my day job could be hunting for gems at estate sales, I'd be one happy camper. Unfortunately, it's just a hobby for now, but when you hit a jackpot it's oh-so-satisfying! I stumbled across a gorgeous collection that belonged to a little stylish lady who travled a lot in her lifetime with her husband. The collection of souvenir plates in their home was out of this world. But, naturally, I gravitated towards the closets and I was not disappointed. This little number is definitely one of my favorites that I picked up recently. So simple, yet so eye catching with it's delicately detailed collar and sleeves.

Interior Design: Cozy Winter Cabin

Well, we're sitting pretty in the middle of a blizzard and when that happens, it's hard not to dream of cozy winter cabins and lots of blankets. So, in the spirit of the season, here's a chic and cozy modern cabin to dream about.

Interior Design: 7 Creative Work Spaces

I'm a lucky girl. I have the most wonderful and patient boyfriend who let me turn our spare bedroom into a craft room, while he suffers out in the dinning room with a table and a bookshelf. What can I say? I have more crafty crap and most of his hobbies involve the garage, so it seemed fair. But I've been feeling guilty lately because I'm not great at organizing, making it really difficult to actually craft in my craft room. Essentially, it's a giant, somewhat orderly storage closet. I have a tendency to grab what I need and just craft in the living room anyway. I know. I'm a jerk. So, I think it's time to start getting myself organized in a way that makes it easy to use the craft room. For that inspiration, I go to Pinterest (naturally).

Interior Design: Rustic Summer Getaway

This is apparently a summer home, however, I would absolutely live here year-round. It's bright, it's cozy, and it's got some serious family style. I love it. It's in New York state, but I don't really care because even if winters get snowy, all the windows and skylights would make is so worth living there. Now that I mention it, how does one clean a skylight? Hmmm...questions for a different time in my life.

Design Trends from IKEA: Colored Floor revolution

I'm sure by now you're well aware that IKEA is jumping on the mid-century design bandwagon and releasing a whole line of mid-century inspired gems. Great. Awesome. Love it. Looks great. Except, when I was looking through the new IKEA collection there is only one thing that really, really stood out to me...

For The Love of Blogging

I admit it. I've been M.I.A. lately. Okay, a lot lately. You may not have noticed it, but I've felt it. I thought it was just a case of blogger burnout (oh yes, it's real), and that I would snap out of it. That, just like writers block, it would eventually be washed away with new inspiration. Nope. I was wrong. It wasn't blogger burnout that was holding me back. I wasn't lacking in inspiration; I could think of 10 new blog post ideas just on my walk to the train. So what was it? What was killing my drive?

For The Love of Blogging