It's a jungle out there!

Hi lovelies!! Happy Monday, hope your week is off to a good start. This weekend I spent the majority of my time helping my brother prepare for his move and seeing his show Cabaret. The show was good - really provocative and depressing - but performed well. The woman who played Sally was fantastic! It also rained on Saturday :] Super exciting for Illinois. It has been ages. Anywho...the weekend flew by. I hope you enjoyed yours!

Today I have a fun summer outfit to share with you. Last week I was jumping for joy when I received this Jungle Book Dress in the mail from Sugarlips Apparel. Fun, isn't it? As soon as I saw the cute print and fun chain back detailing I knew I wanted had to add it to my wardrobe. I also love how light weight the dress is - perfect for this 90+ degree heat! The next day I had my awesome and incredibly wonderful boyfriend Brian take me out on a hot date wearing this number (not without taking some blog photos first of course) haha - did I mention he is a sweetheart?



I had too much fun dressing this look up and down with accessories and shoes (you can check out more on my Flickr). This dress is perfect for a hot date or shopping around town on a hot summer day. I thought it was also only fitting to take photos of this look in a jungle-esque setting - aka, Brian's mother's garden/koi pond.



With my newly brightened red hair I think it is only necessary that I incorporate more green in to my wardrobe ;]

Outfit Details: Dress - Jungle Book Dress c/o Sugarlips Apparel | Hat & necklace - Target | Belt - thrifted | Purse - Urban Outfitters| Flats - Payless | Wedges - Old Navy.

Any fun plans for your upcoming week? I think I need to start exploring the neighborhood I work in during my lunch breaks. There are so many incredible thrift stores calling my name :]

Thrifted Thursday - Orange & Teal

Hi all. Another Thrifted Thursday here! I thought it would be fun to show off one of my thrifted outfits for a change. This is a simple look that can be worn to work or out and about. I thrifted the dress a few years back, however, I am just now pulling it out of my closet - silly me. I love shopping my closet and finding new (or in this case - old) surprises. The belt was also thrifted quite some time ago.



Outfit Details: Dress & belt - thrifted | Wedges - Payless.

I like that my hair and the dress worked out to be complimentary colors (orange/red - blue/green). Off topic (sort of) - don't these photos look like I took them last fall? I took them on Sunday. The lack or rain here in Illinois has caused my poor trees to dry up and lose their leaves. I have been watering them on and off just to help them out a bit. Pretty crazy. Please send some rain clouds my way :]

Insta - finds: Cute girl's dress (I wish I had a kid...or that it didn't cost $18 dollars so I could have hoarded it for my future children) and HUGE blowfish. I already have a small taxidermy blowfish - haha, seriously though - so I passed on these two gems.

Thrifted anything fun this week? Any fun plans for the weekend?

Wardrobe Wednesday - I love Lucy

Hi lovelies!! Happy August 1st - where the heck has the time gone? Hope you all are having a good week. I am wishing it were the weekend already. I want to sleep in so badly, however, I will be moving my brother in to his first apartment in the city Saturday - so maybe it's a good thing it is Wednesday. Haha. Anywho... I cut and dyed my hair on Sunday and this was the result. Pretttty darn red, but I like it.



I couldn't help but feel like a modern day Lucille Ball when I put this dress on. I love the navy and white polka dot combo :] How do you all feel about asymmetrical dresses? I am still getting used to wearing this one myself.



I am thinking this dress needs a cute pair of red or white pumps to jazz it up a bit. Good excuse to shop, no?

Outfit Details: Dress - TJ Maxx | Belt - Dorothy Perkins | Purse - Silk Market | Flats - Urban Outfitters.

Looking at these photos I realize I am quite the ghost. Whoops. Maybe I should work on catching some rays. Catch you all on the flip side!

Growin' on up!

Hi guys! Remember me? Sorry for the short absence. I needed to work on getting in to the swing of things. What thing(s) am I referring to? Welp, an hour and a half commute for starters. I found myself my first "big girl" design job in the city!! I have been a bit nervous to share it with the world...but it is about time. I work in a pretttty hip part of town with a really nice group of people. I love what I do each day and am so excited to be putting my skills to use :] Thank you all for the good vibes - they sure paid off.

Working full time has taken some getting used to. How do you all find time for staying on top of blogging after working 9-5? (technically 7-7 if you factor in the commute) I am thinking I need to start blogging ahead on Sundays. La,la, la....rambling. I am excited, overwhelmed, and happy as can be.

Aside from working I have been hanging out with friends and family enjoying the last bit of summer we have left. I have also been enjoying my garden...



Squash, tomatoes, cucumbers (etc.) - oh my! My lunch has been pretty tasty, haha. I am so glad to be back. I missed you all. Hope you all are having a beautiful day!!

Life Lately

Hi lovelies!! I hope you had a beautiful weekend. I feel so out of the blogging loop. I apologize. I miss all of you. Great things have been happening in my life but are taking up the majority of my time. I would love to share more with you all but can't just yet. Positive things are happening though! I am hoping to figure everything out this week and work on getting in to some sort of groove. Please bare with me if I post a smidge more sporadically the next few weeks. I am also dedicating tonight to catching up on all of your sweet comments and blogs finally. Wahoo!!



Anywho... I have been catching up with friends from school the past week. My friend Mike was back in town for the week from Japan. He leaves to Germany for 2 years this afternoon. Can't wait to visit him! I can also tell you all that I have been spending quite a bit of time in the city (Chicago) recently, which I love. My goal is to move there hopefully by the end of the year *crosses fingers. In my free time - surprise! - more thrifting, haha. Definitely purchased the smooching doxie pups on Saturday :]

Thank you all for taking my survey (check out results in the the right side-bar)!! I will be restructuring my posts. I am excited for a change.

MAJOR NEWS
I was featured on Of Cogris and Cocktails in a style icon post. I am so honored and excited to have participated. Thank you so much Katherine for the opportunity. I adore her blog and fashion sense so please go check out her page if you haven't yet :]

Have a beautiful day everyone!

The Farnsworth House

Hi all! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I had a great time seeing my brothers show of Footloose and catching up with some friends from college. The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and avoiding the awful 100+ degree heat. Anywho, last week I told you all that I visited the Farnsworth House - I think it is about time that I talked about the mini adventure.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Farnsworth House, "built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1951 and located near Plano, Illinois, is one of the most famous examples of modernist domestic architecture and was considered unprecedented in its day." The house was first conceived by Dr. Edith Farnsworth in 1945. Edith Farnsworth was looking for an architect to build her a weekend home, having connections in high places she asked Mies van der Rohe at a dinner party if one of his architects could do the job for her. Intrigued by the project Mies van der Rohe took it on himself. "The architecture of the house represents the ultimate refinement of Mies van der Rohe’s minimalist expression of structure and space." To better understand the project and for more information about the house and Mies van der Rohe, please visit the Farnsworth House History page.

Now on to my adventure...

You start out the hour and a half tour by taking a 5 minute walk up to the house. On this walk you are surrounded by woods and english gardens. The gardens are not original to the house - they were added by Lord Peter Palumbo when he acquired the house from Edith Farnsworth in 1971. Although it was 90+ degrees on the day that we took the tour, you couldn't help but admire the beautiful and serene surroundings leading up to the house.



The house was built to give the illusion that it is floating. The house was raised 5 feet 3 inches - to try to save it from the rivers floods (which it didn't), and it is the average line of sight in which you can no longer see the floor in the house giving it and the furniture within the illusion of floating. Everything was meticulously thought out and planned when designing this home. Even the stairs were built to give the illusion that they are floating in space.



Originally we had planned on visiting the house Sunday, but due to strong storms we had to reschedule. During the microburst the wind broke the "witness" tree outside the front of the house. The tree will have to be taken down. It is such a shame too because the house was built specifically around it.



The house is one continuous space consisting of a dinning room, living room, bedroom, and kitchen. The interior consists of two full bathrooms and the central control room. The house seems huge once you step inside. The glass windows surrounding the entire house give the illusion of continuous space between the inside and outside world.

Basically, the Farnsworth house is my dream home. I may just have to get married there... My mom has never given much thought to architecture or Modernism and even she was moved by this space and its story. Visiting this home is something I highly recommend to any one who gets the chance :]

Have any of you been?