RIP Davy Jones

For those of you who haven't heard, Davy Jones of the Monkees died today at 66. It is sad to think he isn't here any more singing his heart out. While I never got to see the Monkees perform together I saw Davy play a few years back and it was wonderful. He also wished me a great first day of college over the radio when my mom called in on my way to move in. *Sighhh. I have had the biggest crush on him since elementary school. Let's all remember him with this video (my personal favorite song of theirs), Day Dream Believer.

Wardrobe Wednesday - LEAP YEAR

HAPPY LEAP DAY/YEAR EVERYONE!! It is that very special day that only rolls around every four years (with the exception of centuries 100,200,...). Personally, I wish I had been born on leap day - I would only be 5 and a half years old right now :] Anywho, I also wish I had a more dramatic and whacky outfit to post - but let's be real, I shot this outfit two weeks ago and it is it's turn. So for today's outfit I give you a thrifted treasure.



I thrifted this little gem about a year back, and haven't worn it yet (whoops). I was instantly drawn to the orange lace and adorable satin bow.



The lining of the dress is unfortunately some synthetic fiber. I am not sure how to get out all the wrinkles without ruining the dress. Any tips? Also, this dress had to sit out in the sun for 3 days to get out the creepy old house smell - oh the joys of thrifting.



Other than those minor complaints I love this dress. I need some fun excuse to wear it. I am also thinking about making it a tad bit shorter...Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday/leap day!! I plan on making the boyfriend something fun for dinner. Do you have any fun plans?

Outfit Details: Dress/Belt - Thrifted | Boots - Mom's hand me downs.

P.S. ShyScout became a ModCloth affiliate today!! Get your shop on ladies.

Stylish Surprise

Ok, before I show off my outfit post of the week tomorrow. Let's talk about ModCloth's, Stylish Surprise!!! Did any of you guys happen to catch it? It sold out quickly.

Roni posted about it on Monday and I just about freaked out!! For $15 you will receive an item of their choosing worth $29.99 - $249.99, ummm no brainer - am I right?! I hadn't bought anything from ModCloth before (crazy, huh? it's not that I didn't want to), mainly because I have been saving up for my trip to Japan for awhile now. With the wicked price of $15 I bought myself 2 surprises. I can not wait. I haven't seen an item of theirs that I haven't liked so I thought I would see what happens. I do love surprises after all - Dunny's anyone? Anywho, just had to share my excitement because I can not contain it any longer. I just received the tracking number so it is on its way! * This is the beginning of my ModCloth addiction.

If any of you did catch the surprise please let me know what you get :]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHYSCOUT UPDATE:
ShyScout now has a facebook page! Please visit ShyScout's facebook page today.

Toy Army Tuesday - Dunny's pt. 1

For today's Toy Army Tuesday, I decided it was about time to show you my slowly growing Dunny collection. I plan on breaking the collection up in to 3 posts mainly because I want extra time to show off my 2 - 8" Dunny's on a later date. Anywho, let's get started!!

MY COLLECTION: My current collection consists of 27 - 3" Dunny's, and 2 - 8" ones. My collection began Junior year of high school. While I was at Urban Outfitters I decided to buy a Dunny box on a whim. I knew nothing about them, they just looked cool. My first Dunny was the Series 3, 2006 - Tilt (She is in the photograph below blowing a bubble in her undies).

Fast forward to Spring 2011 when my collection became an addiction. My design class visited a local design firm for our senior trip, and guess what! The owner of the firm owned HUNDREDS of Dunny's (and other vinyl toys). My mouth dropped. I was in vinyl toy/ Dunny heaven. I needed to get my hands on more! (the design firm was also incredible - but that is another story). Since that day my collection went from 3 Dunny's to 29 over the course of year. Yikes! I did buy a chunk of them on Ebay (opened) to save money though - Dunny lots are the way to go.



A BIT ABOUT DUNNY'S: Dunny's are created by KidRobot - a vinyl toy superstore. According to their website Dunny's are "a curved bunny with a smooth face, DUNNY is a blank canvas designed to be repainted and reinterpreted by artists from many different backgrounds." What I love most about Dunny's (and all vinyl toys for that matter) is that artists are taking the same toy and reinterpreting them into beautiful and unique mini pieces of art.



The 3" Dunny's are fun because they are sold blind-box, meaning that you never know what you are going to get. Each box lists what you may get and the probability. Each Dunny series has a variety of Dunny creations and they range in rarity. You could receive a cute common one, or the rarest one of the bunch. I love the anticipation and surprise each time you open a box.

The first Dunny series was sold in 2004 and have had countless collections since then. To see all of the Dunny's ever created please check out the KidRobot page - HERE. As you can see my collection is only a small portion.

I could tell you about the various artists, series, etc. but I will save that for another day. In the mean time enjoy a bit of my collection :]



Happy Tuesday y'all! Do you own any Dunny's?
Also, how do you guys import your stories to a Facebook fan page??

Most Wanted Mondays - Mouth Watering

Hi all! First of all, thank you for all the sweet comments over the weekend - as you all know I was thrilled to hit 100. I am also so excited about the positive feedback I received about my blog design services :] Your feedback is just what I needed to kick my butt in to gear and make it happen. I am working as fast as I can to figure out pricing for my design services so that I can open up shop. I want my prices to be fair and affordable. I also like the idea of letting you guys customize what you want done - so I plan on making it possible to pick and choose specifically what you want done so it fits your budget and needs :]

I will keep you all updated about my design services and hope to have the shop up and running within two weeks time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alrighty then, lets get back to business. Another Most Wanted Monday here for you folks. This weeks theme: food! Since I am currently hungry while making this post (I need to make dinner shortly), I thought it would be fun to create a post on food inspired items. Bon appetit, my lovelies!

1. Fred Flare - Petit Four Lip Balm Set.

2. Fred Flare - Peanut Butter & Jelly Pouch.

3. ModCloth - Accent Pillow in Monsieur.

4. ModCloth - Bring Your Own Shake Earbuds.

5. ModCloth - Sundae Best Heel.

6. Little Miss Delicious - Fast Food Dress.

7. Little Miss Delicious - Pink Cupcake Dress.

8. Kawaii Culture - Sushi Necklace.

9. Kawaii Culture - Avocado Earrings.

10. Finger Food Delight - Waffle Whip Cream Chocolate.

11. Finger Food Delight - Mexican Beer and Tacos.

12. Pony Chops Shop - Hand Painted Junk Food Brogues.
Have a lovely Monday everyone!

Wahoo, 100!!

Trying to get your hedgehog to wear a party hat is quite a task. Abrahammy kept bucking the hat off of his head so it is practically on his back in the shot, haha, but he was a trooper.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March is going to be a fun month for my blog, on top of regular posts I am headed to Japan at the end of the month! This means I am going to document the adventure. While I am away I am not sure how frequently I will be able to post so I am looking for guest bloggers to step in.

Interested in being a guest blogger on ShyScout?
Just shoot me an email at ammcgin@gmail.com today! I am not too picky, so if you have a fun idea for what you'd like to write about I am pretty open. I am hoping to have at least a weeks worth of guest bloggers to make sure I am covered.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANYONE INTERESTED IN A BLOG LAYOUT DESIGN/REDESIGN OR CUSTOM GRAPHICS?



I have been thinking about this for awhile now, and I was wondering if any of you would possibly be interested in me designing the layout of your blog for you. I recently graduated from school for Graphic Design and want to put my talent and know-how to use. I am thinking about creating a blog design service - depending on the response I get from you folks.

Should I try it out? What are you guys looking for?

My blog design services would/could include:
- Complete blog makeover - I would design your header, customize your self-portrait, links, sidebar, navigation, background, blog signature, footer, and buttons.
- Customized header
- Customized About me section
- Customized links
- Customized self-potrait/about me
- Customized buttons - I will make you a new one or a series.
- Customized Ads - I will make you web advertisements for your store.
- Customized background - I can create patterns, graphics, and illustrations.

I can help you rebrand yourself and your blog if you let me :]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anywho, I hope you all have a lovely weekend! See you Monday.

99 / Starved Rock

Hi all! Today I woke up to find I am verrry close to 100 readers, wahooo!! Thank you all so much for visiting, reading, and supporting my blog the past few months. My blog is still so new but I am glad that people are starting to find it :] So thank you all for checking my blog out and all of the lovely comments you leave, it really means a lot.

-------------------------------------------------------------
As I told you all Monday, I visited Starved Rock last Saturday with the fam. My mom, sweetpea, and I woke up extra early and hit the road in search of bald eagles. Here are some shots from that day. I had hoped to take some Wardrobe Wednesday shots, but in the end wasn't in the mood to get dolled up that early in the morning.



For those of you unfamiliar with Starved Rock, it is a beautiful national park located in Utica, Illinois. The 2,360 acre land is full of many canyons, waterfalls, and trees to explore. You can hike, fish, and camp here and is listed as one of Illinois's "Seven Wonders". According to native legend, a group of Illini Indians had come under attack by a war party of Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians and suffered starvation when trapped on the butte without food or water. The butte later became known as Starved Rock.



For optimal eagle viewing us ladies trekked to the top of Starved Rock in order to get a better view of the surrounding area.



The little princess, pea, couldn't make it up all of the stairs with her little legs so she was carried the majority of the way. Once we were at the top she was able to run about. Yes, she is wearing my brothers undershirt - we forgot her sweater and it was a pretty brisk day. Pea didn't seem to mind her new look one bit.



Don't worry, I didn't forget the eagles! Starved Rock is home to the bald eagle. Winter time is the best time to spot eagles because they migrate south to the open waters of Starved Rock created by it's locks and dams. This year there were significantly less eagles due to the unusually warmer weather. Thankfully, we spotted four on our trip. I was able to sneak up under the last one and get a good shot (I don't have a telephoto lens so it was the best shot I could get).



On the ride home we drove through the cute town of Utica where they were gearing up for Mardi Gras.

Starved Rock is such a beautiful place, if you ever get the chance you should check it out. Have a lovely Friday everyone :]

Eeep! I forgot to add Abe in!! Thankfully he is everywhere here in Illinois. Had to rub his nose for good luck (100 blog followers - i'll take it!!)

Guest Post from Melon Heart

Hello, my name is Jacqueline and I write for Melon Heart! Allison and I decided to have a guest post swap some time ago, but we wanted to do something extra special. Together, she and I came up with a little challenge-- Five items, five ways (not including shoes or accessories) My favorite thing about blogs is seeing how different bloggers remix what they have in their closets into outfits that are fresh and new even when the clothes themselves aren't so new. It seemed like a daunting task at first, but when I laid my five items out on my bed, I arranged them like puzzle pieces, and it actually became lots of fun!

Now, lets pretend that I don't have a slight shopping addiction, and these are the only five things I have in my closet.


Clockwise, these items are 1. My favorite pair of golden delicious apple colored jeans. 2. A dress with a floral top/sweetheart neckline 3. A very flowy sailor looking top in mint green 4. An orange and cream butterfly/flower print skirt, and 5. A stretchy sort of top that I hadn't even worn since I was about 14

So, a few of these were like "challenge pieces" to me. The only thing here that I can say I wear often is the jeans. The first thing I wanted to transform however, was the dress.


Simple enough, but whenever I wear this dress, the top part is the hardest to pair with a cardigan. Not because cardigans in those colors don't exist, but because I don't own one and sometimes, you just cant find the right piece in the right color. Adding the top I chose changes the color scheme from blues, soft purples, and pinks to blues, whites, and greens. Next, I wondered if this greenish top would work well with the brighter colored skirt...


Well, apparently it does! I would have never paired these two together if I hadn't been challenged like this. I wanted to be braver though....


I was definitely the most proud of this combination. I turned the skirt into a tube top. In order to keep a feminine shape, I pinned the pockets together on the inside of the skirt, so it still hugs my waist a little bit, but I didn't damage my skirt with safety pins!


Here, the accessories played a big part in transforming this outfit. I had worn these two items together before, but I didn't want to have it look exactly the same. I paired it with the starfish barrette I made (Bobby pin+hot glue+starfish=barrette!) and a necklace I had originally thought could never work with this top.


This was another one that I though could never happen. You remember that dress right? Well here is it again! The full skirt is tucked into this pencil skirt. This is a great way to exercise your creativity! I'd find it especially useful if you travel a lot, or for long periods of time. After a certain point, you have no "new" outfits to wear on a long trip. Remixing your clothes in unexpected ways can keep things exciting. Just be sure to pack plenty of accessories, as they can really change the entire look. Luckily, they don't take up nearly as much room!

---------------------------------------------------

Check out my guest post on Melon Heart's blog - HERE

Thank you so much Jacqueline for this fun guest post opportunity! If any of you are interested in future guest posts, feel free to email me your ideas at ammcgin@gmail.com.