Dear Summer, please come soon!

Hi All! How are you doing? I have survived another polar vortex. It was negative 20 with the windchill, brrr. Due to the weather I have been avoiding the outdoors at all costs. For todays post I thought it might be fun to do a throw back to an outfit I shot this summer but never got around to posting. Warm thoughts and photos will make the world just a teensy bit warmer, right? Who am I kidding.

Anywho...



Outfit Details: Dress - Modcloth, Dotted Dessert Dress, Shoes - Jeffrey Campbell, Urban Outfitters.

Diner dude Gus: Get a load of that car outside (old school cadillac).
Me: Uh, cool.
Diner dude Gus: I will take pinup photos of you on it any time you want.
Me: *Blushing* Uh, cool, can I have the tuna melt?

This dress warrants the above happening apparently, haha. I was on a date with my boyfriend wearing this dress and the owner of our local diner asked me to take pinup photos for him. I don't know the guy from a hole in the wall so I politely declined, but it was still a nice compliment. This dress is a lot of fun to wear and twirl in :]

Have a wonderful weekend my lovelies!

Toy Army Tuesday - Candy Coated

Good morning my lovelies! I hope your day is off to a good start. I am just going to jump right in today with my Toy Army Tuesday post because I am way too excited. I will admit, I haven't been keeping up with my favorite collective of artists Circus Posterus, honestly, because I am trying to save money. However, the other day I saw a post that could not be ignored - Circus Posterus is coming to Rotofugi!!! This means I will not only be able to see the work of some of my favorite artists in a gallery for the first time, but I will also have the chance to meet some of the artists live and in person. I feel like such a fan girl and a nerd right now, but this news made my week. I tried all last year to make it to one of their shows and designercon, but unfortunately was unable to manage any time off. Now they are headed to my neck of the woods. Wahoo!

Anywhooooo, I thought it was only fitting to show off another piece I own from this talented group of artists.



This piece is my personal favorite^


Isn't this piece yummy? This Skelve is a Candy Coated Kuma designed by Kathie Olivas. This piece debuted in April 2012 for the Monsters & Misfits 2 show. He is 9 inches tall and is an edition size of 40. This is the skelve that got me in to collecting skelves, honestly. I was immediately drawn to this piece because of the color combo, adorable candy corn like nose, cute butt (check out his little jammies) , and devious face (cute and creepy is the best combo after all). I had quite a hard time tracking this piece down since I had missed out on it's debut, which makes him that more special to me. I don't think I could ever part with this piece.

I am so excited to see what the Circus Posterus has in store for this show. I will talk more about it next week as the show draws near. Stay tuned!

Life Lately - Colorado

Hi all! How have you been? I have been freezing my bum off over here in Chicagoland. Today we are supposed to have a high of 1 and a low of -17...without factoring in windchill. Fun stuff. Needless to say I am beyond ready for spring. I also apologize, I took last week off from the blog world. I needed a vacation after my vacation in Colorado. I mainly spent last week playing catch up at work. I am finally back on track. Today I thought I would share a bit about my trip...

I LOVE COLORADO. Why anyone lives in the flat, dull, and dreary Midwest is beyond me, honestly. Being amongst the mountains and trees for a week was heaven. My boyfriend Matt, a few of his friends, and I spent the other week in Bachelors Gulch. I wish we never had to leave.



We flew in to Denver, which is about a 2 hour ride from Beaver Creek. Thankfully we rented a shuttle because as soon as we hit the mountains we were greeted by a snowstorm and white out conditions ^. We made it there safely, however, and were in the outdoor hot tub about 20 minutes after we arrived :]



The snowstorm the night we arrived ensured that we had fresh powder our first morning on the slopes. I hadn't ski'd since middle school so I knew I needed a refresher course. I decided to take three days of classes and I am so glad I did. By the third day I was a level 5, which means that you are ready to take on blue runs. Our last day there I spent it with the boys and did a few blue runs and managed not to break anything. I wish I had more time to become a more confident skier. Purposefully sitting down to avoid going too fast was my biggest issue when it came to skiing. Whoops.



I was so glad the sun came out the last two days of our trip. The views were breath taking. I have officially decided that I need to get out of Illinois as soon as possible, haha. Anywho, the trip was amazing, but now it is time to get back to reality. I missed you all.

Throwback Thursday - Wedding Edition

Hi all! I hope your week has been flying by. I am eagerly counting down the days until Sunday when I will be headed to Colorado for a week of skiing - can't wait! Since I had been missing in action for the majority of last year I thought it might be fun to give you a little glimpse of what I was up to. In September I had the honor of shooting my friend from college's wedding. I was such a beautiful day...



This was my first time ever shooting a wedding so I was a bit nervous going in to it, thankfully, my friend Jim also helped photograph the wedding ensuring we didn't miss any special moments. All in all I think the photos turned out pretty well and I was glad I was able to help Carly out on her special day.

To see more photos from the wedding feel free to click on any of the images above, also - for some reason the images color became diluted on blogger - click through to see the images as they were intended to be ;]

Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

Just Your Average Selfie

Hi All! Another Wardrobe Wednesday post here. Today, however, all I have is a selfie taken on my cell phone from a week back to share. Haha. Some weeks it is just too cold outside (and you also forget your tripod in the back of your car sitting in your parents driveway)... Anwyho, I figured I would switch it up and show you my "on the go" look.



I am trying on brunette for the new year...
Outfit Details: Frames and Fortune dress - ModCloth & A Wink of Whimsical Wedge - ModCloth.

I have had an eye on this Eva Franco dress for over a year now and I could finally justify buying it as an early Christmas prezzie to myself when ModCloth's Black Friday sale rolled around this year. The dress fit like a glove and I couldn't be happier that I scooped up one of the last dresses they had in stock - phew! I have only worn it out once to a diner, but I received quite a few compliments that night. One of my goals for this year is to compliment people more often - strangers & loved ones - something so simple can easily brighten someone's day.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post - I will be sharing with you some special moments from a wedding I shot in October.

Have a beautiful day!

Toy Army - Starry Midnight Masao Set

Mornin' everyone! Toy Army Tuesday is back in full force.
Today I am bringing to you the first skelves I added to my collection - the Starry Midnight Masao Set.



Aren't they pretty?


This edition of skelves were designed and hand painted by Kathie Olivas and Brandt Peters, the Starry Night Masao Set was created in November 2012 for DesignerCon. The larger of the two - the four legged Masao skelve stands at 8 & 3/4 inches tall and is an edition of 66. The mini Masao skelve stands at an adorable height of 4 inches and is an edition size of 100. I was instantly drawn to the translucent blue with silver glitter - these gems look pretty neat in sunlight. I love cute and creepy things - what's not to love?

Do any of you collect - toys or anything else? I would love to hear about your collections.
Also, do you have any questions for me about my collection or collecting in general?
I would love to answer any questions you may have.
Until next time!

2014 - Back to Blogging

Hello my lovelies, happy New Year!
ONE OF MY RESOLUTIONS THIS YEAR IS TO GET BACK TO BLOGGING.
I feel like I owe you all a bit of an explanation...


2013 started out on a bad note for me. Dealing with a break up took a lot more out of me than I thought it ever could. I had never lost a loved one before, so dealing with heartache and loss for the first time was extremely overwhelming - I will leave it at that. I knew I had to pick up the pieces, however, so in February I packed up my things and moved to the city. It was the best decision I could have ever made and haven't looked back since.

I know I have been absent on here for the majority of last year, and while that in itself breaks my heart a bit, I was out finding myself. Blogging started to feel like a chore, it was then that I knew I had to take a step back and gain some perspective. I spent the majority of last year exploring my new home and meeting new people. The real world trumps the virtual (I think that goes without saying) and that is why I had to take the break that I did. 2013 ended on a happy and hopeful note surrounded by those who mean the most to me. Fast forward to today - January 6th, 2014 - I am back, I am excited to see what this year brings, and I have missed you all!