new pants + announcement!

Hello all! It's been a while since I last posted, mostly due to my being in a car/hours upon hours away from my camera and/or computer. But I have survived the trip to Colorado, helped Mckenna move in, and have returned (and interned. and worked a 6 hour shift). Before I make my little announcement (can you guess what it is?), I just wanted to show you a few new things I picked up! And this is what, the third post or so of it's type in the last month. Getting a little worried about my shopping binges? I might be...

Yay for J. Crew! They always, always come out with some cute stuff, and when I found these cords I couldn't resist. And did you know that if you are a college student you get 15% off your purchase - well now you do. Pretty cool huh? And they come in my new favorite color - lavender! That, along with forest green and burgundy, are definitely my obsessions for the moment. Also, can we put on the record that I now own 3 pairs of green pants? Somebody stop me. Please. But when they come from Gap, and are the comfiest jeans to ever exist in the world (like pajama jeans, but real and not at all shameful-looking), how can you not? Since they're upstairs (a.k.a. I'm too lazy to get them to go photograph them - not like these photos of the cords are that awe-inspiring), you will see them some other time. I also bought them in black. In the meantime, since these pants shots from me are slightly cringe-inducing, here is the photo from J. Crew's website! Lovely, aren't they?

And now, my announcement! Drum roll please.... The winner of my giveaway is Carrie, from "My Life as Carrie!"  Now you have one more hurdle to jump - comment on this post in the next 24 hours to accept your prize! Afterward we can communicate on addresses and shipping details on such... However, if you don't reply in the next 24 hours I will be forced to give it to some other lovely reader! So you might want to show up :)

Thank you everyone for entering and supporting my blog, have a lovely evening! love you all xx

cedar ridge post 1

Before I forget, don't miss out on my lovely GIVEAWAY, so either click on that absurdly large link I just made, or scroll down just a bit and see it for yourself!

So yesterday I made the hour-long trek west out to Jordan, to see my lovely friend Mckenna at her barn! Since equestrian fashion is always in, (kind of a classic, don't you think?) she came up with the idea for me to come take pictures of her on her horse and with some of her fun equestrian gear - like the things stores come out with, but real. But first, before I left she changed into her awesome new maxidress and the two of us took some photos out in the pastures with the lovely horses, and they turned out so well I just can't resist sharing them! So here you go, cedar ridge post 1 (there's kind of a lot more to come?)

Ponies! These are the lesson horses that we had to fly-spray (or rather, Mckenna and her sister fly-sprayed, while I held the gate closed, to the annoyance of the big one, BG ^^). Thank you to all three of them for so willingly participating in our photo shoot, even though we had nothing to feed them. Sigh. I should have brought carrots! Or McDonalds? That's what Mckenna's horse prefers. Just like it's owner.

Honestly don't know where the maxidress is from, I'm thinking Delia's but I may also have just made that up. I'm sure Mckenna will tell me when she reads this. And the boots, while bedazzled and orange, are real Western boots! Yay for authenticity

Isn't she pretty? I'm absolutely loving the print of this dress, the colors and flowers are just gorgeous! And the crochet details fit it perfectly

zara tshirt

vintage necklace

martin&osa shorts

frye boots

And here's me, being all barn-appropriate. Or maybe that's just in my head? Here's my thought-process: We're going to a barn. That means I should wear boots right? Boots, check. And maybe some denim? I can do that... I'm awesome, right?

Aren't we adorable? And of course below is the picture of the all-important boots, Mckenna's real, and mine what she calls "motorcycle boots almost trying to be cowboy boots" - kind of fair, since Frye mostly makes cowboy boots, so these could be influenced by that. Aren't they gorgeous though? They are my birthday present from my Grandma, and I had to search all. over. for them! Seriously though, only one store in the entire Twin Cities carries this specific boot in store. But I found them, and I love them! Despite how difficult they are to get on and off. Such is life

So there you go! The first of probably a few posts based around my afternoon at Cedar Ridge, since I have horse-riding/modeling shots to share, as well as this adorable little cafe we got lunch in that had the best strawberry-rhubarb pie. Yum. So if you aren't already a little stressed by my inundating you with oodles and oodles of photos, don't worry. More is coming.

Oh, and in case you didn't read the top of my post, check out my giveaway! Scroll down, yep about two inches, and there it is! Just a little something to thank all my readers. Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

yay for giveaways *closed*

Ok, so here goes. My first giveaway! I have a random selection, not much, but it's my first so hopefully you'll enjoy it. And anyways, it's free, so why not?

The items are:

A fun little floral ring! It's plastic so really light and easy to wear, probably around a size 8? Like I actually know the size of my own fingers... To be honest, I don't know the brand, since I found it at a little boutique near my house. 

A vintage silk scarf! This one I found at a shop in Minneapolis, and I think it's quite fun - in reality, when all spread out like this, the pattern is quite ridiculous. But when you get all creative (you know, tie it around your head turban-style or perhaps in a fancy knot around your neck) the ridiculous pattern becomes a gorgeous mix of color!

Last but not least, a little satchel from Target, courtesy of my sister Natalie. She wanted to get a new purse for summer, bought it, then decided it wasn't her style, so she was going to give it to me. Until I came home with my black satchel, which looks quite similar. So I suggested that she give it to me anyways and that I would put it in my giveaway. That way, we can spread the satchel-love around to some lucky reader :)

So there you are! A ring, a scarf, and a satchel. Perfect accessories to finish out the summer and bring you into fall. Now, onto the most important (yet least fun I suppose) part: rules

1. Follow my blog on Google Friend Connect - look to your right. See that sidebar? Where it says follow this blog, click. Got it? Good. Apparently I'm making the assumption that you're all blog-illiterate, but better safe than sorry, right? Ok, onwards and upwards...

2. Follow my blog on Bloglovin - actually this step is optional. I just find bloglovin the  most convenient way to follow blogs and I want it to be as convenient as possible for you to visit me from now on!

3. Comment on this post: Comment with the name with which you followed me on Google Friend Connect and some sort of contact information (your email or blog address) so that I can find you if you win! *Note: to all my current followers, you need to comment on this post as well if you want to be entered. That way you show that you actually read my blog and pay attention to me every once and awhile :) *

4. Now you wait! And come back and visit me hopefully? I mean, you should probably check back at some point, so you can see if you win... we wouldn't want you to not get your prize!  I'll be picking the winner randomly from my followers (new and old) who commented on this post sometime in the next few weeks, before I go back to school.

Note #2: Also, please don't just follow me just for the giveaway then un-follow once it's done. I know, this is fairly self-explanatory - wouldn't be a very nice thing to do, would it? - I just wanted to ask nicely :)

And that's it! Get entering, and thank you all once again for your support! Good luck xoxo

ruined by the rain

So today I wore this adorable vintage shirtdress to work - see it here, as you're not going to see it at all in the post today. And why is that, you may ask? Because it's soaking wet! My supervisor at the office took me and a few of the other interns to the state capitol today to sit in on a meeting between our State Senate Majority Leader and a visiting group (this one happened to be made up of Parliamentarians from the U.K. - a.k.a. amazing accents ^^). But as the meeting went on, the weather got uglier and uglier outside, and when it was over we had to make a run for it to the car. Long story short, I was basically a wet tshirt contest, and got to go home early since it would be inhumane to make me sit at my desk for another hour in a damp dress. The end. Outfit change:

vera vera wang cardigan

martin&osa tshirt and shorts

thrifted belt

 nordstrom bp watch

toms shoes

Oh  how I love this cardigan! It's so perfect for days when it's just a bit chilly and damp and you want to curl up in something fuzzy :) Never mind that it's basically the length of my shorts, I'm sure no one minds. Also, note the head cut off in most of these photos? Sorry about that, once again it was not intentional. Sigh, the trials of self-photographing

 Whenever I wear these shorts, I just feel required to wear this belt along with it! I don't know why, but they just look so perfect together - very utilitarian-chic. 

So besides my meeting at the capitol (which was lots of fun despite the weather, by the way. The parliamentarians seemed so nice! Wish I could've actually chatted with them) I haven't done much today! Made myself some pasta in lieu of going to Noodles&Company, which turned out to be a bit disappointing - I'm really craving some good pesto! In other news, I've finally reached 100 followers! I know, you are probably looking at the sidebar and thinking "no, no you haven't. You are currently at 87. Close Alison, but no cigar" - I, however, am also counting my bloglovin followers, which puts me in at 103. Sooo, I'm going to do my first giveaway! Not positive what all it's going to be yet, but I should put it up this week, so stay tuned! I know that in the grand scheme of things 100 isn't that many, but I just want to thank everyone for reading and commenting, it makes me quite happy. xx love you all