green

Today was a lovely day, and I felt like wearing something that would sway in the breeze - kind of a weird feeling, but since skirts that can sway in the breeze can get a bit sketchy, I decided to opt for my lovely oversized sea foam-green shirt!

american apparel button down

gap tank

jcrew belt

charlotte russe shorts

born sandals

All my friends are kind of baffled by my wearing of color. I mean, look at this shirt! It's green. Seafoam green. And I wore a purple dress a few days ago? It's a revolution in my wardrobe! Except not really. When fall returns I will be back to my neutrals, don't even worry about it.

And this is the awkward "Alison's shirt is longer than her shorts in the back." Almost long enough to be a dress - I mean, it's me, so if it wasn't so sheer I would probably wear it as a dress.

Had my first tutoring session earlier tonight! Got to be honest, it was kind of stressful. First of all, I got there a bit early and started answering someone's question but was having some issues, so the first thing my co-tutor had to do when he got there was to correct me and fix all the confusion I had just created - great first impression for him to have, right? Totally going to trust me as a co-tutor now... And secondly, they told us that it probably wouldn't be busy, so we should just bring extra work along. So I bring all these books, expecting to work most all of the two hours. And how much time to I get to read? 15 minutes. At the very end. I mean, I can't blame them for having problems already, it is after all microeconomics. I will just have to know from now on that I will not get much work done in those two hours. Which is probably good, as that's not what I'm getting paid for? Anyways, Nicole and I have to watch "The Lying Game" now, have a good night :)

I can't move my legs...

Remember how I said that I sweated off half my weight yesterday at yoga sculpt? Well I woke up this morning and could not, by any means, move my legs. Yesterday I said it was too difficult to go down stairs. Yesterday I didn't even know how difficult going down stairs could be. Ugh. Ok... sigh. Done complaining now... You know what wouldn't be something to complain about? Winning a GIVEAWAY! So enter :)

urban outfitter tshirt

martin&osa shorts

flea market jewelry

sorry I'm barefoot...

 Today was one of those days where I wasn't really planning to leave the house at all, so I was like, what to wear? If you are going to put up photos of yourself on a blog, you should probably not be in your pajamas. Ever have those days? So I decided to put on something comfy but still remotely cute (isn't the shirt's lace detail adorable?) and leave it at that. Inspiring, aren't I?

I do love my jewelry today though. In total, I spent $9 on jewelry in this post! Both are from the flea market up near my cabin in Wisconsin. I just love flea markets for random little trinkets! The ring is made of an old spoon, and the key was from a tin full of old keys, $1 each. Something no one else will have, that looks like it has history, you know? Lots of fun.

Today wasn't the best morning for me (long boring story, so I will just leave it at that) and to make it up to me Natalie made me a little impromptu nectarine crumble-thing! She totally made it up, and it's actually vegan and gluten-free as well! Natalie and her healthy baking weirdness... It was quite nice, and a little bit of sugar goes a long way to perk me up :)

One good thing about this morning though: I didn't have to work! They needed to cut hours, and since I was only going to be working 4 hours this morning, they decided to cut my whole shift. Why thank you Old Navy! I'm actually not even kidding, it made me quite happy. Don't I have just an amazingly inspiring work ethic? Well, considering they scheduled me for 32 hours this coming week, I think I should be ok anyways... So let's put this all together - 0 hours of work last week, 8 hours this week, and 32 next week. Really? Scheduling bi-polarness much? Whatever. At least I'll get some money before I go back to school. Now, I need to go take my lovely dog for a walk! Have a great Friday night :)

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!

vintage shopping

So Jenny I trekked all the way to Wayzata today to do a little vintage shopping! Groupon sent me a coupon for $20 off my first deal, and it expired today - so when I went online and saw a coupon with $50 of clothes for $25, I thought it would be perfect! I found a few adorable new blouses, and with my $20 off the groupon, it only cost me $5! It was a good afternoon, definitely worth the 30-minute or so drive 

old navy shirt

charlotte russe shorts

toms shoes

sophie watch

We had a little mini-photoshoot with Sophie out in the alley! She was cute and lots of fun, that is until she tried to follow a rabbit or something into the neighbor's bushes and I had to hike through a pine tree in order to find her...

My oversized watch from Nordstrom's semi-annual sale last year! It's just a cheapie from BP, but I had been looking for something menswear-esque for awhile, and didn't feel like springing for an expensive watch (though I would love an one of Michael Kors' diver watches, especially the tortoise ones...)

So Jenny and I are sitting on the couch watching Keeping up with the Kardashians, but I need to leave for pilates in a few minutes! Will put up some pictures of my new purchases soon, they are quite cute :)

entirely new

So, as I said in my last post, Jenny and I spent yesterday afternoon in the mall and I picked up a few new pieces. And I thought to myself this morning, why not wear them all at once? I know, kind of silly, but I get kind of excited when I buy new clothes. 

loft button down

vintage necklace

charlotte russe shorts

toms shoes

Silly light in this picture, can't see my necklace - well, it's not one of my new pieces (one of my vintage favorites from Grandma Linda), and I have a detail shot of it farther down. Got Natalie to quickly take some pictures for me (in the backyard, not the alley, since apparently it's been quite bothersome to her that I only take pictures there ^^) before she heads back up to the cabin for a few more days, so I'm going to be quite alone! Aunt Lori is still here with me thankfully, but she's gone most of the days, leaving me the dog and a few cats for company. It's quite sad, and leaves me prone to wasting my time watching TV and reading magazines...

I'm so happy that I bought myself a pair of Toms! I'd been wanting to for awhile but had never gotten around to it. Spending money on shoes has always stressed me out, don't really know why since I've obviously spent more on a shopping trip than the price of those shoes, and it's not like I buy really buy expensive shoes either... some sort of mental block I suppose. Will probably serve me well when I'm older, stop me from spending my savings on Louboutins or something... Regardless, the fact that a child in need gets a pair of shoes because of my purchase definitely helped overcome my qualms. And they're so comfy! Definitely a good purchase

Spent the morning doing garden work then walked up to my eye doctor to fix up my glasses (they have been bothering me forever. They slide down my nose every two seconds! It was the bane of my existence when I was on crutches...) and a fun new pair of sunglasses that Jenny gave me! Since I lost my wayfarers last year on that eventful trip to NYC (if you're new to my blog, feel free to read about it here), I've reallyyy been wanting a new pair but not willing to shell out the money for them again. When I got home for the summer, Jenny remembered that her mom had an old pair (from the 80's I believe?) and brought them over for me! They were wayyy to big for my face so I had to fix them (hence the trip to the eye doctor) but now they fit and are quite fun! They're your typical pair of wayfarers but the top piece is this really cool blue - a bit out there for me, but super fun nonetheless. 

That's all for my day. Plan to stay home and catch up on So You Think You Can Dance tonight, should be good. Have a lovely Thursday!

super-adequate

This would describe a lot of things today... my outfit (which I would call simple, which is basically just code for "boring" - that's what happens when you're about to get in a car for approximately 5 hours), my friend Elizabeth (her own words, not mine), but most definitely not the weather. It is beyond hot today. Honestly I don't want to leave the house to walk to the car. It's that bad. Ughh

 old navy tshirt

martin&osa shorts

born sandals

So as I said, the weather is pretty horrible today. We spent approximately 2 minutes outside and ran back in. One benefit of the crazy hot weather though is getting to douse my sister with cold water from the hose when she gets back from yoga. Oh so satisfying, especially considering how annoying she was this morning :)

And this is my friend and lovely photographer for the day, Elizabeth. Great photo, right? She let me put it up, don't worry. Normally she makes perfectly normal faces, this was just special for the camera, thanks bud :)

And this is my pretty new purse! Natalie got it for me at an estate sale a while back, and the only problem is that whomever it belonged to before was a smoker, so it smells pretty bad. We've let it sit outside on the porch hoping that the smell would leach out with no luck. So the next step is probably baking soda. Don't want to be carrying around a bag smelling like smoke, people will get the wrong idea...

Ok, so that's about it! Hopefully everyone will get themselves together soon so that we can start driving and avoid the worst of the pre-4th traffic. Fingers crossed, but to be honest I don't have that much faith in Natalie's ability to move quickly... Have a lovely weekend!

in the alley

 So we decided to have a little photo shoot in the alley, post Jenny and I attempting to go bike riding. Yet again. Last time, after we finally got the midget bike (a.k.a. a bike Natalie or I used when we were like 10, a.k.a. the size Jenny is now) out of the garage, we found it had no air in the tires and neither of us was crafty enough to figure out the bike pump. Or remember to bring money with us when we went to (multiple) gas stations to attempt to use a working air pump. We're awesome. But today, even though dad put air in the tires, the handlebars were too short and we didn't know how to fix them, and Jenny is a bit of a weeny and was worried her back would hurt if we went on an actual bike ride. So I suppose I will be going solo, now that she's at work.

 Sisters. Aren't we cute? Natalie doesn't like this photo, but I think she looks gorgeous. How could you not with hair like hers? Just kidding, she would be gorgeous even without her amazing hair :)

 Don't know the outfit credits for Jenny, but isn't her shirt cute? Apparently she got it from her roommate in exchange for a black cardigan. A good trade, no? I love the back.

 thrifted necklace

urban outfitters top

thrifted belt

martin&osa shorts

teva flip flops

And now we get to me. Oh goodness. I really need to find a good pair of summer sandals. Problem is I still need supportive shoes, and when we went to DSW and asked for the more "supportive" sandals, apparently that was code for "ugly." I actually couldn't imagine wearing any of them in public. I think I might just suck it up and buy myself a cute pair. It's been almost half a year! You'd think I could wear normal shoes right now, and supportive flip flops just aren't cutting it for me in the fashion department right now.

Isn't it weird how we can all look at photos that others tell us we look perfectly fine in and think that they are absolutely horrible? I made Natalie and Jenny pick which photos to use of me on the blog, I'm just to biased against pictures of myself... so why did I decide to make a website devoted to pictures of myself? Very good question...

 Have a lovely Monday! xo