Aida ~

AJ posted a really cool way to tie a scarf so it could be worn as a vest yesterday (thanks again, AJ!): http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....e-to-plonk

I'm trying it out myself today (wore this to work), and I think it's super fun! My scarf is a bit too big but it did yield some interesting draping and volume because of that. This could be an excellent way to incorporate colors/prints one wouldn't otherwise purchase for a vest. What do you ladies think of how this outfit turned out? Does the scarf tie work with a scarf this size?

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

It was amazing both to participate and see how others were inspired in the Summer Picture Perfect Challenge! I loved taking inspiration from these pieces, but I did find that I spent MORE time in the morning because I wanted each interpretation to be a worthy artistic tribute to each piece of art (does that make sense?). Still, these are all items that wouldn't have been paired together without the exercise, and I am happy with how the outfits turned out. And I also have several new tools in my arsenal for which I am very grateful :D

EDIT: I also wanted to keep with my not wearing black as a primary neutral, which made this even more challenging. I learned a lot from it!

1. Monday (discussed here). Worn to work then out for tacos with a group of friends. They said this outfit gave them a "hippie meets Miami Vice" vibe ;)
2. Inspiration for #1: Richard Avedon's "Dovima with elephants"
3. Tuesday (discussed here). Worn to work then helping my sister study for midterms.
4. Inspiration for #3: Edward Steichen's "The Pond-Moonlight"
5. Wednesday (discussed here). Worn to work then out to dinner on the waterfront with my husband Just Because.
6. Inspiration for #5: Richard Prince's "Untitled (Cowboy)"
7. Thursday (discussed here). Worn to work.
8. Inspiration for #7: Andreas Gursky's "99 Cent II Diptychon"
9. Friday (discussed here). Worn to work, then date night with my hubby: dinner at a local brewery, then brewing our own batch of spiced hard apple cider at home.
10. Inspiration for #9: Peter Lik's "One"

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!

Soooooo my canvas flats got slug on them. Yes, a slug slimed all over the side of my shoe. It's SO VERY STICKY! I can't get it off. Any ideas? :(

My husband and I along with our 3 closest friends took a week long motorcycle trip out to Yellowstone at the end of July. Finally made it through all the photos and collaged up my favorites to share with you lovelies! I think I got a bit overexcited though, and realized AFTER finishing that I should've included fewer photos per collage. So my apologies that most of these are probably too small to make out the amazing scenery :( It was a fun trip! And since I wasn't the only one with a camera, we got some photos of us on the motorcycle (rare!) which I found highly entertaining :) I've got one scenery collage and one outfit collage for each day, except the day spent in the Park which has 3 scenery collages.

Sartorially, I decided to try riding wearing button-ups instead of tees, and in the evenings I'd simply swap out my riding pants/boots with skinnies and sandals/tennies; this small change to add a little structure was a HUGE help in combating feeling frumpy in all my gear (which is, of course, all too large now). I will absolutely be doing this on any long trip from now on. It was also great that both button-ups were tab sleeved and very thin cotton; I could cover up in the heat to avoid sunburn without overheating then later roll the sleeves up, and with a thin layering tank below I could remove the top layer if it got too too hot (and sometimes it did).

Quick trip info:

• Photos #1/2, day 1: Everett, WA to Kamiah, ID ~400 miles
• Photos #3/4, day 2: Kamiah, ID to Stanley, ID ~300 miles
• Photos #5/6, day 3: Stanley, ID to West Yellowstone, MT ~320 miles
• Photos #7/8, day 4: West Yellowstone, MT
• Photos #9-12, day 5: Yellowstone Park, MT/WY
• Photos #13/14, day 6: West Yellowstone, MT to Missoula, MT ~330 miles
• Photos #15/16, day 7: Missoula, MT to Everett, WA ~500 miles

TOTAL: ~1850 miles
AVG TEMP: 80F (lo: 57, hi: 95, nighttime camping: 40)

Saddlebag packing list: 2 button-ups, 1 tee, 2 tanks (1 unused), 2 layering tanks, 1 sweatshirt, 1 shorts, 1 jeans, 1 tennis shoes, 1 sandals, socks/underwear/pjs.

Hope you all enjoy the photos! Some details in the next post, for those interested ^^

On the first day of spring this year, I decided to experiment with not wearing black for the season (some of you may remember/have noticed this). That's not to say that I wouldn't wear it at all (it is a very good neutral for me, and I do love it), but I wanted to swap out black as my core neutral and replace it with white/light gray. It has been a very interesting and enlightening exercise! I wouldn't limit myself so strongly next year, but it was certainly useful this year (and really helped me figure out what my "summer style" is).

The main thing I'm taking from this is how to successfully not wear black; with my very dark hair, I had been feeling like I _always_ needed some black elements which is certainly not the case. I'm very excited to be able to put together full looks with zero/few dark elements and still feel balanced. It also helped me feel summery when our summer has been so cold and wet (until the last week or two, but I don't have any of those photos ready, doh!).

I found I wore more black for the first month, then less, then a lot less. I'll probably start working it in more next month as we approach fall. In fact, when organizing my fall stuff this past weekend I had a bit of panic when I saw HOW MUCH BLACK there was; clearly, I'm not used to it any more!

I've attached some photo samples for fun (both neutral and colorful outfits), you've only seen the first four of these so cheers if you made it this far :) Has anyone else done this type of experiment? Would love to discuss!

A week of backlogged outfits (yikes didn't realize how behind I was!).

1. Work then dinner. Halfway through the day remembered it was my mother-in-law's birthday dinner (with out of town grandparents and all). While not as nice as what I'd have worn had I remembered the dinner OR had time to change, it was still a perfectly appropriate outfit. And it made me happy that I put in effort to dress well even though I usually only see 1 or 2 people a day. Right photo is me getting attacked by a fly ^^
2. Worn to work. Not sure I like the gray leggings with this, or maybe I need another dark element on the bottom half?
3. Worn to work. First outing with my oxfords, love 'em.
4. Worn to work (and probably out somewhere, I forget). Another take on the red+fuchsia combo. Also, new pendant! I really love how this turned out, one of my favorites ever :D Almost makes me want to get more items in fuchsia. Almost.
5. Worn to work then out for date night dinner with my husband. Still feeling the pair-colors-near-each-other-on-the-color-wheel vibe.
6. Worn out clothes shopping. This was super easy to change in and out of.
7. Worn to buy fireworks, followed by dinner out with friends, then had them and some other friends over to hang out by the fire pit. EDIT: Eek, please excuse the terrible colors here, I didn't adjusted the white balance when taking the photos -_-

Comments, critiques, thoughts and questions welcome!