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friday finds ix

right now, i'm in florida for one last vacation this summer. 

we've packed a lot of travel in this season, mostly because next summer our lives will be a lot different with a kid in tow.

anyways, i wanted to leave you with a few fun things you might wanna pick up. i've been eyeing that madewell ring all summer and now it's on sale. score.

cookbook | blouse | utensils | ring | tank | candleholders


if you're traveling for labor day, hope it goes well. if you're local and staying in town, get a croissant

i'll be back in town tuesday night so you won't be hearing from me until wednesday. 

have a great weekend!

faux show


there's a lot of cute, affordable faux leather things out right now.

can you believe that tan dress is from dress barn?

also, sizes seem to be limited, but that white leather cutout number from zara is super chic and marked down to twenty bucks. 


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i've never really been a leather kinda girl, but these subtle touches of faux leather have me considering buying a few things for fall.

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sidenote: i couldn't get this out of my head when i made the title for this post. 



home sweet home



claudia pearson | ugmonk | ampersand design studio | three potato four vintage sign
ork posters | urban outfitters print no longer being sold

hatch show print
the calm gallery
tad carpenter | james weaver
ikea | ikea frame



just a few shots of the art on our first floor living/dining room/kitchen area.

i'd say that this is the area that's the most complete, and we're pretty happy with it for the moment. it's always a work in progress.

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the polaroid collage is the one thing that's not on the first floor. that's in the basement. we put it together last weekend. at the wedding, we used polaroids for our guestbook and had all these great candid images with personal messages we wanted to display. and now we can look at them whenever we're down there, which is pretty often. i like how it turned out.


potw: and many more

my birthday is coming up. when i was a younger, i alway hated my "late" birthday. 

last one to turn 13, 16, 21, etc.

that changed when i got to thirty and got to savor those few months where i was still 29 and all my crotchety old classmates were 30. so crucial, right? ;)

anyways, between tomorrow and september 5 (my birthday!) there are three other special people in my life celebrating their big day. it's actually part of why i'm going down to florida, so we can all get together.


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and a french bulldog holding an orange balloon? too cute.

happy birthday to anyone else celebrating one soon.

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looking for more letterpress goods? check out my press of the week series here. a new potw is posted (almost) every monday. but you can always find the latest by following me on twitter.

success

sometimes i like to relax on the weekend but i always feel awesome when i get a ton of shit done. that was this past weekend for me. 

we have this closet in the basement bedroom that's pretty much our closet of doom. you know, the one you keep throwing stuff into, vowing to go through it one day but you never really do? 

i finally tackled it. and my husband installed a closet organizer in the soon-to-be-nursery. we also hung a few wall shelves and gave the house a super thorough cleaning. 

i feel tired now, but it was so worth it. i can't even tell you all the stuff we managed to throw out or donate.


recipe for this incredible pie


i feel proud of myself because going through that stupid closet was the last thing i felt like doing, but i forced myself to just do it dammit. once i got started, i was on a roll, but for an admitted procrastinator like me, getting started is always the hardest part.

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we're going to florida at the end of the week for a long labor day weekend. 

on a side note, if you're looking for a summery dessert, you can't go wrong with that pie. it's the perfect combination of tart and creamy goodness. mmm. mmm. mmm.

hope your monday's off to a great start.

friday finds viii

this series could be renamed "why did i start using roman freaking numerals?" 

oh well.

here's a few things i saw this week that caught my eye. that jacket is a great deal and it's something you could wear into the fall and winter too.


planter | jacket | batter bowl | salt cellar | bowls | flats


sometimes on the weekends, i like to make pancakes (see my fave recipe here) and a batter bowl with a pourable spout would be a nice tool to have.

i also included two things i really love in this week's post: a salt cellar and ankle strap flats. i use my salt cellar on a daily basis and i love it. it makes cooking and baking so convenient. i also bought a pair of flats similar to these ones last year and wore them to death. i need to retire mine now and these look awesome and have pretty good reviews too.

do you read reviews when shopping online? i always do.
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hope everyone's weekend is the best.

extra large


i've mentioned here how i prefer larger stud/post earrings instead of dainty ones.

turns out, even the ones i had in that post weren't large enough for my taste. i blame extremely deceptive imagery on their website. on the model's ears, they look huge. but in person, they're barely a half inch. 

rude.

either way, i'm still loving big, bold studs and these are some of my favorites. they all happen to be in the same gold, grey-ish and white color palette, but that's just by coincidence.


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i also couldn't find the measurements for two of the asos pair, but they appear to be larger than normal. so if you're really set on having gigantic earrings, i'd buy these with caution so you don't make the same mistake i did. 

and if those diamond earrings were around when i got married, they woulda been my wedding day pair (i wore these if you're curious.) 

just gorgeous. 

potw: i love dc

i can't believe i've never done a dc-focused press of the week.

the truth is, most of these aren't letterpress pieces. a few are, but most of them are just some cool art i found while poking around etsy.


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i think any of these would make a cute addition to your home or apartment.


the heart map one is especially cute to me.

winding down

september 22 is officially the first day of fall. so we have just over a month left with summer.

the recent cooler weather has kinda thrown me off my game. i've lived in the area for nearly a decade and can't remember the last time it was even remotely cool in august.  

i have mixed feelings about this: it's amazing to not be drenched in sweat after walking a block or two, but i kinda miss the hot days. 

i'm in no rush to start wearing jackets, scarves and boots. sure, it's fun to get all bundled up and cozy. but i don't want to start doing that too soon because next thing you know, it's march and we've been stuck in our fall/winter uniforms for six-plus months.

so i'm hoping for a warm september. i can wait until later for the boots and such. 

out for a walk with lucy 
a delicious ice cream treat from here
lucy knows what's up


hope your weekend was nice. we put the crib together and the rocking chair comes this friday.


fall footwear

these are some of my favorite looks for the upcoming season. 

i've had my air conditioning off (!) for the past two days which is the perfect excuse to use that money for shopping. money in my pocket = more shoes to buy.

those riding boots are some of the best pair i've seen in a while. around this time every year, i go on the hunt for The Perfect Riding Boot (low heel, sturdy not slouchy, no obnoxious hardware, rounded toe, interesting detail, not $500). i didn't think it existed until i saw this pair. the price is right, too. 



row 1: nine west
row 2: zara | h&m | forever 21
row 3: zara | zara
row 4: zara | nine west
row 5: zara | h&m
row 6: target



i also did something i (almost) never do. i rounded some of these prices up. so $35 may really be $34.99, but you get the picture, right?

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leaf image from this post.

potw: write it down

a friend at work recently gave me a set of three notepads. for a list lover like me, having a fresh place to jot things down is the best. i make lists constantly. to-do lists for work, grocery store shopping lists, things to get done over the weekend, restaurants i want to try. anything. 

if you like to write things down as well, here's some cute notepads you might want to buy. 

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it's been awesome having these new notepads, and i keep one in my purse at all times. because with me, if i don't write it down almost immediately, i'll probably forget it.

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looking for more letterpress goods? check out my press of the week series here. a new potw is posted (almost) every monday. but you can always find the latest by following me on twitter. 


friday finds vii


just a few things i saw this week that caught my eye. and for less than fifty bucks, can you really say no?

jacket | rings | coin bank | coasters | french press | cake stand



and that french bulldog coin bank?

stop it. you stop it right now.

that cake stand is from fab.com. if you need an invitation, here you go.

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have the best weekend!

pump up the flavor

yummy quinoa. 

i promise it's not an oxymoron.

it exists. if you've ever tried it and wondered why someone boiled up some cardboard for you, i'm going to share a few tricks for making it flavorful and delicious.

1. toast it. before you cook it, dump the quinoa into a dry pot and toast it over low heat, stirring often, for about five minutes. toasting quinoa, like nuts, really gives the final product a deeper flavor.

2. rinse it. after you've toasted it, empty it into a fine mesh strainer and run cool water over it until the water runs clear.

3. boil it. but not in plain water. use chicken (or vegetable) stock and it'll be so much tastier. just follow the directions on the package for cooking times, etc.

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that's it! 

you can also add a bit of salt if needed, but i usually don't since the broth is salted.

and here's two really yummy recipes i've tried and enjoyed where quinoa has a starring role:


and 

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enjoy!

intergalactic

i'm not into sci-fi. i've never seen star wars. that's just never been an area of interest to me. 

so when nanette lepore sent her models down the runway wearing these shiny, metallic, futuristic pieces, i wasn't sure what to think.

to tell you the truth, i'm still not sure what i think. but, clothing and accessory trends have surprised me in the past and i'm always willing to give things a chance. even if they seem a little...out there at first. ha.



dress | ipad case | clutch | watch | pouch | polish | necklace | flats


the easiest way to dive into this style is to pretty up your finger nails with some space-age polish. i think for me, i'd be most likely to wear that watch. and maybe that dress if i had the right occasion.


i can't decide if this is totally tacky or kinda fun but i like to see new things in the fashion world.

i promise

i swear this isn't going to become a place where i do nothing but re-post instagrams. and it kinda bugs me to have two instagram posts back to back but...

my real job has been keeping me pretty busy, especially with the upcoming maternity leave once the baby comes. i've been trying to cram in as much work as i can and the blog has suffered as a result.

womp womp.

but i have some cool posts in the works. so yay.



hope your first weekend in august was nice.

how bout that lack of humidity?!

 

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