Jean Suit

It's all in the details. This outfit could go casual very quickly--trade the heels for flats, throw off the jacket and scarf, and you've got cute-summer-weekend in the bag. But some blue suede heels, a metallic blue scarf, a beautifully tailored denim blazer, and a blue bauble necklace (under the scarf; I forgot to take a picture!) really make the diffrence. As do painted fingernails, some rings, clean/shiny/straight/bangs-behaving-well hair and makeup. The details. These mirrored aviators make my life more fun. Dug 'em out of the $1 bin at the thrift store. They are missing one nose pad, but eh--how much does that matter, really? One less nose pad mark when I take them off! Ha! 

{suppose I could get one of those $3 eyeglass repair kits, huh?}

Style Secrets

Sunnies: Thrifted

Scarf: Gifted, from India

Necklace: Thrifted

Tank: ? Prob. Walmart

Jacket: Thrifted

Jeans: American Eagle

Shoes: Thrifted

Rings: Thrifted & Gifted

Almost the weekend! Yay!

Snack Time

I've discovered the quintessential snack: a cinnamon roll and tea/coffee. The best part about this? It works for ANY time of day: breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper, bedtime snack, midnight snack....yep. Any time of day.

Oh, oh, oh, and a song, too, since I'm majorly on this 50s/60s kick:



"One fine day, you're gonna want me for your girl..."

+++++++

I've been struck by this verse lately:

 "God sets the lonely in families." ~Psalm 68:6

Isn't that such a beautiful thought? Incredibly beautiful. I, for one, know that in my own life, God has brought this to pass. I have been in valleys of darkness, feeling very lonely and far away from family. And He has been faithful, and shown me the love of the family of God in an incredibly powerful way. It is such a deep blessing to experience the fellowship of family. God cares so deeply and desperately for us. He is crazy-in-love with us. He wants us, and He takes care of our every need. Indeed...He sets the lonely in families. I'm not sure it gets much better or more beautiful than that. 

Robin's Egg Blue

{Goodness gracious I love this color!!!}

{and at first I thought I'd never find an outfit to wear that little cardigan. Ha!}

{I'll just consider myself Zooey Deschanel's sister, mmmkay?}

{nail polish that matches nature}

{baubles that match each other}

{vintage-y flats}

{those delicious colors again}

This darling little robin's egg dress is one of my new favorite things. I have it hanging up in the living room just because it's so pretty. I get that from my mother, who always used to hang pretty things up for me to look at when I was sick. Color is good for the soul, don't you think? Especially in early spring, when the weather is still just teasing us. I can hardly wait to wear this nice rayon/linen dress in summer.

Style Secrets

Sunnies: TJ Maxx

Scarf: VS gift with purchase

Earrings: F21

Dress: Vintage

Cardigan: F21, thrifted

Bangles: Thrifted and Walmart

Leggings: Thrifted

Flats: Dress Barn, thrifted

Weekend Mornings

I've found it. At long, long, long last: I've found it. A gluten-free breakfast sandwich. Yes, yes, it's true. So deliciously true.

You'll need these--they are the key. They don't look like anything much, certainly not like a standard english muffin. But watch it toast. Watch it toast a beautiful golden brown. Butter the insides, if you are feeling like throwing caution to the wind. And then put the egg, cheese, bacon, sausage, ham, avocado, whatever you got on top, and squish it all. The squish is the most important part. 

I've got a mind to assembly-line these, wrap them in foil, and freeze them. Then in the mornings I could just throw them in the oven! Yes, yes!

xo,
Natalie

Friday Morning

{my Bible and books in a new little arrangement for Easter on my bedside table...}

An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.

~Psalm 12:25

I'm thinking this morning about how important affirmation is to the human spirit. How deeply we crave kind words or an extra bit of encouragement. Encouraging words for a friend are truly sunlight to a heart. 

When my friends tell me, "You are sunshine," my heart lights up. Something within me feels deeply understood, appreciated, fulfilled and sometimes, on mornings like this, it makes me a little misty-eyed. It also encourages me to continue being happy-Natalie, to continue sharing sunshine in all the many little ways I love. Isn't that a beautiful thing?

A wise man's heart guides his mouth...pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

 ~Psalm 16:23a-24

Obviously, I am not saying that we should seek attention or approval from others. That must come from God alone. We must always go to HIM first. 

I am saying, though, that it is so important that we take time to respect, love, encourage, and support the endeavors of our friends. What a delightful occupation to cheer on our friends! I absolutely adore it! Not only does it give the recipient joy, it gives the giver joy, too.

                            Friendships multiply joys and divide griefs.
                                                ~H. G. Bohn 

You, dear reader, look lovely today! You are beautiful, and I hope you find many joys in your day today that remind you of how loved you are. 

Weeknight Project: Jar Cozy

This is my Cuppow. Cuppow is an awesome new(ish) product designed and produced in New England by two cool guys. Cuppow turns a canning jar into a travel mug. Now, I had been drinking from my canning jar {thanks, Leigh!} as a travel mug for many months before I came across Cuppow. But Cuppow makes the experience much more fulfilling...you feel like a human drinking from a normal cup instead of trying to slosh the liquid into your mouth minus spills, hippie-style. So it's kinda a great invention (and cheap, too. and beautifully packaged) 

 Cuppow solved one of my canning-jar-awesomeness problems. But one more remained--the jar lost heat quickly. My tea was cold before 10am! This was a major no-no for me, since I drink my tea all. day. long. On a whim, I decided to make a cozy for my jar. I started (late at night, as these pictures show) with some fabric, felt, and a favorite old tee shirt from high school, along with a paper pattern I made quickly based on the jar. There's no real particular pattern for this, I just cut a piece of paper and fitted it around my jar the way I wanted, then added room for a seam allowance. 

A zig-zag stitch around the edge of my clever slogan tee secured it to the main fabric and mimicked the background design. Then I cut a piece of felt and fit that inside the layers for added warmth.

And sewed all the layers together. Then I made two tabs from ribbon, and sewed velcro on the tabs and other end of the fabric. This way my cozy comes off and is easily washable in the event of spills.

Since the glass jar is slippery, and I didn't want the cozy to potentially slip and cause me to drop the jar, I cut a piece of pink shelf-liner that I just  put on with my cozy. This makes it totally secure, and I never feel that the cozy is slipping. I thought about attaching the shelf-gripper to the cozy itself, but then it wouldn't be washable. The two generally peel off together, and I just roll them up for next time! Perf! 

Also, of course, when I'm travelling, I use the metal canning jar insert lid, and then just switch it out for my Cuppow when I'm actually drinking. This makes it so easy to throw the jar in my bag without worrying about spills.

And CUPPOW!

 It's done! 

Your jar is now super eco-friendly, super-awesome, super-easily-drinkable, and super-awesomely labelled with the quirky "MissPerfect" sleeve. 

Happy sewing, and happy coffee/tea drinking!

Elle Woods/Jackie Dress

{lemonade}

{I super heart this color}

{I feel like Elle Woods, but in blue.}

Elle Woods found here.

Or Jackie Kennedy, found here. 

{I interrupt this post to tell you I JUST SAW A MOUSE IN MY HOUSE!!!!}

{orange fingernails from the spring Essie collection}

{fancy shoes}

{look at that beautiful seaming! gorgeous! that is one reason why I love vintage clothing so much--beautiful craftsmanship and detail}

{blingy-bling}

This is my new 60s-Barbie-doll-clothes dress, as I'm calling it. That, or the Elle Woods/Jackie dress. I saw this dress and pined over it for a whole week before I decided to buy it. When I went back to purchase it, to my utter dismay, it was nowhere to be found! Nowhere! I searched all of the racks, high and low, and even had the sales lady helping me. She didn't remember selling it, so it HAD to be somewhere! Turns out, it was discarded in the dressing room on the floor, trampled under the feet of a burly man who was trying on some construction pants and hacking up a lung. I picked it up, dusted it off, and decided with even more resolution than before, that it was coming home to be loved and worn by me. I simply adore all of it's beautiful sky blue happiness. What do you think?

{The mouse in my house must approve, since he's living in my closet. Gah!}

Style Secrets

Sunnies: Local store

Necklace: Local store (sadly, broken now, needs fixing)

Dress: Vintage

Purse: Vintage

Ring: Vintage

Heels: Payless (don't they look more expensive than that? Gotta love it!)

Saturday Projects

Hello dears! It's Saturday, and around these parts, that usually means a few projects! 

Fixing the zipper and a spot or two on a new vintage dress! I drool over that color!!!!

Installing my new coat rack minus drill/level/stud finder. But it's nothing a little costume jewelry, a jade-colored screwdriver, and some muscle {thank you, bootcamp workout weight lifting as of late} can't handle.

{yes I know the background picture isn't centered! it's still a work in progress!}

And some sewing...well, actually, this happened awhile ago, but I haven't shared it yet. 

And, of course, chillin' since I still feel sorta sick. What are you up to this weekend, loves?
Be well and have fun!

Friday Morning

Good Friday Morning, lovelies! How are you? I am coming down with a bit of a cold, I'm afraid. Anywhoo, I know I usually share my Friday morning tea, but this morning (along with my tea), I'm having some toast and beautiful, lovely, cold, organic local milk from a glass bottle. I LOVE milk in glass bottles.  I've gotta admit, I've always been a bit of a milk 'snob.' I can't stand milk that is even slightly warm or slightly old. And I'll tell you a secret...milk from glass bottles gets COLDER. 

Living in New England, I love to support local, family farms.

Plus, how cute is this glass bottle in my fridge with my coordinating Gluten-Free bread? 

Makes a girl happy. 

The little things--it is, yes, the little things. Have a great one!

(PS. I'm scared to post another outfit because I love my last one so much, I'm not sure I can 'top' it! Ha.)

Here Comes the Sun

{earrings}

And then I happened upon a bunch of balloons in the exact seafoam color of my entire outfit {nailpolish included}

Thank you, Lord, for soul-lifting Spring. The abundance of light and warmth make it nearly impossible for me to hold all of the hope and happiness in my heart.

 I am embracing all of the spring colors in my wardrobe! It is so much more fun to get ready in the morning on sunny spring days, don't you agree? It's the perfect season for clothes--happy colors mixed with great textures...but I better not get too excited, since Spring in New England is a tempestuous thing. We could very well get a blizzard or two before it's all said and done.

(Pssst...I match my new love seat! Haha.)

Style Secrets

Sunnies: Local store

Scarf: VS

Earrings: Boutique on Vacay

Blouse: Liberty of London for Target

Skirt: J.Crew via eBay

Boots: Consignment credit

Coat: Thrifted

Vintage Lovin'

It was a fun weekend. A weekend that included ice cream, bowling, a concert, and a fair amount of reading and napping. And, last but not least:

This happy little vintage loveseat came to live with me!! 

{the picture above shows it still in the thrift store}

Of course, I'm looking for some fun accessories for my funky 60s couch. I get a pitter-patter in my heart when it comes to 50s mid-century modern furniture, and I think the clean lines and simple colors would go well with the more ebullient 60's floral. So I put together a little inspiration/dream board for the space...

green/turqoise vintage modern accessories by fashionatalie on polyvore.com

Everything mid-century modern is ridiculously expensive, but I am seriously considering the UO side table and the little "pouf" from Target (it's on sale in stores). I LOVE the blue chevron rug from Urban Outfitters, too, but it's just so pricey. Of course, this girl is on a budget. I did some antique store trekking this afternoon to get some ideas from the real-deal expensive stuff, and boy did I spend a lot of money in my mind! I'd have the coolest house! 


Then, since I was dreaming, I thought: Of course I'd need an awesome outfit that coordinated with my new loveseat and decor, right?

vintage modern yellow/turqoise by fashionatalie featuring platform heels

Super loving on this color combination, and so glad I get to play with it in decor, too.