{insert brief statement about modcloth coupon}

I'm not positive how many people pass through my blog on any given day, but I thought I'd throw this out there anyway! I buy a lot of clothes at Modcloth, and they have a pretty good referral program where if you use someone's link you can get $20 off your first order! Usually, it's only $15, but occasionally they bump it up to encourage new customers. If you've ever been on the fence about shopping there, I'd urge you to at least give it a try--they have some cute stuff! Plus, they're currently having a big 30% off sale, and the $20 stacks on top of it!

Personally, if I had all the Modcloth credit in the world, I'd probably be using it on novelty dresses and infinite shoes...I'll probably need to hold off on that for awhile, though! This space is a little too tiny for such voluminous skirts! ;)

Anyway--have at it, and let me know if you decided to use my link! :) I get $20 off too, so everyone wins!

pictures and movies

The more lovely pictures I see from becoming familiar with Blogger, the more I realize I completely stopped taking any of myself! I was actually kind of surprised--aside from every couple of days when I use my webcam to snap some quick hair growth progress pictures, or maybe using my iPhone to take shots of clothes I'm trying on and need to send to friends for opinions, I don't really take that many pictures of myself anymore. It's certainly been months since I took the time to take any "cute" pictures! (I use that term really loosely.)

It was a slow day today, though, so I thought it'd be fun to take a couple of new pictures this afternoon. I've shared my favorites with you, though I have to admit I'm even a little bit self conscious about these! Is anyone else ever kind of surprised by what they look like on camera, even if you've seen it before? I'm always a little bit unsure of what to think. This was fun, though! My mom and I had a really successful shopping trip a few days ago and she bought me this adorable shirt from The Limited as a little present. We scored a 50% off coupon together, so it was a great deal! Now I can't wait to go back! I have a huge chambray thing right now--I don't know what that's about! Something about the soft blue just seems so classic and comfortable to me.

In other news, Marcus and I had a date night! Of course, I forgot to take any pictures (I think I'll have to start getting better about that if I want to have a regular blog) but it's okay! I had fun being in the moment. Besides, it's pretty hard to take pictures in the movies. We love going to the theater together, but not a lot's come out lately that really piqued our interests. Yesterday was kind of a down day for me, so we got the idea to find the worst-looking movie out there and have fun watching it anyway. After watching the trailers, Marcus picked Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (I sincerely apologize to anyone who loved this movie, but the entire theater must have had the same idea because everyone was giggling a little bit!) I think it's sometimes hard to take some of the dialogue they come up with in these teen paranormal romance movies seriously. We had a blast watching it, though, and we went for some coffee afterwards. We hadn't done any of that in awhile! Now that Marcus is working and I'm looking for a new job, hopefully there will be a little bit more opportunity to go out and about together.

We like spending time at home with my family too, though, so that's nice!

Oh--and one last thing! I made my first sale on Etsy! I'm so excited!! I'm going to make my first made-to-order bow this weekend and ship it first thing after Labor Day! I hope that maybe getting a few good reviews here and there will maybe boost my store's ratings, and who knows? Maybe someday I can make lots of bows for lots of people!

How do you feel about taking the time to get some new pictures of yourself? For me, it feels almost like a fun treat! What are your favorite ways to keep your pictures interesting and fresh, even if you have limited space to work with? And, of course, has anyone seen any good (or awful) movies?

:)

wishlist wednesday!

Hello, everyone! It's been a little bit--I'm trying to decide how best to spend my time. So far, most of it's still devoted to being master of the house: chores, shopping for groceries, cooking, you know. I love it, but it's also left me kind of tired! I haven't gone out shopping a whole lot lately, which I used to really enjoy. Yesterday, though, my mom and I spent a day out--I thought it'd be fun to talk about, and share some fun wishlist items at the same time! 

We started off by going to the post office, where I mailed a dress out for swap. I was really bummed to let it go.

Wouldn't you be? I actually got it from another swap awhile back, all the way from Canada! I waited on it for weeks because I was so excited about it, but it was totally wrong for my body. :( I'm not quite tall enough to pull it off! Hopefully the new owner gets more use out of it. As for me, I can't wait for my new prize! Pictures to come...it has bows on it. 

Anyway, then we went off to the mall together! That's one of our favorite things to do when we have time. Trying on clothes is my favorite, and if it's a good day, I can get my mom to try some things on too. Looking back now, I wish I'd taken more pictures of the things I put on. Some were pretty bad (to be fair, I was hoping the lobster dress I found was going to look nicer) and others were so good, I was sad to leave them behind! 

At a store called The Limited, I tried on these beauties: 

Is it pretty obvious I have a chambray thing going on?! Sadly, I had to leave most of those behind, though my mom did score a 50% off everything coupon and was nice enough to get me the light blue shirt! :) I'd been looking for one like it forever, and with that sweet deal it was even cheaper than some of the lesser-quality ones I'd seen at stores like Forever 21. I learned that I enjoy stores like The Limited because I'm not huge on embellishment--they specialize in classic, simple pieces (like colored pants and basic sweaters!), which I tend to gravitate towards. I totally get that for some people, the more bedazzled the better, but I'm just not as into it. For me, there's nothing worse than spying a cute dress from across the room, only to get closer and realize that someone added studs or zippers or cutouts where there didn't really need to be any. (If you're ever at the mall and hear someone lamenting that perfectly good pair of mint pants that was ruined by a thick zipper up the sides, it's probably me.) 

My mom ended up picking up a nice pair of black pants for work, but we both secretly wanted to take it all! 

Later, at Express, I tried on a red dress that looked pretty cute: sadly, the back was cut extra low and it was so stretchy you could see everything through it. Ever tried one of those on? I'll keep looking, though, I love red dresses. If this one was still in stock on Modcloth, I'd get it! 

After the mall, we went to Target really quickly to pick up new kitchen supplies. At the mall, we looked at some of the more upscale shops for fun (who doesn't love to do that?!) but the prices made us want to cry! Some really nice-looking kitchen things were ON SALE for $800! Until one of us wins the lottery, we figured we'd better head someplace that gave us more realistic options. We'd been talking about replacing our ancient cookware forever--it was all scratched up and breaking, and since I cook every day, I needed better things to work with. We debated on several different sets before we settled on a nice-looking one that was pretty affordable!

That one.

I don't know what it says about me that I'm this excited to have a brand new set of cookware, but I'm over the moon. I can't wait to use it. We also got a new egg pan, since my family's all about the eggs. Maybe now I can start sharing some more recipes! 

I'm really excited about my new shirt and my cookware! I love finding one thing (or ten!) that you've been searching for forever, and then bam! There's the perfect one! I have a huge list of retro-classic items I'm hoping to slowly acquire by fall, but I think I'll share that one next Wednesday...I'm still having that issue where I know what I'm looking for, but I haven't seen any pictures of it on store sites or magazines yet!

Am I the only one who gets that feeling? Like there's the perfect item I would just draw up for myself if I could? Does anyone else have those things they've been looking all over for but can't quite find? A couple more of mine include some classic a-line skirts, sturdy oxfords, cute button-downs in soft colors (long and short sleeve, preferably with lace!) and simple cardigans! What's on your wishlist that you haven't been able to track down yet?

- Katie

{ opinions: on department stores }

Does anyone mind if I talk about this for a minute?

Because my views on clothing have completely shifted over the last year or two, and I think it's really interesting to examine the fashion world and their products as a result.

It's no secret that if I had it my way, my whole closet would be made up of one-of-a-kind, vintage-inspired, printed garments that were predominantly skirts and dresses. I find great joy in accumulating clothes that are versatile enough to suit the workplace or a day out--while I can certainly respect the fact that a lot of places require formal business-wear, I see nothing wrong with wearing colors and exciting patterns, especially if they're made suitable for a workplace! Really, how can you complain about a knee-length printed dress with a solid cardigan and cute heels? Maybe some pretty curls on the side or a nice updo? Even if you can complain about that, you shouldn't. That's adorable and it shouldn't pose any threats to someone getting their job done.

I digress.

I love getting outfit inspiration from places like Modcloth or Anthropologie. I frequently troll sites including wwzdw.com (they have exact matches and similar alternatives for all those cute New Girl outfits!) and frantically await new episodes of Once Upon a Time so I can try to scope out more Mary-Margaret styles. I can't be the only one! The thing is, those people are highly paid actors, and they can afford those gorgeous brand-name clothes with no problem. It's certainly possible to find similar looks for less money, but not probable, and you have to get pretty lucky.

With that in mind, yesterday I visited the mall for the first time in awhile with my mom. I had a list of silhouettes and styles in mind, and I hoped I might find clothes along the lines of the ones I have bookmarked in a list longer than I care to admit!

I hadn't been to a department store in years; for awhile, stores like Forever 21 and American Eagle were my go-to shops. In my teens, places like Macy's or Dillard's had seemed too "old" or "high-end" for me. Maybe it was time to give them a try! After all, the commercials made them look so classy and glamorous!

Sadly, I have to report that my personal experience was quite disappointing. I quickly found the junior's dress section, but the selection was limited. (It's harder than you'd think to find simple a-line dresses, with or without sleeves!) My mother picked out a few for me in mint, royal blue, and red. I was excited to try them on after selecting what should have been my size--however, I struggled to get each dress up over my hips! (Generally, if a dress is my size, this isn't an issue). Following that, it was an effort to zip up the garments--I could hardly breathe! Even in two or three sizes up, the fits were less than favorable.

I couldn't understand why this was the case--thanks to a newfound interest in modern-vintage shopping, I have a really good grasp on my measurements and how they should translate into clothing sizes. Obviously, depending on whether specific brands run large or small, you want to size up or down, but it's typically going to be pretty consistent. I can say with pretty good certainty that, on average, I'm a small, but I found myself floundering in department stores, unsure what would work at all. In some styles, a 00 drowned me--in others, even an 8 was quite tight. Also, my biggest issue at my height is always having to hem things. I've slowly become more accustomed to longer lengths (think knee-skimming or a few inches above) as casual wear, with some exceptions. I'm not against shorter styles at all--my shorts are all high-waisted, and about half my skirts are too--but even I felt a little limited in movement with these dresses. That was certainly a first!

No wonder so many people hate shopping for clothes! Once you start gravitating away from the "younger" stores, as I've heard them called, there's a whole new sizing standard, and it can make finding things you like much more difficult. Being 21, I find myself in an awkward spot where Forever 21-esque establishments (I understand the irony fully) are too young for me, but shops like White House/Black Market, Talbot's, or even Anthropologie are still a bit overwhelming and don't exactly carry the modern-vintage styles I'm after.

Obviously, your personal taste and individual body type will determine where is best to get your clothes. I have issues finding things because I'm hourglass-shaped and short, which contradicts a lot of today's styles. Along with that, I have very simple preferences, and am often frustrated to see what could have been a perfectly cute red dress ruined by rhinestones, studs, unnecessary zippers, glitter, or strange cuts in the fabric. I haven't bought a plain blouse or cardigan in months because I just can't find any! (If you know of some good, affordable shops, let me know! ;) ) I'm not against department stores. Not even a little bit. However, this vintage-loving girl was personally a tad disappointed with the experience. I wasn't actually able to find anything on my list, and the things that came close would have been cheaper to buy on sale online anyway.

(That's actually one more thing that's changing about me--I used to pride myself on being THE bargain-hunter, and refused to spend over $10 on any one item. Now, upon going through my closet over the years and realizing how many things I bought solely because they were cheap, I've decided I'd rather spend a little more on fewer pieces I love. I was shocked to see that the cost of these items I used to purchase without really loving added up to far more than I spend now. I'm still getting used to that--a lot of my friends will raise an eyebrow when they inquire how much I bought my new dress/skirt/shoes for. However, I'm pretty proud of how I manage my money, and I still utilize plenty of discounts--and, at the end of the day, it's your business when it comes to how you spend your resources!)

That said, do any of you encounter similar issues when shopping in stores? I enjoy going out and browsing around, but more and more lately, I find myself happier to save up for choice pieces online and read at home instead. Where is your go-to place to get clothes that suit you perfectly? Do you prefer to shell out more money for less things, or do you find that method flawed? I'd love to hear about your experiences!