Who: M
When: Sunday in May
Where: Church
What: *Shirt-GAP $10 *Undershirt-KMart $7 *Skirt-borrowed *Nnecklace-gift from J *Earrings-prize from Mary Kay
Beating Boredom By Borrowing
Neon Lite
Who: J
When: 6/9/12
Where: Walking tour of historic homes district and downtown El Paso with some friends from out of town
What: *Pink sweater- Old Navy, thrifted *Grey tank- Target *Green skirt- made from maxi dress *Necklaces- Beall's Outlet (turquoise), thrifted (orange), and a gift from a store owner in Indiana (yellow) *Sandals- Payless (or maybe Kmart??)
I have to admit- I'm not sure if I really consider this "neon" per se... maybe "neon lite"... get it? Hardy har har! But Everybody Everywear is wearing neon today, so I wanted to try to do something at least neon-ish. I'm actually a tiny little bit proud of myself for putting this together since I usually like my outfits to "match" a little more than this. But, on this day, I just picked all of the colors that I like and put them together!
We had some friends in from out of town who wanted to see the historic parts of El Paso, so I did a little quick research and off we went to Sunset Heights and then to downtown. My husband brought along our camera and got some great shots! I actually did a little more research and was able to find out a little bit more information about some of the buildings.
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| A beautiful home built in 1904- it's for sale! |
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| Clock in San Jacinto Square, with the Anson Mills building in the background. The Anson Mills building was built in the early 1900's and for a couple of years, was the tallest building in El Paso. |
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| The alligator statue in San Jacinto Square. |
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| Another view of San Jacinto Square with Hotel Cortez in the background. Hotel Cortez was built in the 1920s- President Kennedy stayed there in 1963. |
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| The Kress Building- built in 1937 for the Kress five and dime store chain. The architect designed the store to pay homage to the many different cultures in El Paso. |
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| The El Paso Gas Company building- when the company was using the building, they would light up the blue flame on top, but use different colors to indicate what the weather the next day was supposed to be. |
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| The Roberts Banner building, built in 1910. |
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| The
Fairview Apartments , formerly known as the Caruso Apartments. These were designed by Henry Trost, an architect who designed many of the downtown buildings, and many other buildings all over the southwest. |
And some random pictures from our little field trip:
So there you go- a little history with your style this morning ;)
Head on over to Everybody Everywear to see how everybody else wore their neon!
Singing the Blues (Not Really)
Who: J
When: 6/3/12
Where: Church
What: *Grey sweater- Cato's *Blue top- Ross (on a shopping trip with M!) *Black skirt- Old Navy *Sandals- Payless *Necklace- Kohl's *Ring- The Jewelry Box *Purse- Coach, gift from N
How do you like my new haircut? Can you even tell I got it cut? I know I tend to get pretty much the same cut over and over, but it's one that I feel like works for me, so why mess with it, right? Since we moved here almost a year ago, I've been searching for a hairstylist in a price range I feel comfortable with. A friend from church recommended going to a local beauty school- why didn't I think of that? I've never gone to a school for a haircut before, so I was a teeny bit nervous, but it was actually a great experience! It came out just like I wanted to, and for $9! Nine bucks!! Definitely something I'll do again!
Thrifted Thursday- Make It Work
Yay! Thrifted Thursday! These are quickly becoming some of my favorite posts to write (or edit!). Maybe because they give me a reason to succumb to my thrifting obsession... ;)
Today, I'm going to share some tips about "making it work." Sometimes, you find something that has a cute print, or a fabulous color, or is almost exactly what you've been looking for... BUT, the cut is wrong, or it's a few sizes too big, etc. A lot of times, you CAN still make it work!! Disclaimer: I personally wouldn't pay a lot of money for something that I had to "make work" unless I LOVED it!! But, if it's a great deal, and you're fairly certain you can fix it up, I'd say go for it!
When I bought this top, I was looking for a top for our Memorial Day service at church (read about it here). I found a few different tops, and then I found this navy polka- dotted top... almost exactly what I had in mind!! The only problem was is that it was 2 sizes too big and had absolutely no shape! But it was 1/2 off, making it around $2.50, and I loved the color & the dots. So, I bought it! A belt & a jacket later, it's perfect (well, pretty awesome, anyway)! As you can see, it's pretty long on me, but I actually like the longer length. Plus, it's very thin and gauzy, which is nice for layering in the summer. I'm glad I took a chance, and that it paid off!
Tips from this find:
- Know what's in your closet already. I knew I had a few little jackets & sweaters, as well as belts, that I could use to make this top work for me. If you don't know your wardrobe, it will be harder to figure out if it's worth it to spend money (even $2.50) on something that might not work.
- Be willing to consider something that may not be "exactly" right for you (size, shape, etc.). If something is too small, it's going to be hard to make it work, but if it's too big, you can belt it, layer it, or even take it in.
- Remember that accessories & layers can work magic! I rarely wear something exactly as I bought it with no "extras." For me, that would be boring! Accessories are a fun, and often inexpensive way to show your taste & personality!
Happy thrifting!
-J
P.S. If you want some more ideas on "making it work," check out I Still Love You & Refashion Files- these blogs have some amazing ideas about things to do to makeover pretty much anything you can buy at a thrift store.
Summer Hair
So, I have a stunningly obvious observation to make... El Paso in the summer (and late spring) is HOT!! I should be used to the heat, since I'm an Arizona girl, but I've just been really hot these last few days. I'm not sure if it's the fact that we have a swamp cooler and not "real" AC (which, trust me, is still waaaayyy better than nothing!), or that I haven't mastered the perfect timing and combination of open windows & curtains, or what, but I've felt like I'm baking. One of the ways that I've been trying to stay cool is by keeping my hair up... but, I'm getting bored with just ponytails! After doing some "research" on pinterest, I've decided that my "thing" this summer for my hair is going to be braids! M and I used to braid each other's hair all the time when we were younger- every slumber party or road trip involved some sort of hair braiding marathon. Who knew we were years ahead of the braiding trend? ;)
Anyways..... I found all kinds of great hair ideas that use braids in one form or another:
From half up-dos:
To little braids incorporated into ponytails or buns:
To complicated braided masterpieces:
One place that I found a lot of awesome braids was the Pinterest boards for The Beauty Department. They have tons of great ideas for everything beauty related- not just braids!
One thing that I know I'll have to work on if I'm going to be trying these hairstyles is my perfectionism... I always hated it when my braids had lumps in them, or weren't straight, or when my "spit curls" (what my Gramps calls them) would spring out around my ears and neck... but these braids aren't meant to "perfect" and I'll work on remembering that.
I hope everybody's spring/ summer is going great and that you have lots of fun things planned! Be sure to check back tomorrow for Thrifted Thursday!!!
-J
Anyways..... I found all kinds of great hair ideas that use braids in one form or another:
From half up-dos:
To little braids incorporated into ponytails or buns:
To complicated braided masterpieces:
One place that I found a lot of awesome braids was the Pinterest boards for The Beauty Department. They have tons of great ideas for everything beauty related- not just braids!
One thing that I know I'll have to work on if I'm going to be trying these hairstyles is my perfectionism... I always hated it when my braids had lumps in them, or weren't straight, or when my "spit curls" (what my Gramps calls them) would spring out around my ears and neck... but these braids aren't meant to "perfect" and I'll work on remembering that.
I hope everybody's spring/ summer is going great and that you have lots of fun things planned! Be sure to check back tomorrow for Thrifted Thursday!!!
-J
English Roots
Who: J
When: 5/26/12
Where: My nephew's baby shower
What: *Union Jack tee- made by me *Denim skirt- thrifted *Flip flops (that you can't see)- Old Navy
I usually try to take better outfit pics, but I was crazy busy this day. N and I traveled to Arizona for a few days so that I could help my mom with a baby shower for my sister and her new baby, Colton. Their last name is Cooper, so the theme was "Mini Cooper" so everything had to be British & car related.
I made this tee myself using a tee shirt I already had, and scraps from a few shirts that had seen better days. To make the flag, first I cut out a blue rectangle from an old shirt. Then, I cut out red and white strips from other shirts and placed them on the blue rectangle in the design of the British flag. I sewed the strips on the rectangle first, and then sewed the rectangle onto the tee. It turned out better than I thought, actually. I hate sewing t-shirt material because I usually can't get the tension on the machine right and it gets all bunchy and wavy... yuck! But, I think this project had enough layers that it worked a lot better than usual.
The shower ended up being tons of fun! To see more pictures and get all the details, you can go to my personal blog The Ginger Jar!
Purple Paisley (Again!)
Who: J
When: 5/30/12
Where: Mid-week service at church
What: *White top- Target *Turquoise tank- Target *Dress- Target *Purple sandals- Steve Madden, thrifted (read about them here) *Belt- thrifted (also originally from Target) *Necklace & bracelet- gift from N from Afghanistan
I didn't realize until I started writing this how much of this outfit was from Target... funny! This dress is fast becoming one of my summer staples... I love it! It's really easy to just throw on with a few other things & I think it always looks pretty. If you won't tell anyone else, I'll share a secret with you... I actually wore this dress again the next day... I know, I know.... shame on me! But it's so comfortable! I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of this dress as the summer goes on. ;)
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