Painting Pups

If you've ever wanted to know what my dogs would look like as a painting, here they are:

We went to a local painting place, Pinot's Palette, and painted pictures of our sweetymcsweeties. We sent in pictures of the pups beforehand, and the studio converted them to a black & white gradient, then glued them to the canvas. With some beer and wine and lots of instruction, we slowly but surely painted our pets. I really enjoy doing this type of thing, but lack any artistic skill, so about twenty minutes in, when I've botched up my painting more than a few times, and lost all patience, I'm donnnnnne. And start creeping on everyone else's projects. And drinking more wine. 

And questioning my purpose on this earth if I can't paint a decent picture of my really sweet and handsome Turbo...

But anyways, here are our finished projects. We hung them up in our living room. While they DO resemble our sweeties, I prefer the real live ones to love on :)

Oh, and here's what I wore to paint. Of course I wore an apron over this ensemble. I also wore this to have breakfast with a friend that morning, which was splendid.

And then I ran a 10k that evening

and

LIVED TO TELL THE TALE!!!

We'll call that a success. Who cares about time or pace? I didn't stop and I didn't die, and I didn't feel like dying right after, or the day after. #winning

chambray: Kohl's

shorts: Old Navy

sandals: Target

Two-fer

I wore the above combination to work, and then the below to run some errands in the evening, so I thought I'd share them both with you. I'm still hanging onto summer with my shorts & neon sandals, but stepping into fall with the flannel. I'm really digging the print and fit of this shirt - it's a feminine take on a masculine classic. 

And the colors! 

Navy blue! Bright green! Neon!

*be still my heart*

It was starting to get a bit chilly in the evening, so pants and close-toed shoes it was. The 

nude & "rose-gold" flats are from Target, and the purse is from Kohl's. Do you remember the brand 

Mudd®? Those were the only brand of jeans I wanted to wear in middle school, and into high school. However, I grew out of them, and went in search of other (more expensive) jeans. So, imagine my surprise when I saw this brown & neon pink purse (ON THE CLEARANCE RACK!) 

and it was by Mudd®. Obviously, it came home with me. 

And I've been receiving compliments left & right, ever since. 

Do former favorite brands ever jump out & surprise you? This seems to be happening to me a lot lately, and in the best way possible!

shirt: Old Navy

shorts: Old Navy

sandals: Target

jeans: Trends

flats: Target

purse: Mudd® via Kohl's

linking up over here today :)

Mr Picks Mondays: Summer's Last Hurrah

Since yesterday was Labor Day, and I had the day off, Mr. Picks Mondays was VERY casual. He chose the shorts AND the top (typically he chooses the top and lets me pick the bottoms, or vice versa) for a very summer-y combination. I know Labor Day marks "the end of summer," but since the first day of autumn isn't for a few weeks yet, I'll be sporting my summer clothes as long as I can (that, and I LOVE summer). Have I mentioned that I don't love fall, because it leads to winter? #truestory 

Also, I don't like Pumpkin Spice Lattes. 

There. 

I said it.

I find them underwhelming. Whip me up a cup of coffee and I'm a very happy girl. No artificial pumpkin flavoring for me! Blegh!

Anyways, enough of my rant about fall & winter (#summerforever). As I mentioned yesterday, we were in a wedding this holiday weekend, and then spent Sunday & Monday laying low and getting caught up on little things around the house, er, apartment.

My Labor Day started off with this read by Jessica Quirk of What I Wore. A really interesting and beautiful book, and I even took it to the pool with me and jotted down some notes. I think she did the illustrations for the book herself - umm, amazing! I can only draw stick figures, so I'm always really impressed by the artistic ability of others. I've been reading a lot of fashion books lately, and can't seem to get enough! I think I've checked out all the ones at our local library...I've already ready "Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible" and Stacy London's "The Truth About Style," among others. Any recommendations for me??

Wellllll, here's to a (short) week, my friends!

enjoying not laboring on Labor Day ;)

parrot tank: Target
shorts: Kohl's
mint tank: Marshall's
sandals: a recent find at Target for $6!

linking up over here today, because I loved spending Labor Day with my sweetie ;)

Mr. Picks Mondays: a wee bit behind

Hi hi! Sorry for my extended (and unintended) absence - this week got away from me, once again! And this next week looks to be a busy one, too. Actually, let's be real - I'm pretty busy until October. 

November, really. 

Eh, more like closer to Thanksgiving. 

So, see ya never? 

I kid! 

But bear with me, please! Promise I've been wearing clothes AND taking pictures of them for ya ;)

Have a great week!

shirt: Old Navy

chambray: thrifted

shorts: Old Navy

sandals: Shoe Carnival

My Chartreuse Summer Sweater

I wore this outfit to take two cute pups to the vet for a checkup, and then on to work. I got this chartreuse-ish sweater several weeks ago at Old Navy and have been itching to wear it. It's very light, and the sleeves roll up and stay put with a nice little button deal-thingey - perfect for the summer heat when you work in a really chilly office. I added plain shorts and some wedges, since the color of the sweater is so bright, and, TA DA!!! Summer sweater chic ;)

sweater: Old Navy

shorts: Old Navy

sandals: DSW

thought you might appreciate this picture of me smiling like a doofus...
I was actually probably talking (surprise!) ;]

Stripes & Shorts

love these two nuggets. and they love me, too. promise.

I wore this over a week ago to work, and then of course to walk the pups. Walking both of them at the same time by myself can be a bit overwhelming - imagine two 50 pound dogs going in different directions, very slowly...oh, and every time they get close enough to sniff your leg, you get a huge schmear of slobber on your pants. It's a good look. Oh, and stairs are challenging - their bodies are too long to fit on one step, but too short to straddle two steps. It's funny, really. Anyone interested in seeing a video of them going up & down the stairs? Just say the word and I'll share.

Shirt: Old Navy via Goodwill
Shorts: Old Navy
Sandals: WalMart

Aaaand, guess what I'll be doing tonight??? 3 guesses. C'mon.

Going to the Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Eli Young Band & Kacey Musgraves concert!!! My sweet husband got me tickets for our first wedding anniversary in June - the first anniversary is paper, and guess what the tickets are made out of? Paper. Fancy, huh? So, we'll be there, and listening to Kenny sing about tequila, Eric sing about Springsteen, Kacey sing about silver linings & arrows, and the boys of EYB sing about crazy girls & Padre. I'm REALLY excited, if you can't tell, but him, not so much. He's not a big country fan, but, he knows what makes me happy. And he did admit he IS excited for the Kacey Musgraves show - we've been listening to her a lot lately in preparation for the concert, and we both really enjoy her lyrics and style of singing.

So, here's to cowboy hats & cowboy boots, two-stepping, and summer concerts with my handsome husband!

Linking up over here today with my stripes

30 for 30: Day 29

Day 29 

I successfully put my hair into a top-knot! (with the help of a bun shaper thingey-deal...)

what I wore to my friend's shower

I DO love my monogram

the metallic wedges I wore to another friend's wedding a few weeks ago

As I mentioned in my initial 30 for 30 post, I planned to wear something NOT in my 30 for my friend's shower this weekend and another friend's wedding a few weeks ago. This dress I got at Old Navy last week for a song - a less-than-$13-song. 

And then I put on something a lot more casual for the rest of the day. We had a nice date night that started off with dinner at Noodles & Co., saw Monsters University, and then indulged at Coldstone. AND THEN I got word that a group of friends was at dinner, and then were heading downtown after. So, we went! And had a great time catching up with friends we don't see too often. We called it a night around 11 (early for some, late for us) and headed home to the pups, and kept saying to each other "We should be social more often!" And really, we should! And we will! Sometimes we're just homebodies and would rather have a night in than head out downtown. 

And you know what? 

That's ok, too ;)