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Saturday, May 9, 2020

OOTD: Breezy Saturday at the Coffee Shop

*** I wrote this post last August and I'm not quite sure why I didn't post it. These pictures capture one of my last summer hurrahs before the fall semester really got cooking. As I finished up this semester on Wednesday, it's interesting to look back at the person I once was. This past school year has hit some amazing highs and really low lows and now the entire world has seemingly turned on its head. Regardless, I can't wait to wear this dress again this summer! It will have to quench my thrift thirst while all my favorite thrift stores are closed. I trust you know that I will be thrifting the MINUTE that it's safe to be back out in the world and shopping with all my thrift friends. This post also commemorates one of my good friend's last day at our favorite coffee shop. What a beautiful day. 

I haven't done as much thrifting this summer as I would have liked, but I have found some really choice pieces. I really can't complain! 

This vintage 80's dress is a soft, jersey material, the top is fitted perfectly to my size, and the skirt as optimal twirlability! Though it's not from the brand, it gives me all the Lanz of Salzburg dress vibes and I only had to pay $3 for it at my local Assistance League thrift shop. 

On Saturday, we went to our local art club and it also happened to be the last day of work for our favorite barista, Lydia. In celebration of her work and excellent service, we had a french toast party for all her friends and family. I happily spent the morning cooking breakfast and this dress was comfortable and perfect for the occasion! 

Dress- Thrifted Vintage $3
Woven Belt- Thrifted $.25
Sunglasses- Thrifted vintage $1.50
Shoes- Thrifted No Boundaries flats $.75
Lipstick- Maybelline SuperStay Ink Crayon Lipstick $8

Mural Painted by Betony Coons at John Galt Coffee 








Friday, August 30, 2019

Favorite Friday Favorites #232

Consider This 


(link)

The art of Amy Kovac 






This Doctor is Doing it Right 



New Music Videos







This Fab Bat Sweater


I would wear this year-round, not just at Halloween. For sure. 

(link)

This Cat Discovers it Has Ears 



Women & Primary Sources 


See the full video here

(link)


How Culture Drives Behavior 





Happy Friday, lovelies! 
xoxoxoxoxo

Friday, August 23, 2019

Favorite Friday Favorites #232

Consider This


I've always loved this quote. I hope you love it just as much! 

(link)

Maybe it's Because Halloween is Right Around the Corner


But these star makeup looks are just so beautiful! 

(link)

(link)


Representation is Important


Why mannequins in varied sizes matter.  Read it here

This Pizza Party Cat T-shirt


(link)

From a Secret School to Becoming the First Black Army Nurse in the Civil War


Read about Susie King Taylor here

New Music (Videos)








Edward Pickering was Ahead of His Time 


And these ladies were total bad-assess! 

(link)

Happy Friday, lovelies!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Friday, August 16, 2019

Friday Favorites #231

Buffy Art by Laz Marquez 


These episode covers are so choice! I highly recommend looking at each & every one! 





The Charmingly Odd Art of Ani Castillo







Consider This 


link


New Music (Videos) 










The Only Thrift Tip You Need to Know 


Read all about it here

My Brother is a True, Rare Gem in This World 


Read his work here

The Most Dangerous Allied Spy of WWII 




Read all about her here!


Happy Friday, lovelies!
xoxoxoxoxox


Friday, August 9, 2019

Favorite Friday Favorites #230

The Astronomer Who Fought for Women in Science


On Tuesday night I turned out for the High Plains Chautauqua and I wasn't disappointed! I was particularly excited to see Susan Marie Frontczak as scientist Marie Curie. After watching her amazing performance, my interest was piqued when I saw this article about and equally impressive scientific woman.  



Read about the amazing Maria Mitchell here.

July's Playlist


I've been making monthly playlists for going on 5 years now and it remains one of my favorite ongoing traditions. By listening to a specific month's playlist I a reminded of what I was listening to and feeling at that time. Each playlist is a bit like a monthly time capsule and I love sharing them. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! This was July...


Two of My Favorite Straight Talking Ladies Were in Rolling Stone 




Read the article & watch the video with MFM here

Black Beekeepers are Transforming Detroit's Vacant Lots 




Read about this amazing, redemptive work here.

New Music Videos












Help Clear Melissa's Classroom Lists


I went to high school with Melissa and now she's an amazing 3rd-grade teacher in Denver going into her 12th year in education. If you already have a local classroom to support, I HIGHLY recommend seeing if they're trying to #clearthelist before the begining of the school year. If you don't know any teachers personally, please consider buying something off of Melissa's list. It will go to a good cause, guaranteed. She's doing big, important work and you can follow along with her here



Check out the amazon wishlist here

Imagine Getting This Letter From Your Local Mail Carrier



"If You Can Love Me, You Can Love Yourself." 


Lizzo is everything and she seriously shook up NPR's Tiny Ass Desk Concert. It was amazing. 




Happy Friday, lovelies! 
xoxoxoxoxoxo


Wednesday, July 31, 2019

The Weld County Fair: A Love Letter to the Fair

When I was a kid, my family would go to the Routt County fair every year in the middle of August. It was the last hooray before school started, and signified the end of the summer and the coming harvest. Often we would go to help my Uncle Bobby sling burgers and fries in the VFW cook shack, and sometimes we would just go as spectators to watch the rodeo, participate in the greased pig contest, or enter our arts & crafts for judging at the exhibit hall. I loved walking through the small animal barn, looking at the different breeds of bunnies, chickens, and turkeys. We didn't live on a farm, but many of my friends did, and it was cool to see the culmination of an entire year's worth of hard work come to fruition at the livestock sale. Many of my schoolmates paid for college with the money that they made through 4-H and other programs put on by the fair. They even put on a fair dance, so we would all put on our stiff, new school clothes (which it was still too hot for) and go stand in small circles in a fairground corral while a country band from Denver crooned in the background. Believe me; it was more fun than it sounds.

Each year's fair was a little different. One year, the fair board shelled out the money for a Ferris wheel and I remember riding it three times with my dad, each time with him rocking the car at the top until I screamed, delight mixed with terror.  Going to the fair remains one of the happiest memories from my childhood.

When I first moved to Greeley, I thought that the Greeley Stampede and the Weld Country Fair were one and the same. You can imagine my disappointment when I realized the cost of the stampede and the fact that so many of my favorite fair elements were missing. Years later I would realize that the Weld County Fair happens every year, after the Stampede, at the end of July.

Now, I realize this might be an unpopular position, but I would argue that the Weld County Fair is much better than the Greeley Stampede and I will tell you why:


  • Admission & parking are totally free.
  • You can always find parking on the premises. No need to walk from ten blocks away! 
  • You can ride in a covered wagon pulled by beautiful horsees from one end of the fair to the other. 
  • They serve a free pancake breakfast on the first day and a free BBQ lunch on the last day of the fair. Even though they have to serve a TON of people for each meal, they move through everyone very efficiently. 
  • Each year's events are a little different. Last year they had animatronic dinosaurs. This year they had FREE hot air balloon rides! YOU HEARD ME! 
  • There is a small parade that goes around the fairgrounds and you can win upwards of $300 for the best entry! 
  • Though it's not in my pool of interests, they do have a classic Corvette show every year and also have antique tractors and other farm equipment view.
  • You can see all types of farm animals and talk to the kids who raise them as part of their 4-H projects. These kids work so hard and I admire them immensely. 
  • This year they offered a ton of fun activities, like giant hamster balls, a wild west fun park, and a photo booth in an adorable trailer- All free of charge. 

This year we had the pleasure of sharing the last day of the fair with my brother, Robby, and his son, Hugo. We ate BBQ and hit all the fair favorites.

If you like or are intrigued by anything you see here and you live in Weld County, I encourage you to hit up the fair next July. If you live in another part of the state or the country and don't know if your area has a country fair, I encourage you to look into it. While I love being able to go to the fair without fighting crowds or waiting in insane lines, I will say, I'd love to see attendance be a little better. This is my community. These are my people. From the moment of my birth and onward, and it's important that I don't forget that.

It's good to see and know where our meat, milk, and textile fibers come from. It's good for kiddos (and adults) to see farm animals and the people who raise them, and not just at petting zoos.  Our rural communities and the people who live in them are important and in many places in our country, those communities are struggling and dying. A lot of people have been and still feel invisible.

(For more on this that is much better written, please check out Sarah Smarsh. She's amazing, genuine, and has opened my eyes to many truths about rural communities in this country and my own rural upbringing.)  

Now, I'm not saying that attending the fair will solve all these problems because it won't. But it might make everyone, including me and you, feel a little less alone, separate, and different.

It's important to meet, converse, and congregate with people who live, work, believe, and think differently than you do, lovelies. I truly believe that loving, knowing, struggling, and sharing with your community can change the world.

Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.















Monday, July 29, 2019

New Phone & Society6

On a chilly evening, over eight months ago, I fell asleep on the couch. As I was walking up the stairs at 2am in the dark, I tripped over Oliver, fell forward hard on my knees, and my phone went flying through the air. It landed screen-down on my hardwood floor and when I picked it up, the screen was completely cracked. I then spent the next week getting tiny splinters of glass in my fingertips every time I searched the internet or browsed through Instagram while suffering from two of the biggest bruises I've ever had on my legs. Despite the more than slight discomfort, I did nothing. I certainly did not get a new phone, because phones are expensive, little computers and it was my fault that it was broken, so I deserved the shredded fingertips that I incurred.

Yet another example of how I can drag my feet on literally anything, no matter how uncomfortable I am! I'm such a joy! 

Since then, my phone has started doing weirder and weirder things as it slowly dies in my hands. All that said, I may have waited just a tad too long to get a new phone, but today all that changed! Rick just put an order in for a new tiny face computer and tasked me with picking up a new case. We're not playing your phone case game, AT&T and Apple! 

I have been browsing through my favorite place to get phone cases, and I have found a few great options! Here's where you come in! 

Which is your favorite? A, B, C, or D?

A.



B.



C.



D.




A Few Other Favorites, But I Wouldn't Buy Them 


My brother should buy this case IMMEDIATELY. 

It's alright because phones saved by the case!!!

Beep, Beep, Ritchie! 

Buffy Forever

Thank you for helping me pick my new phone case! Your vote was the one that tipped the decision. Aren't you glad you clicked on the link to this silly blog post! I know I am!

What's your favorite place to get your (non-borning) phone cases? Inquiring minds need to know, lovelies!  

Friday, July 26, 2019

Favorite Friday Favorites #229

A Day in the Life of a Prison Librarian 


This little article was super interesting and eye-opening. Please read all the way to the bottom to the list of observations. I especially liked the one about the mouse. 

It's funny, a little sad, and full of the humanity that is often denied to those in the American prison system. And if you like this, you might also like Ear Hustle, a podcast put out by Radiotopia and hosted by prisoners inside of San Quentin State Prison. 


This GIF



2,000 Libros


Along the same lines, this group, which started out sending books to prisoners, they have now started collecting and sending books to children detained at the border. The irony of that fact is not lost on me. Please read about their mission, and if you feel compelled, donate dollars or send something through their Amazon Wishlist


New Music Videos








The Only Woman in the Room During the Apollo 11 Launch



I Just Watched Castle Rock


My mom was a huge Stephen King fan and that love transferred to her two children. As a kid, it was always a major TV event when a Stephen King mini-series would hit the small screens. That is the way that I felt about Castle Rock when I first heard about it. Because I don't have Hulu and because I don't really watch TV while school is in session, I waited for Castle Rock to come out on DVD so that I could check it out from the library, and let me tell you, it was worth the wait! I watched the whole first season in two days and now I can't wait for the second season to come out! 


I'm Trying My Hand at Amateur Entomology


I found a dead Sphinx moth in my garden on Thursday evening and decided that I wanted to try my hand at preserving and pinning him in a shadow box. I am in the relaxing stage, so I will let you know how it goes going forward! 


Make Your Own Avatar


I spent way too long playing with his avatar creator, but I regret nothing!




Have a lovely week, lovelies!
xoxoxoxoxoxo
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