Feeling a bit girly...

 This may be the last outfit post for a while since ill most likely be in cut-offs, tshirts, and flips for the next few weeks, well see... The other day we went to town to run some errands and see my grandparents, and I felt quite girly.  I wore a $70 dress that I scored on ebay for $6!  Along with my Ruche belt (which I still cant get enough of) and a vintage butterfly sleeve wrap crop top, along with my green cons of course.
 It felt good to go along with the spring season!

THANK YOU so much for all of the lovely house comments!  We are so excited, and I dont think it has really all set in for either of us.  Maybe when we actually spend the first night there it will.  Tomorrow I will be cutting lining for all of the drawers/shelves in the kitchen so we can start putting away all of our kitchen stuff!  And maybe putting clothes in the closet!!!  Its kind of hard to unpack too much without all of the furniture in place.  But it will be in there before you know it!  And I know a few of you are going along in this process along side us, and its so exciting to share our experiences back and forth!!!

 And oh my, I got some adorable photos of Violet (my doggy above).  I will share later.

Oh, and during this little shoot, I was about to take a full outfit shot... got lazy, used a stack of empty boxes instead of a tripod, and my camera tumbled over hard onto the concrete!!!  yikes!  so far its okay.  durable baby!  so... fiy... dont do this!!!  use your tripod kids :)

PEACE,
Laura

A Personal Day...

Yesterday, I took a much needed break to do a few things for myself.  One being, putting makeup on & my favorite jean shorts.  I felt myself coming a to a breaking point and had to do something.  I found out today that alot of it was due to it being my girl time.  I dont feel too awkward announcing that b/c most of you reading this are girls, and know exactly what I mean.

James had off yesterday, which meant we got to sleep in!  It felt soooo nice!  We were going to hit up some garage sales, but instead I decided I wanted to tackle a personal project I really wanted to get done before moving, painting my china hutch.  It was a hand-me-down, that honestly has always been more about function than looks, it was soooo ugly.  boring white, with about 40+ years of dirt and grime on it.  I dont use it for china though, I use it to store some of my fabric in for my craft room.  So this will be the first exciting piece to go in my new sewing room!!!  James got out there and helped me too, which was sooooo very nice to have him working on a project like that with me, it meant so much to have his help.

Yesterday I wore:
thrifted vintage embroidered shirt, denim cut-offs, my momma's sandals & earrings I made.  I love simple summer outfits!  And when I look down at my legs while wearing these sandals and cutoffs, I cannot help but be reminded of my mother, its all she wore!


The current state of my craft room!  Its getting crazy around here :)

Last night Bella snuck in some chest time before Violet came in to pounce on the bed.  Its so funny every night... Bella comes to say goodnight in bed, then James lets Violet in and she dashes to the bed to say hi to me, and Bella immediately runs away.

Violet on her favorite chair.  Im sad that she wont have it for a while, until we can add on a covered porch for her.  I dont want the chair to get ruined in the rain.  One day, shell have it back!

A sneak peak at my project!  I didnt take a before photo, should have, but I was in a hurry to do this!  Just picture it white and ugly, ha ha!  Ill show the whole thing when we get it in the room!

Almost time to say goodbye to this wonderful little rock house that was built in 1935.  It has been so good to me for the past 8 years.  So many memories have been made in the walls and in this yard.  Loves lost and loves gained.  Friendships flourished.  A growing business.  And lots and lots of soul growth.  I will forever remember this house.

PEACE,
Laura

Daily Outfit - Dressing on a Budget

I was able to get out of the house once this week, to go grocery shopping, ha ha!  Ill take any excuse I can to throw together a cute outfit!

For the past year or so, my husband and I have been saving our pennies to buy a home... Which is happening right around the corner!  But one thing this does mean, I have not clothes shopped in just about that long!  Seriously, I have only bought one shirt here, or one dress there, every great once in a while.  If it hadnt been for all of the amazing Poor Pitiful Pearl trades throughout this last year, I probably would have cried, ha ha.  I love clothes.  I always have.  In junior high and high school, I was always the 'odd' dressed girl, but I feel like I was always creative with my wardrobe, some people just didn't understand it.  As I have grown older, my fashion has matured a great deal.  I no longer wear cut-off sweat pant mini skirts with striped knee highs, combat boots along with crazy black makeup all over my face :)  I love how fashion is a thing you grow with, as you grow.

I know I always made my mother so happy when it came time for the new school year and clothes shopping.  I 'ONLY' wanted to shop at Goodwill.  I did NOT want her to take me to a department store.  I pretty much had my mind set against those from an early age.  So, while all my friends were spend $60 on one pair of jeans, I got a whole wardrobe for that!  And it wasnt anything you would see on anyone else.  In a way, I am still very much like that.  Although now, I love to incorporate lovely things from places like Target or amazing online shops like Ruche, when I can afford it or allow myself to.  This belt below is from Ruche, and its been one of the best $10 ive ever spent, it goes with soooo much and is super comfy!

The Outfit:
shirt from Old Navy (really a long tunic, just tucked in)
*ive had this shirt for about 8 years, and its still awesome*
belt from Ruche
skirt from goodwill
shoes from Target (sale rack)
all jewelry is Violet Bella



Okay girls, do I not have the cutest boy ever???  Let's boost his ego a bit with some honesty :)

Bella loves to hang out on the porch while I take photos.

Had to share... I love it when avocados have huge center seeds.  I think its really cute, I dont know why.

Only a few days left to become a sponsor of Violet Bella for April, click here for details.

PEACE,
Laura

A Time For Love...

After yesterday's not so fun post, I needed to create my space here with some light & pretty images full of creativity and love.  After reading every comment on my last post, and being overwhelmed with the response, I feel fully confirmed in knowing I am not just being crazy about this situation.  It feels like someone came into my home and stole all of my most precious things and took them home to put on their own walls, and then told everyone who came by that they were their own family heirlooms.  Its such a weird feeling.

But, I have allowed this girl to eat me up for too long now.  She is not deserving of any of my energy, even negative energy.  She will get what she deserves in the end.  I have known people like that throughout my life, and trust me, I have seen them burn bridge after bridge until they are left standing alone.  You do not create a life full of love and honesty by living that way.

So, like most of you have encouraged me, I am taking this situation and turning it into something beautiful.  Isnt that what I always tell you guys to do with hard life situations?  I would be a hypocrite if I did not do the same thing here.  I have allowed myself to become a ball of stress over the past few weeks, between her, the unknowing of moving and packing, friends and families situations, and now japan.  It is time I allow myself to shed these things and breathe lightly for a while again.  It is starting to effect me at home, and I cant allow that to happen anymore.  So, lets move on to some happy things!

I have been creating these beautiful crochet vests for a magazine called Cowboys and Indians.  It is in the Miranda Lambert issue.  I originally started making them for my shop, you may remember this awesome photoshoot I did as a sort of advertisement for them.  Well, before they even made it into the shop, a local shop owner snatched them up and sent one off to the magazine to see if they would publish it out of tons of prospective clients and items.  And it made it!  So, needless to say, I have to spend most of my time making them for them, and not for my own shop.  But they can be special ordered through Gunslinger online or by phone.  As soon as it settles down, Id love to make some for my own shop in fun colors!  I cant wait.  I made this one below for my bestie out of her great grandmothers linens.  I think its the prettiest one so far!  I of course had to try it out before sending it off to her :)  I wore it out for my daddy's b-day outing at the wine bar.


I think the back floral piece is my favorite part of this one.  And the back crochet piece has a bird on it.

I wore my mom's sandels with this outfit, I love them so much.  She had them for like 20 years.

Bella was hanging out on the porch while we were taking some photos, so we gave her some camera love too :)

And then we gave each other some camera love.  Which we havent done in far too long.

Here is one for Cowboys and Indians.  Each one is different and unique but all with neutral tones.

I made some new fun long layering earrings this week too!  They should be up in the shop soon.

and of course, phone camera love.  I wish I had my own phone that took pics like this, Id go crazy with it!  I have to steal my boy's phone when he is around.

Thank you again to everyone who showed their support on my last post.  Means the world to me.

PEACE,
Laura