Just a sweet poster I found at the flea market yesterday.

If only there was a space in my house for it.

sadness on the wedding front.

Today I had my first "wedding tragedy". It, of course, was not a tragedy but just a small disappointment. Let me elaborate.

I took today and tomorrow off from work. To amuse myself, I drove to the dollar store to buy candy. On my way home, I stopped at the local Beech Grove flea market. I was just killing some time, but I came across a white floor-length dress with the most lovely beading. The beads made a vine / leaf pattern that was so unique and special and I fell in love. The rest of the dress was pretty unremarkable. Its shape reminded me of a million prom dresses from the early 2000s. It had a high neckline, spaghetti straps, and a sheath shape. It also had a stain on the bottom, and was priced a little higher than a stained flea market dress should be (at least in my opinion).

I called my mom to see if there was a way we could craft this thing into a thing of beauty. She seemed to think so, and I texted her a picture. She called my grandma, and she immediately headed over to the flea market. (Grandmas are the best).

As I waited for my grandma, my mind danced. I thought about how cool it would be to tell everyone that my wedding dress was from a flea market, and how stunned they would be when they saw the amazing, cutting-edge modifications we made (aka a V-neck). I fell in love with this flea market fairy tale and started re-thinking my whole wedding theme as a result.

Well, my grandma arrived and almost immediately pointed out how my dream wasn't going to work. Turns out beading is pretty complicated and you can't just cut straight through a bunch of beading and expect it to look good. I would have to dress like a desperate prom date from 2003 for my wedding or find a new dress. Womp womp.

It's all good though, I have plans to scour every thrift store on the east side tomorrow for a dress that will fulfill all my dreams. Alternatively, I also am trying on dresses at a real bridal store in two weeks.

To end on a happy note, here is a picture of my dogs and their new rope from the dollar store:

favorites

I've lived in Indianapolis my whole life, with the exception of my four years in Bloomington for undergrad. Occasionally, I will say things like, "This is my xth favorite place in Indianapolis and possibly the world." Here are a few examples:

Long's Bakery is excellent. I included it here mostly because I went there this week. As a community-based therapist, I get to drive by Long's west side location on a fairly regular basis. Their donuts are so excellent even Martha Stewart approves, and I love their retro sign.

The pagoda at Garfield Park is a pleasant surprise in an already beautiful, historical park. The park is the oldest still-operating park in the city; the pagoda was built in 1903. I am hoping to have my wedding ceremony there. Ryan likes it because it looks like a castle, so score.

This photo was taken on the top floor of the Central Library. I love this library for about a thousand reasons, but for the purpose of this blog, I love it because it has my favorite view of the city. You can see around all of downtown from their huge floor-to-ceiling windows.

Oh hey maybe I'll update this thing.

Hey friends. I used to write this blog about the clothes I wore. While I still <3 buying clothes, I gotta say my priorities have (fortunately) shifted.

Here's what's changed since the beginning of 2013:

• I moved out of my parents house in March. I rent a cutie little house on the east side of town.
  
• I graduated with my master's degree in social work and got a job as a therapist at an elementary school.
• I rescued two little doggies, Winston and Olivia. They are the lights of my life.
  
• I was in two weddings of best friends, and they were just lovely.
• I started cooking and I love it!
• I started working out and I don't hate it!
• I started caring about my health and overall well-being and have lost about 30 pounds!
• I got engaged! That's right! I am engaged to the man I have loved for 9 years. 
  

This all being said, one thing remains the same. I am still ballin' on a budget. Sadly, before, I had no idea what a budget really entailed. Now, budgets are about all I think about: food budgets, entertainment budgets, shopping budgets, and wedding budgets. Let's see where this next chapter takes me.

Resolutions

 Happy New Year, everyone! I rang in 2013 with at a friend's party. It was dress to impress, but I have made it my mission this year to stop spending money on so many clothes, so I rewore this gold dress from my sorority formal. I bought the glittery gold shoes from Plato's for 8 bucks, and the tights at Charlotte for buy one get one free. I gave the other pair to my sister as a stocking stuffer! I tried out a french twist in my hair for a little variety. I'm not sure how successful it looked in the back, but I was happy to mix things up.

What are your resolutions? One resolution of mine is to stop my clothes shopping addiction. My closet is packed, and I'll be moving out of my parent's place soon to a smaller closet. So my resolution is to cut my clothes shopping to 1-3 items a month, and to get rid of something every time I do! The extra money will go towards getting my own place, and hopefully a vacation to the beach after graduation!

Cabin Fever!

My outfit today was inspired by my cabin fever. I've been snowed in for a whole day and NEED to get out! I decided to dress well for my trip to Target because I haven't seen the light of the sun in so long. The dress was clearance from Target. It's super low cut... so I buttoned my cardigan (also Target clearance), and wore a scarf (from... you guessed it). Like my arm candy? The turquoise bracelet is from Alaska!

Christmas

Merry belated Xmas, everyone! I wanted to show off the awesome gift my best friend Chanel made for me! It is a cardigan clip made with clip-on earrings. I'm obsessed and have made a few people very jealous with it.

Here's what I wore on Christmas: I got the navy and pink dress at Marshall's for $15. The navy sweater is from Old Navy, the scarf is from Target, the earrings are from Body Central. I got the boots on sale at Old Navy. I love them and wear them almost every day in the winter. My watch is from Target. Ryan's shirt is the Zambian national football team's jersey. His sister lived in Zambia for the better part of the year. I think it's pretty awesome.