stupendously exciting announcement!!

The dress that I designed earlier this year for Dahlia is now available for sale exclusively at Ever + Mi Crush!! It's available in sizes small, medium and large in limited quantities, so if you're interested in snagging one, hurry hurry hurry! ;)

I'm so excited about this!! As I said in my original post about the dress, I had thought the dress was going to be available to purchase and was slightly heartbroken when I found out it wasn't. Then Christen from Ever + Mi Crush swooped in to the rescue and arranged this wonderful exclusive limited run! It's been so much fun working together and I'm so excited about this collaboration!! :D

The dress is a beautiful cream color with a warm grey lining, double layered scalloped collar and sheer bell sleeves. It comes with a matching cream belt with a warm grey buckle and pretty grey buttons on the collar.






As an added bonus, the first 10 orders will all receive a signed print of my original design sketch! The dress was inspired by Hypatia; her warm grey and light cream coloring, her fragile beauty, and her innate sweetness. Ever + Mi Crush named the dress after her, too -- it's called The Hypatia Dress!



This is my inspiration board for the dress. My main concept was creating something that looked like vintage but would actually fit (oh how many times I've shed a tear over a pretty vintage dress on etsy that had a 23" waist) Also since it's a neutral (well, a combination of neutrals - grey and cream) it can be remixed in a bunch of different combinations.

Which leads me to my next fun surprise -- I'm going to have 5 outfit posts next week with 5 different ways to wear the dress. Of course I think it's lovely on its own with a pair of pink flats, but this little number can also be styled in so many different ways! One of my favorite things about it is that it has unique details (like the collar and matching belt) that make it work without any added accessories, but they're subtle enough that you can add on layers and punches of color without it being too much :)





You can check out the dress (and the other pretty goodies Ever + Mi Crush has to offer!) over here! They also have Dear Creatures dresses on sale for only $30. Just saying ;) 

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dapper day!

It took me a little longer than I anticipated to finally get this posted! Oops! I came home early Monday morning and found out that one of the cats had used my bed as a litter box while I was away :( I slept on the floor and then went to IKEA when I woke up to get a new mattress and replace some of my pillows. Luckily the majority of my handmade pillows weren't in the path of destruction but it was still quite the mess to come home to! I'm just really glad that we're having nice weather here at the moment so I can keep my windows wide open to air out my room.

Anyway! While one of the cats was making a mess of my bed at home, I was off in Disney World having fun at Dapper Day. I enjoyed this SO much. I think I want to plan my vacations around Dapper Day from now on so I can participate every year!! It was so fun getting dressed up (more than usual) and seeing all of the other people who got dressed up too!



I actually ordered a vintage dress just for the occasion but when it arrived it was a tad bit too big, so I rummaged through my closet and found this hidden in the back. I don't think I've worn it in years but it was so perfect for Dapper Day! It's actually a new dress but I think it definitely looks vintage in person. It has really intricate beautiful embroidery along the hem, an attached crinoline and fantastic construction.



I'm one of those people who has a hard time wearing white because I *always* stain it immediately. Case in point -- before we even left our hotel in the morning, I already had chocolate on my gloves. And lipstick. I folded them down to try to conceal it, but by the end of the day I'd gotten more lipstick on the fingers (I forgot I was wearing the gloves when I popped gum in my mouth) so I just gave up on trying to hide it. I also spilled chocolate mousse on my dress so I guess it's a good thing I *wasn't* wearing the vintage one after all!



I'm so head over heels in love with this hat. I found it on etsy and just knew it would work perfect with my braided hairstyle! I think I might wear hats more often now, they're such a beautiful accessory but it hardly ever occurs to me to wear them!



Kyle only brought one backpack on the train so he couldn't pack his suit (he likes getting dressed up just as much as I do!) but he brought a dress shirt and tie instead. He's actually wearing basketball shorts and sneakers here but he made me take the picture from the waist up.



I also met up with my friend Sally who had the most adorable Disneybound Mary Poppins Dapper Day outfit! I wish I had gotten a close-up photo of her hat, it was adorable! I'm going to write more about this later, but Sally published her first book this month and it is SO SO good!! It's available as a Kindle download on amazon here and I highly recommend it!

dress - dorothy perkins | bag, gloves and hat - vintage | shoes - thrifted

sunglasses - forever 21 | necklace and belt - from my grandmom

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flamingo pink

Yesterday we went to Animal Kingdom and I got to see some flamingos! I think they might be my favorite animal (aside from cats, of course!) They're just so pink and pretty, and I love how they stand on one leg to sleep, with their head turned backwards and buried in their feathers.

It's amazing how fast this vacation flew by. Tomorrow night I'll be on my way home already! I am looking forward to seeing my kitties though. It's funny how I get so used to seeing them that when I'm away I constantly mistake little lumps of clothing or objects laying on the floor for cats. My mom's purse looked SO much like Chloe the other day! I didn't have my glasses on, so that probably accounts for the striking similarity, but it was still pretty cool ;)

Today is Dapper Day so I'm about to get all dolled up and head over to Hollywood Studios! Kyle packed a shirt and tie in his suitcase but forgot to bring dress pants so he's wearing basketball shorts and sneakers with this dress clothes lol!

dress - forever 21 | shoes - payless | backpack - kmart | sunglasses - nordstrom

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candy dots

This dress has little dots on it that look like those candy drops that come on strips of paper. I love those! I thought it was fitting then to take my picture outside of the Main Street candy shoppe in the Magic Kingdom :) Although I guess you can't really tell based on how I chose the backdrop haha! I think I was more interested in whatever background had less people swarming behind me than whatever looked most like a candy store..

My brother is actually coming down to stay with us for the rest of the trip! He'll be here in about an hour and stay for the next 3 days. I think it'll be fun having him along. Although I might end up with Kyle-fatigue since we're also going on a mini-road trip at the beginning of October lol :)

I got a few comments the last couple days mentioning Dapper Day and I just wanted to say I am going and I already have an outfit prepared! yay! I am SO excited about it!! I found out Dapper Day coincided with my trip a few days after I booked it and I was over the moon happy. The funny thing is that I have a bunch of really pretty vintage dresses that I never get to wear and I ended up going with something new after all. I have some vintage accessories though so I guess it evens out. I'll definitely take outfit photos and post them on Sunday!! :)

dress - modcloth | lace jacket - vintage | saddle shoes - payless | bag - kmart

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smells like disney spirit

Yesterday was mostly rainy, but we still had a fantastic time at Epcot. I know I go on about this, but... FOOD. I got a vegan beef dish with jasmine rice at Seasons for lunch and had vegetarian grilled fake chicken at the Liberty Inn, and both were out of this world. I wish more places back home offered vegetarian options, I usually get saddled with an assortment of potato side dishes or a salad at most restaurants.

Can we talk about my backpack for a second? I've wanted a smiley face backpack since I was like 8 years old. I remember seeing them in elementary school and practically begging my mom to let me get one, but somehow I never did. Recently I started seeing those 90's bags pop up on etsy (usually for outrageous prices like $100+!) and all those pangs of smiley face lust came rushing back. So, a few weeks ago I was at k-mart buying Despicable Me toys (as you do) when I saw it. One single smiley face backpack on clearance for $15. IT WAS FATE. I was there with my dad and I'm pretty sure he was sincerely concerned for my mental well-being, I was just SO excited about this bag.

It's one of those things where you kind of wish you could go back in time and tell your 8 year old self that you have it. She'd be so ecstatic!! That happened again on Tuesday when I found a hair brush at a story here in Disney World that was shaped like a giant fork. It says "dinglehopper" on it! (You know, when Scuttle teaches Ariel in The Little Mermaid that forks are used for brushing your hair and that they're called Dinglehoppers) I just had to get it. I almost wish I could air-mail it to the past and make childhood me so happy!

pinafore - c/o dahlia | saddle shoes - payless | backpack - kmart | shirt - f21

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disney day one

I know what you're thinking -- "how did she bring her bedroom and her cat to Florida?!" but actually I took this picture on Sunday, before we left. Yesterday we set out for the airport around 4:30am and then went straight to Disney World when we arrived at our hotel. I was going to take a shower but I accidentally packed all my shower accoutrements in my checked baggage which hadn't showed up in my room yet. So I just went to the Magic Kingdom a tired, sloppy, slightly dirty mess. I still had an absolute blast but I'm not sharing any photos just yet ;)

Last night we went to the Disney World halloween party and it was so much fun! I dressed up like a cat (it was actually a horrible last minute costume but of course my default would be cat.) I had wanted to dress as Mary Poppins but I thought guests weren't allowed to have Disney character costumes (so you don't get confused with the paid actors) but it turned out like 50% of the women there were in full princess regalia. Darn it! Well, at least I know for next time.

As usual for me, so far I'm just obsessed with the food. The quinoa salad at Be Our Guest was phenomenal (definitely trying to recreate it at home when I get back) and I was reunited with my beloved Dole Whip in Adventureland. *sigh* Today we're off to Epcot where tons of scrumptious International cuisine awaits me. Hooray!

Oh, and I did upgrade to an annual pass! Thanks for the advice in my last post!! :)

dress & cardigan - forever 21 | shoes - asos | tie - flapper girl | cat - arrietty

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paws for thought

You know, I've actually never seen Jaws. I know! This year I'm trying to watch a lot of modern classics that somehow eluded me in the past, and Jaws is definitely on the list. (I'm blogging about this movie project on my classic film blog, Silents and Talkies, by the way.) Anyway, I had to have this shirt nonetheless. It's so perfect! And I'm sure I'll like it even more once I've finally seen the film ;)

This afternoon we're going down the shore and staying overnight so we'll be closer to the airport when we have to catch our flight super early tomorrow morning. Then I'll be in Disney World until Sunday! yay! I'm thinking about getting an annual pass since I seem to go so often.. if you have one I'd love to know what you think about it (pros/cons, etc.) My brother always said he didn't want to go too often or the magic would wear off but I don't even think that's possible. I feel just as excited every time I go, whether it was my 1st trip or my 9th :)

shirt - urban outfitters | skirt - c/o modcloth | shoes - diy project

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