Sponsor in July!

Hi folks! I'm accepting sponsors for July and beyond, so if you want to snag a sponsor spot, go for it! I love supporting other bloggers, independent shops, and businesses that are awesome, and sponsorship is a great way to put your blog or site in front of my readers! I blog about personal style, adventures, the occasional recipe or DIY, and more, so if you think your ideal customer/reader is an independent, adventurous, vintage-loving kind of gal, give sponsorship a try! I offer three different ad sizes at different prices, so if you want to just test the waters, you can start of with a mini ad, or if you're interested in doing a giveaway for a bit more exposure, the large, small, and featured ad spaces have the option to run a giveaway. The featured ad space is currently booked through August 14th, but if you can reserve that ad space for when it's available next. As always, if you have any questions or want to know more about options, etc. don't hesitate to email me! Learn more about sponsorship rates, stats, and options by clicking here!

Take the Plunge

Every Tuesday there's a farmer's market within walking distance of our house. It's a nice walk and I love perusing the local goodies. I thought about making the Brave into a mini mobile vintage shop for the farmer's market, but when I looked into it it seemed like you could only sell handmade things, and I was already past the deadline for securing a spot. Maybe before the cutoff next year I'll look into it again. I think the Brave would make the cutest little vintage shop! Emphasis on "little."

I've been thinking a lot about goals lately. I'm an incredibly goal-oriented person. I have a very hard time just putting along without a carrot dangling in front of me to chase after. After graduating high school, college, and going on my Brave trip, I've struggled to find the next goal to set my sights on. Starting a family isn't really something I want to do just yet. I've thought a lot about starting a business, though I don't necessarily feel that it's the right time for that either. Sometimes it seems like some goals are just too big. Like I'd be biting off more than I could chew. But, at the same time, I feel like a goal should be scary. Everything I've done up to this point has felt well inside my abilities. If you don't stretch out of that comfort zone, though, you'll never discover the abilities you didn't know you had, right? So I think I might be ready to take a leap into the unknown, to bite off what may be more than I can chew. And thankfully I've got an incredible support system ready to catch me if I fall flat on my face.

top/forever 21 :: skirt + shoes/courtesy of modcloth :: jacket/lulu*s

tote/swapaholics :: shades/vintage :: photos by Dan

I've been searching for the perfect longer skirt to go with some of my summery crop tops. I don't necessarily want a full length maxi, but I do want something flowy and about knee-length. Resisting polka-dots has become incredibly difficult for me lately (16 year old me is like, "hold up, what??"), so this skirt seemed like the perfect piece for fulfilling that skirt desire. It's a bit longer than I really want, so I rolled the waist and belted it to make it a couple inches shorter. Ta-da! Better. Julie beautifully styled this same skirt a couple months ago. I love seeing how other bloggers style pieces that I own. So much more inspiration for different ways to style things!

Life Lately

Life has been pretty good lately. Washington is still being obnoxiously cold most of the time, even though we're all desperately needing some summer weather, but every once in the while the sun comes out and I quickly throw on a sundress to soak up as much vitamin D as possible. We're still trying to figure out what life will look like after the summer is over. So many options. So many possibilities. And yet, seemingly, so many limitations. But for now, we're enjoying living in the moment. No sense in ruining a summer by worrying about what will happen after the summer. That's just silly.

SPU graduation outfit (outfit details here) // potting my mint plant // a feather found on the ground outside of work // a fun all-day bbq cookout with friends // watermelon! // missing my long hair. solution: wig // purple lovelies at the farmers market // favorite shoes + an elderflower lemonade // pumpkin cake w/ cream cheese frosting from Corina. I had this in cupcake form at our wedding but never got a chance to taste them! Now I finally know what I missed. // best part of summer = firecracker popsicles! // looking at houses...

Penelope Lane Giveaway!

Hello everyone! Today I'm giving away a $25 shop credit to a brand new shop called Penelope Lane! One of the things I love about having a blog is being able to support independent shops and all you creative, entrepreneurial, amazing ladies out there. Holly's shop, Penelope Lane Clothing, just launched in April and she's giving away a $25 credit to her shop to kick things off!

The idea for Penelope Lane Clothing came about after I had my son and needed a new wardrobe. We as women go through transitions in life whether it be the transition from a pre-baby to post-baby body; or perhaps gained/lost some weight; or maybe its just time to change some things up. The thing is, buying a new wardrobe is expensive. Like many women when I needed a new wardrobe, I didn't have the money to spend on myself. I just had my first child. Naturally most of my funds were put towards his needs. I ended up browsing a certain website I loved wishing I could afford to spend just a few hundred dollars. It was so expensive that I never really bought anything. The more I thought about it, the more I felt empowered to open my own store. I decided that I wanted to create a place for women to buy clothes at a decent price without sacrificing quality or, most importantly, personality.

To Enter:

Head over to Penelope Lane Clothing and pick out your favorite thing in the shop, then come back here and leave a comment on this post letting me know what your favorite piece is!

For bonus entries, head to the Penelope Lane facebook page and give them a "like" and/or follow Penelope Lane on twitter. If you choose to do either/both of those bonus options, make sure you come back and leave a comment for each additional entry, otherwise your bonus entries won't be counted! The giveaway will be open for entries until Saturday, June 30th at 9pm PST. Open to international entries.

If you want to buy something from Penelope Lane, make sure to use the code "TACKY" to get $10 off a purchase of $40 or more!

Treasures from the Road

Whenever I go out wearing this flower crown, at least one person comments on it. For some reason I don't think it's odd to wear a flower crown, but I suppose it's not a normal thing to see people wearing. At the bar the other night I was standing outside with Dan when some guys got out of a car near us and one of the guys kept pointing/looking at me and saying, "midsummer's night, midsummer's night!" My favorite, though, was the time I was at Goodwill wearing this crown and a little girl walks up to me and says in her tiny voice, "excuse me, I just wanted to tell you that your flower crown looks beautiful." I think it was the best/cutest moment of my life.

dress/bcbg :: flower crown/handmade :: bag/courtesy of handbag heaven

necklace/roadside stand in AZ :: belt/souvenir from Calico,CA :: shoes/kensiegirl

photos by Dan

When my whole family took an RV trip around the country in 2007, it was during the summer (so all us kids were out of school), and we ended up on the east coast in the middle of the sweltering heat. Being from Alaska, we obviously weren't used to the heat, so we found ourselves hiding in the air conditioned RV and running from place to place to seek shelter in the AC. I got this dress from a BCBG outlet store somewhere on the east coast and it was the perfect, light sundress to beat the heat. I haven't worn it much over the years, but I still can't bring myself to let go of it, even though I rarely find myself in weather hot enough to justify wearing it. It's just got that summer simplicity of a white eyelet dress. Come to think of it, almost all of this outfit is compiled from "souvenirs" I got while on various road trips. The dress, belt, and necklace are all road trip finds!