A New Patio Dress

I am so excited guys! I finally have a vintage patio dress of my very own! And look how cute it is!

Lately, I've been really wanting to add some southwestern and Mexican flair to my wardrobe. Given that I also live somewhere rather warm for most of the year, a lot of the styles are very practical for me. I'm not generally a fan of anything country/western/cowboy but I'm learning that there are some other aspects of these styles that I do enjoy.

Adding a vintage twist is always helpful. I just adore ric rac especially the yards and yards of it needed for a really smashing patio dress. I've been stalking etsy for one in my size and budget. It certainly helps that I can shop for summer pieces all year round and pretty much where them as soon as they arrive.

This particular dress features teal, lavender, gold and black ric rac. And while they aren't my usual colors, I adore this combo! So pretty! And I'm a sucker for the ric rac with the gold woven in.

I actually have a few packs of just such vintage ric rac that I'm saving up for a special project. I actually purchased fabric for it last summer but when the fabric arrived, it wasn't quite what I wanted so I used it for something else. But I still have my ric rac day dreams.

If you had told me a year ago that I'd love wearing a white dress, I'd have told you you were crazy. Even my wedding dress was ivory. But Florida Stephanie has acquired a slight tan (ie so I look like a normal human being and not an albino) and white looks much better on me now.

Another favorite feature of this dress is the closure. It's super simple. Just a slit in the back that closes with one hook and eye. Yay for elastic waists! I like the little peak of skin especially since the neckline is so high.

It's quite a fun, twirly style of dress. And twirling brings me so much more enjoyment knowing that I didn't have to do any of that gathering! I loathe gathering. It was really interesting for me to find that this skirt is a lot less full than the one I made. Next time I make one, I can cut down on fabric, ric rac and, of course, gathering.

Also new to this outfit are the shoes. I've had several old pairs kick the bucket and I needed some new practical basic shoes I could wear every day. This black pair fit the bill. And as a bonus, they have nice squishy stuff in the soles.

I'm pretty sure I'm hooked on these patio dresses now. I just adore everything about them! Of course, it may be a while before I find another elusive one in my size and my budget.

 Until then, I plan on wearing this one loads!!

Konmari Part #10: Household Supplies

Today we're doing a very practical category in the Konmari process- household supplies! This category includes all of the consumables that you use to maintain your home as well as things like mops, brooms, vacuum cleaners and other miscellaneous cleaning supplies. This one is a bit long since I had lots of small areas in this category.

What is Bible Journaling?

Welcome to my very first Bible Journaling post! Today I thought I'd tackle the most basic question. What is bible journaling anyways?

Bible journaling is a type of art journaling which involves making art as part of your journaling process especially in a book or notebook. In bible journaling, you are using art as a way to illustrate, understand or meditate on the scriptures. Many people create these works of art directly in their bibles but you can also journal in a notebook.

Journaling entries can be as simple as writing out a verse in the margin using pens in different scripts. Or it can spill over into the entire page and include a variety of fun supplies! You can also include great quotes, song lyrics, prayers or study notes as part of your journaling. It's really up to your imagination!

The goal of bible journaling is to help you connect with the scripture on another level. It's great for creatives, visual learners or anyone who wants to help hide scripture in their heart. You do not have to be an artist or own lots of fancy art supplies.

If you've never done anything like this, it can feel a bit odd doodling in your bible. I grew up in a church where you were expected to keep your bible pristine and perfect looking. As an adult, I became part of another church that was heavy into bible study so I quickly became comfortable making bible study notes in my bible but that was serious bible stuff. Making art in my bible seemed a bit, well, wrong when I first started.

But when I really thought about it, I realized that God is a creative God. He made this planet, all the living creatures on it, all of the gazillions of stars and beautiful galaxies! As human beings made in His image, we were blessed with that creative nature too. In fact, the first time the bible mentions the Spirit of God filling someone in the Old Testament is Bezalel in Exodus 31. He was given artistic ability to be able to make the ark of the covenant, the robes for the priests, the tent for the ark and alter. I can't imagine that a God who took all of that effort to create all of that beauty would be upset about us making beautiful things for Him!

I've always been more of an analytical person and I read very fast. I've always struggled with taking my time and really pondering scripture rather than just reading to get it done. Bible journaling has helped me slow down and really focus on a small section of scripture. I'm also terrible at memorizing things and I feel like bible journaling has helped me remember scripture better.  

I'm so excited to start sharing more of my bible journaling pieces with you! In my next post in this series, I'm going to go over some of my favorite journaling supplies and give you some ideas for where to start. Until then, you can check out my bible journaling Pinterest board for some more inspiration.

A Florida Orange

Over Christmas break, the hubby and I decided to spend a night away across the state in the historic town of St. Petersburg. (Apparently Florida has a thing for towns named after famous towns in other countries...) It's a very cute area with a great arts district and tons of yummy restaurants. And, of course, lots of shopping!

Our first stop was a quick trip gulf side for a few hours on the beach. The water was actually a bit chilly and the beach was very busy! Our local beaches are usually quite quiet so we weren't prepared for that.

Thankfully, there was a cute pier and shopping area nearby so we walked around there first. Lots of touristy type shops. We didn't buy anything (except for some yummy ice cream) but I've gotten fonder of window shopping.

The evening was spent window shopping in downtown St. Petersburg with some yummy Italian food for dinner. We did a lot of walking around and it was quite nice to just hang out together and relax.

The next day, we hit up more of the arts district. Alas, we forgot that many small businesses are closed on Mondays. So much of our window shopping was actually just looking at shop windows.

 I also got to wear my new prescription sunglasses! The sun really is much brighter in Florida and sunglasses are a must.

So I decided to get some prescription sunglasses after my last eye exam. It was actually a lot easier to find cool retro style sunglasses than regular glasses.

At any rate, they pretty much look fabulous with everything including this great orange ensemble. Lots of people really liked this skirt! Floridians love their oranges.

Then we found this great colorful mural and I had to get some outfit shots in front of it. Sometimes it's just so fun to pick a background that is very modern with a retro outfit. Plus, it was very orange!

And right next to it was a huge orange wall with a green door so we shot there too! It was so much fun to be shooting in an urban setting again. I love where we live now but I do miss the downtown living.

 It was so great to be able to walk everywhere and there were quite a few bicyclers out and about too! Unfortunately, our town isn't very bike or pedestrian friendly and I had forgotten how much I really enjoyed walking and biking to work everyday!

 Guess I need to make walking and biking more one of my resolutions for 2016!

My Konmari Journey Part #9: Household Equipment

Today, I'm sharing with you my household equipment purge! I decided to go ahead and tackle everything in our office area as part of this category. I'm super excited about to have this section done. Why do there always seem to be 8000 pens everywhere?? And since my husbands desk is right next to the front door, it becomes the dumping ground for junk mail and anything else we bring in the house.


One of the hard parts about this category was dealing with things that were in perfectly good condition but that we had so much of that I don't think we'd use them up even in 10 years! Mari's opinion is that you should just get rid of that excess because the "rent" you are spending on the space they are taking up is not worth it. In the end, I did "evict" quite a bit of stuff. Since filming, my husband has gone trough some of his stuff and we were able to get rid of the filing cabinet because we got rid of so much stuff! Yay!

2015 Blogging Wrap Up

I can't believe that 2015 is almost over! Looking back on this year, so much has changed! I knew that moving out of state would bring lots of changes but I'm not sure that I was quite prepared for how much change there would be. I'm still getting used to Florida living but it's going great!

One thing that changed a lot was my wardrobe! My winter weather wear looks much different now! I went through a huge wardrobe purge at the end of February and got rid of 3 huge garbage bags full of clothes. The purging continued throughout the year when I discovered Project 333 and Konmari.

I really worked hard to build a great wardrobe that would be practical for the Florida summers and comfortable. This year, I was really drawn to the simple war era 40s styles and it's not surprise that many of my sewing projects this year were 1940s pieces! I also built a 1940s capsule wardrobe that became the basis for my first Project 333.

Speaking of sewing projects, I did get a lot of basics sewn up this year. I ended up sewing quite a bit less this year but the things I did sew, I love! (Check them all out here.) I also sewed up a lot of yummy natural fibers which have quickly become my favorite things to sew. Lots of linen!

One the costuming front, I was even less productive but I haven't really found any good costuming outlets here in Florida. Plus the climate is a lot to get used to! Wearing all of those extra layers makes you rethink your fibers. Which is so sad because I had just fallen in love with costuming in wool. I did end up doing some 1920s sewing which was awesome! I was totally not expecting to love the 1920s but I did.

My hair went through quite a few changes this year. 1920s bob, all sorts of 1940s snood styles and a pixie. I'm still trying to figure out how to wrangle my hair in the Florida climate. And I'm just one of those people who change their mind about their hair a lot.

Way back at the beginning of the year, I posted about how I wanted my theme for this year to be Less is More. Boy, did I get that right! It all started with my wardrobe, but the minimalism soon spread to the rest of my life. I'm still working through the Konmari process from the Life Changing Magic of Tidying up but I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff that was just taking up space in my home. My home certainly doesn't look like your typical minimalist house but I'm definitely a lot more purposeful about what things come into and stay in my home.

Even more recently, I've started on another creative endeavor-bible journaling! I've never been an artsy type (I'm more of a creative) but I used to do loads of scrapbooking. Bible journaling is a bit of scrapbooking, a bit of art and a bit of spending time with God. There are a ton of great resources out there for techniques and ideas so I jumped right in! Mostly, I've been sharing this on Instagram and Facebook but I've got such a positive response to them that I'm going to start sharing them on the blog as well in 2016.

I'm so excited for 2016! They'll be more minimalism, more 40s fashions, more hair changes and more art! Thanks to all of you who follow my blog. I love having so many wonderful people to share my life with!

A few of my favorite things

The weather here is still quite summery so my brain is still thinking of summery fashions. I've tried putting together more fall and winter feeling outfits to share with you but I haven't been able to make myself. I just adore bright colors and fun lightweight pieces!

I've never been much of a country/western/south western type person but I do love a cute patio dress! I can't get enough of the ric rac! They are so fun to wear plus I do adore a yellow dress.

Alas, I have yet to acquire a vintage one. Most are too tiny and out of my price range but I'm still searching.

This little yellow number is one I made myself. I used a vintage blouse pattern for the top and drafted up my own skirt pattern (so easy! just rectangles). It was quite a project, especially for someone like myself who hates gathering (and gathering and more gathering....)

And the cost of all of that trim can add up very fast! To cut costs, I used some old curtains a friend gave me for the yellow fabric and collected a bunch of vintage red ric rac trim even though they didn't all match perfectly. Some of the red stripes are darker than others but it's not too noticeable.

I also lucked out by finding some pretty vintage jacquard trim at a local fabric store. The trim I was looking at at Joann's would have ended up costing me $75 for the amount I needed. Told you they can get expensive!

And no outfit is complete without some great shoes! I love this Miss L Fire shoes so much. I need a few more pairs from them.

I really love this fun southwestern and Mexican inspired look. And though I was able to add a few more of these style pieces to my wardrobe this summer, I need more! I even have some vintage gold flecked ric rac stashed for just such a project.

 I also need some cute puff sleeved peasant blouses to go with them too! Puff sleeves are one of the few girly details that I do like on myself.

 Do you enjoy bringing bring, summery feeling pieces into your winter wardrobe or do you enjoy the change of color palette that comes with the change of season?