{Top Five} Friday

Well friends, if you didn't already know, I'm on Pinterest and I love it. Go ahead and follow me if you'd like, it's a great way to keep track of things that inspire you.

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Today I've picked my pinterest soulmates, we pin each others pins quite a bit because, well, we have similar tastes! 

What I'm trying to organize is a group fund, we all put our money in a pot, buy a giant dream home together, decorate it with inspiration from our shared pins, share all our dream clothes, and have group DIY nights. 

Come on ladies, we like the same things, let's make it happen...

{Top Five} Pinners:

 Chelsey Oliver

she pins everything from delicious desserts to gorgeous make-up inspirations, but my favorite of hers are her ultra glamorous, vintage inspired editorials. i don't know where she finds them all, but she's good.

Jessica Marcum

we just have very similar tastes and i enjoy almost everything she pins. normally home decor and fashion.

Brittany Jepsen 

anything and everything colorful and creative.

 Melissa Gallup

she pins a lot! but her pins are so gorgeous that i don't mind. she also pins in categories. my feed will suddenly be swamped with all things orange, or all things stripes. it's quite fun to follow her minds workings.

e.day

i love her sense of fashion and home decor. she also pins hilarious, touching, and thoughtful quotes that i love reading.

Bonus Pinners:

Kristine

fashion

Elaine Hearn

fashion, home, how-to's

Jennifer Thomas

typography, design, fashion, beautiful people

Summer Bellessa

photography, fashion

Reachel Bagley

organizational tips, home

Elizabeth Bryant

everything

we love colors winner will be announced this weekend, so get your entries in now!

(sorry jenni, i had to...)

Well Ain't You a Peach...

Other than the weather cooling off and Halloween, one of my favorite things about the coming of Fall are the Utah peaches we get shipped in by the box load!

As I looked at the overflowing box with mouth a watering, I heard a group in the corner whispering something through their fuzzy lips. I looked around me to see if it was coming from some human, but no one else was around, so I bent over to get in on the conversation. 

"Cobbler...Peach Cobbler..." 

They were chanting it in a low hum, that got louder with each passing second. It reminded me of that scene on Babe, "Baa-Ram-Ewe, Baa-Ram-Ewe..."

That was all the convincing I needed, I got out the ingredients and an hour later the house was filled with the smell of peach divinity. 

Fruit never ceases to blow my mind with its goodness. 

What's the most mind-blowing thing about nature to you?

For more delicious recipes, check out my other blog. The one you never knew I had.

{Wardrobe} Wednesday: Luminous.

the bracelet that lives up to it's name.

You've seen her designs here and she hasn't stopped creating beauties. 

I was lucky enough to receive this one in the mail earlier this month and I get happy every time I put it on. I'm pretty sure it infuses my veins with rainbows and then I exude light beams, as witnessed in the above images. You should get one and tell me if yours has the same effect on you and to help you on this mission here's a coupon code for 25% off: UNICORN2511

The Breakdown:

Button-Up Top: H&M

Sunnies: H&M

Colored Denim: Forever21

White Huaraches: Target

Neon Watch Band: J.Crew

Rhinestone Bracelet: Charlotte Russe

Striped Hand-Beaded Bracelet: gift from Loominosity

Gold Watch: c/o Mimi's the Look

Gold Ring: Favor Jewelry

Isn't this watch gorgeous as well? I was having a very good jewelry day!
Happy Wednesday :)

Questions for the Game of Life.

You know that question that you inevitable have been asked, at a dinner date, on a roadtrip, flipping through the pages of one of my favorite books If... (Questions For The Game of Life)...

You know, the question: if you could have dinner with anyone in the world living or dead,who would it be and why?

See, I knew you knew what I was referring to.

Well, when asked that question, I generally come up with someone deep and influential like Mother Mary (who is apparently partial to Mexico),

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 charming and hilarious like John Cusack, 

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or perhaps someone who is a mystery to me like Alan Rickman

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But today, my thoughts have changed. 

After visiting our condo again this week, I really only have one dinner-date desire. I would love to go out with whoever was the previous owner of our condo. I just really need to know what their deal was with decorative light-covers and what their method was to choosing. Did they have a split-personality or were there many different people with very differing tastes living under this roof together? Perhaps each occupant through the years was supposed to add one--maybe we shouldn't take any down, only add one of our own: It's like a time/personality capsule of all the residents of this particular condo, I don't know, but I would like to. 

So, if you happen to recognize all this beauties, then you and I should be in contact soon, I'll even let you pick the restaurant...

scenes from the week.

visited an old high school go-to date restaurant--pizza mart.

photographed a gorgeous family this weekend at a really cool location.

woke up before the sun just to sit in traffic every morning in order to get to work on time.

enjoyed my new we love colors tights. (enter the giveaway!)

UTAH PEACHES ARRIVED!

noticed a lot of beautiful, ordinary things around this town.

set the sunday family dinner table, BOWS!

Did you have an enjoyable weekend?

Goldilocks.

claus·tro·pho·bi·a/ˌklôstrəˈfōbēə/ is an extreme or irrational fear of confinement or enclosed spaces and is usually brought on by a traumatic experience in childhood, such as being separated from one's parents in a crowd or being enclosed in a dark box or room. It is classified as an anxiety disorder as it manifests itself via panic attacks, difficulty breathing, increased heart rate and the removal of clothing. 

What is strange to me, is that I cannot think of a traumatic experience in my childhood that would justify my new found anxiety, nor do my symptoms fit exactly into this description, but the word claustrophobia is the only thing I can come up with to describe what I’ve been feeling for the last few weeks. 

In tango, people are ‘invading my space.’ Which, in tango, there really is no such thing as ‘my space’, nor have I ever had a problem with close proximity to perfectly nice people in the past. My shoes are consuming my feet. I end up barefoot at all my destination. I feel anxious and on edge when I’m at the house for more than an hour or two and my rings are choking each finger, and even without them there, I still feel confined. My heart literal beats faster just thinking about having a ring or shoes on right now.  

Here’s the only conclusion I can think of: I am in desperate need of my own space and my body is manifesting that in a very strange (and annoying) way.

My parents were good enough to let us bunk at their house while they were away, and I had such a blast with my sister and niece there, but it was still living out of boxes, sharing closets with my parents ‘left-behind’ clothes. Once my parents came home, Marcus’ parents have been SO generous to let us stay with them, they share their food and invite us out to dinner, and I’m incredibly grateful for that, but still, its not ours, and half of our stuff is still in boxes in storage; and I am still in somebody else’s house, in somebody else’s kitchen and in somebody else’s bed. (Luckily it’s that of my sweet in laws and not one of the Three Bears, but I just can’t wait much longer to have a place that is our own.) 

A home just for Marcus and Ashley, to walk around naked in if we fancy, to make waffles at 3 in the morning. To throw impromptu personal dance parties with the music blaring in the middle of the day in, and to decorate to our very own liking. 

It seems that this lack of a place to call ‘our home’ and this shared space is having a physical effect on me--cue the strange case of claustrophobia, and I think we’ve come up with just the cure…

We’re buying a condo! 

We got a really amazing deal and if all goes according to plan, it will close by the 30th of this month. I could not be more excited and while it is definitely going to be a PROJECT, I can’t wait to get my hands dirty and fix it right up!  Hopefully projects will go well and I can have some DIY features here on the blog in the next months. Anyways, I just wanted to share that exciting news with you, my internet friends, thanks for reading. 

talk of the weather will do.

Who wants some new tights in celebration of the arrival of Fall?

Well, I thought you might, so I contacted my fantastic inter-web buddy, Cara from welovecolors, and she is offering 2 pairs of their magically soft and lovely Solid Color Nylon/Lycra MicrofiberTights! The winner can pick their colors (over 50 to choose from)! Ya, like I said, she's pretty fantastic!

Giveaway is only open to public google followers of i believe in unicorns. 

Here's how to enter:

1. Tell me what your favorite thing about Fall is.

2. Visit welovecolors and tell me what colors you'd get.

Extra Entries (new comment for each)

3. 'Like' welovecolors on Facebook or Follow on Twitter

4. Tweet/Facebook/Blog about this giveaway (provide a link)

I happen to own quite a few products from we love colors, and every single one of them is of great quality, color, and comfort!

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Here

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I just stocked up for Fall with a new pair of navy, black and hunter green! Can' wait to style them.


THE WINNER IS... Erin_PlusSizedPretty! 
Erin, email me for details on how to get your tights! Yay!

You all have a few more days to enter THIS giveaway!

{Top Five} Friday

{top five} easy breezy day dates:

Marcus' job is really great because he doesn't work weekends and he usually has a day off during the week as well, so we really like to go on little day dates to keep from being bored at home all day.
Here are some ideas that could be fun for you and your significant other, or even just your friends, and the best part is, they're free!

Visit a Nursery and learn about different plants, pick up a little plant, or just take pretty pictures.

Go to Barnes and Noble or any other bookstore and pretend decorate your dream house using all their design books.

Visit Ikea (or any other fun furniture store) and play house, discuss styles and grab a bite to eat while you're out.

Find out about your local Farmer's Market, I believe they're usually on Fridays and/or Saturdays. They're fun to browse and their produce are usually better than the grocery store's.

Antiquing! 

We have one of the best antique shops I've ever been to just about 5 minutes from our house, and we LOVE to go down and admire all the beauties. Most of the time we don't buy anything, but it's still so fun to look at the wondrous things people made before the times of mass production.

What's Your Favorite Type of Date?

Fancy? Morning? Evening? Active? Relaxing?

I'm so excited that Fall is officially here and we can start doing lovely things outside without melting to death :)
Happy Fall!

She & Him, A-Z:

After seeing this first on Oh So Lovely Vintage and then again on Sometimes Sweet, we had to play along--for posterity sake if nothing else.

{a}

Age: 22

Bedsize: King

Chores that you hate: Ironing, it's so tedious!

Dogs: puppies, please.

Essential start to your day: checking my email

Favorite color: green, but I love too many!

Gold or Silver: gold

Height: 5’6”

Instruments you play: the piano (barely)

Job title: Sales Assistant/Blogger

Kids: none

Live: Mesa, AZ

Mother’s Name: Elaine

Nicknames: Ash, Gumby (I was really gangly in jr. high...), Sas-a-Frash, Betty, Waffles

Overnight hospital stays: Birth

Pet peeves: Rudeness

Quote from a movie or tv show: “The boat was actually Plan C. The church was Plan B and Plan A was marrying her a long, long time ago. Pretty much the day I met her.” I’m a sucker for Jim and Pam.

Right or Lefty: right-handed

Siblings: 2 sister, 5 brothers

Time you wake up: depends on what I have to do that day

Underwear: uh, yes…?

Vegetable you hate: brussel sprouts

What makes you run late: my husband...

X-Rays You’ve Had: cavities, chest (once I passed out at the gym, and they took x-rays for some reason)

Yummy food you make: waffles with ice-cream and fresh strawberries

Zoo Animal: giraffe

{m}

Age: 24

Bedsize: King

Chores that you hate: cleaning up after cooking, ironing a lot of clothes.

Dogs: want one (or two).

Essential start to your day: shower.

Favorite color: ukgh, I don’t know.

Gold or Silver: both

Height: 5’10

Instruments you play: Bass, Piano, Trumpet (in 5th grade…)

Job title: Surgery Nurse

Kids: don’t have any.

Live: Mesa, AZ

Mother’s Name: Mary

Nicknames: Marty, Marticus Twertipus, Marky-Mark

Overnight hospital stays: 0

Pet peeves: bad drivers

Quote from a movie or tv show: pretty much anything that comes out of Dwight Shrute’s mouth is going to be my favorite quote, but I can’t think of any specifics.

Right or Lefty: right-handed

Siblings: 7 sister, 3 brothers

Time you wake up: after 5-minute-snooze.

Underwear: I like to wear it?

Vegetable you hate: How ‘bout a fruit? Watermelon.

What makes you run late: Bad hair days. (Ashley laughs)

X-Rays You’ve Had: Teeth (and I passed out…radiophobia)

Yummy food you make: Crepes

Zoo Animal: Orangutans

Did you do one? Are you going to?

Post your links. I'd love to check them out and learn a little bit about you!

{don't forget to enter this giveaway}

{Tunes} on Tuesday Featuring: Pomplamoose

Can you figure out why this is today's {tunes} on tuesday?

$25 Giveaway from Cargo Cosmetics!

Cargo Cosmetics is one of the many brands offered at Apothica, an online cosmetic company that is sponsoring today's giveaway! 

The winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to be used at SkinCareRX.com, Apothica.com, or SkinBotanica.com! How fun! And just in time to update your look for Fall.

Here's how to enter:

1. Visit their site here. and tell me what kind of product you'd spend your winnings on.

Extra Entries (new comment for each):

2. Tweet about Apothica (send me a link for verification)

3. Like their Facebook Page and tell them what you think of their site.

4. Blog about Apothica (send me link)


and the winner is Megan Robinson! Congratulations!
Megan, you have 72 hours to email me, otherwise a new winner will be picked!

{For Fashion's Sake} Saturday: Glitter Guide

While reading The Glitter Guide earlier this week I saw this little DIY project and I was in love. 

I already had the crystals from an old chandelier I had in my room in high school, so all I bought was a little $4 chain from Michael's, the other little odds and ends I either took off of old jewelry I didn't wear anymore or found around the house. I've also seen crystals like this sold in antique shops and hidden in enchanted forests, usually near the trees in which gnomes live. Good luck with that.

Isn't it chic? Any good DIY projects I should try next? I'd love suggestions!

The Breakdown:

Necklace: DIY

Striped Top: c/o EgoCloset

Orange Cords: Gap

Yellow Shoes: Gap (long ago)

{Top Five} Friday

Okay, first off, we got new carpet and everything got put in the mirror room, i promise the house doesn't look like this...

{Top Five} Things I've Learned from My First Day:

1. working out your legs hardcore the day before, is a terrible, terrible, and foolish idea.

2. wearing heels when you will be standing for many hours is a terrible, terrible, and foolish idea.

3. people do very, very strange things in the dressing rooms.

4. i could spend a lot of money on very, very beautiful clothing, very, very easily. i must be careful.

5. i am very, very bad at the 10-Key, any tips on how to improve my skills?

p.s. it's good to have a fun job, and even better to have a wonderful husband. that is all.

have a great weekend!

Anniversary Present Redeemed.

Well friends, we're off to see this fantastic man, 

these immensely cool guys, 

and we're not sure who these guys are, but Ty says they're great.


We're extrememly excited and there is a chance that we will die from extended exposure to extreme awesomeness, so if that be the case, I'd like to leave my blog in the care of Jenni Austria-Germany. It's been wonderful knowing each of you and I'd like to thank you for all your support. Life's been great. Amen.

3 for 10?

Recently my sister posed an interesting question, that really got me thinking. 

I'm curious as to what you all think.

Here it is:

"If you could hear the top 10 nicest things anyone had ever said about you (not to your face, so these would be new things, you've never heard before), but along with them, you would also have to hear the top 3 meanest things anyone had ever said about you, would you do it?

My first answer was absolutely yes. 

Secondhand compliments are probably my favorite things in the world. 

It's like you know they're sincere if someone decided to say something nice about you to someone else--knowing you'd probably never find out. 

And, as for the 3 mean things, well, I feel like I don't care enough about what other people think about me, to worry too much about those.

But the more I thought about it, the harder the question was for me to answer...

Earlier this month, a sort of distant family member accused me of something that I was totally and completely shocked by.

As hard as I tried to forget about it and realize there was nothing I could do about, I couldn't. 

Whenever it was quiet and my mind had time to think, I was thinking about that conversation. I even had three full on nightmares about the conversation. A conversation that shouldn't have affected me so much. It really was silly--but the effects were real, none the less.

That's what jumped into my mind when I rethought my answer to my sisters question. 

What if I thought I wouldn't care, and then those 3 things haunted me for months or even years? 

Could the nice things counteract the mean? 

I still don't know; what do you think?

{Wardrobe} Wednesday: Not Falling for Fall.

You know what I love about Arizona?
The fact that while all of you folks living elsewhere are saying "goodbye summer, hello fall," we here in the southwest have a good two, maybe even three more months of temperatures in the triple digits. That’s right folks--it’s flip flops and heat warnings to no end ‘round these parts!
So, while the store fronts yell FALL, we can throw our heads back in greedy laughter--for our summer wardrobe will wear it’s welcome and by the time ‘winter’ comes around, all fall attire will be in piles in the markdown bins, and just the right weight for our laughable winter temps.

Although just about the time we stand in line, get home and rip the tags off, spring will be upon us and we'll most likely regret the money we spent on anything that felt heaver than, well nakedness.

What I'm getting at, is that this, is in fact, not something I love about Arizona.

I turn green with envy as I see the beauty that is a double button, rust colored overcoat paired with striped leggings, riding boots and a crisp button up.

I die a little inside as I wait for my steering wheel to cool down just enough that only slight burns haunt me, knowing that our leaves will never inspire and hot apple cider is more punishment than pleasure.

Fall is a season I didn't know I loved until I experienced it's splender while living in Idaho, and I will miss the fiery trees that graced my yard while living in a state that had all four seasons.

The Breakdown:

Striped Top: Forever21

Leather Belt: J.Crew

Pocket Skirt: Anthropologie

Canvas Shoes: H&M

Bracelet: Charlotte Russe