i am.

11.28.2013


twenty-five.

11.27.2013

Last Thursday I turned a quarter of a century old.
It has been an age I have dreaded for a while now. In my mind I'm still 17, my older brother, who is now in his mid-thirties is still 25 to me, so how in the world am I supposed to be 25?

It was a strange and sort of boring day in which i found myself getting emotional on multiple occasions--each occasion, I quickly let the logical side of my brain, tell the other side how silly it was being.

It would happen I would think about the real fact that likely more than 1/4 of my life has already happened. 

As I've gotten older, the years seem to fly by faster than I can seem to remember. Why as a child did it seem like it took unimaginable lengths of time for each new Christmas to come and now, as an adult, I blink and it's back again?

At my birthday dinner, conversations with Marcus lead to us discussing my quarter-life-crisis. He said something simple, but just what I needed to hear.

"Time goes by fast, this should be the perfect kick in the pants to get us into gear about taking control of our life and doing some really awesome stuff, so that when each new year sneaks up on us, we can look back at it and say, 'Yeah, you were awesome and ready for another.'"

This discussion empowered me. I love my husband. I'm lucky to have him by my side, supporting and encouraging me. I'm lucky to have family and friends who love me. I'm thankful for my online community both here on the blog and my instagram friends--it sounds silly, but i love having a creative outlet.

Here'e to twenty-five! I've got this.
I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving on thursday!
If you're looking for a last minute holiday craft--check this one out from last year.

90's grunge, it is.

11.25.2013

<<what i wore>>
sunnies//oasap 
hair//beach-curl tutorial (here)
gold bangles//pb&j boutique
boxy tee//madewell (buy similar here)
buffalo check skirt (button up shirt)//j.crew outlet (buy similar here)
ankle booties//target (buy here)
Our hot-water heater broke--three months ago.
Let me tell you--no hot water is a great way to get you on board with not wasting water.
I was toughing it out up until this month.
It finally got pretty cold, so I've been taking my showers at my mom's house (luckily she's right up the road and poppy loves playing over there)
Last time I showered there I forgot my jeans, I had worn this flannel over there and it served as a temporary fix while I blowed dry my hair.
But then I liked it--so it stayed.
Marcus thought I was pretty cool when I got home.
My mom did not--she took me out to lunch for my birthday and couldn't believe I was wearing a shirt for a skirt. She should most certainly be used to my style shenanigans by now, she knew me in high school.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever worn in public?

p.s. marcus is fixing the hot water heater this week! yippee!

around the interwebs

11.12.2013

here's a little collection of things i've seen on the internet this week that have made me laugh, cry, dance or think:
 
 
Seen anything lately worth sharing?

a night at the fair!

11.07.2013


printed on real film! i was stoked
 This llama was such a poser, we loved it.
 Every year i leave the fair wanting a goat!
WALLABY!!
 Baby calf
the fair has pretty much everything you could ask for: a petting zoo, rides, pretty lights, deep fried twinkies, photo booths, and floor to ceiling walls of denim bedazzled purses...what is NOT to love about the fair? I look forward to it every year, drag marcus to, and then he ends up having a great time. 
(his FIRST time to the fair was with me when we were dating!)

we spend most of our time in the agriculture building--this year we met the cow farmers and had a good hour chat, they invited me out to tour their farm and even had us in the milking booth and let us milk the cow with our hands! I was as terrible at it as i was excited.

we then won a free ride ticket and went on truly the most terrifying ride of our lives, also, the funnest.

i'm already excited to go again next year.

do you have a fair in your state? how is it?

arvowear winner announced here!

get rich quick?

11.06.2013

<<what i wore>>
boater hat//free people (buy similar here)
hair//beach curl (tutorial here)
lip color//raspberry lip crayon from Sally's (buy here)
garnet necklace//c.o. caroline hill collection (buy here --use code unicorn20 for 20% off)
gold arrow necklace//stella & dot (buy here)
cream flowy sweater//c.o. persunmall (buy here)
navy skinnies//asos (buy here)
ankle booties//target (buy here)
gold bangles//c.o. pb&j boutique (buy here)
watch//arvo (enter current giveaway here)
For the last few weeks Marcus has been obsessed with reading every book he can find on finances (particularly how you can have your money work for you, so that you have more time to do what you want in life, rather than work for someone else). He's even got me on board, after a trip to the library, I am currently reading "Rich Woman" and feel quite inspired to get into investing or starting my own business.

You see, we both come from families who owned their own businesses--we each talked to our dad's this week and neither them nor our grandfathers have worked for anyone other than themselves since they graduated college! Clearly, the entrepreneur spirit runs deep.

I've always hated having anyone have control over my time--and marcus has more recently came to that conclusion about himself--so we're on the quest to take back the control.

For me, it's not about being filthy rich and having everything i've ever wanted--it's about not having to think/stress about money--financial freedom, so that i can DO all the things I've always wanted to--life's too short to spend most of it doing something you're not crazy about, right?!

anyone have any great tips for us/books we should read? 

CLOSED: heart elbow patches and an arvowear giveaway!

11.01.2013

The Winner is @lexhank! Congrats!
<<what i wore>>
sunnies//c.o. oasap (buy here)
garnet colored necklace//c.o. caroline hill (use code unicorn20 for 20% off anything)
time sawyer watch//arvowear
elbow patch sweater//c.o. sheinside (buy here)
high-waisted skinnies//asos petite (buy here)
tabby boots//pb&j boutique (buy here)
november and i have a special thing going on--
we like each other.

it's the month of perfect weather.
it's the month of much feasting and family. 
it's the month of pumpkin pie.
and it's the month i was born.

in honor of such a great month, i have a few giveaways scheduled throughout it--so keep your eye's peeled--but not really, because that sounds super disgusting.

kicking things off is a watch from arvowear--i've been sportin' the white faced time sawyer for a few months now. as soon as i discovered them through instagram, i immediately had to buy one. they are beautiful (and luckily for me, affordable!)

They're offering one black-faced time sawyer to one of you lovely readers! it would be cute on you or a perfect gift for that special someone (because they're unisex :))

all you need to do is:
1. follow @arvowear on instagram and tell me you did in the comments.
2. for an extra entry, you can follow me (@ashleyanielson) right here--leave a separate comment if you do this.

+you must be a public follower of this blog to qualify, US residents only

I'll pick a winner in about a week! good luck :) and happy november! 

++if you posted your costume on instagram or on your blog leave me a link--i love to see everyone's costumes!
© i believe in unicorns. Maira Gall.