Things I Love Thursday

Hello hello friends! It's Thursday again! This week's link share is a little shorter than usual down below but I'm gearing up for great things in June, so just stick with me! Check out all of these awesome photos + links though. They're a great way to kill some time! ;)

this is so relevant right now. ♥
this simple braided bun ♥

♥ you go glen coco. ♥

♥ i love cards like this + want to design some ♥

this collage ♥

this journal ♥

♥ i used to love exploding dog comics! ♥

♥ this is a little too humorous. ♥

♥ this. (and i need to get better at this) ♥


“We let Willow cut her hair. When you have a little girl, it’s like how can you teach her that you’re in control of her body? If I teach her that I’m in charge of whether or not she can touch her hair, she’s going to replace me with some other man when she goes out in the world. She can’t cut my hair but that’s her hair. She has got to have command of her body. So when she goes out into the world, she’s going out with a command that it is hers. She is used to making those decisions herself. We try to keep giving them those decisions until they can hold the full weight of their lives.

Other Awesome Stuff:

// It doesn't get much cooler than an astronaut sharing pictures on Twitter from SPACE! SERIOUSLY! Look at these!

// Natasha is hosting a $200 giveaway to DITTO eyewear on her blog!

// Wishlist Wears: Have you peeped the new goodies over at LuLu*s yet?! C'mon... a mint lace dress, these ruby red mary janes, this red and white polka dot dress!!!, and this dress which i'm wearing this exact minute.


// Also Worth Mentioning: I'm so excited to be working with Rebekka on our wedding invitations! -- I ordered my wedding dress (for real!) this week, and I'm dying for it to hurry up and be delivered! (8 weeks... be patient, KB!) -- I'm diving into the world of Adobe CS6 Master Collection... and the designer in me is dyyyyyying! It's so good! (I've been using CS5.5 for the past year, and it's crazy how much small upgrades change things!) -- I've collected a long list of about 60 (!!!) blog posts that I'd like to start working on for LCH for June and beyond! -- One week from today will begin my 2-3 weeks off the grid and away from my home/computer. I'm a little scared at the work that will pile up, but also excited! -- May's Sponsored Giveaway will go up this weekend! A little late.. whoops!








May Box Recap (Umba - Birch Box - My Glam)

This month I had the pleasure of receiving three different subscription boxes (not including my regular Stitch Fix shipment). There always seems to be a mad dash to post them to blogs once they've been received, but I really prefer to try out the products for a week or two and then give my feedback. I thought it'd be a little overkill to break them all into separate posts so instead, here's my monthly roundup of goodies.
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First up, my Umba Box! Umba Box was one of LCH's featured sponsors this month so I was stoked to get to try it out myself. I'm a little bit in love with UB's branding so I knew the contents of the box would be lovely. This box contained the three handmade items that follow...

The candle was such a lovely smell, and the little owl on the front made it aesthetically pleasing. And I really loved the little rosette bobby pins. We carry a similar item (albeit a bit larger) in Honeybean, but I loved the petite size (and the color combo!). I wanted to love the chapstick as I'm a chapstick fanatic, but it was Basil flavored and I find that smell to be a little bit overwhelming. A summer herb scent sounds great in theory, but I just think it was too much for me personally. It was intensely hydrating, even though I felt like I had Naan pizza stuck to my face ;) I honestly think Umba Box would be the perfect gift for someone. Housewarming, birthday, or just because. I can totally see the appeal of buying it for yourself, too, don't get me wrong. But I felt like I was opening a sweet friendly present each time I unwrapped something. (That's kind of the best part!) You can sign up for your own Umba Box if you're interested!

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Now for May's Birch Box! This month was Gossip Girl themed and if you follow me anywhere you'll know I'm currently obsessed with GG. We just started the first few episodes of season 3 yesterday so I'm totally in the thick of it. I feel like this box was definitely GG inspired so if you're a fellow fanatic (even late to the game like me) then you might like it!


I have to admit I really like the moisturizer. I have naturally dry skin, especially on my face, so this seems to really be nice. The sample size really is a generous amount. I'll use the whole thing up before deciding whether I'll plunk down that cash for a full size version, but I'm a little cheap (ha!). The blendercleanser seems like it'd be a nice product, except I don't own a beautyblender. After looking them up and reading all about them, they actually seem like they might be justified, but until then this sample will just go in my sample bucket. The Arquiste perfume is really quite lovely smelling. The sample is great for my purse when I'm feeling like I need a little scent-revival. But without a doubt my favorite in this month's box was the stila eye liner. I love that it's brown and I love the product itself. I doubt I'll run out anytime soon but when I do, I'll definitely snag another to replace it! You can sign up for your own BirchBox here if you'd like! I really think they're worth the risk at only $10/mo!

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And last but not least, my newest subscription: My Glam Bag. I was really on the fence about ever signing up for this one. For one, I follow the Michelle Phan drama (google it if you're interested. There would be too many things to link) on the interwebs, and I'm not really a big fan. Of course this is all just based on what I've read and looked in on, but that's for each person to decide. Still - I had heard good things about MGB so I decided to give it a shot. You get 4-5 deluxe samples in a cute (but tiny) makeup bag each month. Sounds kind of nice, but then I started thinking "What in the world am I going to do with so many makeup bags after a few months?!" Anyway, here's my haul...

In this box: Philosophy Love Sweet Love Spray Fragrance - Studio Gear Complete Color Lipstick - Miss Beauty Nail Bling - myglam Concealer Brush and Defining Eyeliner Brush


The perfume was a beautiful scent, and probably my favorite thing in the bag (and best of all, the full size is not expensive!) The lipstick was sort of a let down because I really expected to love it. The packaging on the lipstick is awesome. And I'm a package snob. The tube is a milky soft texture and the box it came in was even nice. The disappointing part was the color. I feel like there are very few women who can properly wear this color, but maybe that's just me! It's not quite a red/burgundy as it may appear... but more of a brown hue honestly. Who knows, maybe I'll end up loving it! It's a bit bold though. The brushes seem good enough and they're getting decent wear thus far. I haven't used the "nail bling" yet because well... usually that stuff doesn't fit well on my teensy little childlike fingernails. Plus I'm not crazy about the design. Overall I'd say this one was a flop but I'm debating on giving it another go for June! You can sign up for your own My Glam Bag here! It's $10 a month and seems to be very cosmetic-driven (which I like). 

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So! Do you subscribe to any monthly brands like this? How do you like them? If you got anything that I did, what is your favorite?

Crinkle + Coral

We've been staying at my parents' house all weekend, trying to enjoy the sunshine and pool. So far so good! We came down on Friday morning and got entirely too much sun immediately. I headed into work even though I knew it was going to be dead. Sure enough it was basically a ghost town! I stayed until 2am and then headed home. We went ahead and decided it just wouldn't be worth me working on Saturday, so I jumped at the chance to have a weekend night off. It's a bummer to miss out on money, but I wouldn't have made any anyway! Instead we spent Saturday floating in the pool, playing water guns with Toby, grilling out with our family, and enjoying the new (huge!) deck my step dad built. Sunday was more of the same... grilling out, roasting in the sun, and falling asleep before midnight. Today we're wrapping up our visit with a delicious home cooked breakfast and then heading toward home. We plan on stopping by the farm where we're getting married to investigate some of the other barns, but we're looking forward to getting that long drive over with. It was the perfect weekend!
This dress is the Aryn K. one from my sixth Stitch Fix box (peep it here!) I was nervous that it wasn't going to work with my body but I kind of love it. Belting the top might seem a little weird, but it really makes the dress so much more flattering (on me at least). I just look like a blob if I don't cinch the waist (oh what a blogger thing to say!). The colors of this dress = the best. I decided to pair it with a darker shade of red. It seemed natural, almost like an ombre of sorts. I also wore my red MIA wedges to match. I'm telling you, these wedges are the most fantastic things EVER. (They're also on mega sale right now.. like 50% off!)
I haven't answered any emails or anything since being out of town, so I promise to get back to business starting tomorrow! There's not even any cellphone signal here. My texts haven't been sending out so I've been feeling cut off from the world (and it's sort of been awesome). Anyway, have a great Monday/holiday!

Aryn K. dress via Stitch Fix
Forever 21 belt
MIA wedges via Ideeli

PS: Ideeli is having a big sale today (dresses, shoes, bags, etc), and I noticed there are several ModCloth dresses going for $19 - $40! Here's an invite if you're interested!

Molly of ViviDot

Molly is the entreprenurial genius behind the oh so cute ViviDot line! Molly recently had her line picked up by the one and only ModCloth, so let's join in on giving her a big ol' congratulations! Enjoy her guest post today, then pop on over and see what she's all about!
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My husband, Duncan, and I got married just over 6 months ago in a neighborhood slightly south of Seattle called Georgetown. Not only did we fall in love with our wedding venue, but also all of the quirky and fun places nearby. On the top of that list is the always amazing Georgetown Trailer Park Mall. 
 A graveled side street is lined with eight vintage trailers stocked with locally made a rt, vintage and indie designer's clothing and accessories. Last time I wandered through I came home with a dainty milk glass vase, a super sized, embroidered rooster patch and a miniature handmade porcelain cow skull. How's that for variety!? 
Bring your dudes because this place ain't just for ladies. From camping and sporting gear to fifties era barware, your friends of the masculine persuasion will be excited to dig through all of the treasures too. 
The shop owners and friendly and ready to tell stories about their finds. They are usually cooking up something to eat and hanging with the other vendors as they allow shoppers to wander through their trailers and pick through their always changing inventory. 
If you're in the Seattle area on a Saturday I highly recommend making the trip to the Trailer Park Mall. There are a lot of tasty places to grab a bite to eat nearby too so you can make a day of it. I hope you enjoyed my little tour of a favorite weekend destination here in Seattle. Now if only I could get Kaelah to drive her cute little mobile boutique up to the Pacific Northwest.... hint, hint. 

If you're interested in finding out more about my company, Vivi Dot, I'd love for you to check out my online shop, blog, and tweets. Don't be a stranger though and make sure to say hi! 

Thanks for having me Kaelah!

Southern Peach

It's not very often that I go sans-cardi on the blog... or really in real life. Between feeling the need to cover up my tattoos a decent amount when living in Franklin (very stuffy/conservative ~small town) and not always being the biggest fan of my arms, cardigans were an easy and stylish alternative. The Nashville heat can sometimes make it hard to enjoy them comfortably, but I think most Tennesseans know to spend ample time indoors during the summer! Haha However, something the past few weeks has made me just say "Screw it!" and just rock the sleeveless/tights-less dress. It's not the most revolutionary thing, of course, but still a salute to loving myself as-is. There are so many more pertinent things to worry about -- like how I can't manage to shave my legs without nicking myself, as demonstrated in these photos! Or how I can't use my curling wand without burning the sweet bejeezus out of my hand. Those are kind of a big deal.
This dress is one of my all time favorites. It's from Dorothy Perkins. A sweet friend picked it up for me sometime last summer and sent it over from the UK. (DP has US shipping, but this was way cheaper) I love the illustrated fruit motif. The wedges are a much more recent purchase from last month via Ideeli. I picked them up for 50% off so I snagged them in red, too. They're so so comfortable and I've seriously worn them to death already. And this handbag is the Michael Kors Gansevoort bag Mike surprised me with when I graduated college. 
I didn't know it was a holiday weekend until last night when talking to my mom on the phone. I thought that was next weekend. No big deal less the fact that the bar is going to probably be so so dead. Everyone packs up and heads to the river (I don't blame them!). It's supposed to be like 97* all weekend so I'd rather be at the river, too! Instead, we're loading up our little family and heading down to my parents' house for the weekend. Grilling out, reading on the deck, hammock naps and pool time. I can't complain! I hope you're weekend is equally as enjoyable!

Dorothy Perkins dress