into the spring...

In April the search for the perfect Brave took another turn. I found a Winnebago that I nearly bought, but it wasn't the right one. Too much fixing up to do, which I didn't have a budget for and it ended up being an Indian, not a Brave. It was hard to let that one go, but it was a good move. I started getting used to my new red hair and the snow slowly started melting away. I also worked a ton and played hockey!

I bought the Brave! I started working on it and mentally preparing to leave on my trip in September. I also drove up to Talkeetna a lot to hang out with my friends who came up for the summer, which was great since I didn't have many friends in town. I was thrilled to be named ModCloth's Blogger of the Moment, and styled up my namesake dress!

In June I got to fly down to L.A. to do a photo shoot with RevolveClothing.com, which was a really fun experience. It was only a couple days, but I had a blast and it was really cool to see the finished product. My Dad, brothers, and I drove out to Prince William Sound and went on a little two day boating adventure and I got to stand on an iceberg! I worked more on the Brave and took her out for a test run!

If you missed it, here's my Jan/Feb/Mar recap...

New Years Sale on Brave Prints!

Hey guys! Head over to my etsy shop to take advantage of my New Years Eve sale on my Brave Prints! I've still got some left on both the white and cream paper!

Etsy elcamino70

third time's the charm

Yes, I'm wearing this dress again. I promise I've worn different things this week! I just have been enjoying styling this up differently, and it's so damn comfortable. It's basically like wearing pajamas-- that comfortable.

The other day I helped my mom go through her closet to try and get her to revamp her life. She is very cute and small and keeps thinking she can't wear certain things or says that they are too small to wear anymore, and I'm like, "No! Not true!" Anyway, this cardigan thing is from her closet. It's really comfy. I borrowed it under the pretense that I'm "showing her how to style it." Not really, I just borrowed it and am pretending that's the reason. Haha!

The hat is something I've wanted for a long time. I love hats and I want to acquire a lot more. I've wanted a wide brimmed floppy-ish hat for over a year and I finally thrifted one! Oh, and you'll probably notice my mane is a smidge more tame than usual. I had to trim my bangs, which meant straightening them, so I just decided to straighten everything. Typically I dislike seeing my hair straight but I liked it this time! Maybe I'll straighten it a bit more in 2011. I think I like my hair straight better as a redhead than when I would straighten it with my natural color. Not sure why!

autumn ambiance dress/courtesy of modcloth :: cardigan/mom's :: hat/thrifted

tights & boots/target :: necklace/handmade

I made cupcakes last night for the first time ever! I got a bug in my brain about it and then in the late afternoon, I just put down the book I was reading, searched out a recipe in my mom's plethora of cookbooks, and started baking my heart out! I made two dozen of the most incredible cupcakes I've ever tasted. I know that sounds like I'm tooting my own horn, but I was seriously blown away! From scratch too! I was impressed with myself. I made icing from scratch too. Go me! Unfortunately I made them in a whirl of impulsiveness so I didn't take any photos. I'll definitely be making more in the future though! Now I have a fridge full of cupcakes and I'm certainly not going to eat them all..

My lovely sponsor What's Up Irony is offering any piece of jewelry in her shop for this giveaway! She makes these beautiful, unique pieces that are cute and feminine with a vintage, rustic vibe. To enter just leave a comment on this post letting me know which item from her shop you'd pick if you win + a way for me to contact you if you're drawn as the winner. Open to international entries. One entry per person. The giveaway will be open for entries until Saturday, January 1 at 9pm PST.

If you'd like to check out more of What's Up Irony, take a jaunt over to these links: facebook // etsy // twitter

The amazing Emily from The Morose Bee sent me this adorable Winne ornament for Christmas! Isn't it cute? I was going to get a shot of it on our tree, but it got taken down yesterday afternoon. She has more handmade ornaments at her shop (though I have the only Winne one!), plus tons of cute jewelry and hair accessories. Plus, for my readers, she's offered 15% off your entire order at The Morose Bee during December using the code TACKYBEE at checkout!

put a ring on it

In my last post I wore my Grandma's high school ring from 1943, and it got me thinking about vintage rings. I found Erica Weiner's shop looking for Herkimer Diamond rings, and discovered that she has a bunch of really incredible vintage rings. Vintage rings are far and away my favorite ones, I just love the sense of artistry that jewelers used to have. There are some rings nowadays that will catch my eye, but vintage rings will always be my favorite.

I have a ring almost identical to this first diamond ring. It was my great great aunt/grandmother's (we're not sure who it belonged to), and it's one of my favorite rings. I like that they build up the silver decoratively around the stone. I absolutely loathe the boring solitaire diamond rings that are ubiquitous these days. Like... a blank band with the stone awkwardly sticking out into space? I don't get it. It makes my eyes hurt. Haha. I suppose someone could see these vintage rings as being tacky and gaudy, but hey, I know what I like! Erica Weiner has the most gorgeous collection of these vintage rings, I was thrilled to find her site! (click through the photo to check out the ring at her shop!)

The reason I stumbled across her site in the first place was because I was searching for Herkimer Diamond rings. On my family's cross country RV trip in 2007, we stopped for a night in Herkimer, New York, where Herkimer Diamonds are mined. A Herkimer Diamond is really just a quartz stone, but I love them nonetheless (plus, it's cheaper to have a thing for Herkimer diamonds than the real ones). You can go to Herkimer and mine them yourself at this little place that gives you a hammer and a sack and lets you crack away at rocks in the quarry looking for your own "diamonds." It's one of my favorite memories from that trip.

Erica's shop also has amazing bracelets, necklaces, and earrings which are worth taking a look at. I love how unique the jewelry is. They have a shop in New York City at 173 Elizabeth Street, if any of you are New Yorkers and interested in checking it out!

thirty years

Thirty years ago today my parents were married in a little Chapel in Juneau, Alaska. Thirty years together kind of blows my mind. Not only have I never been in a relationship lasting over a year and a half, but 30 years is more years than I've even been alive! Amazing. I have always adored these photos of their wedding. I love my Mom's dress and the ethereal snowy scenery. I always love vintage family photos and these ones are some of my favorite that we have.

Congrats, Mom & Dad!

sunset in the afternoon

So, I seriously packed horribly for this trip. Nothing I packed goes together and it's all super impractical. I was not at all in the mood to pack when I was throwing clothes in my suitcase, and consequently I've been completely uninspired to do outfit posts here. Oh, and temperatures have been hovering around zero degrees fahrenheit, which also makes me less inclined to want to go outside and fidget with my tripod for 15 minutes. It's kind of a bummer because we've been having the most beautiful weather here. Sunny every day and just lovely, crisp, Alaskan winter days. Anyway, luckily I had bagged up a bunch of old clothes I wasn't going to take with me on my Brave trip and had told my mom to just give them to charity or a thrift store, but she forgot and it was left in my room. So I've been sifting through those old clothes trying to concoct outfits using that old stuff, and this is one such outfit.

blazer/thrifted :: shorts/from an old roommate :: top/scrapbook :: scarf/hand-me-down

tights/target :: boots/my old riding boots :: ring/grandma's high school ring

My mom gave me this ring for Christmas. My Grampa gave it to her when she was at his house for Thanksgiving, it's my Grandma's high school class ring from 1943. Isn't it cool? I adore vintage rings. Rings are actually one of the few pieces of jewelry that I like wearing. I don't have pierced ears so I don't wear earrings, bracelets kind of bug me (for some reason things around my wrist drive me nuts, even long sleeve shirt cuffs! I always push up my long sleeves), and I always forget to put on necklaces. Rings are one thing that I will frequently remember to put on in the morning, or I just keep them on for days.

My mom and I went out for a girls mani-pedi day last week and I ended up getting acrylics because I've gotten back into the habit of biting my nails. It started when I was driving through Oklahoma and the wind was buffeting the Winne really hard, I just started getting frustrated and began chewing my nails. Back in elementary and high school I chewed my nails all the time and I finally got rid of the habit in college. So, these acrylics are in the hopes that I'll be able to grow them out long enough under the protection of the acrylics that when I remove them, I'll have long enough real nails! It's fun having long nails again! I forgot that I can't play guitar very well, though. They're nice for my strumming hand, but terrible when I'm trying to make chords! Damn.

one year.

I've never done a sort of recap of my year, but 2010 was a good year, so I thought I'd do one this time! I'll do three months at a time so I don't completely overload you guys with life recap, haha. It's amazing to look back at the past year and think about all that has happened. SO much occurred in 2010, and so much GOOD happened. 2009 was a very hard year for me, and I'm incredibly thankful at how amazing 2010 has been. I'm very excited about the near and distant future. I can't wait to see what it holds!

In January I was still planning on moving to San Francisco for grad school at the Academy of Art University, but by the end of the month I had decided that it wasn't financially viable, so I ended up taking classes online instead. I quit my job at the boutique I was working at doing visual merchandising and started thinking about the Brave trip as being an actual option. I also came up with the idea for what would become the Delightful Dozen and contacted a bunch of my favorite bloggers to see if they'd be interested!

February was an eventful month. In February we introduced the Delightful Dozen! I went to New York Fashion week for the first time and met so many wonderful bloggers! I met Rebecca from The Clothes Horse, Tieka from Selective Potential, Erin from Calivintage, Jen from Jen Loves Kev, Julie from Orchid Grey, and so many more. We had an amazing time at a girl's night out party, went to the first Chictopia10 conference and the IFB Evolving Influence conference. I also got to go to a show in the Tents at Bryant Park, which was an amazing experience! When I got home I got a brand new job as a graphic designer at a screenprinting/embroidery place. I also reached a place in my emotional healing process where I shared with you guys about the pain of my break up with James, which was a great point to finally be able to reach!

Not too much happened in March. I worked a whole lot and went on a family vacation to Hawaii for Spring Break. I also came to the realization that I didn't like "fashion" and started feeling like my online grad program was not such a good idea after all. I broke my tripod and lens (simultaneously) this month also! So, from March on, all my photos were in landscape orientation rather than portrait! Haha. Oh, and at the end of the Month I dyed my hair red!

Well, there's what happened in the first three months of 2010. More recaps coming as we reach the end of 2010!

the one less traveled by

Holga photos taken at various points on my trip. More later...