Style Yourself

I got a copy of Style Yourself this week and I'm really impressed! When I heard about this book I thought it might be like Style Diaries where it just featured outfits from various bloggers, but this book has a ton of information! It shows illustrations of different styles of all kinds of garments, from shorts, to skirts to dresses to shoes and so on, giving you names of the different styles so you can know what is being referred to when someone mentions a shift dress or a top with french darts, or a skirt with knife pleats. It's really a wonderful and easy reference, especially for someone who isn't that into fashion or has little knowledge of fashion terminology. There are hundreds of pages of examples of remixes, use of accessories, bloggers styling dresses, shorts, rocker tees, and so on. Plus, there are tips throughout by a bunch of bloggers such as Keiko Lynn, Rebecca, Rhiannon, Jennine and many more!

seasons come, seasons go

This week has been kind of odd. It's our slow week at camp, which means there's no camp session, but we have to do 10 hours of work at camp--various work projects and other stuff that needs to be taken care of. So I've been driving back and forth from camp to Tacoma, doing work and hanging out with Daniel. Thus, my wardrobe is a bit scattered and I'm sort of living out of my car, so a lot of remixing has been going on. Remixing is my favorite thing about the blogosphere. I love the fact that we get to see real wardrobes on blogs, and people wearing clothes over and over, but the styling being fresh and fun every time. It's not like magazines where you see one item styled one way and then you never see it again, and you certainly wouldn't see that same item styled over multiple seasons.

Dan and I love taking walks to our favorite coffee shops or taverns and I snapped the photo below on one of our walks this week. He looked too good with his shades, white shirt and cycling cap, I couldn't resist!

top/courtesy of stripedshirt.com :: skirt/vintage via delightful dozen :: shoes/courtesy of strut

I had to style this skirt again before sending it on to the next Delightful Dozen lady. I love the color and shape and it's super comfortable. It's times like this that I curse the fact that it's vintage because I want to go out and buy one for myself so I can keep it!

I'm pretty sure I got like 2 or 3 Where's Waldo references while wearing this shirt. When I put it on I feel like it's more nautical, but apparently everyone else looks at it and thinks Waldo. I guess I wasn't hiding well enough because everyone found me.

the right stuff

My mom came into town this past week for a couple days and we had a ton of fun! I haven't seen her since visiting home back in May, so it was great to catch up. It was so perfect that she ended up being in town on my off-week from camp. We met up in Tacoma and then drove down to Portland because she had to return something to the Ikea down there. We stayed overnight at a family friends' house and then drove back the next day. A quick trip but the drive down and back afforded us plenty of time to talk and catch up. Dan thinks it's pretty funny that my family is such a road tripping family. We're always driving here or there, making trips from place to place. It's definitely an activity my family enjoys a lot! Driving is actually one thing that I will do if I'm super stressed out or upset-- just get in my car and start driving, not even with a destination in mind. I love the sound of the engine and the road beneath my tires. It's very soothing and relaxing for me. I've always said that the inside of my car is the place that feels most like a sanctuary.

dress/dainty june via modcloth :: shoes/courtesy of darlingtonia moccassins

This is one of my favorite dresses of all time. If you remember almost a year ago I did a post on Dainty June's collection that I fell in love with. Well, a few months ago Modcloth had a mega sale and I snatched this beauty up for really cheap! I wore it a couple times and then on Dan's birthday I was making him dinner and I got oil splatters on it! Ack! I tried to get it out but I only made them slightly less noticeable. Oh well!

Hello folks! I'm currently accepting sponsors for August and beyond, so if you run a shop or blog that you feel like my readers would enjoy, sponsorship is a great way to gain exposure! Right now I've got ads available in all three sizes (large, small, & mini). If you'd like to test the waters of sponsorship, try a mini ad, which gives you a taste for sponsorship with a minimal financial investment! I'm excited for changes coming in August- moving back to Tacoma and finally having more time for blogging once summer camp is done, so hopefully it'll be an awesome month!

If you're interested, go ahead and click over to my sponsorship page for more information. You can also email me at delightfully-tacky@hotmail.com if you have any questions!

different names for the same thing

It's still weird seeing myself with brown hair. I think the weird part is that it's not really that weird. I see pictures of it red and it's like that was the longest dream ever. A year long ginger dream. I suppose in reality it was only a blink of an eye. I spent only 1/24th of my life as a ginger. I'll go back to red someday, I just adored having red hair. I have a lot of clothes that I've never worn with dark hair and it's interesting how having a different hair color changes the vibe of something. I put on one of my older dresses the other day and I realized that I very rarely wore it with red hair, but now that my hair is dark again I immediately grabbed it and put it on. This beige dress is one I'm pretty sure I've never worn with dark hair so it's interesting to see it with a different look!

dress/courtesy of modcloth :: shoes/fred meyer :: belt/Calico, CA tourist shop

window shopping

I haven't had any time to even think about new clothes, but I saw some new looks from Modcloth and I had to get my window-shopping on. I've also been wanting a new bag lately. I'm not much of a bag lady, I stick to one bag at a time. I'm not good at switching all my stuff from one back to another. I need a bag big enough to carry my computer, though, and easy to wear while biking, so it's not always easy to find something that fits those criteria. I'm loving these bags though!

all items via Modcloth

set 1 // set 2 // set 3

creature of habit

It's so strange to think about going back to the 'real world' when camp ends in August. I have zero plans and I'm completely unstressed about it. I don't even really have time to think about post-camp things, our days are totally packed! Someone asked me the other day if I felt like camp was going by slowly or quick. I couldn't even figure it out! It feels like a strange combination of both. I feel like looking back, it's gone by really quickly, but when I'm in the midst of it, the days seem to last forever.

skirt/vintage from Julie via Delightful Dozen :: favorites list top/courtesy of threadcase

shoes/courtesy of strut :: belt/target :: necklace/handmade

Every weekend when I go back to Tacoma for my 24hr break from camp I wear this top. For some reason I like to save it for my off time. It's just so light and airy and it makes me feel really pretty. I don't get to feel pretty too much during the week because I'm running around doing work projects with the high schoolers which usually involves doing stuff like painting, clearing trails, climbing into recycling bins to clean them out, and other activities which don't make one necessarily feel like getting done up and looking pretty. Dan laughed when he saw me on Friday because I waltzed into town wearing this top again, for probably the 3rd weekend in a row. What can I say, after wrangling high schoolers for a week, a girl just needs to let down her hair and feel a bit pretty.

oceanview

More Instax Mini pictures! I'm having a lot of fun with that little thing. Our off-week at camp just started so I'm catching up on a ton of stuff, including this blog! I'm so worn out at camp that I feel like I barely have time for blogging! I also have some blog designs I'm finishing up so I'll share those with you guys soon too. I hope your weekend is going well! It's absolutely gorgeous here in Tacoma!

The winner of the Ruche $25 Gift Certificate giveaway is ... Hope! Congrats!

Into the wild

Yesterday the high school leadership program (the program I co-lead) took an epic canoe trip in the Puget Sound! In the morning we all made up sack lunches, got all our gear together and had fun putting face-paint on and getting excited for the adventure ahead. We left around 10:30 - 11 am and headed out to a little island across water where we were going to eat lunch. It took us about an hour, maybe a bit more, to get there. The clouds cleared up a little bit and we had an awesome time exploring the little island, eating chips and sandwiches on the beach and enjoying the afternoon.

We left at 2 pm and after a little bit the wind and current started getting pretty strong and we were all getting separated. My boat was about halfway back to camp when we got stuck and were paddling for about 30 minutes without making any progress. There were two canoes behind us and we knew that they must not be making any progress either. We saw one of them head for the shore of the island closest to us and we decided to do the same. Two canoes powered through and made it all the way to shore after paddling for 2 and a half hours (amazing!). The rest of us had to be shuttled back to camp in the speedboat. It was such an awesome adventure! Those of us stranded on the island made a fire to keep warm and the last of us made it home by 7 pm. It was an unexpected turn of events but it was a really great experience! The highschoolers all ended up enjoying the trip and they bonded a lot through the hardship of working together to make it back to camp once the weather started to turn.

It helped me a lot too, because this role as a high school mentor has been a bit hard for me, just because I'm a more naturally shy person, so having a new group of people come each week makes it difficult for me to open up and feel natural with them. But in situations like the canoe trip I was so in my element. It drew on all my natural strengths and abilities and I felt like I was really able to be myself and it helped me open up with this new group! It was a perfect thing to happen. I had a blast!

the ultimate uniqueness of being

The other day I was in town for my day off and Dan and I were walking around and we ended up talking about how crazy it is that we even exist. Or that anyone you know exists. Because when you think about it, a person is created when one sperm makes contact with one egg and then the cell division starts going from there... but think about how many other sperm there were that could’ve gotten to that egg first. My parent’s firstborn could’ve been completely different if either a different sperm got to that egg first, or if a different egg was sitting there waiting to be fertilized. And then, take that back to you parents’ parents-- if they hadn’t “done it” right at the moment they did and some other person was created instead of the person who ended up being your mom/dad. It’s crazy!

I always like to think about how I am the only me that has ever and will ever exist. I am the only human being who will have this specific and unique combination of genes, environment, childhood and experiences... and so on. There has never been another me and there never will be. I can’t get over how cool that is. What is also cool is that your uniqueness is so necessary! Nobody else can be for the world what you can. I think we see this most strongly in famous people like Martin Luther King Jr. or Mother Teresa. How different would our world be if they hadn’t recognized the worth of their uniqueness and had chosen not to step up into the roles they did. On a much less global level, though, we all have such a unique impact on our surroundings and our relationships with others that only we can have.

jeans/levi's :: top/flight shop :: cardigan/forever21 :: shoes/minnetonka

To me, thinking this way makes it seem so silly to see others trying to “fit in” or trying to be just like someone else. Everything about a person is unique by nature, and yet we tend to strive to be just like everyone else, or at least what we perceive as what’s “accepted” or “popular.” I think this is why I dislike labels so much. When people pigeonhole someone else as being a prep, a hipster, a nerd, etc, they’re removing the unique attributes about that person and projecting their own preconceived notions upon them. While a person may dress and act a certain way which might make them fall into a group that can be described as preppy, that person is not “a prep,” they are a completely unique and amazing person. By labeling them, you’re stripping your experience of them and substituting your own biases and ideas.

What do you guys think about your uniqueness? I think it's one of the coolest things about being a person. If you want to share your thoughts or posts on the subject, link up below! I'd love to hear you guys lovin' up on your awesome uniqueness! (this is my first time using the linky thing so if it's not working, just be patient and I'll try to fix it!).

they say it's your birthday!

I made a little short movie from the video I took at my friend's son's 1st birthday, so I thought I'd share it with you guys. This little crazy man is running (er, crawling) around camp all summer with us because his mom and dad are the summer directors! What a great way to grow up eh? He's pretty much drowning in love and affection because the staff and campers adore him!

The growth zone

I realized that being at camp I'm around more people consistently than I have been since college or even before in high school. Usually I spend time around pretty small groups of people, or by myself, so being with a staff of 30 people plus 15-70ish campers all the time is a crazy shift for me! It's allowing me to grow though, I think. We talk a lot about being in our "growth zone" here at camp. If you imagine a bulls-eye type image your comfort zone is in the middle circle, where you tend to stay to keep from feeling too uncomfortable. Then there's your growth zone right outsize your comfort zone, and when you do things that cause you to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone you put yourself in your growth zone. By putting yourself in your growth zone a lot, you actually end up expanding your comfort zone because the more you grow your experiences, the more things become comfortable for you. Pretty cool eh? Outside of the growth zone is the "danger zone" where if you put yourself so far out of your comfort zone that you are in your danger zone, you actually end up making your comfort zone smaller because that dangerous experience makes you even more scared to venture out of your comfort zone.

Man, pretty much all that's on my brain these days is camp stuff! I hope it doesn't get too boring for you guys. I have a little over a month left of camp and then it's back to the "real world." I can't even think that far ahead! I'm living day by day, which is a pretty nice way to live, actually. I don't have to worry about paying rent or affording food because I can just live in the Brave and eat three square meals a day of delicious food at the dining hall. Sweet!

dress/forever 21 :: shoes/fred meyer :: belt/target :: hat/claires :: scarf/thrifted

I got these shoes on mega sale from the little girls' section! Haha. Apparently I am a size 2 in little girls shoes. Oh tiny feet. These shoes actually have velcro straps on them. I don't think I've had velcro shoes since I was legitimately a kid. These are pretty cute shoes for little girls shoes though, right? Usually girls shoes are too cutesy and over-the-top saccharine for me, but these little espadrilles are so nice and simple.