A bit of style mixing

So when it's summer in Texas, there is no 'layering' or 'accessorizing', or basically anything besides a tank top and shorts because it is 100 degrees on a cool day. Sometimes it is fun to mix styles though. This tank top is something that I would normally wear out on the town, or at night. 

On Sunday I got tired of my current routine of throwing on a shirt and some shorts, so I took this fancy tank out of my closet and paired it with some super casual shorts. It just makes the outfit something more than 'this is all I can stand to put on my body right now'.

Lexi

Bold colors

Having this blog has really forced me to expand my outfit choices and take chances I wouldn't have normally taken. The few times I've worn this skirt, I've paired it with a plain white tee. I'm not hating on the plain white tee, but this striped tank top just changes the whole vibe. I encourage you to pick things that you wouldn't normally put together, you may really like what you see!

Lexi

4 seconds to get ready

 So this is what happens when I wake up when I am supposed to be at work. 2 second outfit selection and 2 second hair do. Do you want to honestly know how I picked this outfit? This was the first shirt in my drawer so I put it on, and at the time I still had my mint green PJ shorts on, and I thought the shirt looked decent with the mint green shorts so I put on my mint green jeans. That is it.....

What is your go-to outfit?

Lexi

A stolen belt

So my friend Amber let me borrow this belt back in May, and I've worn it a billion times since then. I'm a horrible friend... I need to just give her this belt back and buy my own.. sorry Ambo!

Anyway, wearing a belt is a great way to add shape and make an outfit look more put together. This dress is cute, but it kinda looks sloppy without the belt.

Try throwing a belt around your favorite dress!

Lexi

Awkward and Awesome Thursday!

Awkward:

• Chloe will not stop eating figs. My dang neighbor has a fig tree in her backyard that is so big that it hangs into our yard and drops figs everywhere. Like seriously, I will let Chloe outside and she will run over to that corner of the backyard and inhale 20 rotten figs. Can you guess how those figs are treating her digestive system?? :( Talk about fatal blowout.
• I finally decided to rake up all the rotting figs and throw them away. 3 trash bags and 2 hands full of blisters later they were finally all picked up. Well the next day we had a downpour and what do you know, there were 50 new figs on the ground! Blerg.
• Jim and I decided to order to go food from La Madeline last night and when we got in the car to pick it up I forgot that I was wearing my pjs. You don't see people in pjs picking up to go food from La Madeline at 6:30 every day people!

Awesome:

• I'm engaged! Yea! It's crazy how much being engaged has already changed Jim and I's relationship in such a great way. Let's keep it up partner in crime!
• There's a new season of Bachelor Pad coming out soon.. I.am.so.excited!!!
• Our friends Ty and Liz got a Boxer puppy named Keeper a few weeks ago. Rocco's in love.

How are you awkward and awesome?

Lexi

Stripes and dots

Pattern mixing is still a new thing to me. It's still a foreign idea that requires me to go against my natural instinct which is to mix patterns with solids. I think it's a very fresh and fun trend though, and it can turn out really well! So I love pink and black together, and I've been seeing a lot of stripe and polka dot combos....put them together and boom, outfit!

In these photos I'm standing in the garden for the East Side Cafe, which grows some of it's own food. Austin is a pretty cool place.

Lexi

The proposal story

Ok so I should probably start at the very beginning, when we started going ring shopping in December 2011.  We decided to go to every ring store we could think of and try every style there. Umm I was a little overwhelmed, at first I thought I wanted an emerald cut, then I was sure I wanted a princess cut. Jim patiently let me try on every style I wanted to. 

It was very important to me that we buy a ring from somewhere that was trusted, and preferably local. Our last stop on the ring shopping train was Kruger's, a local company in downtown Austin. The salesman there was very patient and dealt with my indecisiveness as well as Jim did. I must have tried on every ring there. When I was done exhausting and confusing myself, Jim asked that I try on a round cut in a simple setting. It's amazing that the person you love could know exactly what you want before you even know you want it. All along I was convinced that I wanted something unique and uncommon, but as soon as I tried on the simple ring with a single round diamond, I knew. We both knew.

'Is there anything in my teeth?' Preparing to take a pic the day after we got engaged at Jim's dad's 4th of July party.

 About a month later my mom took me to lunch and told me that she had inherited a diamond ring from my grandmother when she passed away, and knew she wouldn't have much use for it. She told me that if I wanted, I could use this ring's center stone and put it in a new setting for my engagement ring when the time came.

The thought of wearing a family heirloom that had been passed down for so many generations made my heart swell. It had to be fate that Jim and I fell in love with a round cut diamond engagement ring, and the family ring that was just given to me had a round center stone. 

My mom gave us the ring and it stayed at our house until June 2012. By then, we had decided that we wanted to buy a setting from Kruger's, but still weren't sure about which setting to put the family diamond into. When we went back to Kruger's, we had the same salesman that we did in December, who made me forget I was ring shopping and made me feel at home. I picked the same setting I had originally picked back in December, and so we knew this was the setting for our ring. 

At Jim's dad's 4th of July party, the day after we got engaged.

 We were ready, so Jim gave the family ring to the salesman and they took my ring size for the new setting we picked out. I overheard the salesman tell Jim 'It will be ready to pick up on Friday'.

The week that the ring was being made was pretty surreal, we'd been talking about this ring for so long and now it was here. That Friday when Jim came home from work he said, "Lexi, I am just going to say that the ring is spectacular.".......thanks for reminding me....The next week and a half was the longest ever, I kept wondering when the heck Jim was going to propose!

It's all about the ring! ;)

 Every time we went out to eat I kept wondering if this was going to be it! I could have been more patient, but I had waited for so long already and it was killing me knowing that the ring was somewhere in the house! I finally sat Jim down and told him I was dying.. he was killing me making me wait....I said, "You know how you can burn an image on a tv screen if you leave the dvd menu on for too long? Well I have an image of this ring burned into my mind and all I can see is the ring! You're driving me crazy making me wait!". He told me to just wait....not what I wanted to hear.

Jim, my dad, and his dad.

After that second weekend came and went I figured I had to wait yet another week for the ring. I came home from work on Tuesday and Jim was already home, which is unusual. We were chit chatting for a little bit and then I started a load of laundry, I heard him go into the backyard so I followed him out there. He was sitting on the swing in our backyard and I was walking around playing with Rocco. After a few minutes I sat down next to him and we were just swinging for a few minutes.

Jim started telling me how much he loved me, and how much we've grown with each other and changed since we've known each other, and other sweet things. He got down on one knee and I immediately started sobbing, I was totally shocked. He asked me to marry him and I said yes.

My Great Great Aunt Hazel's diamond in the setting Jim and I picked out.

 The way he proposed was so perfect, at the home that we built for ourselves, under the tree in our backyard. 

Celebrating at The Grove, a restaurant in Austin.

Afterwards Jim told me how much he had been stressing about proposing, at least he was going just as crazy as I was. He said he was thinking of going on a helicopter ride over the city and doing it there...uhhh I'm glad he decided against that because I don't want to die in a fiery helicopter crash and wouldn't have gotten in that death trap. He said he had eventually decided to do it at the Zilker Clubhouse, a place in Austin that has an awesome view of downtown. The morning before he was planning on proposing he decided to do a trial run and drive to the clubhouse, but was met with chains and signs saying 'no trespassing'. So he had to scrap that idea and was now back to square one. He told me that when I came home from work that Tuesday, he just knew he had to propose that night, so he did. 

Anyway, that's the super long proposal story, and we couldn't be happier. In the 4 days I've been engaged I already feel such a bigger commitment to Jim.

Lexi 

Put a button up over it

I feel like this blog is turning into "Guess how old this article of clothing is?". I might as well accept this fact, so here we go! 

Guess how old this dress is! Now guess how many times I've worn it because it's too low cut for me.....

The solution: Put a button up over it!

Button up: Forever 21 Dress: Forever 21 (I'm assuming) Shoes: DSW

Earrings: stole from my mom

Flower sandals #2

Oh I also got engaged on July 3rd, the story of the engagement is coming soon!

Lexi

Every girl needs a pair of flower sandals

I love these sandals, they are so girly it's almost too much. Maybe it is too much for some girls, but hey I love them so they work for me. I've learned to stop asking myself "Can I pull this off?".... the answer should always be YES.

Top: Express Tank: Forever 21 Jeans: Hudson

Lovely earrings from Esty

Flower sandals: DSW

Lexi

Chili mac

 So one of the most comforting things I make is this chili mac, it's spicy and cheesy and oh so filling. This recipe makes enough to feed Jim and I at dinner, and has plenty of leftovers.

Ingredients: Lean ground turkey, elbow noodles, canned beans, canned diced tomatoes, onions, celery, a hot chili seasoning packet, a little bit of salsa, and some shredded cheese.

Step 1: Add a little olive oil to a large pot and add the onions, celery and ground turkey. Note: I only use half the package of turkey in this recipe, and save the other half for tacos or something else.

Step 2: Once the veggies are soft and the meat it cooked, add the seasoning packet, and the canned tomatoes (not drained). Drain and rinse the beans before adding them, and put a few scoops of salsa in there too.

Step 3: Add a few cups of water until it starts to look like chili. While the chili is simmering, cook the elbow noodles according to the bag instructions.

Step 4: Once the noodles are done, drain them. Put a layer of noddles in your bowl, followed by some chili, and then add a bunch of cheese on top.

Enjoy!

Lexi

New do

I got my hair cut and colored yesterday by my lovely friend Priscilla. Every time I see her she has a new style or color, and I wanted to try something different too so I got some side bangs. 

Top: Forever 21 Pants: Target Shoes: Sole Society

My shoes are from Sole Society, which is an awesome shoe website where all the shoes are $49 and new styles are added daily. I was able to use a coupon code thanks to another blog I follow, and the shipping is free!

I have been loving the colored jeans trend going on right now, and these mint jeans from Target were a great buy. Have I mentioned that I love Target???

Lexi