September 9, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Bohemian Girl Means Business

Sometimes there comes along an occasion that calls for something other than princess dresses and flowy caftans.

Sometimes.

Rarely.

Not often.

But it happens.

This particular occasion was my son’s Back To School Night at his school.

I did not want to be remembered as Bohemian Chick by his teachers. I wanted something more firm. Pulled together. Polished.

I have a silly demeanor. A child-like voice. It is easy to be dismissed with those two descriptive traits. Throw in a flowy garment and the unarguably potent power of threes will make any future interaction with school officials one-sided. In regards to people who have influence with my children, I like to make a good first impression since I am dealing with the aforementioned attributes.

This did not, however, mean my hair had to be tame, as well.

One of us was going to have a little fun.

And that is a-okay with me.

My husband would love it if I dressed in button down tops and pencil skirts every day. It is what I wore when I first met him. So, he has good memories of me dressing like this during the beginning of our relationship.

The top was a popback from Anthropologie called the Chambray Lace Buttondown (similar here). The skirt is a few years old. It was also from Anthropologie. It was called The Flounced Hem Skirt. The shoes were from my Modcloth Stylish Surprise package in the spring.

I used to love dressing up every day.

But that was for work.

And that wardrobe is no longer a part of my everyday life.

I can now have a little more play in my everyday.

Speaking of play. How neat is this scrabble ring from UPcycled Works on Etsy? I purchased it at the Del Mar Fair at her booth there. I have a “Q” as well. “Q” is my favorite letter to draw in Scrabble. The “C” is for my husband.

Do you enjoy dressing in multiple styles? Do you do it often? I have to admit it was fun to wear something like this for one night. It brought back many memories. Good ones. And good memories are always… Good.

*I had really wanted to get pictures in before we left for the event. However, the time of day was not the best for pictures. Sorry for the hazy quality. It is as if the sky had some wine, too.

August 18, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Winner of the 17th Blog Giveaway and August Cravings

Congratulations to Heather from the fabulous blog, The Peacock Fairy, winner of the $30 Amazon e-gift card! I hope you get something awesome! Thank you for entering, reading and for being you. I appreciate it! And thank you to everyone who entered. I just really cannot express in words or emotions (’cause you can’t see them) how much it means to me when you stop by and sit a bit. I love the connections I have made here. I cannot imagine my life without all of you.

It is August and with this sweltering summer month, comes back to school shopping. It was odd, because my daughter ended up shopping with my son, because apparently I do not know what the kids are wearing. If you still have some back to school shopping to do, I have some quick tips:

1. Anytime I am at the mall, I will go up to the information kiosk and ask if they are having a promotion. At our mall, they often do a promotion once a month or so. It is usually not advertised. You have to ask. I asked at the end of July and knew that between August 4-10, if I spent $200, I would get a $25 gift card to the mall. $400 or more would get me $40 (with two kids that is what I spent). So, I earned a gift card simply for doing something I had all ready planned on doing. I know our mall is not the only mall that does this, so be sure to ask in case your mall does promotions also.

2. Famous Footwear is where I always buy my kids’ back to school shoes. Their B1G1 1/2 off coupled with 20% off coupon is great. And because I am a reward member, that one shopping trip typically earns me a $20-25 reward in December which I always use to get one of the kids a free pair of shoes.

3. Staples is the place I go to for back to school supplies. Their door busters (you have to usually go on Sundays to not miss them) cannot be beat. It takes multiple trips, but the money saved is huge.

I think that is it. And now for my cravings. When I was at the mall, I stumbled upon the cutest boutique selling amazing clothes. Both of my children coerced me to go in to try on a skirt on the 70% off stand, because “it’s so you.”

“But we are here to shop for you.”

“But try it on! You cannot not try it on.”

Imagine those good and bad shopping devils on your shoulders from cartoons and now flick off the good one and replace it with another bad one. Those are my children in my ear when I am shopping. Except they are solid and real. And much louder.

So, of course I tried it on. And then I found a line of clothing that was just the coolest. It is called Luna Luz. Have you heard of it? The store was having a huge sale and I bought two dresses from the brand Luna Luz at a big discount. The kids made me. They made me get the skirt, too. Sigh. Needless to say that I am not buying anything else this month because I had also splurged on this dress. I still have my gift card waiting for The River Fade Dress if it hits sale any time soon. But unless something popsback for less than $20, I cannot buy anything.

But I can dream. Free People is killing it this season. I love almost everything in their new arrivals. Here are things I am watching:

The Anthropologie Azure Lace Dress tops my list right now. Although the petite size I had been wanting is now sold out, so it might never happen on sale for me. I reviewed it here, in case you missed it.

Free People’s Emma Love Tee is so good. I can see it paired with leggings and skinny jeans. A giant pendant and hair in two buns. I will probably snag this in September, because I love the look and the price.

Modcloth’s Out For The Day Dress is lovely in its simplicity. I can picture it being sweet with bare legs or black tights and boots. Or spiced up with some mustard or fun fuchsia tights this fall. I have a black dress almost exactly like this one, but this dress is a high craving for me.

Free People’s Dreamweaver Dress makes me want to skip through the streets as I swing my basket full of apothecary medicine towards the nearest village and clasp my dragon repellant in my other hand. It is perfect.

Okay, “dress” is not the right name for this item, at least not for me, but I love the berry color (I would hope it would translate well in real life). The sleeves are so adorable on The Arosa Dress, too. I am not sure how it would be worn as a top. It is definitely too short for me to be worn without pants. Petite girls would be amazing in this.

What are your cravings? If you have kids, are you done back to school shopping? Do you know if your mall offers promotions?

Also, I have fourteen outfit posts I have to get out soon. I took too many pictures. This is going to result in more outfit posts than usual in the next few weeks. Sometimes I might have to have two posts on a single day (only one will be an outfit post). I hope you do not mind. I want to clean out my summer backup before fall arrives.

*this post contains affiliate links. Clicking on a link will result in a small commission for ~~dragon repellant~~ this site.

July 25, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

The Beekeeper’s Daughter

I don’t really know what a beekeeper’s daughter looks like in a picture formed in one’s head. Is there a crown of bees involved? Is there a white jumpsuit? A veil?

Well, whichever it is I am sure I do not usually look the part.

Except today.

Today I went full out with the theme.

But hopefully not in an over-the-top way.

I just really love this Modcloth Twofer Honey Dress. I waited for this to hit sale and was ecstatic when it did.

I decided to pair it with some booties. Close-toed shoes are a must in Imaginary Bee Land.

The honeycomb crochet on this top is just really neat. I love the yellow color paired with the grey. I think it looks modernly bohemian. The complaints about this dress were the sides stick out underneath your arms. This does not bother me at all. I do not walk around with my arms above my head, but I wanted to show you what the reviews meant. You can see it in this picture.

These honeycomb earrings are also from Modcloth. I own a very similar pair from Anthropologie last year. The two pairs of earrings are different because one has a slightly larger honeycomb weave than the other.

This is ~~not~~ important.

Do you know I have only been stung twice by a bee? I find this kind of miraculous having grown up surrounded by them. It just proves that they really are peaceful creatures. That, and the fact that honeybees die when they sting you. : (

You should see my dad with a honeybee. It is like watching a bee whisperer. He lets them crawl on his huge rough hands and soothes them with his voice. Sometimes he will bring them to his mouth (don’t do this!) and breathe hot air on them if they are too cold to fly. It is amazing and something I never tire of seeing.

This bee wrap bracelet is the coolest. I purchased mine for $10 from Nordstrom Rack a few months ago and I cannot find a similar one online. My grandma used to collect bee jewelry and ever since she passed away, I have felt a need to continue her tradition.

I also made waves in my hair using a wave iron I purchased last week (more on this soon. I do not want to link to it until I am absolutely sure I will recommend it. So far I love it, but I want to play with it some more to be certain). I used to wear waves in my hair all of the time a few years ago and then I lost my wave iron and my hair remained wave free for too long.

In Imaginary Bee Land, beekeeper’s daughters always have wavy hair.

It is a fact.

Trust me.

I know.

I invented the place.

Do you ever make a theme for your clothes? Have a story in your head for a particular outfit? Please tell me I am not the only one.

P.S. * I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!

*This post contains affiliate links. Purchasing an item from a link on this post will result in ~~more fodder for Imaginary Bee Land~~ a small commission for this site.

July 17, 2014 by gn0mel0ver

Winner of the 16th Blog Giveaway and Cravings

Congratulations to Brynne Poore for winning the $50 Modcloth Gift Card! I am so excited for you. I cannot wait to hear what you get. : ). And thank you to everyone who entered! I really appreciate it. When I thought of the silly question about honey, I wondered what people would say. There were so many interesting responses. It ended up being my favorite question and answer for a giveaway and each answer made my day. I especially loved Sarah’s answer. It made me smile.

On Tuesday I visited my daddy’s bee farm. It was such a relaxing and fun day. The kids rode on his ATV and shot their bb guns that he bought them for Christmas. We made Honey Vanilla Ice Cream. I made Beef Stroganoff for dinner so he would have plenty of leftovers for the next few nights. And the night before we were going, I woke up giddy. I told my husband, “Honey! I could do some outfit photos there!” And we did! A lot of them. I cannot wait to post them, but I am behind. As always.

The only bad part of the day was that I discovered I am a terrible shot.

I told my husband on the ride home, “Honey, I’ve always had that. I always knew that I am not a tough chick, but I could shoot a gun.” Don’t ask me why I thought this, because I had never shot a gun before. But I was convinced that I would be amazing at it.

He laughed.

But now that dream is crushed. And I am seriously more worried in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

For my birthday, I received so many Anthropologie Gift Cards (which is awesome!). I also received a Free People gift card but I promptly used it on this and this. I am hoarding the Anthropologie ones for a good sale price on most things. But that does not prevent me from lusting after a few pretties. Here are my cravings for July:

Anthropologie’s Daisy Dot Dress. It is a great silhouette. I wish there were reviews on it, but as of this writing, I do not see any.

If Anthropologie’s Solana Dress had sleeves, I would consider it a full priced purchase, but alas, it does not. I love the pink color and the shape of this.

After Tuesday’s post, I have been searching for some decent slips with pretty hems. I love Modcloth’s Can’t Stop Dancing Half Slip.

And Modcloth’s Give Me Gracefulness Full Slip in grey. I don’t think you can have too many slips. I love this tulle.

Finally, I had a dream that I owned the Midland Button Cuff. I think that is a sign. Do you think David Beckham would like it?

What are you craving this month? Have you all ready splurged? Please share!

*this post contains affiliate links. Clicking on a link may result in a small commission for this blog.

Gnome Lover

Stumbling through life while still having fun

modcloth

Bohemian Girl Means Business

The Beekeeper’s Daughter

Winner of the 16th Blog Giveaway and Cravings