bicycle, biiiicycle

When I spotted this infographic of places in the US where people bike to work, I didn't expect to see anything for Texarkana (least bike-friendly place ever! No sidewalks for walking even!) - but I still had to say something about it because... Look at Shreveport!  Small circle but at least they made the map.

You go, Port City.

Read the full study here.

bit of color

After seeing these black-tipped nails (from Thakoon's runway look) in the October issue of Elle, I decided to give them a try myself.

Prognosis: pretty cute!
It's easy for your black part (or whatever color you choose) to get a little bigger and a little bigger as you go over it to try and get it even, so beware of that. I used a nail art pen (Sally Hansen from Walmart) and I didn't do a topcoat on my left hand cause I was waiting until I did my right (full disclosure: I was going to talk my husband into it when he got home from work, ha!). Anyway, I washed my hands or did dishes or something and the black washed off! What?! So beware of that, topcoat it as soon as you get it right!!

I also like these where the black is straight accross. 

And this take on a french where you leave your "moons" au naturel.

arrows arrows everywhere

Is it Hunger Games or Moonrise Kingdom that's helped arrows to shoot up in popularity? (See what I did there...)

Either way, here are a few favorite pointers on my radar.

clockwise from top:

tote bag

craft paper print

sweet cushion cover

ups & downs black & white print

bright cell phone case

makeup pouch (cute gift!)

travel mug

 onesie for your hippest baby friend

fun-colored enamel ring

a t-shirt for the dudes

a shirtdress i'm thinking of getting!

I also like this necklace AND...

you can download these arrow brushes to use in Photoshop (see mine in hot pink above?) for free from Creature Comforts blog.

street style: hi-low Kristen

Name: Kristen
Fave blogs: Dooce and Dear Baby

"I find inspiration in everyday life. It may be a magazine spread, a commercial, a group of girls at Starbucks or someone in my own office - yes Jacquelle, I mean you!"

"Style is personal, like a fingerprint. No two people have the same style. It may be similar, but there will always be subtle differences that make each person unique."

hi-low hem dress: Target

heels: Steve Madden via DSW

necklace: Etsy

7 things...

1. Ponte pencil skirts!  You would be surprised at how flattering these can be on a variety of people. Normally I'm into greys and olives for fall, but this year I've been attracted to navy, red & mustard the most. And royal blue.
2. Chartreuse cords
3. A blousy tunic with an arrow print
4. Polka dot jeggings
5. This dress is soooo Joan Holloway
6. A 3-quarter sleeve sweatshirt seems pretty boring, but you'd be surprised how many ways this would look cute! I want it.
7. Printed pants. I hate that my photoshopping cut these off, they are a cropped sort of cigarette pant. Would be really great with a chunky knit or a peplum top. I would even make em work with that sweatshirt!

*All items spotted at Target in Texarkana

soundtrack appreciation

Do you ever see a preview and the music is just so perfect that you're really moved by it and you know you HAVE to see the movie?

That's how i feel about this preview (trailer?) for Being Flynn, with Robert DeNiro and Paul Dano. The song that does it for me is Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes. I can't find the shorter version that I originally saw, but here is the full length preview:



Julianne Moore! Olivia Thirlby! I haven't seen it yet but it's on my list.


PS- Another preview where the music really hits the mark. (So much that I bought that Muse song at the end)

family photo shoots

A friend and I were talking recently about family photo shoots and what she and her family should wear for their upcoming photos. I'm personally not a fan of the "everyone-in-jeans/khakis-and-white-shirts" look, so my advice to her was to pick a couple of colors that can sort of tie everyone together without looking like they are supposed to match match.

Here's how I might pick two colors and then let the rest of the outfit just be whatever...

Dad's elbow patch sweater - J Crew
Mom's 1/2 sleeve striped shirt - Boden
A navy polka-dot blouse for sister - Zara
Plaid button up for brother - Zara


One of my favorite family photographers actually tells her clients NOT to wear anything special, just to wear their normal clothes, and I love the way her photos turn out. The other unique thing about them is that she doesn't put people in traditional pose situations but instead lets the pictures be more environmentally natural. 

  All above images come from Tara Whitney.

See what I mean?  Really gorgeous and natural.
How do you do family photos? Matching, posed, spontaneous, random outfits?


side note: painterly graphic effects used in my montage above came from Creature Comforts blog, a freebie!

ombre hair

On my radar: Ombre hairstyles for fall. 

You may associate this sunlightened trend with summer, but bypassing blonde for shades of brown and auburn keeps it going through autumn. 

Sources from the top, left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

ordering glasses online

I recently bought these (prescription) sunglasses online from Lookmatic (got em with a Fab.com coupon for $48!) and thought I would share a little about my experience in case anyone is thinking about ordering frames online but feeling not so sure.

I remember the first time I told my eye doctor I was going to get some glasses online, he laughed at me. (My first pair were from Zenni Optical, you will never find anything cheaper!)  Fast forward 5 or 6 years and I'm still buying my glasses online, and am perfectly satisfied with them.

I'm sure what the doc found laughable was the fact that glasses need to be tried on to fit properly. There are a bunch of sites out there that sell them online nowadays, and they address that problem a couple of ways - with virtual try-on, where you can upload your picture and see the frames on you, or my favorite option, at-home try on. 

My eyeglasses are from Warby Parker, probably my favorite online retailer for glasses, and I picked out five pairs to have sent to my house so I could try them on before I settled on these.

 Don't you love that box?! A label is provided for return shipping - sooo handy. 

Both of my current pairs fit fine out of the box, but I'm sure if you need additional tweaks you can always take them into your local optical shop. (Just make sure your doctor measures your pupillary distance and gives you that number along with your rx for each eye! You need that to order online.)

What do you think, weird or awesome? Is the money savings worth it or do you prefer to buy from a brick-and-mortar glasses shop?


PS- Here's where I may try my next pair from!

Street Style: Downtown Katie

Name: Katie
Favorite website: Fab.com
Style icons: Zooey Deschanel, Emma Watson

 "My style is definitely comfy casual. I get to be casual for my job, so dressing up for the occasional date night with my husband is fun."

tank: Vertigo
shorts: Target
sandals: Roxy
purse: Target
necklace: F21

7 things: geometric prints

You don't have to be a geek to appreciate the clean, sharp lines in these fun geometric-inspired objects.

Wear: 2, 5 or 6

Decorate: 4 or 7

Communicate: 1 or 3

- For those that like more subtlety in a throw pillow,
the same Etsy shop also has this sweet geometric thread pillow.
- Looking to literally wear this trend on your shirt?
- Did you know you could get your own custom tribal-print Toms?

fashion uniform

A few days ago I was at TJ Maxx, trolling the racks like I do, oh, once a week. I made a few selections and was headed into the dressing room and as I passed by the gatekeeper employee she said, "You must love stripes."   I looked down at what I had, three very different but all very striped tops (see below). Oh. 

I hadn't even realized I'd only chosen striped things. When I got into the dressing room and looked in the mirror, here's what I saw...

...not only was I already wearing a striped shirt, I was also wearing STRIPED SHOES. Gulp.


So when I got home I went to my closet and got to counting... and stopped when I reached 30. That was just shirts and cardigans. No sweaters, no dresses... Basically, I have a stripe problem. I guess maybe stripes are my uniform?

What about you?  My friend Katie and I recently discussed her favored dress shape, tank up top with an empire waist and full-skirted bottom.  Do you have a go-to color or pattern or cut that you always wear?

(I ended up buying the tank on the right but not the other two. I felt like I already had something like the white shirt - and rightly so - and the flounce on the tank top wasn't flattering to my post-baby torso)

PS- Further confession: I bought this
last week in, you guessed it, the black & white stripes. Send help.

Love this: Stately Sandwiches

I came across this project a few weeks ago on a blog (eep! I don't remember which one!) and LOVE IT! A sandwich for each of the 50 states!

Basically the girl behind it, Kelly Pratt, loves to eat sandwiches and decided to make a sandwich to honor each state to, as she puts it on her website, "work on my photography and design skills." Creative, if you ask me!

As you can see, her images are great. Along with each one she includes a little bit of background on how she came up with the specific sandwich for each state and then there are snapshots of the preparation and she and her friends enjoying the food. It's interesting to read about some of the other sandwiches that I have never even heard of (um, hello, fluffernutter - which even has a song?!).

My initial thought for Louisiana was "po'boy!," but I think she made a wiser decision with the muffaletta. And of course for Texas, barbecue.

Pratt has not yet conquered Arkansas, what do you think?  Any Arkansas-ians want to chime in with an idea for a state sandwich?

(The California looks yummy to me, although I never knew such a sandwich to have that name...)

One store

I have Pinterest to thank for this week's inexpensive online shopping find - She Inside. I can't speak on the quality yet, I've only just ordered this dress from there, but with these prices I'm not expecting it to last a lifetime. Each of these picks costs less than $37. The necklace is $14!

Left to right, top to bottom:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 

(See past online shopping recommendations here.)

Shop it: Vertigo

Another day, another Shreveport shopping trip . No big deal (yawwwwwn).  

Not really, but I was in the Port not long ago and did get a little extra time to pop into the store Vertigo with a friend. I was pleasantly surprised at how cute it was! (I dunno why, but the store name conjured images of clothing that I will leave undescribed for propriety.)

Pricing was similar to it's neighboring store in the Shoppes at Bellmead, Altar'D State, maybe like $28+ for shirts and $40+ for dresses. Ish. Lots of cute tops, shorts, dresses and they have shoes and accessories.

They even had the BC sandals I had on my summer wishlist, fate!

Where: Vertigo, The Shoppes at Bellmead on Youree, Shreveport
What: Women's clothes, shoes, accessories

stately gifts: littles edition

Some sweet gifts for your favorite Arklatex baby...

AR:  Of course there's more to Arkansas than just Razorbacks football, but that doesn't make this hat any less cute

LA:  This shop has so much cute Louisiana stuff, it was hard to pick one item to feature. But I really like this shirt, which they offer in baby and kids' sizes

TX:  I fell in love with the products of Little Sapling Toys when we bought their personalized rattle for our baby's first Christmas. We recently bought the Texas teether for a new little family member and it is just as sweet. (Next I want some of their wooden blocks!)

nails nails nails

If you told me five years ago that I would be into nail art I would have laughed in your face and said, "Taaaa-ckyy."  But here I am. Totally into it when executed correctly and worn with the right look.  Here's a little peek at one of my latest attempts at fun/ky nails:

Inspired by these nails I saw on Pinterest, I decided to try my own take on them.You can see what polishes I used and basically how I did it in the pictures above.

result:  meh, i didn't love them

I think they would have been better with glitter on top, like the inspiration nails had, but I have an aversion to glitter because it's so freakin hard to remove! 

What do you think? Do you use glitter polish, and if so what is the secret to getting it off?

Are you an Ark-La-Tex-ian that likes to DIY? Send pictures of your project along with a brief explanation or link to your blog to arklatexfashion(at)gmail(dot)com, and you could be featured here!

Eat it: Ganache cupcakes

Have you gotten on the cupcake craze bandwagon? I've been a lover of cupcakes for a while, I was the go-to cupcake bringer for work potlucks years ago. So now that cupcakes have hit the mainstream, I'm basically a professional cupcake taster.

Last week my husband picked up four different flavors for us to sample from Ganache in Tyler. We had never been there before, but their website says that in addition to cupcakes they do cake pops, cookies, pastries, breads and even dog treats(!). They also have gluten free offerings, if that's your thing, and possibly the greatest thing a bakery could offer... happy hour! Wish we lived in Tyler so I could pop by...

 

















 


I really thought the german chocolate would be my favorite, that's what I was most excited to try, but surprisingly it was the vanilla. The cake was really dense and had a little bit of an almost saltiness to it that was really good.

We got these on the day before the 4th, so that's what's up with the festive decoration. My husband's favorite was the german chocolate, ha, so it must be yummy. Next time we will have to try the salted caramel.  Or snickerdoodle... or lava...

We definitely enjoyed the experience and their packaging worked great for traveling with cupcakes, but I have to say our favorite cupcakes are still from Buttercups in Shreveport. They are sooooooo goooood.

Do you have a favorite cupcake place we need to try?  What flavors do you like best?  Would love to hear...

Friday favorites

A few things that struck my fancy this week/today...

When I was pregnant my husband and I went out for cheeseburgers every Friday night, so  this burger art roundup has a special place in my heart today. (The one made of fibers - knitted? crocheted? I dunno - is the funniest!)

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Really like the cozy living room of this family featured in WNC Magazine which I came across on Darling Dexter, who photographed the home. I think I spy an Ikea couch. And I definitely found the mix of art, photos, and small plates on the wall Pin-worthy!

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If my budget were endless I would be wearing this native birds dress from Anthro. You know, just around this weekend :)

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 I really love the mix of antique-y items in this woodland-themed baby girl's room, so sweet! One of my friends is pregnant right now and I'm secretly hoping it's a girl. 

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This is my jam of the week. Love. Discovered through my little brother.



...and hear brother's favorite which is equally fantastic here. 

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And finally, this is random, but do you read Nat the Fat Rat?  If not, you should.

7 things: sticky notes

(or maybe it's 6 things.. watch your mouth!)

I reallllllly love office supplies. Like, for real. I aleady own way too many notepads and sticky pads, but here are a few that I still have on my list.

1.  Funny notes from an Etsy shop that has many more funny selections
2. Pie charts for the inner geek
3. The cutest sunshower stickies you'll ever see
4. Freudian slips
5. Blast from the past floppy disk stickies (I always wondered why they were called floppy disks even though they are rigid. Remember the bigger ones that were floppy?)
6. I'm soooo tempted to order this variety book, reminds me of washi tape!

see also: the 7th triangle stickies I somehow left out that make this 7 things, and 10 post-it note works of art.

3 shops

Today still feels like Monday to me. If you're feeling the same you might do what I do when I feel blah... shop online!

Here are 3 online stores you may not know about that you should probably add to your browsing rotation.

Ruche - shop it here
Romper that isn't booty shorts on bottom!
Blue summer tank that would look cute with jeans or shorts
A green dress that did not look neon on their site or when I was messing with it earlier... hmmm...

Spotted Moth - shop it here
Bright blossom blouse (say that three times fast)
This triangle scarf is cute & all their accessories are reasonably priced
Really loving the color of this royal blue blouse right now

Dorothy Perkins - shop it here
Blue trousers - there's that color again
If you know me then you know that I collect horsey clothes, this carousel horse blouse sure would be a nice addition
Remember when I mentioned I was looking for a midi skirt? This one is perfect!

stately gifts

For the Arkansas lover: I heart AR cropped tee from Shop ELL.  (Also has tanks and map tees!)

For the Louisianan: state shaped cutting board from AHeirloom for serving cheese with wine or a charcuterie plate... or just using as a cutting board if that's how you get down.

For the Texas enthusiast: a framed Texas cross-stitch from Bombastitch, out of Austin, to display on the wall.

the color run

How fun does this 5k that's traveling the country, the Color Run look?

Runners start off in white shirts...

And get covered in colored powder along the way...

 

So at the end you are a sweaty but colorful mess! 

Fun! It's like a badge of honor for having completed the race, to have all the colors on you. Reminds me of the Festival of Colors celebrated in India.

Registration is sold out in New Orleans for this year and the race has already been through Texas, but will be back in Dallas in February of 2013. Sure would be fun to take a road trip and do it with some friends...

(all images from The Color Run site. spotted on Ampersand Design Studio blog.) 

holiday humpday

Thought we would commemorate the holiday with this patriotic infographic, designed by my friend Traci Pitman.

Traci is a graphic designer (that IS available for hire, folks) here in Texarkana.

You can check out some more of Traci's for-fun designs here and her professional work here.

Have a safe & happy Fourth of July week!

Monday inspiration

It's kind of a dreary day out there, don't let it get you down!

Source: foxontherun.tumblr.com via Dani on Pinterest

Have a pinteresting weekend

What I'm pinning for summer... 


A summer hair solution and enjoying an ice cream cone while wearing a bright summer dress.


A really sweet garland for a summertime kids' party and a neon DIY to keep you cool inside a la Martha.


Summer tastes like fruit-filled sangria and what a fun way to package a summer gift or display flowers, paintbrushes, etc. 


(links go to Pinterest where you can see original source:)

i love tiny cities

I saw this on the Shreveport Blog (Trudeau's) and had to mention it!
This guy on Flickr, Russian Sam (who is actually a Russian named Ilia Shvetsov), builds models of cities out of paper, and he made one of Shreveport. It really is pretty amazing, check it...



Here's a birdseye view of my old building - 


And how cute is the bus station?!


This is the one that's going to really blow your mind, look how small the entire model is!


Crazy how he was able to incorporate so much detail - like the Regions logo, yowza.  He's also done Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Midland (maybe a GW fan?). Check him out.

7 things...

1. neon-tipped sandals
2. lace tops with bright detailing
3. a delicate-but-not-too tiered tank
4. clean chaise lounges
5. tribal-y beaded sandals
6. Grecian-inspired metallic sandals
7. a sheer sleeveless top that ties at the bottom in a bird print

(as seen at TJ Maxx in Texarkana)

The Everywhere Project

Check out this cool project by designer and illustrator Adrian Walsh. Walsh commissioned artists to create a vintage luggage tag design for each of the places mentioned in the song "I've Been Everywhere" (you probably know the Johnny Cash version) - all 92 places! Including Texarkana...
 

...and Louisiana!
... and Little Rock!
... and a few cities in Texas including Amarillo!
And of course many more non Ark-La-Tex-ian locations as well, like one of my personal faves - Charleston. Check it out and pick your favorite.

(As seen on the blog Unruly Things)