Back Porch

Happy weekend!!!  This is my outfit from today.  Ben and I went out to brunch, eyeglasses shopping (for him), and out for tea at Townshend's Tea.  I had the strawberry sencha iced - it was so good!  It was mild and refreshing.  I think I will pick some up next time I'm there to make at home.  I love  green tea, but don't drink it as much in the summer.  I never really thought to ice it for some reason, but it works well (especially with the subtle strawberry flavor).  

This dress has definitely become a favorite.  Here, I paired it with my cutout oxfords per Gwen's suggestion.  Thank you, Gwen!  

Dress:  Anthropologie Striped Empire Day Dress
Top:  Anthropologie Back Porch Blouse
Shoes:  Anthropologie Olivia Cutout Oxfords
Necklace:  Gift from my MIL

Pink

Pink is not one of my favorite colors, though for some reason, I had the urge to wear pink today.   As you can see, I was not shy about it.  It's not quite time for bare legs here in Portland  (though I really could have gotten away with it today), but it is nice to pull out some of my summer dresses.      

 Dress:  Anthropologie Botanical Stroll Dress
Cardigan:  J. Crew Jackie
Tights:  J.  Crew
Shoes:  Gee WaWa
Belt:  Anthropologie
Necklace:  Forever 21

I hope your week is going well!  I'm off to squeeze in one more episode of Call the Midwife before bed.  I'm hooked!

Burnout Lace

Oh how I love lazy Sundays!  I started my day off with a relaxing acupuncture session and now I am on the couch,  enjoying a Call the Midwife marathon.  I'm only 4 episodes in, but I think I found a new favorite show to obsess over!  This paleo dish is in the oven and smelling delicious.

This outfit is from last week.  This skirt has been on my wishlist since it popped up on the website.  I somehow missed it when it went on sale, but that turned out to be a good thing, because I was able to find it on 2nd cut.  I love the color and print - it's quite comfy too.  I think it's going to be a great piece for my work wardrobe.

Skirt:  Anthropologie Burnout Lace Pencil Skirt 

Top:  Anthropologie Raccoon Rumpus Blouse

Cardigan:  J. Crew Jackie

Tights:  Hue

Shoes:  Camper

Necklace:  Gift

Vappu

As spring slooooooowly makes its way to Portland, I'm finding myself reaching for brighter, lighter pieces.  The Vappu dress hasn't seen the light of day for awhile.  Time to take it for a spin!  I think I'm going to try to make an effort to rotate through all of my (weather appropriate) pieces over the next couple of months and then do a closet purge once I see what doesn't get worn.

After hearing JG rave about this Purple Velvet Torte recipe, I had to give it a try.  It just came out of the oven a few minutes ago and I have to say, it is delicious!  It is very rich and chocolaty.  If you eat paleo/gluten free/etc. (or if you just want an awesome way to sneak some beets into your diet), I highly recommend giving this a try. 

Dress:  Anthropologie Vappu Dress
Cardigan:  J. Crew Jackie
Tights:  B. Ella
Belt:  unknown
Necklace:  Kate Spade "Hang In There" Necklace
Bracelet:  Anthropologie Astrological Maps Bracelet

Striped Empire

I picked this dress up a few weeks ago during the 20% off promo.  I wore it for the first time today and I love it!  It is TTS, extremely comfy, and cut in a simple yet flattering way.  I think it's a great spring/summer dress.

 Dress:  Anthropologie Striped Empire Day Dress
Cardigan:  J. Crew Jackie
Shoes:  Anthropologie
Necklace:  Anthropologie
Belt:  J. Crew Clearance Store

The backdrop to some of my OOTD photos may be a little more exciting now that our house got a little face lift.  The new paint job was finally completed a couple of weeks ago.  You may remember that we started this process months ago, back in December.  I'm so relieved that it is finally done.   Our house is definitely the brightest on the block, but I wouldn't want it any other way:)  The first day I saw it with the blue paint, I was a bit shocked and I  admit to doubting our color choices for short time.  After I got used to it and especially after the trim/accent colors were added, I knew it was perfect.  We wanted something bright, fresh, happy, and not boring.  

 BEFORE

DURING

AFTER!!!

Now, I'm off to watch Game of Thrones!  Hope you have a great start to the week:)

Beekeeping Adventures - My Bees Are Here!!!

My bees arrived on Tuesday!  I was so excited to get home from work to check them out and get them transferred to the hive.  After being in this little box for a couple of days (they were trucked here from California), they seemed anxious to get out.

I know I look a little bit like an astronaut here:)   Whatever- I am happy to report that I didn't even get stung a single time!  I'm sure it will happen soon, but so far so good.

Here is a short video of part of the transfer.  I'm definitely glad Ben was around to help out.  It would have been hard for just 1 person to do this.  After spraying the bees with sugar water  (it makes them happy!), the first step was to get the queen out of the box and situated in the hive.  She stays in her own little protective box until she's been in the hive for a couple of days.  Once we had her little box secured in the hive, it was time to get the 10,000 workers transferred over.  It kind of felt like pouring a pitcher of water, they flowed right out.  It felt very surreal to go through this process while hundreds of bees were flying all around me.  I could hear them buzzing around my head and could see and feel them land on my body.  What a glorious experience!

After most of them were in the hive, we put the top on and left the box near the entrance so that the last stranglers could make their way in.

I'm in love!

Blooming Lattice

I hope you all had a better weekend than I did.  I've been extremely sick with the flu (or a yucky flu-like virus).  Until this afternoon, I had not been off the couch in 3 days.  I can't sleep and am just overall pretty miserable.  I really hope that I am nearing the end of whatever this is.  Ben has been making sure I have a continuous flow of hot tea, gatorade, and ice cream:)

 This outfit is from a week or so ago.  This dress is just perfect for spring.  The print makes me so happy and I love that you can pair pretty much any color with it.  I especially love it with this green cardigan.  I can't take credit for this combo though - Molly is the genius behind it (see her look from a couple of years ago here).  To me, this is a classic anthro piece, one that I'm happy to pull out of my closet year after year.

Dress:  Anthropologie Tuileries Dress
Cardigan:  Anthropologie Blooming Lattice Cardigan
Tights:  Hue
Shoes:  Camper

Beekeeping Adventures: Getting Started

My love of bees has lead me to a new adventure - beekeeping!  I could not be more excited.  I have been preparing for the last couple of months and my first package of bees will be here on Monday.  Ben and I like to joke that we are turning our back yard into a farm:)  With 3 dogs, 3 chickens, and now a colony of bees on their way, it certainly feels a little bit like a farm.  I love it, of course!  

I took a beginning beekeeping class at Ruhl Bee supply last month and I am going to be taking another class, focusing on organic beekeeping, next week.  I've also been reading and researching like crazy.  Ben got me  The Beekeeper's Bible last year and it has been extremely helpful.

I bought the hive a few weeks ago and Ben helped me assemble it.  It was fairly easy to put together.  I went with a basic langstroth hive with a fancy copper "English garden cover".    

This is how Zander helped.  Seriously, how did he sleep like this?  Crazy pup:)

Picked out the paint.....

Here it is, ready to go!

Some of my supplies - I tried the veil on just for fun last weekend!  I think I frightened Ben just a little bit:)

Wish me luck on Monday!  I ordered 1 package of Italian bees, which includes the queen and about 10,000 workers.  That should be enough to get things started and by mid-summer, we should be up to 50,000 - 60,000 bees.  Transferring the bees into their new home can be a little bit tricky.  The queen comes in her own tiny box inside of the bigger box, which contains the workers.  This keeps her safe while the workers get used to her pheromones.  Once they are all transferred to the hive, she has to stay in her tiny box for another couple of days, then she should be able to be released and (hopefully) accepted as queen.  I'm just hoping for minimal stings.

ps - for a good look at my honey comb mandala/honey bee tattoo, check out this post from a couple of years ago about my body art.

mint + red

Here is an outfit from this past weekend.  I am loving these mint tights I found in the sale room at Anthropologie!  I thought it may be a challenge to incorporate them into my wardrobe, but they seem to be fitting in just fine:)

Dress:  J. Crew Tea Stained Dobby Dress
Cardigan:  J. Crew Jackie
Tights:  Anthropologie
Belt:  J. Crew
Shoes:  Gee WaWa oxfords


Here are a  couple of previous outfits featuring this dress:

Giveaway winner!!!

I used random.org to choose the winner of my $50 Shabby Apple gift card giveaway.  

And the winner is..... Julie (who likes the Francine skirt)

  

Congratulations, Julie!  I just emailed you.

Though this is no April Fools day joke (don't worry, Julie!), I do want to share my favorite one from a couple of years ago.  Listen to this NPR story for a good laugh!!!