See Thru Dresses and Apple Cider

I love fall. I love it I love it I love it I love it! I love the crisp air, the smell of fires, hot apple cider....and of course, fall clothes.

I am big into layering. Even though the change of a season usually means 'time to go shopping', I also find it thrilling to take my favorite summer tops and dresses and throw them on top of each other to create a unique fall look. (It's almost as good as new clothes, right?)

For example, take an adorable spring dress that was so thriftily scored for 5 bucks at Goodwill--
--that I though was so fab until I wore it to church for Easter, and was told by my mother that it was completely see-thru. How sad. So it hung in my closet all summer (because really, who wants to wear a slip?) until I resurrected it today, when it's 25 degrees cooler and no sun to be seen.

I made it cozy with some black leggings, black boots, a bright red sweater, and a fun belt (also a Goodwill find!). No more peek-a-boo!

Because I've been so good with my money lately, I popped into Rag and Bone, our one and only vintage boutique around here, just to take a look, and I left with this:

I found the bag in the sale bin for only $5, and since they have a $10 minimum for credit cards, I was forced into buying some earrings too. Shame.

Have a fabulous fall weekend everyone! Drink some apple cider. Or an apple cider margarita. (I've been craving one all week.)

-Bren

Goin' to the Cheap-al....

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone for your congratulations and support over the past week. Ian and I are incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many loving friends and family who share in our excitement to start this new chapter in our lives. The plans have been moving along fabulously--our big day will be July 9th, 2011, appropriately the day of our 3-year-and-5-month anniversary! The ceremony site, reception venue, and dress have been checked off the list already. (Wanna see the dress? HAHAAAAAA nice try!)

Ever since talk of marriage entered the picture with me and Ian, we always knew that our celebration wouldn't be expensive and lavish. Both of us being the thrifty individuals that we are, we both know that you don't have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to make your day special. Since the beginning of college, I've been accumulating crafty wedding ideas in my journal, on everything from centerpieces to invitations to decorations. And now, since wedding dreams are slowly becoming a reality, my artsy instincts are exploding with ideas to have an economical, cheap, and UNIQUE wedding!

My favorite mode of procrastination these days has been perusing DIY wedding websites and blogs to gather ideas.

Some of my favorites:

http://mydiyweddingday.com/

http://www.diybride.com/

http://justsomethingimade.blogspot.com/

Here are some ideas I love....obviously once the decor decisions are made I gotta be hush-hush (we want the day to be a surprise now, don't we?), but I just want to show you how fun and funky cheap weddings can be.

Unfortunately, no one notified Penn State that I am a bride-to-be and have wedding things on my mind and that schoolwork just isn't as fun as that.

Love you all!

-Bren

"I may have told you to be my girlfriend, but this time I'm asking you to be my wife."

For those of you who haven't heard the story yet....or who just want to hear it again and again and again and again....(because you know you do….)

I never assume things.  I have never gotten flustered or excited or freaked out about things and I have never let my mind get carried away with itself.

If you know me at all, you know that what I just said is one gigantic lie. I sure wish I could keep my head on straight when it comes to the unknown, but lucky for me, God has blessed me with the gift of creativity, so that for every event in my life I am able to come up with a million and one scenarios of how the event will play out, no matter how fantastic or how ridiculously tragic.

So when I stepped out of the shower on Friday afternoon, wrapped in a towel and saw on my phone a message from Ian telling me to look outside my apartment door, then stepped outside to find a rose with a note tied on it telling me to go to the place on campus where we met, obviously this could only mean one thing:

He was going to propose.

And I was naked.

I flung open my closet door, looking for the outfit that I was going to be proposed to in. Because this is a big deal, right? I had always imagined looking effortlessly beautiful in a summery sundress when the man of my dreams got down on one knee, catching me totally off guard (because really, I just happen to look that stunning ALL the time). As I threw some mouse into my hair and some makeup on my face, I stuck my head into the room I share with my roommate, Hannah, who was on the phone with her mom, subtly trying to indicate that I had to go, because I think, but I’m not entirely sure, I could be wrong, but maybe Ian’s gonna propose?

After some squealing, deep breathing, and a promise to text Hannah as soon as anything happened, I set on my way to the Spiritual Center, not even caring that it was not at all summer dress weather—the sky was gray and it was starting to rain. (So much for good hair.) As I was power-walking and trying not to psyche myself out, naturally I called my mom.  After promising to call HER if anything happened, I immediately called my other friend Courtney, who I can always count on to calm me down. Before I began broadcasting to the entire world events that hadn’t even happened yet, I arrived at the room where Ian and I met, to be greeted not by him, but by a bunch of international students milling around. I was a little perplexed. Was it a multicultural event that he thought I should go to? Were they all going to collectively start singing and dancing, Bollywood-style, to mark the occasion? I must have looked a tad out of place (aka a flustered white girl), because next thing I know, like it was straight out of a movie, some smirking Indian dudes said, “Ooooh! You are looking for the rose!” I looked on the table, and there was another rose with a note telling me to go to the bench by the HUB where we spent our 2 ½ year anniversary.

As I approached the bench and saw him sitting there, I did everything I could do not skip over to him. After a giggly hug and kiss, he pulled out MORE flowers! It was only a matter of minutes before Ian would be my fiancé. But after I read the note on the flowers, I was yet again perplexed:

Wait. What?

“I wouldn’t want to get engaged on a cloudy day!”, he said.

What?

“I brought you a football jersey!”

What?

Then we went to Football Eve at Beaver Stadium. And I wore a football jersey over my dress. How was I even supposed to react to that little scheme? Surely he had known that that’s what I was expecting. But a scavenger hunt with roses? I guess it was a sweet thing to do! I flip-flopped back and forth between being disappointed and then sad and then feeling bad for feeling sad. My emotions were all over the place, and I finally broke down and gave him a piece of my mind! Leading a girl on and making her think you were going to propose, and then not? A little bit rude! Apparently it’s a common rule among the male kind to fake ‘em out the first couple times….

Fast forward about an hour. After informing the friends and mother of the big ole fake out, I came back to the apartment to cook us some dinner while Ian went home and got changed for the evening. When he returned, he suggested that we go on a picnic since it was a warm night. We packed up our corn on the cob and squash, and trekked across the street to the Alumni Gardens, one of the most beautiful places on campus. We found a spot on a bench on the bridge, and gnawed on our corn while we talked about our usual goofy things.  After we were done, he put his arm around me and we sat, basking in the stillness and quiet of the gardens. We were the only ones there, the sky had cleared, and a full blanket of stars coated the sky. After he asked me what my favorite memory of being boyfriend and girlfriend had been, we begun reminiscing and talking about how incredibly special our relationship is. I could feel him fiddling around with his pocket, but each time his hand came up empty, until the next thing I knew, he was down on his knee. I wasn’t about to believe it, until I saw a mighty snazzy ring glistening in his hand.

Like a broken record, all I could say was “Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod”. Until I began bawling, of course. And then said YES, of course.

So I would say that was a good end to the evening. :-)

Here's to a year of funky junk and WEDDING planning!

-Bren

Putting A Ring On It

Hey guys!

I got engaged this weekend. :-)

Vintage at the Beach: Something Old, Something New

Back in July, I ventured to the Outer Banks with my family and boyfriend for a week of relaxation and beach-bumming, with a healthy dose of shopping. On the way to the bait and tackle shop to stock up on supplies for the boyfriend-father bonding fishing excursion, we happened to pass this eye-catching building from the highway.

Obviously we had to stop. Although the interior was what some might describe as 'junky', I thrived on my usual excitement at the prospect of digging around and finding some treasures.

Unfortunately we didn't have much luck finding anything of interest. However, when I got home I googled 'thrift shops' in the Outer Banks and came across this gem:

Right away I knew this was going to be good.

Inside, we were immediately greeted with this:

And this:

And this:

Heavens to betsy. Can you say vintage lovers HEAVEN? I quickly went into kid-in-the-candy-store overdrive. The place was stuffed to the brim with funky junk, and the prices weren't even too astronomical. Ian was an awesome sport about roaming around for an hour and a half, and was chatting it up with the owners, whose names are now escaping me...

Even though I could have bought the entire store, I decided on a funky 1970's maxi dress, a style I've been teetering on the fence over whether or not I dig. I even made my first barter, haggling the price down to $30 from $38. (Thanks for the boost of confidence Ian!) Since I saved on the dress, I got some funky earrings and a green necklace to go with it.

If only this store wasn't 8 hours away. Oh well, my wallet will thank me.

Happy thrifting!

-Bren

Hair today, gone tomorrow.

Last week I began my last first week of school ever. Ever! As if I don't already feel old when I'm sitting in a bar or moving into an apartment (finally!) or spinning myself into a frenzy thinking about rapidly-approaching real life...

Since freshman year, I've always felt the need to start the new school year off with a drastic hair change...which means that my hair hasn't been past my shoulders since I was a senior in high school.

The initial freshman year chop-off.

When I thought that fake specs were the answer....

Short again...with bangs this time!

So here I am, senior in college. Hair finally about to venture past the awkward stop-at-the-shoulder length, when I decided that I should really get a trim. After a summer of windblown beach hair and hot curling irons, the ends were looking pretty fried. I just wanted a trim. "Take off ALAP-As Little As Possible", I said. The result?

The touseled, just rolled out of bed look.

Blake Lively's flowing locks I may never have. But I'll take my shaggy curls and go crazy.

It's a new year, and a new blog. I fully intend on keeping this up as I chronicle my last year of college....and maybe do some flashbacks over the past 3 years while we're at it. Not to mention talk about some funky junk!

Next time: Something Old, Something New, a fabulous vintage store I found in the Outer Banks over the summer.

Love you!
-Bren