if i were going out tonight...

...this is what I'd wear:

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Shop: Tamarind Sequin Pant, Calypso St. Barth; Cashmere V-neck Sweater, J.Crew; Black Tuxedo Blazer, LC Lauren Conrad at Kohl's; Drift Earrings by Lulu Frost, Charm and Chain; Lucas Ring, Dannijo; Woven Cresent Bag, The Limited; Calcagni Wedges, Aldo

(But I'm just chilling at home with D, the puppies, a glass of wine, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.)

Happy 2012, everyone!

happy holidays!

A few of my holiday photos with warmest holiday wishes from our family to yours:

outfitted:: fuzzy wuzzy

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Shop::
Top: Target (old); Faux Fur Vest: Piperlime, no longer available (similar); Jeans: American Eagle; Necklace: Piperlime, no longer available; Boots: LC by Lauren Conrad Tall Platform Boot, Kohl's; Bracelets: J.Crew, JewelMint

meet mimi

We are puppy foster parents! Sweet Mimi girl is looking for a home for Christmas. She's such a good girl and knows how to sit, stay, and "go lay down in your chair" (yes, she's been here for a week and she's already claimed a chair!). Mimi is available for adoption via The Humane League of Lancaster County and you can see her info here. Someone needs to adopt her soon before I turn into a foster failure and end up keeping her!

look i'm loving:: cobalt and sequins

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Shop::
Classic pave link bracelet, J.Crew; Sloan cuff bracelet, Dannijo; Stella gold-tone watch, Fossil; Blueberry skinny jeans, Joe's Jeans Fifty Five Colors; Wynter sweater in sequin stripe, J.Crew; Envelope clutch, The Limited; Melina leopard platform pumps, Bakers

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Shop::
Hide and Go Sequin gold sequin skirt, LuLu's; Mossimo Supply Co. t-shirt, Target; Black Collection Ruched Sleeve Jacket, The Limited; Lina calf hair platform wedges, Ann Taylor; Multi-strand Marine necklace, The Bauble Bar; Tight-end Tights in black, Spanx

look i'm loving:: mint maxi dress with soft neutrals

Such a casual, cozy (but still pulled together) look for the cooler fall weather.

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Shop:: Mint Maxi Dress, LC by Lauren Conrad at Kohl's; Rayne Necklace, Kendra Scott; Hooded Dolman Sleeve Sweater, Gap; Soft-sided Tote, The Limited; Pour La Victoire Laisha, 6PM

outfitted:: gold sparkles

I bought these ridiculous gold sparkly booties on a whim a few weeks ago and I've been trying to figure out ways to incorporate them into my wardrobe. Obviously, I'm not going to wear them into the office, but they work well with ripped up jeans and a t-shirt or this little ivory tunic dress for a night out on the town.

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Shop: Dress: H&M (last year); Cardigan: J. Crew Factory; Booties: Charlotte Russe Glittery Lace-up Platform Booties; Necklace: vintage upcycled from local store, Building Character

outfitted:: peachy

Saturday night D and I went to see Gaslight at The Fulton Theatre. It's part of our holiday tradition to get all dressed up, go out to dinner, and see a show at the Fulton. Usually we see whatever musical is playing in December, but I was intrigued by the "psychological thrilled" description of Gaslight, even though I didn't really know much about it, so we went a month earlier than usual. And it definitely didn't disappoint! I'd recommend it, but it closed tonight. But if you're in the Lancaster area, you can check out Hairspray at the Fulton starting November 30 through December 31. If past musicals staged there are an indication of the future, I'd say Hairspray will be fantastic!

So anyway, I had originally planned on wearing something a little more "holiday" (read: sparkling, sequins, gold, etc), but I'm not quite in holiday mode yet, so I pulled this frothy little number out of my closet instead. And while we're talking about dresses and theatre, why do people not dress up anymore for such an occasion? Sure, some people were dressed up, but for every person who donned their sparkling theatre best, there were about 10 more rolling in looking like they were hitting up a local dive bar. And this is a really nice, formal theatre. Do not get. Am I alone in this?

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Shop:
Dress: Random boutique last year; Blazer: LC by Lauren Conrad (no longer on website, check stores, similar, similar in grey); Booties: Bakers Chelsee; Earrings: JewelMint Versailles (no longer available)

over the weekend

I finally took off the royal blue manicure from my Rainbow Brite Halloween costume and replaced it with Essie Sew Psyched topped with Sephora by OPI Only Gold for Me topcoat:


My dinner at Ma(i)son, a downtown Lancaster restaurant inspired by French Country cuisine and local ingredients:


Meadow loves Lucy:


Stella turned 8 this weekend and we had a Stellabration, complete with burgers and fries from McDonald's:


I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

First two pics by me on my iPhone. Last two pics taken by D on his iPhone.

Adoptable dogs

Happy Saturday, everyone! This morning I headed over to the Humane League to take some pictures and thought I'd post the pics here in hopes of spreading the word about adoptable pets in the Lancaster, Pa. area.

Memphis (cream) and Diego (black)




Punkie



Miss Muffet


Lexi



Guess which one I wanted to take home with me?

For information on adopting these dogs, visit The Humane League of Lancaster County's website.

outfitted:: one more halloween post

Before we launch full-force into Thankschristmahanukkwanzasolsticenewyears, I figured I'd suck the last life out of fall and post the Halloween costume I wore this past weekend when I braved the snow to head to a party. I definitely don't get creativity points here since it was a pre-packaged costume (minus the shoes, hair ribbon, and jewelry), but I did get compliments on its coolness and cuteness most of the night. There's definitely a lot of love out there for 80s nostalgia.

So here I am as sparkly, shiny Rainbow Brite. (Excuse the weird pointing-and-laughing pose. There weren't very many full-length shots taken. And this was the best of the bunch, so yeah..)



And here's a picture of a snow-capped pumpkin. You don't see that every day, right?


Let the holiday craziness begin!

halloween snow dogs

Well. It seems that The Nightmare Before Christmas has landed here in Lancaster in the form of a Halloween Nor'easter. There's already about 6 inches on the ground and it's still snowing! Apparently this one is for the record books because the last record-setting early season snowfall was back in 1925. And this one has it beat.

But, I'm still planning on heading out to a Halloween party tonight, and the snow didn't stop me and Mr. DU from visiting the Humane League this morning to take pictures of some adoptable dogs. I think the snow made the pictures extra cute, don't you?

Jeeter



Farrah



Cuddles


And two of the dogs weren't much for the snow, so I took their pictures inside.

Annette


Ruby



And just for fun, here's a picture of my little Lucy Beagle in our backyard:


For information on adopting these dogs (but not Lucy- she's mine!), visit The Humane League of Lancaster County's website. And if you're out and about in Lancaster tonight, drive carefully and stay safe!

happy halloween!

I mentioned before that late summer into early fall is one my favorite times of the year. Weather-wise that's true, but to be perfectly honest the entire stretch of months from August through December gets me pretty stoked. It starts in August with my and Mr. DU's birthdays and just keeps rolling along into Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas (and Festivus!), and finally, New Year's. And now an anniversary thrown in there, too- Mr. DU and I celebrate one year of marriage this December.

But this year since we aren't getting ready to move or to walk down the aisle, I had more time to plan for Halloween. So I transformed our our kitchen into "Sleepy Hollow Tavern" (sign from the Homespun Raven), stocked up on Oktoberfest beer and pumpkin ale, and threw our first annual Halloweenfest costume party.

And I admit, I recycled my costume (I didn't have that much extra time to get super creative!). I wore this same dress for the same costume idea nine Halloweens ago. In case you can't tell by the stiff arms and awkward stance, I'm supposed to be Barbie. And Mr. DU? Well, he's got a bad hangover.

35 before 35 No. 7: work for a company i believe in

Just to refresh your memory, I created 35 before 35 back in June as a way to challenge myself to meet some of my goals. And while I have been quite busy lately with work and grad school (and clearly not posting on my blog), I'm happy to cross the first of my goals off the list! That's right, I'm crossing off goal number 7, work for a company I believe in. The caveat? It's volunteer work, but hey, it's my list and I never said it had to be paid work, right? Right.

So anyway, said company is my local Humane League where I volunteer as a photographer (and website writer when/if I have time). And I couldn't be happier! I get to play with adorable dogs and take pictures of them to help them find forever homes! It's perfect. So perfect that I'm considering launching a side gig doing pet photography because taking pictures of them is so fun. Here are a few of the pictures I've taken of these precious puppies:

Nene (adopted!)



Duke


Melvin (adopted!)




Rockstar



To see the rest of the pictures I took, visit my Flickr page. Visit The Humane League of Lancaster County to see adoptable dogs, or like them on Facebook for the most up-to-date news and photos.