Fall into Fashion

As the weather gets colder, I find myself ready for new additions to my wardrobe.  Naturally, some are only pipe dreams (poor college kid, remember?), while others actually have a shot of joining the rest of my closet.  One of my favorite places to find fashion inspiration is Pinterest, of course.  So, here are some of my absolute favorite looks for fall.  We will call it the first installation of my Christmas wish list - hey, a girl can dream.

This yellow coat. No words.

Cozy Blazer

Frye boots - zipper back.

My mom used to get me saddle oxfords at the beginning of every school year - I think it is time for a new pair .

Such a sweet, knotted neckline. Jackie O.

Teacher Look.

I don't always love tights and shorts, but I LOVE this.

Braided scarf.

The need for this chevron dress is getting out of hand.

Hunter green. Mustard yellow.

Chambray and Yellow.

Simple neutrals.

Soft sweater. I could make it work for a Vols game.

This is my kind of going-to-class look.

Such a warm and cuddly sweater.

I love horizontal stripes.

This herring bone skirt just screams "Go Vols".
 
One thing I love about fall fashion is how it is always influenced by nature.  The colors remind me of my East Tennessee mountains - neutrals, natural greens, warm golds, and, my favorite, orange.  I just love being wrapped in a scarf and cardigan while I sip on a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  I hope everyone can find some simple joys in the fall week ahead.

Live with love,
-JD

P.S. To check out the rest of my fashion board and everything else I pin, click here.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words - Dance

Newest blog segment - A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words, for those days when an image can say so much more than a sentence.


On this very chilly Thursday morning, when winter is knocking at my door, I find myself longing for the days when I would rush to the dance studio after school to practice for The Nutcracker.  I mean I am really, REALLY missing those days right now.  So for all of the dancers at heart out there, these are for you.

Once a dancer, always a dancer.

Live with love,

-JD

My Kind of Romance

Something you should know about me - I am a hopeless romantic.  Blame it on Disney, blame it on fairy tales, blame it on chick flicks. It doesn't really matter why I am this way, the fact of the matter is that this is part of who I am.


I am a right brain type of girl, influenced entirely too much by my emotions. I am an idealist to the max - an optimist, a dreamer, and so on. But here is the deal...I kind of like unconventional romance. I don't like roses or overly done candlelit dinners.  I prefer Barn Party or a silly date party over a fancy formal any day.  I like jewelry, but I think I would prefer getting tickets to a concert or something like that.  I like gifts that are given because the person who loves you was paying attention to something you wanted, not just candy and flowers because they think they are supposed to.

One of the sweetest things Alex has ever done for me is something that was seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of things.  It happened the summer before our junior year of college.  I was in a show that had rehearsal in Farragut, and I was driving there and back every night.  Clearly, I was driving a lot, and gas prices were rising almost daily.  Alex and I had been hanging out at my apartment, and I made a comment about how much I was having to spend on gas and that is was draining my funds.  Later that night, he said he needed to run to get something from his house, and he wanted to borrow my car to go and get it.  I didn't think a thing about it.  But when we went to my car later that night to take him back home, my gas tank was full.  He had taken my car and filled it up...just because.

I know that it wasn't extravagant, or anything particularly special.  But it was such a kind and thoughtful thing for him to do for me.  It wasn't hard, it didn't take a lot of time or planning, but it was something I will never forget.  I'm a simple kind of girl I guess.  Give me a date night on the couch with a movie and a pint of Ben and Jerry's, and you've got one happy camper.  I think we should all appreciate the little things a little more - that's the stuff that memories are made of.

Live with love,
-JD

Things I Love - Puppies

Puppies. Puppies. Puppies. Puppies. Puppies. PUPPIES.
Quite possibly my favorite topic of discussion.  I want a dog SO bad.  It is probably unhealthy how much I want one as a matter of fact.  I think I can originally trace my love of dogs back to 101 Dalmatians.  I wanted a dalmatian farm - just like the movie.  Until my mother informed me that dalmatians had a tendency to be temperamental and even mean.  So I let that dream go, but I moved on to many others, don't you worry.

As a child, I was very imaginative.  I loved creative writing.  I also loved puppies, as has already been established.  Well, I was in a multi-age classroom for kindergarten through second grade and had the same teacher all three years.  Turns out that I had enough imagination to create puppy themed creative writing stories every time we had an assignment - for all three years.  When my parents came to one of my parent/teacher conferences, my teacher handed them a stack of papers and said, "I really think you should consider getting her a dog."  True life.  I did not make that up.


We brought home a dog named Biscuit from the pound a few years later.  That didn't last long.  We still don't know exactly what breeds created the psycho dog, but she eventually had to go live on a farm.  She is happily rounding cattle now.  I feel sorry for the cows.  Then, on a Saturday in November of 1999, my parents surprised my brother and I with a gift.  (We really needed the pick-me-up.  Tennessee had just lost to Arkansas.  It was not a pretty sight.)  They had a little poem entitled "The Month Before Christmas".  It was a play off of "The Night Before Christmas" for those of you who didn't catch that.  So, Mama D brought out this green and red box with a bow on top - the kind they have on TV where the lid just lifts off - and Reed and I opened it together.  Inside, sat the cutest little puppy I have ever seen.  But we thought it was a stuffed animal at first - until she moved.  Reed and I screamed, "IT'S REAL!!" We named her Holly and she is still the cutest little dog of all time.

Sweet Holly

So, what it boils down to is this.  I once again want a dog so bad it is a joke - a dog of my very own, of course.  A little puppy would make my life here at school a crazy, mixed up, busy, frustrating, time-consuming mess.  But it would be the happiest little mess.  That's the thing I like most about dogs - they are totally worth the trouble.  They love you unconditionally...no matter how many mistakes you make.  They think you're the best even at your worst.  Hey, who doesn't want a little bit of that action?  So, on this lovely fall morning, I would like to share some of my favorite puppies with you.  Everyone loves a good puppy picture.

Yorkie Poo

Yorkie

Weimaraner

Labradoodles

Black Lab

Maltese - aka Hipster Dog

Goldendoodle

Yorkie

Goldendoodle

Chocolate Lab

Maltipoo

Yellow Lab

Beagle

Maltese

English Bulldog

Chocolate Lab

You're welcome.  Happy Friday!


Live with love,
-JD


P.S. Dogs rule, cats drool.  Yep.  I went there.