second hand scores

Shopping at thrift stores can be so hit and miss, that now and then I stop doing it for a while because it feels futile (and a little gross sometimes). But lately I've been willing to stop in a thrift store and leave with or without something. Which makes it all the more exciting when I find good stuff at random.

Since there aren't any thrift stores close to our home, I have to either plan a trip for thrifting or be close to one while running other errands. Usually thrifting is a result of proximity rather than planning.

Here's a few of my latest and greatest finds over the past few months.
PREFACE: I tried taking pictures of the clothes laid out and it looked really sad to me. However, I realize that my hair, lacking makeup, and modeling abilities look very sad in all of these shots. The lighting sucks, I'm oily-faced and please just look at the clothes, ignore the person wearing them. I tried cropping my head, but if you thought these shots look sad, imagine a headless version. no bueno.

Vintage boatneck sweater. fits like.a.glove.

silk cherry blossom print top. originally it was a weird almost mini dress length, so I hemmed it up to be a tunic-blouse instead.

vintage creme cardigan. my favorite find. it has beautiful embroidery detail on the front and is so comfortable. anthropologie can suck it with their high prices, i'd rather thrift for anthro style clothes any day.

vintage navy pinstriped wool blazer with maroon lining. This is Sassoon brand! (ever since honeys was wearin' Sassoon...anyone?) It fits perfect and cost me $6 while the one I was eyeing on jcrew.com was over $100.

yellow/beige printed top. originally this top was too large and wide for me, so I took it in and now it's a great tunic-blouse. i love pattern and print but have such a hard time finding even new retail with print that I actually want to wear. so when I find second hand print that I like, I am willing to try and tailor/alter it to fit me.

thank you thrift stores, I love that you are frugal, unique and even a little gritty.

you're late, you're late, for a very important date

Halloween hangover

Sawyer went trick or treating for the first time, and loved it. He would say "tricky treeeeat!" and "happy hal'ween!" When I ask him what he wants from Santa for Christmas, he says "Hal'ween Party!"

I decided months before that we'd do a family costume this year. Spencer was willing to dress up, so I thrifted, sewed and fashioned together our costumes for a month or two. I tried to spend as little as possible on the costumes, and given that consideration, I was happy with the result.
Mad Hatter, Alice, White Rabbit

Sawyer also got to carve a "cupkin" (pumpkin) for the first time this year. Well, he didn't carve it, but he was very much involved. And by involved, I mean he kept yelling "my turn! my knife!" and standing on top of us while we tried to carve.
mickey mouse cupkin, naturally

M I A

I am an avid blog-reader but apparently, not an avid blog-er. I could give a bunch of excuses but really I felt like there was nothing to write about. While uploading pictures last night, I realized I was wrong. What have we been up to? Since pictures are the one strength to this blog, I'll let them do the talking...

lots of visits from family. "Papa with cows" (as Sawyer refers to him..he has a farm) helped Sawyer do some yard work.

washing cars with dad. he loves to help dad do anything.


Nana's birthday dinner. Sawyer got to visit with my side of the family. This is him with my Papa, his great grandpa, and "Aunt Kaffee"(Kathy)


"I want go fort!" is something we hear daily at our house. Translation, I want to build a fort.

sawyer's 2nd birthday. crazy, fun party (note to self: keep it simple next year).

Spencer had a birthday too. To protect the innocent, I will not disclose which number birthday this was for him.

shopping restriction

Even though I've placed myself on shopping restriction for the next few months, it doesn't mean I can't browse the imaginary lookbook I've created in my head for fall/winter clothes.

It does mean I should stop browsing actual lookbooks, catalogs, websites, store fronts, sales racks...you get the idea. Hello, my name is Megan, and I'm an (amateur)shopaholic.

a little mustard and paprika...



just like Audrey used to make...




all the trimmings...


(CHECK. Finally got a perfect blazer. Before shopping restriction started. Talk about a buzzer-beater.)

I love color. LOVE it. But this time around, while stocking up for fall, I have bought almost all grey. GREY?? Who am I?
So I'll be on the look out for mustards, eggplants, grass greens, and persimmon red-oranges. And my never ending quest for good pattern will of course wage on.

But I'm not letting myself buy anything, so...what was the point....?

life at the farm

Spencer & Sawyer took a quick trip to Gma & Gpa Beals' farm in Arizona. Sawyer loved the farm. The farm loved him.



Special thanks to Gma Janice for taking these sweet photos of Sawyer's visit.

where the wild things are

We took Sawyer to the wild...

where he could splash in a stream

where he could play in the dirt

where he could try to get dirt on us

where he would find sticks and rocks and bugs

where he could do some deep thinking

where he could look up at tall trees

where he was carefree

POST EDIT: I know Sawyer's hair is long and he is looking a little raggamuffin-esque at times. Especially in that last photo. Hello, dirty orphan child, do you need a new mother? It's the hot look for fall, we're just a step ahead of the trends.

Speaking of fall, I am putting together a post (for all 3 of the people who occasionally read this) of my wish list of what I'd like in my closet for the upcoming fall/winter. I like to make wish lists.

summer with sawyer

You know what rules? A whole summer with Sawyer [and Spencer]. We are having a lot of fun. Now we just need to go somewhere fun [out of town].

In the mean time...here's how it's gone down so far...

grandma janice came for a quick visit.
outdoor movies
2 peas in a pod. Lots of time with the cousins.
My Papa turned 80!
4th of July party @ church. Sawyer was drunk on cotton candy.
early birthday staycation sans sawyer @ gv ranch. heaven.
ready for fireworks. the louder, the better. papa jim did not disappoint.
the audience
who's a firecracker?