XO

Well it has almost been one week since sweet Miss Harper Snow came into our lives and we are undoubtedly in love with her. I now completely understand the desire to constantly share pictures of one's child or puppy or kitten because that has become my life. I take pictures of Harper all day long because she does the cutest things and I send them to Jim. Our iMessage conversation is now a play by play of Harper and her daily activities. Harper successfully pooping and peeing outside has become the highlight of our day. Jim works during the day and I work at night so we take turns watching her. She is very smart and very loving. She is still a bit insecure and we think she is scared that we will leave and never come back. That couldn't be farther from the truth and she seems to be getting that more and more every day. 

The is no question that Jim is her favorite. She follows him everywhere and looks for him when he is at work. She sits by the bathroom door when he showers and hangs on his every word. I don't mind it one bit. I love to see how much she loves him because I totally get it. He has already taught her to sit and fetch and even cooks her fancy chicken thighs while I'm at work. I know she loves me but I also know she loves Jim more. She is doing so well with potty training and tells us she needs to go by pawing at the door. 

I never knew I could love the way I love Harper. She is absolutely precious to me. 

Rumor Has It

Every day I become more and more convinced that if I stop planning, making, creating, wishing, dreaming, learning, and doing, my heart might stop as well. I have never been very good at sitting still. Ever. I can't help it. Everything fascinates me. I admit that there are days when I wish I had one interest and one passion that I could focus all of my energy into but then I think of all of the things I would miss out on. I am rarely ever bored and I love that. I have had so many different jobs and lived in many different cities and have made many friends. In my mere 26 years, I have lived a lot of life. I have always been a fickle girl and I don't see that changing any time soon. I thank my lucky stars every day that I married someone so loving and so supportive. Jim always smiles and nods and asks how he can help. He is an angel. He is my angel.

All of that said, I have started a new project!! While I wait for the inquiries to come pouring in for Dey Dreamer Productions, my photo booth company, I will be dabbling into the wonderful world of vintage. In the next week or so I will be revealing it all to you.

Here is some vintage I wore today. The turban headband is very near and dear to my heart because I made it out of an old shirt. I also made the one in the last post which should give you some insight on my new project. The coat is from The Salvation Army thrift store. There are quite a few thrift stores in this area and they a loaded with such good finds. My shoes are from a store called Plato's Closet which is a store that buys your gently used clothes from you and sells them to people like me. Paying full price for anything ever hurts my soul. To quote my fashion icon, Eva Mendes, "Nothing gets me like a $4 dress!"

Wherever you are in the world, I hope you have a beautiful weekend.

Counting Stars

So much life has happened since my last post. Even as I was starting this post my husband broke his pinky toe and we had to make our way to urgent care. He was making a breakfast for us. He was so excited about his concoction that he ran over to tell me all about it. Let's just say Jim made it through the hallway but his little baby toe did not. It was sitting there quite perpendicular to the rest of his toes. If you are for some reason interested in what is looked like after some cleaning up click here. Jim kept apologizing for inconveniencing our Sunday morning. My husband is by far the most considerate person I have ever known. He is always making sure everyone else is being taken care of. He even apologized for not being able to drive because he knows I don't like to drive in the snow. I insisted that he stop apologizing and that I was sorry he had to go through this. He is an angel and a trooper and I love him. He doing alright now. He isn't in any pain and we'll be seeing an orthopedist later this week.

Last week I went to California. I was planning on blogging while I was there but I decided to just spend my time enjoying my family and friends. I'm still adjusting to being a blogger and figuring out my time management. I traveled to California for my sister's gender reveal party. She is having a girl!! It was a very nice party and there were lots of people to show them love. Since I was apart from Jim on Valentine's day I spent it with a lot friends. We had a fancy dinner at Chipotle and then went to see some friends in Dreamgirls at Center Stage. While in California, I also went to my friend Dom's going away party. He left to Japan for a whole year to sing and dance at Universal Studios Japan. He is ridiculously talented and I and so happy and so proud of him. It was nice to see so many of my favorite people but I was missing my husband very much so I was happy when it was time to go back to Illinois.

Jim picked me up from the train station with an adorable little stuffed unicorn and when I got to the car the dash was covered in cookies and candy. The plus side to being apart on Valentines is that my husband was able to raid the 50% off bin at the local grocery store. My belated Valentine's gifts had Jim Wilson written all over them and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

When I was in California I stumbled upon this hole in the wall clothing store and found this floral flowy blouse that just happened to be on sale for $4. I love flowy blouses. I love floral prints. I love collard shirts. It was a win-win-win. The jacket is an even bigger win. I bought it at T.J. Maxx for $10!! I looked it up and found the same exact jacket for $238. What?!! That is why I love love love T.J Maxx. You have to have the patience to look through things and scope out the finds but I think it's safe to say I NEVER leave empty handed.

Ooh and I wore my hair down which is kind of rare these days because I'm not a big fan of the length. I am however happy to say that I actually enjoyed it this day. It's a fun length. I have also decided to let the baby bangs grow out.

Peace, Love, & Happiness,

Dey

OUTFIT OF THE DAY

Jacket: Walter Baker at T.J Maxx

Pants: Express

Shoes: similar

Blouse: roughly similar

New York State of Mind

I just got back from New York. It was a sort of last minute trip and I am so very happy it worked out. My friend Jonathan and I made our way to the Big Apple to see our friend Derek Klena on Broadway originating the role of Michael in Bridges of Madison County. It also worked out for us to see our dear friend Branch Woodman in Cinderella on Broadway. It was a fun filled 3 days packed with Broadway shows, pizza, walking, very cold weather, and lots and lots of laughter.

DAY ONE: We spent our day hanging out with an assortment of friends. I even made a few new friends which I always love doing. We explored the city a bit. Time square was preparing for Super Bowl weekend so there was so much going on everywhere. I picked up a new lipstick at Victoria Secret since I forgot mine and I had a gift card burning a whole in my wallet. It finally came time to see Bridges of Madison County. Kelli O'Hara and Steven Pasquale are breathtaking. The music is beautiful and the story is so compelling. Derek of course was awesome. It was so inspiring to watch someone I had done theatre with growing up making a name for himself on The Great White Way.

DAY TWO: We woke up very early because we were absolutely determined to get Book Of Mormon tickets. Jonathan left me getting ready while he ran over to get in line for standing room only tickets. There was snow on the ground and it was pretty darn cold so he turned out to be the only person in line. A man came out to tell him to go get some coffee and warm up because he was definitely getting in. He waited 45 minutes with no sign of a single soul interested in getting in line. He called me to let me know he and his frozen feet were heading to the coffee shop next door. I made my way over and hung out for a bit but I got very nervous that there would be a rush of people so I headed back. I left Jonathan to finish his coffee while I took the second watch. I lined up all alone outside. A man walked up to me and asked if I was waiting for tickets. I said yes. He opened the door and allowed me to wait inside in the warmth saying I would enjoy the show a lot more if I was alive. Jonathan soon joined me and together we waited inside for another hour before anybody else showed up. There was no doubt about it. We were getting in. While waiting in line we also entered our names into the lottery for front row seats and we won. So for only $32 I got to sit in the very front row and see Ben Platt and Nic Rouleau star in The Book of Mormon on Broadway!! It was everything I could hope for and more. I laughed and I cried. I loved it. After the show we thought we would try our luck at the Newsies lottery. Once again due to freezing temperatures there weren't very many people there so we won. What a high energy musical spectacular. Those boys are dancing for their lives on that stage and I was living for every minute.

DAY THREE: We slept in! Then we roamed the city visiting Times Square, Magnolia Bakery, and NBC store. At night we headed back to Derek's apartment where he made us a beautiful dinner of chicken with pasta. Not only is he a great host, he is a great cook. After dinner we were off to see Cinderella. Branch was a brilliant Lord Pinkleton and that show is just happiness all around. We ended the night with Broadway Bowling.

It was a spectacular trip!! Check out more pictures here.

OUTFIT OF THE DEY:

Beanie: Forever 21

Sunglasses: Forever 21

Scarf: It was a birthday gift 3 years ago but you can find a similar one here

Jacket: Paris Blues at Ross

Sweater: Charlotte Russe

Pants: Levi's

Bag: Similar

Lipstick: Victoria's Secret

Accidentally in Love

According to my mother, I have been cutting my own hair since the moment I first learned to use scissors. I took many a school picture with crooked bangs or a hair clip desperately trying to hide the tragedy. Well here I am a grown and married woman of 26 and I can tell you not a thing has changed. I got a lot better over the years and I leaned to cut my bangs longer than I want so I could edit them if needed. If you have ever seen me sporting fringe then there is a 98% chance they are of my own doing. So after all of these years and all of these lessons learned I decided to cut my bangs again. You see, I am currently trying to grow out my hair but being the fickle gal that I am, I needed some change and decided my bangs are safe to cut because that wouldn't affect my overall hair length. With all caution thrown to the wind, I chopped, oh man did I chop. My bangs were so short. I was horrified. You're probably wondering what happened to all of the lessons learned. Sadly, so was I. Jim was at work and wasn't expected for a few hours so I just stared blankly at my peach fuzz in the mirror. For a few moments I felt helpless but then one of the most iconic faces of all time came to mind, Audrey Hepburn. I am a firm believer in finding the good in everything. I know that if I find myself in a sticky, uncomfortable or sad situation there is always promise and opportunity somewhere to be found. I rushed to my computer to search Pinterest for images of Ms Hepburn. I was immediately inspired. I would never have had the courage to try such an extreme style on my own. Somehow this new do makes me feel strong, and brave, and most of all unique. Part of me thinks it's a bit silly to put so much thought into something as trivial as bangs but then I remind myself of my vow to see the good in ALL things. I'm not sure how long I will maintain this look but for now I'm loving it.

Jim and I finally headed over to the Champaign Public Library  to become members. Libraries always make me think of Sex and the City when Carrie Bradshaw decided to get married in the library because it's where all of the greatest love stories were housed. It's such a beautiful thought. I found myself in the biography section. I picked up a book about Audrey Hepburn and one on Amelia Earhart. After the Library we stopped at Am-Ko, a near by Asian market. Jim has been on a hunt for reasonably priced tofu. If you saw my latest Instagram post then you know he left no where near empty handed. We returned home and Jim made a delicious stir fry. After dinner, we snuggled up in the happiest of silences and each read from our respective books.

In the spirit of bravery, I decided to wear printed pants with a beautifully textured sweater. I found these pants while unpacking and realized I had never even worn them before. I love mixing prints and textures.

OUTFIT OF THE DEY

Blouse: TJ Maxx

Sweater: Pink Rose at Ross (similar)

Pants: Forever 21

Shoes: Madden Girl at TJ Maxx (similar)

Nail Polish: Forever 21

Lipstick: Rimmel London at Walmart