Grasscloth Wallpaper as Picture Matting

Lately I seem to be seeing grasscloth wallpaper a lot more in design magazines and all over HGTV. Candice Olson seems to be a big fan of bringing it back into style, since I've recently seen her use it on two separate shows (she even has her own line of wallpaper, with some grasscloth options).

But I can't say I'm a huge fan of it myself. I don't mind the look of it (although I think I might get tired of it relatively quickly on my walls), but all I can think about when I see it is how much dust it will collect. As someone with asthma, I'd definitely think twice before putting something with that much texture up on my walls.

via CasaSugar

However, one place I really like the use of grasscloth is in picture matting! You can still get the textured look, but in a smaller, more manageable dose. And the best part is that it's covered by the glass in the picture frame, so you don't have to worry about all of that dust.

Have a look for yourself, with these pieces I just hung up in our downstairs bathroom.

I'm loving the organic feel the textured wallpaper matting gives off, and it goes well with the rattan accessories in the bathroom as well.

Plus, the soft green color goes great with our guest towels.

What are your thoughts on grasscloth wallpaper? Would you commit to putting it up on the walls of your home? Or maybe only on an accent wall? Got any more creative uses for it, that might minimize how much dust it collects?

Deep Fried Deliciousness: The North Carolina State Fair

This past Saturday, my husband and I went to the NC State Fair, on a mission to try some fabulous deep fried fair food.

And we weren't disappointed, once we finally got there! But it was quit an ordeal just getting parking, since we went on probably the busiest day of the season. We got to the fairgrounds just after 12:30pm, but it took us over an hour to find parking and make our way to the gates!

Once we finally got inside the gates, and solidified our meet up plans via texting with Jill and her husband, we found the first row of food vendors that we came across, and stood in line for at least 10 minutes before we had our hands on some Nathan's hot dogs.

I didn't snap a photo of the hot dogs because we literally took 5 steps to the side of the line and inhaled them. Neither of us had had more than yogurt that day, so we were famished. But I did get a picture of the Nathan's hot dogs putting ketchup on themselves while waiting in line.

Once we were feeling a little better after finally eating something, it was time to make our selections of deep fried food. And in true state fair fashion, there were a lot of choices!

Can you believe how crowded it is in all of these photos? After a while the crowds, and not being able to even take a full size step made me (as The Bloggess would say) feel a little stabby.



We finally came across the mecca of all deep fried food stands though, and promptly got in line.

It was really hard to narrow down which deep fried foods to try! After another, oh, 15 minutes or so in line, we had in our hands a deep fried blooming onion, deep fried mac and cheese and deep fried kool-aid.

And then we had the fun of trying to walk in the crowds with our hands full of food, to make our way to the pot bellied pig races, where we were meeting up with my friend Jill and her hubs. Let me just say, that wasn't the highlight of the day!

Once we found our friends, I could finally snap some food pics before digging in. Here is the deep fried kool-aid, that Jill so kindly held for me. I was wondering how exactly they deep fried kool-aid when I first heard about it, but basically it's just dough that's flavored with kool-aid, deep fried, and topped with powdered sugar. It was gooood!

A look at the blooming onion and the deep fried mac and cheese. Since my husband was only carrying the onion, and I was holding the other two items on our long walk to the pig races, he'd managed to eat about half of it before we got there. 

The mac and cheese certainly tasted good, but didn't look like I imagined it would inside. It was more of just a blob of cheesy gooey goodness, rather than defined noodles.

Once we ate our fried foods, it was time for the pig races! I'd read about them a couple of weeks prior to the fair, and little piggies that race for cheesy poofs sounded right up my alley.

They also had goats and geese, on top of the baby pigs (above) and pot bellied pigs.

My friend Jill was in a better position to get photos of the races, so go check out her pics to see the cute little pigs running around the track!

After the races were over, I really wanted to go to the petting zoo next door (I'm sure you're surprised I wanted more animals!), but sadly the line was super long. So instead we walked to the other side of the fair to check out the cattle barn.

Moo!

After side stepping the cow poo covered floors, we went into another building that housed a bunch of agricultural displays. Things like giant pumpkins, apples and lots of potatoes, all with their winning ribbons. Also, there was some really random stuff, this potato from the previous year...yeah, lets just say, I wasn't very entertained by these exhibits.

But around the corner they did have what was called the "State Fair Ark," with many different kinds of animals.

I'm guessing the petting zoo would have been similar to this area of the fair, but there we could have pet and fed the animals, which would have been a lot more fun in my opinion.

The baby piggies were my favorites though, so adorable. I wanted to wake up this little guy and feed him a cheesy poof!

After we had our fill of barn yard animals, we parted ways with Jill and her husband, and slowly made our way back to the entrance gates, stopping to look at a few exhibits along the way. But we were getting tired, and still had about a mile walk back to the car, so I didn't bother taking out my camera again. It was mainly more of the same, lots and lots and lots of people!

So, that was our first North Carolina State Fair experience! Next year we already decided we'll go on like a Tuesday evening or something, to avoid the crowds. I'd really have liked to go on the ferris wheel, sample a few more deep fried foods, and of course, visit the petting zoo, but I couldn't handle standing in one more line, since just walking through the fair grounds felt like standing in a line at some points! But there's always next year!

Have you gone to any fairs recently? Ever tried deep fried kool-aid before? I definitely recommend it if you ever have the opportunity!

Work From Home Style, Fall Week 2

Happy Monday, everyone. I hope you all had a great weekend!

We had a busy, but fun weekend, and especially enjoyed our trip to the state fair (and the food, oh the food!), but that's for another post. :) On with last week's outfit recap!

Monday:

The weather around here has been weird. Some days its in the high 60s, others its in the 80s. Monday was one of the low 80s days (I think we almost hit the record high of 84 degrees!), so I did end up taking off my cardigan and tights later in the day to go grocery shopping. But it my outfit was fall-ish in the morning at least!

Grey Cardigan: Old Navy, White T: Old Navy, Pink Floral Skirt: Kohl's, Black Tights: My Diva's Closet, Black Belt: H&M, Pink Ribbon Necklace: Gift

Grey Mary Jane Pumps: Target

Tuesday:

I was going to wear tights today too, but it was another warm day, so I decided against them. Knee high boots really do keep my legs warm enough most of the time anyway.

Pink Cardigan: NY&Co, Brown Skirt: JCPenny, Brown Belt: Target, Necklace and Earrings: Target (probably, they're really old)

Dark Brown Stiletto Boots: Michael Antonio

Wednesday:

This is an outfit that I totally picked around these polka dot tights. And an outfit I would have definitely worn to the office back before I worked from home, with the addition of a black cardigan. Also, I'm glad to see a lot more tie neck blouses around the fashion blogs lately. I've had this tie and ruffle neck top for years, and I'm glad I held on to it!

White Tie Neck Top: JCPenny, Black Skirt: Victoria's Secret, Black Belt: Steve Madden, Polka Dot Tights: My Diva's Closet, Bracelet and Earrings: Target (and the bracelet is really a necklace wrapped around my wrist a few times)

Black and White Buckle Slingbacks: Guess

I almost never show the backs of my outfits (can you say awkward!), but I really like the pleats in the back of this skirt. They make it a lot more interesting than just a regular old black skirt, although it's a little hard to see the pleats in this lighting.

Thursday:

And unlike earlier in the week, this day it was actually cool enough to dress this way...that is, if I'd gone outside for more than just to check the mail! This skirt is a bit long on me (and I wear it pulled up to my natural waist, since I'm only 5'2"), but I love the little pleats on it, which are on both the front and back, so I've always been hesitant to shorten it and mess them up.

Purple Cardigan: Old Navy, Grey Tweed Skirt: Victoria's Secret, Purple Scarf: Target, Black Tights: My Diva's Closet, Purple Earrings: Target

Dark Plum Pumps: Nine West

Friday Saturday:

Um, it's only the second week back to dressing up daily, and I already blew it for Friday. I do have an excuse though, that I went to go work out on my lunch break, and then got sucked in to work stuff in the afternoon. And we didn't go out to eat like we usually do on Fridays, since I wanted to save my calories for all of the fair food on Saturday. So I didn't get around to dressing up on Friday, so instead I'll show you the outfit I wore to the NC State Fair on Saturday.

Yellow Cardigan: Victoria's Secret, Floral Print Dress: Target, Belt: Anthropologie, Sunglasses and Earrings: Target

Cognac Boots: Steve Madden

Yes, I caved and bought the Steve Madden Intyce boots in cognac, after owning and loving the black ones for a month. They're just so comfy, although after walking over 7 miles that day (according to my new Fitbit, I walked about 4.5 miles at the State Fair, and another 2.5 around the mall later that night on a never ending search for a wedding guest outfit for next weekend. Just my luck, after searching what felt like every store in the mall, I ended up going back to H&M and buying the very first dress I tried on for $25.) my feet were pretty tired. Although I bet even in tennis shoes, my feet would be tired after 7 miles, so for boots, these are pretty dang good.

Do you own any really comfy boots? And has your weather finally tipped all the way to fall, or are you still experiencing unseasonably warm days here and there like we are?

Friday Fly By

Hey y'all! Hope you're having a great Friday so far, and are looking forward to the weekend.

I've been pretty busy this week, so didn't have a post planned for today, but I thought I'd do a quick fly by with a little brain dump/update. Sorry in advance if this is super random, it's just some things I wanted to share, that don't really make up individual posts by themselves.

- I'm super excited to be going to the NC State Fair this weekend! We're going to meet up with this lovely lady and her husband there. I haven't been to a fair since high school, and am really looking forward to people watching, sampling some fair food, and checking out the animal exhibits. They even have pot bellied pigs that race for cheesy poofs! I'm sure I'll have some fun pics to share next week.

- Speaking of next week, and high school, I'm also ridiculously excited to be starting tennis lessons next week! I was really inspired by Amy's post about getting in shape and finding something you love to do for exercise. Jillian Michaels just doesn't do it for me, but I'm loving my Pure Barre classes (since the focus in them reminds me of my years of ballet lessons back in the day), and now I'm going to add in tennis twice a week. I used to actually be pretty good in high school (made varsity doubles my sophomore year), but I've forgotten just about everything. I think it will be fun though, and fun exercise is the best kind.

Also for fun, here's my tennis team picture from my freshman year in high school. Ugh, braces! And I am so glad that wearing tall scrunched socks with sandals isn't in style anymore! Everyone in my school used to wear those for a good year and a half.

- Speaking of exercise, I'm trying to make a lifestyle change. I've only been at it a month now, but I'm trying to eat better and be more active, and not just for a few months to lose weight before a wedding. I'm trying to find a long term balance, but it's not easy. So I just yesterday ordered a Fitbit, to help me gather more data (you all know I love charts and being organized!). I'm excited to start using it, because it comes highly recommended by several bloggers I know personally. I was especially inspired by Cathy's posts on it, found here.

- Finally, remember this post from earlier this summer, about how I planted flowers and a deer salt lick in my backyard, because I love deer, and wanted to see some? I FINALLY saw deer in our yard last night!!! I was way too excited, grabbed my camera, which of course was on the wrong setting, and then my cat came out and scared them away. But I am so happy now! I still don't know what's up with my obsession with deer, but I just think they're so adorable. This weekend I'm totally going to plant a second deer salt lick, since my flowers are long dead. Hopefully the cuties will be back again!

Anyway, that's my little Friday brain dump. As usual, my blogging friends have inspired me in so many ways, and I hope you all have fantastic weekends!

Happy Friday!

6 Tips for Planning Out Your Outfits in Advance

A while ago I mentioned that I like to plan out my outfits ahead of time. But I didn't go into too many details, so I thought it might be fun to devote a blog post to my system for planning out weeks and weeks of outfits at a time. Maybe it will inspire some of you to plan ahead, save time, and add variety to your daily outfits!

And since I just went through my outfit planning process to kick start my fall working from home outfits series, I thought now would be the perfect time to share some tips.

Outfit Planning Tip #1: Start With a Clean Work Space

It takes some space to lay out a lot of clothes, so I like to start by cleaning my closet bedroom, hanging up all of my clothes into groupings (keeping like items together, like all of my skirts in the same place), and putting all of my shoes up on their shoe racks.

Full disclosure, my closet was a huge mess last weekend. I still had moving boxes in the middle of the floor, with clothes piled high on them, and shoes everywhere. I seem to have a never ending problem with hanging up clothes! Want to see how bad it was?

(Anyone having flashbacks to this old post?)

I was able to make some space on a shelf in my closet for about half of my purse collection, so the box in the middle of the room wouldn't be overflowing, and I shoved it in the closet, along with two other unpacked boxes of shoes, to free up some floor space.

Look, there was wood floors in there!

Anyway, back to tip #1, start with a clean and organized closet area before you begin the process of laying out your outfits. Several hours after I started, I finally accomplished that step. And I finally had room for my flea market chaise lounge bench!

(Although I've decided to wait until we move next spring to recover the chaise it in different fabric--there's too many other things I'd need to tie everything together in my closet bedroom, like a big area rug under it, wall paint and an actual vanity, instead of a plastic shelving unit with a mirror propped on it. It's just a better idea to wait until after we move, when I'll know what size of room I'll be working with in my new closet bedroom.)

Outfit Planning Tip #2: Set Aside Some Staging Space

"Staging" is a term used commonly in merchandising and trade show booth planning, which is some of what my department at work is responsible for. It's basically just laying out a bunch of products in different configurations, to find out what looks best. And of course, you need extra space to play around with your different clothing configurations. So just like in tip #1, having a clean area is key, but also be sure you have some space set aside for your staging.

It can be anything from the edge of a drawer, side of an ironing board, and I like to empty one of my garment racks as well, to leave room for my staging.

(Also, the end of a garment rack is a great place to hang long necklaces, so they won't tangle)

Outfit Planning Tip #3: Make Sure Your Accessories are Accessible

Accessories are a key part of outfit planning, so you want to make sure they're accessible when you're laying out your outfits. I hate forgetting I own a certain scarf, or wearing the same black belt too many times in a row because a different belt slipped my mind.

Usually I store my belts and scarves on this tree lamp, but as you can see, it's kind of a contained mess.

So before I start putting together outfits, I like to lay out my accessories where I can see all of them. That way I won't forget about a single scarf, belt, or pair of tights, and can have that much more variety in my outfits over the coming weeks.

Outfit Planning Tip #4: Write Down Accessories and Shoes For Each Outfit

To go along with tip #3, as I'm laying out my outfits, I like to keep track of which accessories and shoes I'm going to wear with the outfit. Because I'm going to wear the same black belt, say, 3 times over the next 8 weeks, I can't lay that belt out with the outfits, because there's more than one outfit it goes with. So I just use a Sharpie and some printer paper with a little hole in it to keep track of my accessories, and put the piece of paper on the hanger with the clothes. This gives me a lot more flexibility with incorporating the same accessory item with multiple outfits, and also saves space when staging, since things like knee high boots take up a lot of room.

Outfit Planning Tip #5: Start With Special and Favorite Clothing Items, and Work From There

It can be overwhelming to get started with planning out a ton of outfits at once (In my case, I planned out 8 weeks of work from home outfits, or 40 total outfits). Where do you start?

Well, I like to go in with my favorite and specialty clothing items first. Since I try to wear dresses on Fridays, I start by pulling out some dresses to one of my staging areas. Then I figure out how I'm going to accessorize them, and add their tags from tip #4.

Next, I start pulling out favorite clothing items, or ones I just really feel like wearing, like the tie neck shirt below.

Sometimes I'll even start with an accessory I want to be sure to wear, and work out from there, like the houndstooth brown and black tights below. I knew I wanted to be sure to wear these tights, so I built an outfit around it.

Just keep pulling items out a few at a time, like four skirts you like, and slowly begin to pair them up with coordinating tops, writing down your accessories and shoes as you go. And if you plan to wear the same skirt or pair of pants more than once over the coming weeks, just write it down on an accessories paper sheet, and attach it to the hanger of the top you're wearing the repeat skirt or pair of pants with.

Eventually you'll get up to your target number of outfits, and your staging area will be covered with tons of outfits, and you're ready for the last tip.

Outfit Planning Tip #6: Get Organized For Maximum Variety

You've got a ton of outfits put together, but now what? You don't want to necessarily just start wearing them in the random order they're currently in, spread out all over your staging areas. You want to get all the outfits organized by week, so you're optimizing the variety of clothing items, accessories and outfit colors.

I start by rearranging my staging areas into different groupings. This time around, I grouped by:
- Outfits with boots
- Outfits with belts (other than those with boots + belts)
- Outfits without belts or boots

And then within those groupings, I group the outfits with skirts and the outfits with pants.

Once your staging areas are nicely organized, it's really easy to just go around and pull outfits by week.

I put all of my Friday dresses in place on the garment racks, and then, say, if I was wearing boots with that Friday's dress, I knew I could only grab two more outfits with boots that week, for a maximum of 3 boots worn per week. I know I want to wear at least 1-2 pairs of pants per week, so I grabbed from staged areas of pants outfits. And I was sure to keep track of which belts and accessories I'd included by week, so that I'm not wearing the same scarf more than once, and my belted outfits were spread out as well. Finally, I make sure that my outfit colors are distributed enough. The last thing I want is to end up with all black and white or neutral outfits in one week, and five outfits with pink the next week.

It all comes down to a little playing and rearranging, but it's a lot easier if you've organized all of your staged outfits first, and if you go week by week. In the end, you'll have all of your outfits for weeks and weeks laid out and ready to quickly pull on each morning with no thought, other than grabbing some earrings or other jewelry. Unless of course you don't feel like wearing that day's outfit--the beauty of having all of these outfits already laid out is you can be flexible if you want, and just grab another already-put-together outfit if you feel like it that day!

(I also put out my shoes, other than boots, in the same order as I'll wear them, to make it even easier in the mornings)

So, there's my 6 tips on how to plan out your outfits in advance. I know it can seem overwhelming at first, but it really works for me, and maybe for some of you it will too. I just love the time savings, and the fact that over the coming weeks, I won't have to worry about forgetting to accessorize, or remembering if I wore the same boots two days ago.

It took me about an hour and a half to lay out these 40 outfits (after all of the cleaning I did, that is). Which is much, much better than the 10 minutes a day it would normally take me to stare at my closet and try to pick something out (it would be 6 hours and 40 minutes total time spent on picking 40 outfits if I was spending 10 minutes a day!).

Do you ever plan out your outfits in advance? Got any other tips on how to save time putting together your outfits in the morning?