Lazy Summer Crawling By...

Look who was crawling around in our backyard? Isn't he adorable?

He's adorable. And he looks like a Stanley. Or a Spencer. Something with an S :)

Yep...he's super cute :) I love baby animals.

But now, onto the outfit part of the post!

Tanktop: $8.00 Target

Belt: Wet Seal

Skirt: $19.99 TJ Maxx

I know, a bit of a picture overload today, but the turtle was so cute I couldn't help myself :)

How have you guys been? Last week was great for me, the first time this summer I've actually been able to relax and really enjoy summer. I babysat some kids last night and had alot of fun. There's something about kids that is so refreshing. Their happy as long as someone's around to love on them. It's amazing how much they need people to hug them and hold them and tickle them. Really, I'm the same way, but not as much. These kids just respond to touch like crazy. It's kind of amazing how absorbant they are,like sponges. I have to be super careful to watch what I say and what I do, because those kids watch everything and absorb it all.

But beyond that little insight, not too much has been going on, and really, I'm glad of it. It's what summer is all about right? NOT having a schedule full of things to blog about :P

Have a great rest of the week!

Love and much hugs,

Ari

Elegance is Understated

Hey girls! How has your week been? Mine's been great, the last two days especially. Last night I spent like all evening talking with my amazing friends via skype and the phone. We had a really great time and I got some cute stuff...I'll have another outfit post of what I bought later :)

 I'm kinda tired so I don't really have anything profound to write, but I hope you guys like the outfit pics, and have an awesome weekend!

Love and kisses,

Ari

Ever Solid Cornerstones

Sorry about the extreme frizziness of my hair...it gets like that sometimes :P

(Outfit: Tank top: Target, Dress: it was given to me, so I don't know where it comes from, Tights: Kohls, Owl necklace: Wet Seal)

Hey girls! How has y'alls summer been going? Mine has been great, VBS is over, and I'm finally able to relax and sleep in! Despite having to wake up early, VBS was really fun, and I'm super glad I participated. On Friday I was able to go to swing dancing with my friends, it was so much fun. I seriously pity all those who don't have a swing dancing "club" to go to...its just that much fun. There are classes for the first hour, then general dancing where anyone can do pretty much whatever they want. It's almost like a youth nightclub, only alot classier. Anyway, it was a total blast.

And today is Father's Day!! Just wanted to send a shout out to my wonderful Daddy, he's  great father, husband, and pastor of our little church, and I'm uber proud of him :)

We kiddos got him a Burberry cologne and some chocolate and canoli,  and then let him relax and do whatever he wanted all day long, and I think he really enjoyed it :)

Another thing that I wanted to talk to you guys about was that, yesterday, as I was cleaning out my dresser and organizing some of my old papers, I found this sheet of notebook paper, and was written on it really surprised me. On the front of the paper was written a long list of things I didn't like about myself, everything from having crooked teeth and being a procrastinator, to not having a boyfriend and perfectly skinny legs. Then on the back is written a list of truths, first put in my words, then backed up with scripture. Truths like :

I am a work in progress, not yet finished--(He has made perfect all those who are being made holy, Hebrews 10:14)

He created me to look the way I am, that was his desire--(You knit me together in my mother's womb, for I know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made, Psalm 139:14)

What I look like on the outside is not of real importance--(You should be known by the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit, 1 Peter 3:4)

So work hard and trust the Lord--(Those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied, Proverbs 13:4, Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path, Proverbs, 3:5)

I read this, and it was like the spirit preached me a little sermon right there, telling me that even though alot of things have changed since I wrote that paper, those truths have and always will stand firm, and they should be the very cornerstones of my life. Even though I may not have crooked teeth anymore, or my skin is alot better, and Ive just grown up in general doesn't mean that I don't have other things that I don't like about myself that still get me down. My problems may be slightly different by the core issue is still the same, if I forget those truths, and don't remind myself of them daily, its so easy to get caught up in pride, lies, and self disgust again.The same problem, just in a slightly different guise, and I don't want that to happen. I want to stay close to the God who loves me and saved me, and has given me these truths that will never change, no matter what happens in my life, or the world, I can always hold onto them. That's something worth remembering, don't you think? I wanted to share those with you, maybe they'll be as much of an encouragement to you as they were to me.

Have an amazing week!

Love you guys!

Ari <3

 

Antique Dreams

Heyoooo my peeps!! (haha sorry, I'm running out of creative and somewhat unique greetings!!) So this week has been VBS at my church...and thus my mornings have been incredible busy...spent in a worthwhile way of course, but still busy! I have six children in my little crew, most of them younger kids, like kindergarten age, and I just love them to death. There is something so innocent and simple about kids that age, their worlds are so much smaller, and they don't think about things like adults do. If they want to do something, they do it, without wondering what anyone else thinks of them. They don't care if their hair is messed up, or if their teeth are crooked, or if their covered in dirt. They just accept themselves and expect everyone else to do so as well. Makes me miss those days...I can hardly remember what they were like.
Anyways, so even though my mornings have been eaten up by VBS, my afternoons have mostly been lazy, I'll admit. Spending all morning with rambunctious children really takes it out of you, but I have managed to make time to amass a whole new selection of amazing vintage fashion blogs, such as Vintage Vixen, Bobby Pin Blog, Esme and the Laneway, and Gatsby and Me---all totally amazing vintage fashion blogs (you guys should totally check them out!!)
And meanwhile...I've been trying to scrounge up some vintage-esque outfits, unfortunately I don't have any actual vintage pieces yet but those will be coming!
Here's the outfit I wore yesterday while I made spaghetti for my family, feeling mightily like a prim little housewife...I think it's super cute :)

The outfit consists of:

A short orange-y red shirt

A stretchy and oh so comfortable high waisted pencil skirt

A cute little green, white and yellow headscarf (handmade..by me!)

And a locket from my grandmother on a teal ribbon.

Excuse the horribly orange lighting, it was night at the time, and the overhead light was totally terrible orange.

Cute, I know :)

So that's my outfit, I'll have alot more to come once I get to ordering my vintage lovelies.

EXAMPLES OF MY VINTAGE LOVELIES:

$40.00 Jojosretroandvintageshop.etsy.com

$40.00 Jojosretroandvintageshop.etsy.com

$16.50 Storeenvy.com

$42.00 storenvy.com

$19.99 Storenvy.com

$5.00 storenvy.com

$15.00 Jojosretroandvintageshop.etsy.com

So yeah...I have officially decided that my ideal place to live someday would be Portland Oregon...not only is it beautiful and West-Coast-ish, but it also has one of the largest groupings of vintage shops I've ever heard of! Going to college there would be such a dream. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed the photos, I promise I'll post more promptly next time, VBS has just made me super busy :)

Have a great rest of the summer!

Love and kisses,

Ari

Judging a Book by its Cover....

The cover above was made for me by a friend from Wattpad.com...the rest I made myself from pictures on the internet.

So tell me which one you like best, and that will be my official cover my book 'Secret Keeper' on wattpad.com! (And for those interested in reading afore mentioned book--look at the bottom of my blog page, there is a wattpad button that will lead you right to it...thanks!)

I'm sorry the quality is so poor...but I really like this cover...the dark hair and big eyes mimic the heroine in my story :)

(For all who are wondering, aurielle is my username on wattpad) I like this one because it shows a glimpse of the era the book is set in, the 1940's...and although the cover model's hair is not long, it's dark.

Okay, in this one, the model looks nothing like my heroine, but she looks sad and alone, like the heroine of my story often feels, so I thought the melancholy, and the early 20th century look of the photo gave it some merit.

This onr is a personal favorite...I really like the whole aura it gives off of being old..and slightly mysterious.

I really like this one too...

This is one version of the zooey deschanel cover...

And this is the other version.

OKAY, I need y'alls votes on this...which cover do you guys like best, and which do you think suits the story and the heroine best? I'm really to tired to say more...so vote away and give me your input...it is very muchly desired!!

Love and ink smudges,

Ari <3

Write Down My Smile...

Hey guys! I am so sorry for not posting in a week! But in my defense, it really has been super busy, I've been finishing school, working and all that normal teenage-y stuff :) But I so am back, so I hope you guys didn't miss me too much!! I noticed that I haven't posted a chapter from my story on here in a few posts, so this will be a Secret Keeper post :)

So I did the SAT again today...and I don't know what the deal is, maybe it gets easier as you do it several times, because I felt really comfortable doing it, and I hope my scores reflect that! I studied really hard, and I really hope I get good scores! That would be so awesome :)

And would make me jump for joy :)

Anyways, its kind of interesting to watch people when you're at these testing things, especially if you're a homeschooler like me and don't get to be in a classroom setting often. You can tell by body language who is nervous and who couldn't care less, by those who finish early and those who check over their work, or those who spend alot of time erasing. Its pretty cool to see how everyone has different methods of dealing with the testing. I get kind of OCD when I test, so I'm super thorough and check my stuff over and over again...haha I probably should relax some, but if it gets me a good score, then I'll go all Monk with the OCD-ness :)

Well, that's pretty much all my news, here comes Chapter Three of Secret Keeper..and remember, at the bottom of my blog there's a button for my wattpad account, please check it out and give my story more reads on there! Thanks.

Chapter three: Glimpse of Mystery

He walked along the old forest path, just a little bit farther, then the meadow would be in sight. He glanced to his right and caught a glimpse of his sister's swinging yellow braids as she skipped past him.

"Aislinn! Don't run with the food!" he called, realizing as the words left his lips that he might as well not have said them. His sister was so far ahead by now that there was no way she could have heard him. He spat out a quiet curse. He could just imagine what state his carefully constructed sandwich was in now.
Not to mention the peaches were probably bruised and...

"Oh stop worrying about the food Trystan! Typical male mind--always on the food."

His sister's bright face bounced before him as she hopped up and down, dramatically shaking the picnic basket. He smiled down at her and in one quick movement, snatched the basket from her fingers.

"Hey!" she yelled, but she was laughing as she darted in pursuit, "No fair!"

"Life is seldom fair." Trystan mimicked his mother's solemn tones, staring down at his sister with mock gravity, "You should know that by now, Aislinn."

His words of wisdom received no reply, Aislinn was already up and away, running ahead toward the sunshine of the meadow. As he walked ahead, his gaze snagged on an unfamiliar figure among the greenery of the forest.
The sun glinted off of a long shining shaft of dark brown hair, and he just caught a glimpse of a pale face and a thin, waif-like figure ducking behind one of the trees.

Trystan stopped and stared at the spot where the girl had disappeared. He might be wrong, but in that second he'd been able to see her, it looked like she was that secret keeper girl, the one that never spoke, no matter what anyone said to her.
He'd never whispered a secret to her, but he'd seen her, sitting on that old chair in front of Bo Rustman's store, silent, usually with her head bent low, so her hair fell above her face like a curtain.

He'd seen her eyes only once, but he knew he'd never forget them.
Large grayish green eyes, full of unspoken words, and a pain so deep that it washed the all that was ordinary from her eyes and made them windows to her soul.

What was she doing out here?

As he turned away and walked slowly down the beaten path, he wished he could have seen her eyes again. They were beautiful, so deep, and so sad. He wondered what could happen to a person to make their eyes look that way. Like a wounded animal, an innocent creature subjected to pain.

He shook his head slowly. Aislinn was calling for him...he should forget those eyes for now.
But he knew, as he settled down in the grass and opened the basket, dramatically moaning at the sight of the smashed sandwiches, that he would think of a secret that needed telling, and soon.

.....

That is the introduction to our lovely male protagonist, Trystan :) I know it's rather a short chapter, but I'll post the fourth one soon! Have a lovely Saturday girls, and enjoy summer vacation!!
Love and kisses,
Ari