A Hannah Update.

Holy cow, I miss my sister so much. It's actually a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I'm so proud of her. She started a blog for Amani Liberia, where you can read all about the creation of the newest Amani, and find the most inspirational stories. It's so amazing what they are doing for these women, I can't even put it into words. Here is a video from the fashion show Korto Momolu did in Colombus in support of Amani.


{I spy a little sister in there}



Aren't those designs gorgeous? And doesn't Hannah look beautiful (she's sitting next to Stephanie during the fashion show)?

I also want to remind everyone that Hannah's shop is still full of beautiful dresses and necklaces. She continues to need support for her missionary work so that she is able to stay in Africa for the next year, and possibly years to come. While I want her to get home already, I believe in what she is doing and want to ask for everyone's continued support.

Playing Dress-Up.

When I was little my sister and I loved playing dress up in my mom's closet. Well, some things never change and Midway Antique Mall is like a giant dress-up closet. Liz and I spent Saturday at an amazing estate sale (where I got this album for $1!), and then stopped by my favorite place in the world- Midway. Here are the beautiful hilarious outfits we picked out.






I actually ended up liking this ridiculous green sequin dress- shoulder pads and all.

Grandma's Closet.

I've had this vintage Oscar de la Renta silk scarf hanging from my bookshelf since my grandma passed away years ago. I've never found a way to wear it, I'm just not that talented with scarfs or any other difficult piece of fashion. But I finally pulled it down and was determined to find a way to wear it today.




My sister is going to laugh when she sees this post. The day after she left I definitely raided her closet. She has so much cute stuff, and she is going to be gone for the next year. It's like I got a whole new wardrobe.
{vintage oscar de la renta silk scarf; sister's white button up; thrifted crocheted sweater also from my sister's closet; thrifted jeans; minnetonka moccasins}

Kenya Dress.

Hannah came out with a new design today, and it's by far my favorite. This dress is so gorgeous, I can't wait to wear mine (I got the gray one). This is her first design that comes in multiple sizes (pictured is a size Medium), but there are only a limited number of each. Hannah is leaving for Africa on the 22nd, and she continues to need all the support she can get. With a $1200 Malaria medicine bill and the shipping cost for the sewing machines needed for Amani Liberia, the price tag on Hannah's missionary work keeps getting bigger- so any and all support is greatly appreciated. Please spread the word, do a little shopping, and say a prayer for Hannah as she moves across the world (I haven't even began really thinking about it, I can't even look at that day in my planner with out getting tears in my eyes- it's going to be rough).




Happy shopping!

It's Open!

I am so excited to announce that Hannah's shop is OPEN & dresses are flying off the shelves already. Hannah did an amazing job with her 'Liberia Dress', which is an exclusive design made for this shop. In addition she has a bunch of beautiful designs from previous collections, so there is definitely something for everyone. And don't forget, all proceeds from the shop go directly to her missionary work with Amani Ya Juu.




Make sure you check out everything she has for sale, and stay tuned for possible shop updates in the upcoming weeks. Hannah is getting ready to pack her bags, as she is moving back to Africa in the next couple of weeks- so please help her raise the funding she needs by shopping your heart out, and spreading the word. {You may also make a donation to Hannah & her missionary work through the shop}

I would love help getting the word out there, so if you would like to post this button on your blog- please do! Also, if you could tweet/blog/screamatthetopofyourlungs about her shop opening, that would be fantastic.



<a href="http://hannahlenore.goodsie.com"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5204/5348129634_e9c263557a_m.jpg" /></a>

PS Thank you Liz for making the banner & button!

Combat.

I've been wanting a pair of boots like these for so long, and I finally found them. Even though I love wearing dresses (and own about a million), I'm a jeans and tshirt girl at heart. And I'm finally learning how to dress for the winter. No more moccasins in the rain, that should be my New Year's resolution. And for once I actually have a good pair of "rain boots" I can wear instead. Here's to warm toes!





//American Apparel Baggy T//Target Sweater//Gifted Crocheted Scarf//Delia Jeans//Target Boots//

Wish List: Native Edition.

When I was little my best friend's father was native american, and I always loved going to their house. Even though he was a tad bit scary, I was intrigued. I absolutely love native american art, jewelry, and clothing. Recently one of the grandfather's of a student brought me a catalog from the Southwest Indian Foundation. They have some of the most amazing things for sale, and all proceeds go to help the tribes.





Beautiful, huh?

Wish List: Cold Weather Edition.

Dear Santa,

I am horrible at dressing for this cold weather. Wearing dresses and light sweaters just isn't cutting it. So how about you send me a couple of these pretties for Christmas? Thank you.

Love, Ashley.





{PS Isn't it obvious that I don't know how to dress for cold weather? Half of these have short sleeves. I really need help.}

Oh, and Santa in case your elves aren't very good at sewing, you can get these sweaters/jackets here:
1. Anthropologie 2. Modcloth 3,4&5. Urban Outfitters 6. Anthropologie

New & Old.

New: I bought my first pair of earrings since I was a little girl (yipeee!). I have horribly sensitive skin, so wearing them is torture. But I recently learned that all you need is a little Neosporin daily to treat the irritation, and it really does work. I bought these Laura Lombardi brass bar earrings from Magpie & Rye, and I think I may finally be an earring kind of girl.





Old: While I was so happy to take a picture of my new earrings, I ended up wanting to cry. Can you see the wrinkles? Now, I know they aren't horrible (yet), but they are still there. I've always thought wrinkles and gray hair are beautiful on women, but I've never thought about them on me. Anyway, I'll be 30 in just 3.5 short years and I guess a few crow's feet are normal, but it's still a tad bit depressing. Maybe I'll start photoshopping them out hehe.

Hugs Not Drugs.

So this week is Red Ribbon Week at my elementary school, and each day has a special theme. Tuesday was 'Hugs Not Drugs' so the kids brought their teddy bears to school. Tuesday was crazy sock day (there was a cute name that had to do with knocking the socks off something). Well, what I didn't realize was that crazy sock day means you wear crazy socks underneath your jeans. Yep, I showed up in polka dotted tights and stripe socks up to my knees. It doesn't help that I'm 6 feet tall, so I already stick out like a sore thumb in the midst of 25 five year olds. But it's okay because my kids loved my socks and they were so excited when I showed up in my silly outfit:

More Face Love.

Remember when I told you about my new favorite friend, Face, and her amazing artwork. I bought one of her shirts and I am absolutely in love with it. Face explained the owl creature in an email:

It's from the Ricky Gervais podcast. He's been doing this for ages; it highlights the truly bizarre outlook and sayings of his friend Karl Pilkington. Karl essentially thinks like a kindergartener. One podcast, they were having a discussion about how to make the best animal -best at surviving and being awesome and stuff. You know like, head of a lion, arms of a gorilla, tail of a giant scorpion or something. But Karl thought the best animal would have an armadillo body (for protection), slug juice instead of feet (“it's mainly meant to be on walls”), an owl head (to make it look nice to humans so they won't harm it), and peacock feathers (to deter predators).

Pretty hilarious, huh?






P.S. Go check out Face's blog. She just got it up and running again, and it's pretty darn awesome. I especially love her tshirt leeching tutorial. Who wants to try this with me?

Behind The Scenes.

I still can't get over how beautiful the pictures turned out from Hannah's recent fashion show. Robyn did such an amazing job, I just had to share a few more. These are some of my favorite candid shots from the show.





{I'm wearing this dress to a wedding this weekend.}



{Shopping through Corina's vintage clothes.}



{My mom & all the amazing items from Amani Ya Juu.}











{My favorite picture of Hannah.}