The Great Outdoors

I've lived nearly my whole life in rural Vermont, surrounded by trees and grass and freshly manured fields. I love all of it and until about a year and a half ago, I always lived somewhere with accompanying outdoor space. Last Spring, I moved into my current apartment, which I love wholeheartedly. It doesn't, however, have any accompanying outdoor space (unless you count the parking lot where my neighbors like to hang out). This hasn't bothered me too much since there is a little park and a river within walking distance. But yesterday, while I was taking these pictures and listening to the sounds of nature, I realized just how much I miss spending alone time in the great outdoors.

 When I got home I decided to take a walk in order to spend a little more time outside. I typically stick to the sidewalk and make a loop around the block (much longer than a city block) to my apartment, but this time I decided to walk to the town rec fields instead and made an awesome discovery. Hidden alongside one of the ball fields was a little sign announcing the town labyrinth. Currently it's just a circle mowed out of the a bunch of tall grass, but it is shady and secluded and no one bothered me when I sat down to listen to a podcast and play with the grass. I was thrilled with this discovery and even more thrilled when I found a freshly mowed field, surrounded by trees that also seems to be owned by the town. 

I plan on taking serious advantage of my new found outdoor spaces by taking nightly walks. I'm stoked to have a place so nearby where I can be alone in nature, something I took for granted for many years. 

 Outfit Details: Jeans: Old Forever 21 | Button Up: Old A.N.A. | Vans: Second hand |

 Duster: Thrifted | Sunglasses: Old from a boutique in my home town

Summer 10x10

I was scrolling through instagram two weeks ago and saw a post by Lee of Style Bee reminding all that the Summer 10x10 would be coming up. Since I've felt less than successful after the last couple 10x10's and didn't think I was going to participate, I didn't pay too much attention to the details and kept scrolling. Then on the weekend, I happened to have some time on my hands and was playing with my clothes, when I started to realize that I was making a bunch of great outfits out of the same few pieces. That's when I decided to go ahead and participate. What I didn't realize was that the challenge isn't supposed to start until the end of July. I decided to dive in early, so read on to see the pieces I picked and find out what my plan of attack is this time.

Since I'm ahead of the game this summer, I decided to properly photograph all of the pieces I chose and make a nifty little graphic with them. It took quite a few hours (and an entire season of Pioneer Quest), but I have now learned how to take the background out of a picture in Photoshop and I'm pretty proud of myself. This new skill has already come in handy for non-blog related things, so I'm happy I got my butt in gear and learned. 

The Plan

As I mentioned above, I haven't been very successful with the last few 10x10's. I get excited in the beginning, but crazy schedules, wonky weather, and boredom always get in the way of me finishing. Since I know that a straight ten days of the same pieces doesn't typically work for me, I've decided to take a new approach. This time around I'm making ten outfits and I will wear them all, but throughout the course of the month, rather than over the same ten days. For me, this challenge is more about being creative with a limited number of items than about wearing those items all in a row. I'll do my best to take pictures of the outfits as I wear them. 

9 + 1?

You might notice that there are only nine pieces in the top picture and that is because I've only got nine items in my summer 10x10. I wasn't paying too close attention to the numbers as I was making outfits, just grabbing the clothes I was loving most at the moment, and ended up not immediately needing a tenth piece. I'm leaving my options open and might end up adding in some sort of top layer or another shirt. For now, I'm excited to wear these pieces (I've already started) and see where they take me :)