much adoo

Awhile back, one of my best friends told me about a couple that she knew that owned a cotton shop that was organic, fair-trade, and made amazing flavors. I thought that was the coolest thing and figured I would have to wait until the day I finally get myself out to Tucson, Arizona to try it. Then, Alyson called me asking if I could do a few cocktails and feature the Fluff It Up cotton candy on my site, and I died of happiness.

I got my bag of cotton candy flown from Tucson to Cincinnati, and it traveled back in a car with us back to Pennsylvania, so this is some well traveled cotton candy! And, despite the fact I had to leave it sit in my house for a week while we were in Florida, it stayed delicious - and uneaten, much to my dismay, because I seriously wanted to eat it. The pains of being a blogger and having to photograph my food.

So here's to the first flavor and cocktail - apple pie!

My outfit posts are going to be some wonky mash-up of where I have been the last three weeks - which basically was not Pennsylvania. This is another post from Akron - taken at a restaurant that I've been going to with Jason and his family since I met him. I find it a very midwest thing the idea of a restaurant in a barn - it's really quite popular in Ohio (and Pennsylvania, now that I'm noticing it) - this quaint country-style restaurant in the middle of nowhere in a barn. I've grown up around them, so I never thought twice about it until recently. I love this one in particular because of the collection of old cameras I get to look at whenever we go. I was intent on dressing for the occasion with what I perceive as my most barn-like skirt (I wore it to the farm show for the same reason) and my animal print blouses - since the one place animals do belong is in a barn.

coat :: dear creatures remixed

dress as top :: charlie jade via macy's remixed
cardigan :: loft remixed

mountain a-line skirt :: anthropologie (on ebay) remixed

boots :: via dsw remixed

bag :: cambridge satchel via modcloth remixed

headwrap :: from belt of dress

Coming back from Florida, I remember why sometimes I prefer driving. Airports are massive amounts of people, some who are confused, some who are lost, and some who are so on top of it that it's like a race car admist some bumper cars. It's all pretty awful. Standing in line for a ride at Disney? Ok. Standing in line for a weird naked scanner? No thank you. Still, sometimes you have to do it. I've been flying alone since I was 13, and here are some of my tips to make it bearable.

I really wanted to take photos of Jason and myself all around the place we fell in love - our college, the University of Cincinnati. We were super fortunate to have a great campus full of beautiful architecture, even if our college experience wasn't something to write home about. We set up in front of the engineering building outside of our old parking garage - we used to walk this walkway together often. Something to note about our college campus is it is a bunch of buildings and hills in the middle of a city block all crammed together, creating some of the worst wind tunnels ever. It's terribly windy. So guess what happened after a few of these photos? A wind gust came through, and we watched our brand new camera come crashing to the ground. We're lucky it's still in perfect condition sans a few nicks, but we were able to recoop and take more photos around campus, even if just of me. Most of these are taken around a small green area of campus strewn with pathways known as Sigma Sigma Commons - where Jason and I had our first kiss. We lived in a dorm nearby, and spent a lot of our freshman year in college climbing up the giant hill known as 'Main Street' and eating in whatever restaurants we could walk to. It's always interesting to come back and remember how familiar these places were and still feel.

pea coat :: j crew remixed

sweater :: j crew factory remixed

skirt :: anthropologie (on ebay now) remixed

tights :: old navy remixed

shoes :: marc jacobs remixed

clutch :: kate spade remixed

necklace :: etsy remixed

ring :: c/o uncommon goods remixed

Who doesn't need a 'I'm back at work in the new year' pick me up? Well, this is about as adorable as my dogs get - when they cuddle each other. Here's a collection of puppy cuddles.

Have you guys seen National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? If not - go do so, I don't care that Christmas is over - and if so, then you know that the movie tells the story of the Griswold family Christmas. And this is why I was so excited to have our first Griswold (my BFF's new married last name!) / McAdoo Christmas. I was pumped to take photos of all of us and continue our newly created tradition of a pre-Christmas dinner with Becki and Jeremiah every year. I brought everyone out in the cold for some photos. I might be the annoying friend who drags everyone out in the cold, but for all it's worth, I am glad I do. I love these shoots!

We ate dinner and then visited a new brewery - and boy, was it good!

coat :: j crew remixed

headband :: free people remixed

cardigan :: target remixed

martha's air of adorable dress :: modcloth remixed

belt :: target

tights :: target

heels :: uo remixed

ring :: walk in love remixed

First off - HAPPY NEW YEAR! I am someone who posts outfits quite a bit after the fact, so my new year's outfit won't be up for awhile, but here's photos from our Christmas! We enjoyed Christmas Eve at my parents house before traveling back to Pennsylvania all of Christmas Day. I wore something comfortable and fairly casual for the first time in years - contrary to the usual glittery dress I've been aiming for each year. I loved this silly top with the cats in sweaters and thought these tights were just too fun and perfect with the top not to wear.