Big Fashion Small World

Macaroons and China

Again, I am so sorry for the lack of posts! I have been so busy preparing for my trip to China, Hong Kong and Macau that I have barely had time to do anything else, aside from summer gym *shudder*. Yes summer gym - three weeks which are supposed to be equivalent of one year of gym, that means 5.5 hours a day of kickball and running around a track. 

I have pretty much finished packing although I am not leaving until Sunday, so I have been trying to find other things to do to break up my constant research. This has included reading blogs and magazines and making french macaroons - SO FUN!

ALMOND MACAROONS WITH BUTTERCREAM FILLING

Recipe from "Gourmet Today" cookbook. 

 

 

The filling. The uncooked, beaten egg whites make the filling so shiny and beautiful!
   

Assembly....



     So good!!

Here are some other pictures that have taken over the last couple months..

I am not sure why but this house fascinates me. I love how only the front is painted greenish, that the porch is covered in fake grass and that they are using a stump as a table. It kind of reminds me of making fairy houses as a child.  

 

This is what I love about summer - favorite old sandals, cutoffs, birthday cake and of course swimming!
  
   

One of the men on the horses who allowed us to take photos for the photoshoot. I love how affectionately he is looking at his horse, there is something about people who truly love their animals that always touches me. 
   

My dog, Nina. She is a Puli, and when she isn't clipped naturally develops dreadlocks. She is very cute, but so mischievous.
 
   

The family farm. Tucked away in the Southern corner of Virginia, this is one of my favorite places to escape to during the summer in order to do nothing but read, and eat way too much homemade Southern food. (My family is ALL Texan!)

   

Feeling nostalgic about my trip to Japan last summer, but also getting so excited for the new adventures I will have in China.

Sorry for the entirely un-fashion related post! I will probably try to do a outfit post this week before I go, if not look forward to my first post from China!

xoxo

Casey  
 

 

 

 

The Big "Secret"

As promised here is a post about the charity event I did. For the project I bought clothes at the Goodwill and at extreme sales and either altered them somehow or left them as is. Then, I went to Lowes and bought I bunch of chain which I made into some pretty bad ass necklaces. Then I found a venue and after that set up a photoshoot in the graveyard next to my house. My friend Camilla was the model, my friend Lane was the photographer and I was the stylist. Then I went to the printer and had posters and flyers made. I also sewed tags into all the clothes and attached price tags to them. 

Here are a few pictures of everything I described and if you are in Charlottesville and want to check out some of the clothes I will be selling the leftovers (there are A LOT)  at BitterSweet starting this monday. 

These are some photoshoot pictures:

This is the photo we used for the flyers, she looks hot, right?

   The funniest thing happened while we were shooting. These two men rode through the graveyard on horses, so we stopped them and asked to take a few pictures, they were really nice!

There are TONS more pictures from the shoot but I think it will be too overwhelming to post them all at once, so more later...

Here are some photos from the actual event which was actually quite successful!.....and it looks like that wont happen today, technical difficulties, how frustrating!!

I will post again soon! Keep cool!

xoxo

Casey

 

Feeling Guilty

Wow! It has been forever since I have posted. AP exams and all the other end of the school year stuff has been really draining and kept me very busy. I haven't taken any new pictures since I stopped posting so here are some outfit photos I took a while ago but never posted. 

*DIYed crop top; AE shorts; shoes from Rugged Warehouse*

*Armani Collection blazer; Hanes t; american apparel skirt; nike shoes*

About that exciting event I couldn't tell you about in my last post: I hosted and organized a fashion event for charity. A full post (with lots of pictures) and a more complete explanation to come. 

In other news I am going to China in less than a month. I am so incredibly excited and have already started making my packing list! I am getting a new camera before I go so look forward to lots of picture-filled posts from China in about 3.5 weeks. 

I am off to help host a sweet sixteen birthday party. Have a great Sunday, and I promise TONS of posts to come!

XOXO 

Casey

      

Mixin' It Up

Sorry about the slow down in posts, I really am updating as much as I can.

Anyway, today I decided to give pattern mixing a go. It was fun and something I don't usually do. It made me feel very springy until I realized it was raining out. 

Vintage shirt; j.crew skirt; vintage belt; vintage sunglasses; shoes from Pearl River.

Sorry for the short post but I must get back to work!

xoxo

      Casey      

To the Grocery Store

When I am away from my full wardrobe for a while I tend to overdress as soon as I have choices again. So, this morning, having just got back from Florida I decided to get a little dressed up to go the the grocery store of all places. 

Wearing: Armani jacket; j.crew skirt; thrifted shirt; vintage belt I got in Florida; j.crew flats and Ray Ban sunglasses. 

I have since changed into more relaxed clothes in order to blog and work on a huge project I have coming up that I can't wait to tell you all about but for now it's a secret. 

Thanks for reading!

Casey

 

I got home from Florida last night and it felt so good to sleep in my own bed again! I am sorry I didn't get to post again while I was there but the internet was so slow I just couldn't stand it! So here are the pictures I promised: 

This is the cute place where we stayed. It was so casual and beautiful.  

We stayed on a tiny island off the coast of Florida, on one side is the Gulf of Mexico and on the other is a bay. The two sides were entirely different even though they were only half a mile apart. 

This is the bay side: 

 

 This was the first of many birds I took pictures of. 

   

It was so creepy running through this part, I kept on imagining scenes from horror movies taking place...very eerie. 


   The last four pictures are from the "community park" where I went running. It is so beautiful and all the plants are so different from what I am used to. I loved exploring this area and being able to take my time looking at everything. 

Now for my favorite pictures, the ones from the ocean side.

 

More birds: 



  

Raj dress and j.crew bathing suit. 
 
 

The sunsets were gorgeous!

 

Thakoon for target dress

This trip was so relaxing and enjoyable! I can't wait to show you all the great things I got at the many thrift stores my mom and I went to. It is so fun to see what other areas have to offer when it comes to thrift shops.

 I also wanted to acknowledge my new readers, thank you so much for reading and if you have any feedback I would love to hear it!

xoxo

Casey
    

The C-ville

There is a local, weekly publication in my area called The C-ville that has just published and article and a video about me. I am so excited about it and so impressed by how well it turned out! Here is a link to the article, check it out and let me know what you think. 

Thank you so much to everyone at The C-ville who made this happen, I couldn't be happier!

xoxo

C

Beautiful weather and a great book, is there anything better?

I have been trying to post for the last two days but I was having some technical difficulties. It is such a relief to have them fixed! This is my third day in Florida and I am loving it,it is absolutely gorgeous here, the water is clear and calm and the weather is perfect: not too cold and not too hot, with a light breeze.I am reading a great book called The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, by a Japanese author named Haruki Murakami. This book is dark, strange and absolutely fascinating, however these words don't do it justice. I brought another one of his books to read on this trip as well and I can't wait to see how it compares to this one. I just got back from a long run through the "community park", it is full of palm trees and exotic plants and the paths are bridges that go over marshes and ponds I can't wait to share some pictures of it!

Anyway, about fashion: I have brought very casual outfits on this

trip, mostly Hanes t's, sundresses, cutoffs, flowy skirts and flat sandals. It's so carefree and casual here it just feels wrong to try too hard. Unfortunately I haven't taken many photos yet but I plan to do that this afternoon. To keep you entertained here are a few outfit pictures I took before I left. I hope you can see them because the internet is so slow here they won't load on my computer. 

   

Christopher Kane for Topshop dress (worn as skirt); Urban Outfitters skirt; Gap jean shirt; BCBG boots

  
 
  
 Lucky Brand jean dress; vintage belt; Urban Outfitters boots; vintage necklaces - one of them is a Grizzly bear claw which my mother found on the ground when she was in Alaska and made into this necklace. 

Off to go swimming! 

xoxo 

C

Denim and More Denim

One spring trend I have picked up on is denim on denim, I am not sure why but I love mixing different colors of denim. Here is one of the many denim on denim outfits I have

styled lately:  

It was windy....

 

Armani blazer; Gap jean shirt; Hanes tee; Citizens of Humanity jeans; J.crew flats

I have been wearing this denim shirt with my Hanes tees every other day. It is one of my newfound favorite articles of clothing, it was my mothers, so it is already worn in and faded. Here is another outfit I wore to a dinner party this weekend. I love these jeans, they are so well made and different than any others I have seen. 

Hussein Chalayan for J Brand jeans; BCBG boots; Hanes DIYed tee; J crew grey tee; Armani Blazer; random jewelry 

I am very excited about this shirt I have cut into a crop top, I plan on wearing it a lot in Florid without a shirt under it. Aren't the back of this jeans amazing? I love the odd construction and big pockets. Anyway it is getting late and my sentences are rapidly decreasing in quality. 

Goodnight!

C

Feeling dark

I have been reading Camille's blog rather obsessively the last week or two and have definitely been influenced by her minimalist, black wardrobe. Today, it was much cooler than it has been and entirely by accident I picked out an almost all black outfit which is very unusual for me, but I decided to go with it. 

Marc by marc dress; Armani blazer; Calvin Klein over the knee boots

If you haven't checked out Camille's blog I would highly recommend it, she is very intelligent and has a unique view of fashion and style. 

xoxo

C