the sun beyond the fog

I'm feeling a bit better today...I have less of a cold, but my headache is still lingering. Hopefully it decides to go away completely tomorrow so I can fully concentrate on school.

Today started out just lovely, and this afternoon was particularly sweet. But things have just sort of gone emotionally and somewhat circumstantially downhill...I dunno, just feeling really down and upset, but I'm trying to keep things in perspective. Sometimes all the perspective I can seem to get is a bleak, misty, grey picture. Kind of like the lake was today...like all I can do is step as close as I can to the edge before falling into the water, while trying to see the sun beyond the fog and through the thick clouds. I know the light is there...I just need to look hard enough.

I love Wendy's bangs like this with her headscarf...and with the cat-eye glasses, it's so thirties/forties! She is just too darling and cute.

I can't seem to get enough of sweaters, collared shirts, and loafers lately...hope my outfits don't seem too boring to you guys! This coral sweater and blue collared blouse are two of the items I thrifted earlier this week...the sweater is so cozy, and the blouse has the prettiest lace detailing that you can sort of see on the collar. Love it.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

xo

Maria Elyse

trench coat: tulle

sweater: thrifted

blouse: thrifted vintage

skirt: charlotte russe dress

tights: target

loafers: vintage

wendy's outfit:

sweater: gap

jeans: target

shoes: thrifted minnetonkas

headscarf: vintage

glasses: gifted

happy birthday, daddy!

I want to wish a very happy birthday to my wonderful, handsome, loving, kind, and amazing father! Thank you so much, Daddy, for always being here for me, whether I need to talk, need advice, help, a hug, a smile, or a laugh. I love you so very much! ♥  I feel so blessed that God gave me such an incredible dad in you. Happy birthday, Daddy! ♥

Love, your girl,

Maria xoxo

molly's mess

Today, my dad took my sisters and I to an antique store in our small town called "Molly's Mess". We've lived here for over six years now, and had never gone there until today. It's kinda creepy/scary looking, and we had heard some weird stuff about it. But we decided to be brave and go check it out! As the store's name would indicate, it was pretty messy, haha. But it wasn't actually all that creepy, like I thought it would be. There was an insane amount of stuff there, it was crazy. There were three whole levels of antiques...the main floor, the upstairs, and then the attic. It was really fun watching my dad look around, and seeing him get all excited when he saw something he had when he was kid, or had wanted, or remembered. I'm sure one day I'll walk into an antique shop and see something from my childhood...that'll be really weird. Anyway, above are a few photos from around the store, but it doesn't even come close to showing all the cool stuff there. 

Aaaand this what I wore! I felt very menswear-inspired today...maybe it had something to do with school starting soon. I got these fantastic oxfords at Target yesterday for just $14! Yesss. We took these pictures in a field after we were done at Molly's Mess, and when Wendy and Lily were done playing at the school's new playground. You know you're a blogger when you stop to take outfit pictures in random fields. 

I have high school open house tomorrow! Excited/nervous for school to start...but yeah, hopefully this school year will be good. :) Oh, and my oldest sister Hope is coming home for Labor Day weekend on Friday! Eeee! I can't wait to see her, as it's been about two weeks since I last saw her beautiful face. I don't think I've ever gone this long without seeing her before. Can't wait for her to get here. ♥

xo

Maria Elyse

top: vintage

cardigan: thrifted

jeans: target

oxfords: target

bag: walmart

today was wonderful...

Today I went on a day out with my mom and sisters, and it was just absolutely wonderful. It was like our last day out together before school starts, in these last few lingering days of summer. First we went to downtown Duluth, and stopped by one of my favorite vintage shops only to find that it's now only open by appointment. It was sad. Buuuut, we decided to go to this antique store across the street. Oh. my. word. It was huge, and was filled with a million antiques and vintage treasures. I walked around it in an enchanted haze...like seriously. I could've looked, browsed, searched, admired, and loved everything in that shop for hours on end. Me and Wendy both found gorgeous vintage suitcases, mine for about $10, and hers for $5. Mine is so beautiful...it's the vintage suitcase of my dreams! I'll be sure to post pics soon. :)  Then we went to Ragstock, which is where the above picture is from. If you have one near you, you should really go and check it out. Then we headed off to the mall! It was a really lovely day. :)

I got the amazing shirt dress I'm wearing from Fancy Treehouse earlier this week, and I'm in love with it. It's so sweet and darling, and I've been brainstorming tons of different ways to wear it. It's just so pretty, I couldn't wait until fall to wear it, so I paired it with a nautical inspired cardigan and rolled up the sleeves. And Wendy decided to use my favorite oversized cardy with shorts (one of my fave combinations) which is accompanied by strange stares from people, as from behind it looks like you're not wearing anything. Haha! We were going to take outfit pics downtown, but we were running out of time and me and Wendy were scrambling down the sidewalks with our vintage suitcases, so it didn't work out. So it was photos outside the mall again! :)

xo

Maria Elyse

my outfit:

dress: fancy treehouse

cardigan: thrifted

shoes: wendy's, target

bag: wendy's

wendy's outfit:

top: target

cardigan: mine, vintage

shorts: mine

shoes: mine, target

bag: mine

sunglasses: target

toby & mickey

I know...these socks and shoes again. I seriously can't get enough of the combination!

Say hello to Toby and Mickey! They live over at the barn across the road. I was taking pictures and all of a sudden they both came running and leaping over to the garage. I'm not a big cat person at all, in fact, I actually somewhat dislike cats. I'm a dog lady all the way! But anywho, I just couldn't resist picking them up and cuddling them a little. I'm not sure which one is which in the photos, but I think Mickey's the darker one and Toby is lighter. I guess they're kinda sorta really cute. :)

My aunt and cousin left this morning, but it was an awesomely, amazingly wonderful weekend with them. The first day they were here we went tubing out on the lake for a few hours, which was really fun, after which we had pizza for dinner, hung out, had  a campfire and s'mores. Then me, Wendy, Lily, Rose, and my cousin Zach went down in our room and watched Toy Story 3 and played Muppets Monopoly for a while, laughing our silly heads off and joking around. The next day we slept-in, ate some delicious caramel rolls from our local coffee shop and cafe, climbed the big fire tower in our town (it's super tall and scary, in case you were wondering), then we went off to a different lake where some friends of ours have a cabin that they let us stay at sometimes. We went paddle-boating, canoeing, ate some amazing salmon, and then some of us decided to spend the night there. We had a campfire and stayed up until three in the morning talking and getting scared out of our minds at all the sounds and animal noises everywhere. It was such a fun weekend spent with family, doing all sorts of fun, crazy things, and I'm actually sad that it's basically over. But now we've all got some great memories. ♥

I hope you all had as great of a weekend as I did! 

xo

Maria 

top: unknown

shorts: vintage old navy

bag: vintage, for sale in my shop

socks: charlotte russe

platform sandals: target

hat: vintage francesco bing, gifted