meet dusty!

We have a tiny new furry family member!!  While I was sad to leave all my friends at TxSC, I knew we were taking home our little pup on Tuesday, which made coming home all the more exciting.  We couldn't be more thrilled with our little gal.  She is so well behaved, doesn't whine at night, and so far there have been no potty accidents!  I'm kind of blown away. We went to the vet yesterday afternoon to make sure she was healthy, and she passed with flying colors.  We named her Dusty, after Dusty Springfield who sings Son of a Preacher Man, our first dance song.  We could not for the life of us pick a name, but we just ended up calling her Dusty and it seems to fit her just fine.
One of the many reasons I wanted to get a puppy was to start the process of understanding what it means to be a parent.  While having a human child is different in many ways, I already feel my heart shifting to a place where it "gets" being a parent.  Kind of a weird feeling.  This little fuzzball already has such a large part of my heart.  She is our little bebe corgs.  All she wants to do is snuggle and, uh, I'm pretty okay with that.  Like, forever. 


 

 

We celebrated with a gift of a little wine on the occasion of bringing our canine daughter home.  We thought about doing a champagne, since champagne is typically a celebratory beverage, but we thought the popping of the cork might scare Dusty.  A nice white Chardonnay seemed like a better choice.  Plus if she knocked it over it wouldn't stain, haha!  I'd never had Sofia Chardonnay, and it's actually a pretty new wine just released in May, but it was really light, refreshing, and quite enjoyable. I seriously cannot with that face and the little feets.  She's a fluffy corgi, which is a little different from the normal coat.  Apparently it's a recessive gene, so they aren't super common, but I've also heard that they shed a bit less than normal coat Corgis, so that's cool if it's true!  And maybe she'll stay a little warmer in the winters.  Since she's a fluffy, she can't show due to the coat not being the proper length for the breed, but we weren't planning on showing anyway.  Though it would be super fun to do agility with her!  My mom and I watched a dog show with agility courses a few years ago and it was so much fun.  It reminded us of a mini version of horse showing!  Plus, Corgis jumping over tiny fences is slightly hilarious and adorable.
I'll try not to bombard you guys with too many bebe corg pictures.  This post is a little overkill but there were just too many cute ones and my editing skills disappeared.  I can't say the same for my instagram.  I've seen tons of people who create a whole new instagram account for their Corgi!  I just feel like it would be annoying to sign in and out all the time, but that could be a fun solution to overrunning my personal instagram with Dusty photos.  We shall see.




*Wine provided by Francis Ford Coppola winery. Thanks for supporting those companies which help keep Delightfully Tacky alive and kicking!

last friday night

Friday was a fun day in Austin because there were very few events planned and it was all fun stuff, no learning yet.  For dinner, I was invited to a little event with Minnetonka, and it was the first event of the weekend, so it was great to finally meet up with friends and meet a few new people.  I got to finally meet Savannah and Jenny from Maiedae!  I feel like Savannah and I could be sisters, it's kind of weird.  The Minnetonka dinner was definitely the most my-style type event the whole weekend.  Small, intimate, friends with whom I could have deeper conversations, yummy food, champagne... it was a good way to ease into the crazier swap event later that night.  And by ease into, I mean get buzzed.  No, I kid (sort of), it really was a nice kick off to the whole weekend.  I got to have great conversations, some with old friends, some with new, and it was fun to be able to walk over to the swap all together, with our bellies full of great food and drink.  

 


dress/courtesy of lulu's :: necklace(similar)/francesca's collection ::  clutch/courtesy of hearts :: shoes/courtesy of modcloth :: shades/vintage  photos of me by Tieka :: photos of the minnetonka dinner by Jenni photobooth photos by Peter Tung

The swap was pretty crazy, especially when we first arrived.  It was packed! Situations where people are elbow to elbow trying to grab clothes are some of my least favorite (see: black friday), so I hung back, chatted, grabbed one of the amazing cocktails they were serving and waited till things were a bit more chilled out.  Despite it seeming to be pretty picked over by the time I started searching for things, I got some great items, and I ended up wearing them during TxSC, so they'll be on the blog pretty soon!

After the swap a little group of us went out to a restaurant to grab a few apps and another drink before heading home for the night.  I'm pretty sure I fell asleep immediately, which was good because I had to teach my workshop the next morning!  Thankfully late morning.

more after the jump!



Even though the Swap was overwhelming when the doors first opened at 7, it really was an amazing event.  In addition to the 2 items that the swap-goers each brought, Lulu's seeded the swap with over 200 brand new pieces!  They put on an amazing event and it seemed like everyone left with some amazing items!  This year there were even a couple dressing rooms so you could make sure your items fit right before picking them out for good.  Last year we just grabbed and hoped for the best.  One of my favorite things about the swap is that each item that a swap-goer brings gets labeled with their name, blog, and twitter handle, so you get to find out who brought the item you snatched up!  It's a great way to get to know the history of the item, plus it's a fun way to network.




 



*Huge thanks to Lulu's for sponsoring my travel and lodging for Texas Style Council!!

delightfully tacky x modcloth

Exciting news!  Over the past couple months I've been working with ModCloth on a vintage collection inspired by my style!  It launched on Monday and I'm super excited to share it with you all.  Over the past few years my style inspiration has shifted from a 1950's - early 60's look, back to a more casual bohemian/rock and roll/pin-up style, which is what I was more inspired by when I was younger.  It's so funny how style can be cyclical, even within your own life!  These days I've been loving the styles of chicks like Grace Slick, Bettie Page, and Carly Simon.  You can read more about my inspiration for this collection over at the ModCloth blog, and head over to ModCloth to take a look at the collection!



 


 

becoming bright

One thing I loved about packing for Austin was that I didn't have to pack any kind of jacket.  Not even a cardigan.  It left a lot of room for shoes and fun dresses!  I decided to check a bag, which I never do, simply because I wanted to be able to bring anything I wanted and not worry about stuffing it all in a carry-on.  I usually don't bring a checked bag, mostly because I don't like waiting at the carousel after the flight for my bag to arrive, and I'm always afraid my bag will get lost and cause more stress than anything else.  But this time I figured I was getting in early enough that even if it was lost, it could probably make it by the time I needed my stuff, and if not, well, I was going to a conference full of amazing ladies who would probably lend me something to wear in an emergency.

I wore this little sundress to walk across the bridge to the 2nd Street district to help Lulu's set up the swap.  When I got there they didn't really need much help, but it was fun to see people trickling in to drop off their swap items and get a little sneak peek of all the fun stuff that would be available later that night.  This year I decided to have a lot of fun with super colorful outfits.  I tend towards more muted colors, but this summer has been all about brights, which is kind of out of character for me, but I'm really loving it.  Sometimes it seems like we wear colors that reflect how we feel and I wanted to feel bright and shiny and excited at TxSC especially so I purposefully picked out super fun, bold colors to wear.  

 

dress/courtesy of ruche :: shoes(similar)/courtesy of modcloth   necklace(similar)/francesca's collections belt/thrifted :: shades/vintage :: bag/courtesy of bali ELF

I was pretty proud of how outgoing I was this year at TxSC.  I tried really hard to say hi to people I didn't know and to smile a lot to avoid the Chronic Bitchface misunderstandings that happen when you look like you hate everyone but really you just have Chronic Bitchface.  I still didn't meet a ton of new people, but I met quite a few and I was happy that I didn't burn myself out to the point of exhaustion trying to stretch my introverted self into an extroverted place.  There were a couple times when I really wanted to go out with people but I forced myself to stay in and recuperate and I think it made all the difference.  I handed out way more business cards than I probably have in the past year, and the whole conference was such a positive experience, especially in comparison with how I felt last year.

Any of you introverts attend TxSC?  How did you feel about it?  Better/worse than expected?

for the flight

I spent last Thursday traveling, and didn't have any time to take photos of my outfit before it got dark, so the next morning I threw on the same outfit to head down to the pool.  I didn't have anything scheduled to do until the afternoon, so I figured I'd take advantage of the hotel pool to get some sun and relax before the crazy weekend.  It felt so good to be able to come to a conference and actually have time to recuperate from the madness now and then.  Usually my flights arrive and leave on the same day that one of the events is happening, so I feel rushed and stressed, especially if a flight is delayed.  This time I got in the day before anything happened and left the day after the last event.  Much less stressful.  
The Hyatt, where I stayed, is right next to Town Lake in downtown Austin, and as I was hanging out at the pool, I noticed that there were people renting paddle boards and kayaks right nearby.  I love paddle boarding and it looked like a ton of fun on the lake, so after realizing that I definitely had more than enough time to squeeze in a little paddle boarding I headed down and rented one for an hour!  It was so much fun.  It was nearing 100º by that time, but being out on the water felt great.  There were even little turtles in the lake that I paddled by!  It was a blast and I'm glad I followed the impulse to just go do it.

 

dress/via swap :: top/courtesy of wildlife works :: bag/courtesy of bali elf leaf necklace/courtesy of duplika handmade shoes/courtesy of minnetonka :: quartz necklace/courtesy of adorn by sarah lewis
I didn't plan this, but this feather dress I actually got last year at the Texas Style Council swap!  It's been one of my most worn items since I got it, so hopefully one of my swap items this year is just as great a find!  I got some pretty great items, so I'm excited to see how they remix.
Despite it being rather hot, I actually enjoyed the change of climate.  It's been an extremely nice summer in the PNW, but I kind of liked the oppressive heat for a few days.  That being said, I don't think I could handle living permanently in that kind of climate.  Even though it gets old after a few months, I do love the coziness that clouds, cool temperatures, and rain can bring.  I like getting to bundle up, wear layers, and style cute coats.  Of course, I ache for a vacation to warmer climes around February.  So it goes.