Not your typical Office Shoes.

I came upon this extra sweet shoe collection from Office the other day and felt as if I had to share it with you guys. Not exactly what comes to mind when you think of "office shoes", I guess, but right up my alley, nonetheless. I'm most smitten with the toile-looking print, and though I don't usually fancy heels most of the time, I think I could make an exception for that beautiful pair of floral heart-breakers, too. They remind me a lot of Tieka's dress from my Marie Antoinette post!

Penelope and Coco

If you've followed my blog for long, you'll know that I'm an animal when it comes to oxfords. I just can't get enough of 'em! Sky high heels are quite impractical for my everyday life, not to mention uncomfortable and obnoxious (when I walk in them, at least), so I made the decision a few months back to stop wearing them for outfit photos, too (except on occasion!). As much as I'd love to wear a nice pair of Jeffery Campbell clogs, and as slimming as they'd probably make my legs look in that one dress, I just can't do it.

That's why I love Penelope and Coco so much. Their selection of oxfords and boots is great! For the first time in my life I'm taking nicely to leopard print things, and I actually don't mind the hot pink oxfords either! The outfit styling in the lookbook is such a treat, too. And hey, they're not Japanese either. I managed to slip an American label in there. Whatayaknow!

I'll be back tomorrow with a giveaway! xo.

The Chungs: My Madewell Purchase

I know I already snuck these into a shoe shot with the Annie's in Central Park, but I wanted to give a proper introduction to my new go-to oxfords, 'the Chungs'. I was practically acting like a giddy third grader with a crush when I bought them, writing Madewell all over twitter like a little girl with a sharpie and a bathroom wall, but I'm pretty sure they were my most expensive purchase of all time so you can understand where the excitement was coming from.

I tried on the fringe clogs first and walked around the store for a bit and loved them, I absolutely did, but they just didn't seem so practical for my every day life. First off, I wear oxfords every single day. I wore one pair until each shoe had a large hole in the bottom, another until the sole started flapping, and yet another until the little weaves started peeling apart! I wear oxfords to the grave!

The second strike against the clogs was that they were heels and I just simply do not wear heels to class – which is pretty much the only place I get dressed for anyway. The final factor that I weighed out just before I made my final decision was the fact that clogs may not be "in" next season but oxfords are classic enough to be "in" until the end of time! I'll be getting these babies resoled for the next ten years.

Needless to say, I'm verrrry satisfied with my choice! I'm not sure if they're Alexa for Madewell since they're not under that section of the Madewell website, but they previewed with her lookbook earlier this year, so I appropriately titled them, the Chungs, as in "baby, have you the Chungs laying around anywhere today."

Another Hot Springs Thrift Roundup

Can you believe it's only been a couple days since I announced my shopping ban, and I've already slipped up on a couple items? I'm weak when it comes to the subject of shopping and even worse when it comes to thrifting.

A couple of friends and I took a day trip down to Hot Springs yesterday to pick up a few supplies for some jewelry I'm working on for the shop. I've had a couple of requests for the skeleton key necklace that Katy wore in the Fly Away! collection, so I figured I'd make a few to sell instead of giving up my very own. I meant to ask if anyone else wanted one before I picked up the materials, but it's okay because the thrift store ended up being closed anyway. It was a bummer driving 45 minutes just to find that the thrift store is closed on Monday's, but I guess it all worked out since I forgot to ask if anybody else wanted one! I plan on selling them for $20, so just email me and let me know if you're interested so I can pick up enough supplies. (actionisthefruit@live.com)

The day wasn't a complete fail though. We ate some tasty Mexican food, saw a tiny chipmunk, and visited a lonely highway thrift store. I got this beautiful, sheer tulle skirt for $2 and that amazing Gladstone-style Dooney & Bourke bag for only $18. I think the oxfords came at the best price though. They were in a free shoe box out front! This marks the 5th pair of weaved oxfords that I've owned, but for some reason, I've got a bad habit of wearing them out to quick. Guess it's a good think I keep finding them!

This is just a simple, mounted magazine article that was posted in The Ladies Home Journal in 1917. I love that it's all about recycling fabric and showing women how to transform old, dated pieces into new, fashionable ones. Seems like something we're all kind of into now, huh?!

I suspect that this will be the most uninteresting of all my items to you guys, but by now you have to know how much I love magazines from the 50's and 60's. This is a huge set of around 30 Arizona Highway magazines from 1955. I bought them for both Jake and I to use on some art projects!