ramblings

It is officially feeling like fall. The days are pretty gloomy and gray, which is my favorite. Josh and I have been pretty busy, taking breaks between 10 hour self-employed days to hang out with friends (and family!), hang out at church, and also watching a few episodes of friends daily.
To be honest, I feel like i'm still trying to find my niche as my own boss... sometimes i'm at it from the time i wake up until 11pm, with a few breaks to shove food down my throat.. and other times i feel like it takes me 6 hours just to return emails in between the sink full of dishes and laundry. i love both kinds of days, but i'm trying to find the balance in the two. Either way, i go to bed every night thanking God i GET to be this busy doing something i love.. it's truly something i'll never take for granted. Blessed is only one way to put it.

on a completely different note:
-have i mentioned how excited i am to be going to europe for a month, we'll have our 4th anniversary while were there.. unfortunately we'll probably be spending said anniversary in a van with our best guy friends but hey, we'll be in europe!
-i've been listening to this and this and this constantly.. you should too!
-i think i need to make caramel apples and caramel raspberries. its on my list for next week.

and last but not least, i had the chance to take some newborn photos for a friend. only 4 days old! isn't he so sweet?

farewell summer

I'm not a huge fan of summer, although this year the weather was very mild (except for a few 90 degree days here and there) and the long days are a treat.
It's also a pretty good excuse to wear your favorite swim suit and eat popsicles all the time. I guess it's not so bad after all..!

(film scans from an underwater disposable we had)







It was a great summer but i'm more than ready for fall!

ads available

Hi friends!
Just wanted to stop in real quick and let you know I have some sponsor ads available for the month of October. October will be a busy month of posting for me, with the recent shop update and the last half being spent traveling around europe (!!!).
$15 will get you an ad for the entire month of October. For more info and specifics, please visit my sponsor page. And if you have any questions, feel free to email me. (vanillaandlace@gmail.com )

shop update!

The new items are now up for sale in the shop!












All of the above are available in these prints and solids:



I also styled the float away dress for fall.
(Oh! and this sail boat fabric is being discontinued so these will only be up for sale a little while longer. If you want one, scoop it up while you can.)



Visit the shop here: www.vanillaandlace.com

late.

I was planning on adding the 4 new pieces to the shop yesterday (friday) but I was running out of time and didn't want to rush it, so i'm postponing it to Monday, Sep. 19.

In other news, we purchased tickets for our trip to europe today. We'll be there almost 4 weeks.. and we're leaving in a month. im SO excited..

Dougan Falls

Last friday Josh and I forced ourselves to have the day off (turns out when you love what you do, you never want to stop doing it). I'd been waiting to go to the washougal river all summer so Josh could come and it just so happened there was a heat wave last week. It was perfect! The water is extremely cold, but that didn't stop us from swimming across the way so we could climb the rocks for a better view of the falls. It is SUCH a gorgeous spot. We packed a lunch, read our books, watched dogs (and people) endlessly jump into the water and fully soaked up the last bits of summer. I remembered my camera but not the memory card. I hate when that happens! But iphones saved the day.









and this was at cape horn, a lookout on the drive home.

the Lydia cut-out dress

This dress design was one I originally planned to have out with the first two but I needed to iron out a few things to get it just right. And I'm REALLY happy with the result.
This will be available in any of the fall prints, and also in a large variety of solid colors. So if stripes aren't your thing, keep your eyes peeled.

I have 2 more designs to show you then they'll all be up for sale in the shop on Friday!

The rosemary blouse

This is new item number one. The rosemary blouse in mustard dot and fall floral.
It has a very flattering fit and looks great on its own or tucked into a high-waist skirt/shorts. Also features pleats at the top of the sleeve and a back keyhole closure.

I should probably be ashamed to admit this but it's my wardrobe staple at the moment. I call it free advertising!

More previews coming this weekend!

coming soon!

Hey friends!

I hope you're enjoying your long weekend!

I have been working on some new designs that will be hitting the shop next week.
I'm VERY excited about expanding, especially with some gorgeous new fabric.
And I wanted to show you a preview!

These are the rough sketches.. I'll be previewing the actual products all this week!


And some of the new fall-inspired fabric!


more details coming this week!


P.s. if you haven't had the chance to peak at what I already have for sale, head on over!