Anthropologie: Sweet Sweaters

Anthropologie just might be my absolute favorite store in the world. Even when I am in seasons where I can not afford to shop there, their collections always offer inspiration. 

I am on a sweater kick right now because of the upcoming winter months. When I moved to the Southeast Texas heat I sold most of my winter clothes thinking that I would never be moving back up north. Lesson of the day: Never say never. At the same time that I am needing some good winter clothes, I am also on a huge quest to downsize my wardrobe. Adding more winter clothes seems to defeat the purpose of down sizing I know, but I am working on having more basics and everyday items, instead of a closet full of frilly, eclectic tops that I only wear once or twice a year. I'm still holding on to a few favorites, but the rest are either being donated, or sold on ebay.  

Back to my current infatuation with sweaters: Anthropologie never fails me when it comes to cozy, bulky, cute but comfy sweaters. what I love about so much of their pieces is that they are perfect for a casual day just chasing the toddler, or you can throw on some boots and jewelry and head out to eat with the man in your life. Here are my current favorites from the divine establishment referred to as Anthropologie.

Little City Style: Sunday Best and Tattoos

This past Sunday me and my husband went to church with his 94 year old grandma. This is something that means so much to her, but something that we will hardly ever be able to do once we launch City Hope Church. We didn't have a church launch meeting or anything on Sunday and could always use a service where we are getting poured into instead of being the ones to pour out. (A high recommendation for all of those in ministry!) Isabel, or "Grandma B" as we all call her, lives with us, so we waited to get dressed until she left the house for Sunday school. We got to church just in time to surprise her before the service began. The look on her face when she saw us walk in was precious! I loved it! She had just seen me in my pj's just an hour before we got there in our Sunday best. I think I shocked us all by getting myself together that quick!

 

Top: Sears (less than $10)
Belt: Cato
Skirt: Sears - $12
Tights: Kohl's
Shoes: Payless
Sunglasses: Francesca's
Photography by my precious husband, Seth

Many people ask about my tattoo on my back. My brother-in-law, Sean Baltzell, is a very gifted tattoo artist who specializes in classic style tattoos. He just opened up an absolutely incredible tattoo shop in St. Louis, MO in the Tower Grove area. Check him out at Tower Classic Tattoos. If you are serious about good quality classic tattoos, you should seriously check it out and try to make it to St. Louis sometime for an appointment. Aside from the incredible artistic ability of Sean and his other artists, you will experience a tattoo shop that just raised the bar for the entire industry. Sean happened to be hanging out with me and Seth on this day, and although he looks like a creeper in this picture... he's quite a nice fellow. Sidenote: me, Sean and my son Kai are the red heads of the family. (in case you couldn't tell!)

Little City Style: Secrets Revealed

This post is a little long, but I'm setting you up for many posts to come in the future! Little City Style will be a common feature on this blog from here on out. I am not from a little city, (quite the opposite) but the precious details of my life have led me here, and I have refused to let it damper my love for fashion and all things style related. I choose to adapt. After many years of living in denial, it's official... labels just don't mean as much to me as they used to. This is a funny thing to admit because at the same time I admit this, I would REALLY like to say that I could CARE LESS.... but it's even still not 100% true! I still swoon every time I walk into an Anthrologie and Juicy still makes my heart flutter! Why do we take such large amounts of pride in who designed our over priced v-neck and where we bought our over-bedazzled jeans. I'm on a journey out of this silly mindset, and this post and on-going feature is a result. So here we go....

OK, I'm letting you in on a HUGE secret of mine. Like a big one. Are you ready? (whispering...) Right now, some of the favorite pieces of my wardrobe came from low end departments stores. GASP! Can you believe I just said that?! I'm talking like the kind of stores you just don't talk about when you shop there... especially for clothes! It's one thing to hit up Sears for a new power drill, but for a date night top? 

One thing that living in a small town has forced me to do is improvise when it comes to shopping. There are little to no shopping options right here in town.

. 

Here's the Centralia line up:

 A couple of thrift stores that have good vintage options: they are a tad smelly, and I want to bathe in anti-bac gel when I leave, but still VERY cheap and loads of great vintage finds because there is just not a market for that kind of stuff here. They don't even know what they have!

Maurice's: Good for emergencies and blue jeans, but mostly just not quite my style)

Walmart: Just plain old Walmart. Not even a Super Walmart. I didn't even know normal sized Walmarts still existed until I moved here.

Peeble's: Like a Palais Royal or Bealls, but worse.

A Payless, another shoe store, and I think that completely sums it up as far as retail goes.

Store options that are less than 30 minutes away:

Cato

Sears

JC Penny

Bath and body Works

Resale Shops

Kohls

The Shoe Dept.

A Super Walmart

So, there you have my options. A trip to St. Louis is an hour away. With gas prices, my SUV and a toddler who is currently fascinated by escalators, on most days it's just not worth a trip. The good news is that one most days, you don't need a trip.

Sears, for example, has several trendy lines of clothes (including the new Kardashian line) and absolutely incredible clearance racks that are usually stuffed full. Here's a tip: smaller towns = less of a city influence which means the edgier, more trendy options stay on the rack longer! Most tops I get from Sears are less than $10. (the top in this post, and both tops in the post on our trip to Birmingham were from Sears and all $7.99 each. Three words: told you so.)

Cato is harder to find tops and bottoms that I can work with, but they always have a stellar collection of shoes. They even usually have several options of 3" heels, rather than the typical 4-5" and that just makes this tall girl happy. (Even though I don't hesitate to splurge on a fabulous 4")

J.C. Penny is home to Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen's line as well as a couple of other trendy and dare I say "hipster" lines.

Kohl's is home to Vera Wang, Elle, Lauren Conrad, and as if those weren't enough a new Jenifer Lopez line, and lots more. Also, my most favorite pair of jeans that I get compliments on day in and day out are from the Kohl's jr department. They are the Kohl's brand "SO" and I got them on sale last Christmas for $17. They ran true to size, have kept their shape, length and fit beautifully even after several months. (I typically stay far far away from juniors jeans, but are a current wardrobe staple of mine)

So I hope that helped some of you small town fashionistas. Don't make a several hour trip to the big city just for the sake of a designer, or a favorite spot. I still shop at my favorite city spots when I have the chance, and I am constantly on their websites pulling inspiration and applying it when exploring any type of retail store. My wardrobe consists of pieces from Sears, Walmart and Forever 21 all the way to Anthrologie, Nordstrom and H&M.

Fall, family day, here in town at the park.

 

 

Top: Sears

Ballet Jacket: Forever 21

Jeans: Kohls

Shoes: Cato

Jewelry: earring and necklace from Forever 21

My boys and me:

 

Church Planting, a Full Heart, and a Fab Wardrobe

If you don't know much about ARC, you should definitely get to know more about this incredible association that is completely committed to seeing life-giving church plants all across America, and then helping church planters receive the proper training and resources in order to be successful. 

We absolutely love ARC and their heart for Church Planting. We always leave our time with them feeling refreshed and encouraged exponentially. We have made so many incredible friends. The amount of counsel and coaching from the leadership and those who have gone before us is absolutely priceless! Our hearts are overwhelmed with gratitude for so much support and just overwhelmed in general that God would give us this dream and then arrange a lifetime of details to get us here!

This was our final assessment before we know which direction they will recommend that we go. I have enjoyed the journey so much! I am sad that we won't be going to anymore trainings or assessments but incredibly stoked about having the tools that we need to take our next steps in this amazing process. 2.12.12 is quickly approaching!

Although fashion and style were the least of my concerns while I was in Birmingham, it's always fun to be in a different city and compose your line-up for the days spent there!

Me and my love, who I couldn't be more proud of!