ultimate glitter

{ What I Wore: MsDressy sequin dress // Steve Madden nude pumps (similar) }

I mentioned my newfound love for MsDressy before, but here it is in the cloth. 

And boy do I love this disco ball on top-classy ruffled lady on bottom dress.

I have a serious addiction to all things glittered, sequined, sparkled, & generally blinged the crap out... so naturally, New Years is my favorite holiday (I like allll holidays, so this is a bit like picking my favorite pug picture from Pinterest, but someone has to make those tough calls)... & because it is my favorite, I also get a pass for still talking about it 2 weeks later!

But seriously, most of my dresses have to take a vacation to the tailor before I can rock them out on the town but MsDressy.com custom makes your dress, so it arrives fit & fabulous!

And I'm going to have to think up many more dress-up events to attend, because I have favorited about 10 MsDressy frocks that are begging me to party with them! (here, here, & here to name a few)

(* eDressy did provide me with this dress in return for my review, but any opinions/statements are allll my own!)

Happy New Year: 2013

Happy New Year! Time to talk about our resolutions!

Last year I gave myself 12 resolutions for 2012... & loved the motivated they gave me to energize my relationships, my hobbies, my health, & my blog { read the posts about my 2012 resolution check-ins here }.

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This year I only have one resolution, & it is a big one: { Live simply }

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What does "living simply" mean to me?

Well, many things actually, including:

 - Buy only what I love (i.e. those 50 closet staples I have been talking about!)

- Purge : exfoliate unused items

- Organize, so I can know what I have, & appreciate my pretty things!

- Work smarter (not necessarily harder)

- Eat simple foods that nurture my body

- Enjoy simple moments (ahem...live in the Here&Now!!)

- Create more (DIY baby!)

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I hope to share more about my goal to "Live Simply" in 2013 in the months to come.

What are your resolutions for 2013?

Any one else craving a little more simplicity in their lives?

family traditions

My parents have lived in the same small town in Arkansas my entire life, and because of that fact we have some rich family traditions especially those that center around holidays. Looking at the same festive houses, going to the same Christmas tree lot, spending our Christmas Eves and Christmas Days in much the same way over my 25 years... and I wouldn't change a thing. 

My favorite family Christmas traditions include:

{1.} Christmas light viewing at the botanical gardens

{2.} Our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service

{3.} Guessing how many candy pieces were used to build the Gingerbread house at the Arlington Hotel

{4.} Picking out our favorite light display in the downtown park

{5.} Opening one present on Christmas Eve (the worst is when it is shoes and my dad wraps the shoes separately!!)

One of my new favorite things is including Tyler in our "Sweatt Family" ways!

What are some of your favorite family traditions?

**update: I am snowed in at my parents house in Arkansas (#mistlesnow #SnowpolalypseLIT), without power and without a way back to Nashville. Currently using the last of my mom's iPad power to rearrange blog posts for the next few days. It might be quiet around here tomorrow, but I'll be back on the air by Friday! Cheers! 

look at this stuff, isn't it neat?

Junior Year of high school, I never knew that 7 years later this dress would make the perfect mermaid fin! 

(sorry these photos are blurry, they were pulled from my archive and scanned it!)

A little snip-snip, glue-glue, and few beers later I chopped my former prom dress in half and made it into my DIY Little Mermaid costume. Combined with a red wig from last year, a nude tank top and seashells, Ariel was born.

Ty and I celebrated our Halloween last weekend by attending an electronic music show on the Cumberland River in Downtown Nashville, and had a blast partying with our friends.

Alex from Clockwork Orange and The Little Mermaid in action

Happy Halloween everyone!
Are you still into dressing up? Does your costume have any element of DIY?

May you eat one less Reese's cup than your limit tonight!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my Blogiversary giveaway { here }

(ends Friday 11/2)

P.P.S. I am a big fan of donating old prom dresses so that all girls can have the opportunity to attend their prom and feel like a rockstar, but sadly this dress was about to fall apart on its own (beads falling off with every step, inside construction coming loose...), so its best option was to be reincarnated as The Little Mermaid

P.P.S.S. Today I am linking up with Dancing with Ashley for her Favorite Things series!
Join the love { here }

Blogiversary!

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It's my 1st birthday y'all!

I simply CANNOT believe that I hit the "publish" button on this little guy 1 year ago today.

Since then I have published 400+ posts, met many blogger friends that I am convinced are my long lost sisters, learned more about my ever evolving style choices, and somehow convinced a few of you to follow along while I was at it.

Seriously though, this blog is my after hours hobby, and it brings me SUCH joy to come home and read your sweet comments, and cook up new content for the next day. How you haven't gotten tired of pictures of me or my pug yet is BE-yond me!

To thank you for being a part of the Here&Now community and celebrate 1 year of blogging, I have a little giveaway for you beautiful people

I love displaying fashion/style books around my house, and especially enjoy the books recently put out by some of the amazing bloggers I have "met" though the interwebs over the past few years.

5 of my favorite books written by bloggers (that I would like to give to you to enjoy!) are I Spy DIY Style, What I Wore, Cupcakes and Cashmere, The One Hundred, and The Sartorialist.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a part of my slice of the internet, and I can't wait to bring you even more great stuff in the very near future and over the years to come!

Cheers!!

P.S. I am linking up with Long Distance Loving for her 100th Friday's Fancies... head on over { there } to continue the milestone celebration party!

Costume Couture

Looking for some DIY Halloween costume inspiration? 

Check out the round up that Julia over at A Cup of Tea put together { here }

Do you get into Halloween? 

Any of you making your own costumes?

What are you fabulous ladies going to be!?

P.S. I am also linking up with Long Distance Loving for Friday's Fancies.... see more costume ideas { here }

slow down, you're moving too fast

Tyler,

Today we celebrate 3 years of dating - where has the time gone!? You are the man that I have built a life together with here in Nashville, traveling to new and familiar locations, finding our common interests (live music, craft beer, Doug the Pug, riding his motorcycle, watching Sunday night TV), cultivating close friendships, getting to know each other's family... and being taken in as family members ourselves.

Best friend - I couldn't imagine being on this crazy, wild ride with anyone else!

xxoo

{ Travel }

Hawaii Vacation, 2010

Chicago, IL

Atlanta, GA

Oregon fishing

Kentucky Derby, Louisville, KY

See more of our adventures after the break

Texas wedding weekend

Where does the time go?

We have many gauges of time...

birthdays, anniversaries (celebrating my 3rd one with the boy on 10/10/12), milestones (1 year of blogging this month), awards, graduations, wrinkles, holidays, accomplishments (completing a 30X30 challenge)... but even with all of those markers to keep pace, it seems that while the days go slowly by, the years have been extremely short (to say the least!?)

Well, I now have another gauge of time, celebrating the marriage of my dear college friends Nick & Michelle... of whom I have had the pleasure of celebrating 7 years of birthdays, holidays, accomplishments, and random reasons to gather together

The beautiful bride... I promise we didn't plan to dress alike. She had told me what she was wearing before I packed, and then without knowing what I was bringing, switched to this dress last minute! We share the same brain waves I swear!

The bride and her merry maids!

After a little travel delays, my cutie met me down in the heart of Texas

duty calls

TGIF!

I am not here, instead I am down in the great state of Texas fulfilling my Maid of Honor duties for my best friend. I am so beyond excited to watch my bestie marry the man of her dreams on the most perfect day ever. Be back Monday... filled with champagne and frosty eyes!

{ images from her wedding inspiration board: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 }

xx

Jessica

ultimate girls' night out

I love any excuse to celebrate with my girls (i.e. Mondays, new jobs, Bunco night...). Lucky for me, I have now entered the Bachelorette Season of my life (hit up Dallas in April, got down in Nashville last weekend, and will be in Panama City Beach, FL come August). Bachelorette Parties are the ultimate celebration of the love (and inside jokes, and stories that will never again see the light of day) shared between best friends.

With the trip to PCB with my bestie Michelle under a month away, you know I am already plotting planning what antics we are going to get Mich in! As the MOH, I am responsible for the decorations, drinks, and games that are going to keep us giggling all weekend long - I couldn't be any more excited to get this party started!

{What I Wore : Forever21 heels and dress // ban.do scarf // boutique earrings }

{Get the Look}

sequin dress {$49.50 black here, $100 gold here & $45.00 silver here} 

+ platform heels + sequin scarf {on sale for $2!} + sparkler earrings

When going out with the girls, more IS more: amp up your classic makeup with red lips + faux eyelashes 

I cannot wait to don chic swimsuits with glittery sandals and glamourous sun hats, to sip yummy Hpnotiq Harmonie Mojitos on the beach (with silver drink stirrers of course!) by day. 

By night we plan on slipping on glitz, glam, and layers of sparkles (heels + dress) (in our pink & silver decorated beach front suite) to dance the night away, until we watch the sunrise over the sugary sand! 

Yea, I'm pretty much dreaming that I am there already!

In fact I am already practicing my dance moves (since "The Pony" is my go-to move, I need some WORK) for the Live Louder Dance Off sponsored by Hpnotiq. I am definitely going to be getting my girls together to enter this fun contest for a chance at winning weekly prize packs, including the ultimate VIP weekend in Las Vegas (you know you wanna come with!)

And because my party philosophy, is the more the merrier, you should dance with us!

To join the party, upload a video or photo capturing you best dance moves (how much fun!?)

Thank you again to Hpnotiq for sponsoring this blog post! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

God Bless America

Whether you are doing a little bit of this:

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 Enjoying a little bit of this:

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Or taking in a little bit of these:

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Remember to be sassy, fabulous and party on!

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Happy 4th of July! 

God Bless America

xx

Jessica

brewhouse dinner date

To celebrate one of our couple friends who have the same birthday (11/11) we celebrated at a local brewhouse on 11/11/11!

This J.Crew sweater is my favorite. I am literally living in it this time of year... it is so easy to dress up or down. And if you know me, you know this skirt has pockets! love!

Yummy Oatmeal Stout

Ty and I love trying new beers 

Sweater, Belt & Skirt - All J.Crew
Wedge Booties - Charlotte Russe

tennessee saturday night

Saturday was a perfect Southern Fall day here in Nashville. My boyfriend had two friends in town, and besides showing them the usual Nashville highlights, we also enjoyed beer and bourbon tasting at a festival in downtown on Saturday afternoon. 

In celebration of the beautiful day, I combined a Nashville staple, cowboys boots, with a "tribal" printed top. Later, when the warm day cooled into night, I threw on my denim button down to transition the look into going-out attire. I call this, bohemian cowgirl.

Fall Leaves + Cowboy boots. Nashville Fall

Can't think of a better combination on a gorgeous fall day

Denim is the Nashville uniform! Matching Ty at the festival

chi town swingin'

Last weekend (Halloween), I traveled with my boyfriend and 2 of his roommates to Chicago. Being my first time to Chicago, I was super exited to take in all of the authentic Chicago experiences: deep dish pizza, the skyline, the Bean, hot dogs, the El, and the river. Even though everyone else had already visited Chicago, the obliged and let me be a tourist for an afternoon and snap all the pictures my trigger happy finger could manage. They were for the most part good sports.

We got into town late Thursday and enjoyed just hanging out and catching up with our host who lives in Lincoln Park. 

Friday morning we got up, ready, and headed out. First we ate a delish (late) breakfast at Nookies, then we hopped on the El and headed South to the Loop. We visited the Sears (Willis Tower), walked down Michigan Ave., and strolled around Millennium Park.

I got my first glimpse of the river and tall buildings out of the El window.

Gorgeous fall day in downtown Chicago!

Inside the Willis Tower... we will have to go to the top next trip

On our walking tour we passed the Chicago Art Institute

We made a stop at Millennium Park so I could gaze into the Bean.

I didn't know the middle was so trippy! I had way too much fun trying to find my reflection!

We couldn't have dialed in a better day. Beautiful blue skies, colorful fall leaves, and warm(ish) temps! 

After seeing all of these HUGE buildings, I am going to look at the Nashville skyline differently

I was always walking behind the boys since I stopped to take pictures too many times for them to wait, but I ended up getting secret shots of them! This should be an album cover!

After we finished our tour of some must see Chicago sites, we returned to Lincoln Park via the El, and ordered in some deep dish pizza from Gino's. I didn't get a picture because we all devoured it too quickly, but it was different than any pizza I have ever had before, but AMAZING.

Following my recovery from the food coma, we all prepared for Halloween. I think our group had some pretty creative costumes. We met up with about 30 others to board a party trolley that drove around Chicago for 3 hours. It was hard for me not to stare out the windows the whole time, gaping at the tall, lit up buildings.

Jessica & Roger Rabbit, Garfunkel, Duff Man, Rufio, and a flapper

Saturday we ate more great food, watched the Razorbacks win (yay!), and walked around the streets of Lincoln Park. Sunday I got to meet up with my girlfriend Ashley who moved to Chicago this summer after living in Nashville for 2 years. We caught up briefly, but I can't wait to visit again, and have "girl time"! Thanks Chicago, and my Chicago friends, for a wonderful weekend! See you next time...