For I Love A Merry Life

Last night, some of my best friends & I had a post-Christmas gift exchange.
With one of our friends traveling to see her family for the holidays, yesterday was the first day we were able to get together!
Among some of the most amazingly thoughtful, beautiful presents (which I'm sure I'll be sharing within the week!),
my friend Aston gave me this beautiful pleated skirt!
Ok, first off, I had just been telling my sister how I wanted to get a pleated skirt.
Secondly, this skirt is the SOFTEST thing ever. It's amazing.
So naturally, I planned my whole outfit around this skirt today ;)

I found an equally soft, beautiful shirt that my sister had given me for my birthday.
and let me tell ya..this shirt & skirt were made for each other!!
I was pretty excited about this combination. And that BOTH beauties were gifts from two girls I love?! Bonus.
And another bonus? They look perfect with my favorite coat. Which was ALSO a gift from a gal I love..my Mom <3









Oh, and my hair was inspired by the lovely Audrey Hepburn.
I thought I'd try out a simple beehive-esque ponytail!
I was watching Charade last night, and her hair was adorable all. the. time.

[Cary Grant & Audrey Hepburn.]

If you've never seen Charade, you definitely should!!
It's a murder-mystery that's pretty funny & quirky.
And watching Audrey is magical. Of course.

Well I hope you're all having the loveliest Wednesday!
Tim & I have been having a nice morning together.
But I must be off to work now ;)

XO,
Christen

The Huntsman

Ok, so here's the deal.
I was watching TV the other night, and this fine gentleman (about the age of 75) had this incredible ensemble on.
A flannel shirt, fancy vest, and an amazing velvet blazer on top.
So, I dug through my closet (and my husband's drawers!), and put this together.
As I walked out to take outfit shots, I thought I had to share the inspiration behind this look.
So remember...never underestimate who you'll be inspired from!
I've named this look "The Huntsman". Suiting, I think.
















Anybody else have silly inspiration sources?
I feel like there's probably a world of possibilities out there.
I think as long as you're looking for inspiration, you'll find it...
no matter how strange or silly or random or offbeat it may seem.

xo,
Christen

we could be set out to sea.

{All photos by Marie Jucker. found via Where the Wild Roses Grow.}

Here is some inspiration for your Thursday afternoon. I found these photos by Marie Jucker, and I just had to share. I adore them.

August Lookbook : Free People

i recently stumbled upon the lovely Alyssa Rude tumblr.
turns out, she's a manager of Free People in Chicago.
she has tons of lovely images to share...
so i thought i'd share some with you!

[the new fall set-up at FP: vintage woods. i think i should head into Chicago to see it in person!]










all images via Alyssa Rude.



oh, and a little "free people shoot in Venice" video. just for fun.
has anybody else always wanted to go to venice?

Free People - August in Venice from FreePeople on Vimeo.

have a beautiful thursday!
i'm spending the day with my sis (which seems to be my favorite thing to do lately!)

i'm planning a super-fun "my favorite Chicago spots" post soon.
i'd just love to go into Chicago and take all my own photos for the post.
so i'm waiting 'til i can get some quality photos for you all!

love,
cj (christen jean.)

Born Reckless

the new Free People July catalog has me swooning!
there are so many adorable items.
it's inspired by 70s rock & roll. could it get much better?! i think not.

it was shot in Austin, Texas by photographer Alexandra Valenti.
the photos are so dreamy.
here are some of my faves:


one, two


three, four


five, six


seven, eight

today i'll be working in the morning,
then having some much-needed girl time in the afternoon/evening.
i love my friends and i love spending time with them and laughing until our sides hurt.
there's really nothing better.

i hope you all have a happy thursday!!

love you(s),
christen

Style Milk - Arabella Ramsay

tonight is what i like to call a "lazy night".
i had kind of a crazy day, so nights like these are needed sometimes.
and tonight i found myself online browsing/shopping (well, i'll be honest...it was 100% browsing!)
and, let me tell you, i struck gold when i came across these beauties...

i found these beautiful designs from Australian designer Arabella Ramsay (what a beautiful name, by the way!)
from a shop called Style Milk.

Arabella Ramsay's style is described like this:
"Arabella Ramsay is an amazing Australian Designer from Melbourne channelling a feminine, vintage aesthetic
with a charming, youthful edge, each collection brings new experiments in fabric"










i LOVE them hemline of these last two.
i need to get my hands on a similar dress for summer.



i just found out that and amazing blogDaydream Lily runs this lovely shop!
how amazing is she?!

oh, and the best part?

some of these looks are on sale!
they're still out of my humble price range.
but for you "big spenders" out there, you should pick one up.
then i can live vicariously through your beautiful clothes.
deal? deal.

oh, and one more thing before i hit the hay for the night...
i recently did a guest post over on Vantage Point Vintage's blog.
i'll be doing a guest post every tuesday until august.
for my first post, i talked about my love/obsession for hats.
i even put together a lovely collage for the occasion:

check it out, friends.


have a lovely night, my blogger friends.

xoxo.

lay your head on our mountain bed.

in honor of our upcoming trip to colorado for our 1 year anniversary,
i decided to share some super-duper lovely photos of colorado, and the beautiful mountains there.
(okay, so not ALL these photos are technically from colorado!)

i lived in california for the first 6 years of my life,
so when i'm by the ocean or mountains, i feel so content.
it's like going home.

so, needless to say, i'm over-the-moon excited about seeing these beautiful sights on our trip.

i mean, don't get me wrong, indiana is wonderful in some ways (friends, family, community).
but come on, you can't beat living near beauty like this.

you should also listen to this song.
my sister showed it to me.
it's billy bragg and wilco, off an album of them covering unreleased woodie guthrie songs.
it's so beautiful. basically a long poem set to lovely music.
(the music starts about 7 seconds in.)
it's about 6 and a half minutes, but soooo worth it!








something about colorado always makes me think of native americans.
(and yes, i think headdresses are the coolest!)














images via we heart it.

our trip is just a few weeks away now!
and i'm seriously thinking about buying some native american headdresses for us.

how fun would it be to do a one year anniversary photoshoot wearing some of these beauties?!

have a lovely wednesday everyone!
i'm off to spend time with my sister and celebrate a belated mother's day with my lovely mom this evening.

love you all!

xoxo.