An Oracle of the Arctic

We've had quite a bit of snow already this winter season.

Light snow,

heavy snow,

day snow, 

night snow,

all of the snow!

(photos by e.hunt)

Winter Wedding Reunion

One of my good college friends, Megan, is getting married at the end of the month.  I just found out that she invited a lot of the old sorority group, so it is going to be a grand old time of celebrating love and reminiscing fondly on our college days.  Not only is it my first winter wedding, but my first formal wedding as well.  I planned on finding a great dress or jumpsuit to order on Black Friday for the discounts.  After a little research on what formal attire actually means (in between cocktail and black tie, if you were wondering), the search party began at my favorite dress sites like Nordstrom, Asos, and Lulu's.

I started by zeroing in on black and navy maxi dresses and jumpsuits.  And to fit with the winter atmosphere, pieces with a little sequin, velvet, or lace embellishment stood out.

Like usual, I was drawn to the rich, jewel-tone shades with a bit of structure, and a longer sleeve length was mandatory.  I stayed away from pattern except for this high-neck floral and sequin midi, which I don't think I would ever actually wear, but I like it all the same.

I came across a few wine red options as well.  I love that the mesh sleeves and delicate lace details tone down the harsher color.

And then a few days later I realized I already own the perfect dress!  It was my backup dress for Andrew and Juliana's summer wedding that was put away in the back of my closet.  It will be perfect with a pretty braided hairstyle, a sparkly clutch, and a classic pair of heels.  Now I just need to figure out a gift for the bride and groom!

(photos collected from asos, lulus, and tobi, and by e.hunt)

Yule Time and Tide

Well, here we are in the last month of the year!  It's been a while since the last post.  How've you been?  Everything going well?  I've been filling my time away from the computer with work, sleep, friend dates, helping Mom at one of her craft shows, and trying to go to the gym two or three times a week.  A busy month that will only get busier as the holidays approach.  But it will be a festive kind of busy, which is better.

I went ice skating a couple weeks ago for the first time in a while.  Mom and Dad gave me a new pair of skates for my birthday and I had been wearing them around the apartment to break in the stiff boots, and I finally took them to get sharpened in mid-November.  Once they were all ready to go, I loaded up the old skate bag and headed north for a Monday night free-skate public skating session at the Kirkwood Rec Center.

It felt so good to be back on the ice.  Going fast and feeling like you're flying was always my favorite part of skating, which was a little difficult this time around with the new skates and all, but after a few wobbly loops around the rink, and one fall on a too-fast three-turn to go backwards, it was back to second nature.

I was planning to get the blades re-sharpened today (I surmised that the high school dudes who work at the rink didn't do the best job; shocking, I know) at this figure skating shop in Webster but they're closed on Mondays.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll swing over there after work.  The rink upped their weekly evening public skating sessions so I'd like to have them ready for this next weekend.  Stay tuned.

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?  Taylor and the Nashvillians were in Japan so Mom, Dad, and I represented the fam over at Jacky and Elly's house.  The decor was a festive mix of Ikea and World Market, and the food selection was delicious.

Taylor returned stateside the following day and the weekend was devoted to his birthday.  We celebrated with a dinner at Dewey's and drinks on the fire patio at Billie Jean's on the day of, then had presents and a round of Chronology at home the day after.

And now we're on to Christmas!  I'm ahead of the shopping curve this year, which I have to say is quite a lot nicer than my usual running around last minute.  Who would've thought?  I'm putting up my holiday decorations today and we're picking out the tree for Mom and Dad's house on Wednesday, so the glad tidings are raring to go.  Christmas Eve is only three weeks away, after all.

(photos by e.hunt)

Quite Ready For Another Adventure

Happy November!  October just flew by, didn't it?  It was a busy month for me, hence the lack of blog posting, but I've been prepping some new weekly features to help me stay motivated and give some direction for content.  Any particular type of post you'd like to see more of?  Or an entirely new area of content you'd like to see?

October did mark the seventh anniversary of Kindof Maybe (seven years?!!), after all.  The past month also held another landmark date: two years in my little apartment!

I've been doing a little rearranging here and there, organizing and going through old stuff that seems to have accumulated out of nowhere, but I still love living alone in my sunshine-filled, cozy, grey and blue-themed apartment.  Here's to the new month and the start of the holiday season!

(photos by r.hunt, and e.hunt)

A Seer of Sights

A couple weeks ago Andrew and Juliana drove up from Nashville for the weekend.  I had requested Saturday and Sunday off work so I could be present at all the festivities, namely Kaldi's runs and hanging out at home, but this time we added a cultural destination to the list.

The new Archgrounds!  After spending a good portion of the morning at Kaldi's enjoying coffee, pastries, and conversation, we headed downtown.

Taylor and I parked a few blocks out in order to walk through the Citygarden.  I liked the subtle fall pumpkin line decor dotting the walls.

We met up with Andrew and Juliana, who parked closer to the Arch, and walked the rest of the way with them.  It was quite cold out, but we were excited and determined to walk the new grounds that just reopened in July after five years of redesign and renovation.

The last time I saw the massive structure it was a cloudless day with the sun beaming off of the silvery panels like a mirror.  This muted grey sky made for an interesting contrast.  We checked out the land bridge over the interstate, the waterfront, one of the leg bases, and then we walked North along one of the pathways.

Once around the loop, I headed back towards the car as I needed to run by my apartment before Andrew's birthday dinner that night.  The other three stayed to see the new underground museum.  There ended up not being enough time for them to go in either, but it looked interesting enough to return for the full experience.

(photos by e.hunt, and r.hunt)

In the Realm of Fables and Lore

"I readily believe that there are more invisible Natures in the universe than visible ones.  Yet who shall explain to us this numerous company, their grades, their relationships, their distinguishing features and functions?  What do they do?  What places do they inhabit?"

-T. Burnet, Archaeologiae Philosophicae

(photo by e.hunt)

Oh, Those Coquettish Leaves

Good afternoon and happy Saturday!  Even though it feels like summer outside (low 90s, what?!), it certainly is starting to look more like Autumn, what with the tree leaves starting to turn and it getting dark outside around 7pm.  I've spent the morning drinking coffee at my spot by the window watching the pumpkin tent being stocked next door.  It would be more festive if the church member volunteers were wearing scarves and light jackets instead of jogging shorts and tees, but what can you do?

After ten days in a row of working, I was off yesterday and today.  It's that time of year when people are getting sick so I'm building up the coworker goodwill; when the fateful day comes that I get sick and need a day, hopefully someone will step up to help out.  Oh, the politics of hourly retail work.

Last Saturday was National Coffee Day.  I was at work, of course, but I didn't have to be in until 11am.  I was greeted with a line out the door, literally, and a mess of things behind the counter.  Apparently, everyone and their dog was out celebrating National Coffee Day!  Catching up was rough, but we made it through.  And it was my first day as a black belt in the order of the coffee masters!

(photos by e.hunt)

Women Supporting Women

One of the first fashion bloggers I started following way back in 2010 or '11, Arielle Charnas of Something Navy, is still going strong.  I've watched her go from single girl in the city with a trendy, girly style, to married with two kids and a more luxe, but still girly designer look.  She has over a million followers on Instagram, has a group of fun and interesting women working for her, and just released her first clothing line at Nordstrom this last Monday.

It's been really neat to see her evolution over the years.  She often mentions how grateful she is that what was once a fun hobby of hers (the blog), became a career and allowed her to fulfill her original dream of designing her own line.  I don't particularly like all of her style picks anymore, and her maintenance of the original blog platform has kindof gone to the wayside, but I still enjoy following her success and her family (especially two-year-old Ruby Lou) on Instagram and Instagram Stories.

As previously mentioned, the fifty piece Something Navy line came out at Nordstrom on Monday, with several of the items selling out within hours.  I wasn't a huge fan of any of the pieces they had shown on Instagram before the launch, but I thought it would be fun to go try some of them on in store.  

The line consisted of an accessory table and just two racks of clothing, so I picked out a variety of pieces and headed to the dressing rooms.  There weren't a lot of sizes left so I had to squeeze into a one-size-too-small pair of jeans, and tuck in the one-size-too-big shirt and sweater.  All in all though, I was very impressed with the quality and fit of everything.

The blush pink blazer jacket won this round, in my opinion, but was too expensive to justify a purchase, especially because light pink doesn't really go with my mainly dark and jewel-tone, deeper color wardrobe.  And even though they were a bit tight, I liked the fit and cut of the jeans.  I may have to order a pair online when her November or December lines launch.  Hopefully they'll come in black!

Something Navy was one of the blogs that inspired me to start writing my own blog, and it's been so neat to see Arielle turn into a high profile influencer.  I think one of the coolest parts is that she really was a trailblazer when it came to using Instagram as a blog platform, and she is still using it in new and different ways to define what an 'influencer' actually is.  She is definitely someone I look up to as inspiration, and it was fun to see her hard work and dedication come together into a line of her own.

(photos by e.hunt)

The Weekend Awaits

Happy Friday, everyone!  Today is the start of a little four day vacation I took from work.  Sometimes you just need a break, ya know?  Especially as I never have two days off in a row, and on a weekend to boot.

I don't have much planned, but I'm relishing the opportunity to sleep in, finish up my apartment reorganization plan, read on the balcony in the cooler temps the weather app has promised (finally!), meet up with friends for drinks, and perhaps go on a thrift shop/antique mall excursion.  Productively low-key, if you will.

Also, while sitting here looking out the window I just realized that the pumpkin patch at the church next door will be up and running soon!

(photo by e.hunt)

Pre-Fall

It is now mid September, meaning we're having those last few weeks of ninety degree hotness intermixed with rainy outbursts and the couple of cooler days that follow.  I'm ready to break out my collection of light jackets and ankle boots, but still trying to savor that end-of-summer feeling of lightness and opportunity.

Over at the old homestead, the bunnies have returned!  I've been going over for dinner my usual two or three times a week and most of the time, a bunny or two will hop out to graze under the bird feeder.

One night I documented the making of our favorite summertime cocktail, Vodka Pellegrino and Lime.  The glasses look exquisite with the evening light coming through the lace kitchen curtains.  Oh, those shadows!

I was off work on Labor Day and took advantage by meeting up with the fam at Kaldi's where we sat outside and I enjoyed a mocha (with an extra shot of espresso, of course) and my first slice of pumpkin bread of the season.

Later that week, Taylor, his old friend Elise, and I went to old Webster to check out this place called the Frisco Barroom.

It was huge, with a nice, old time-y quality, and because it was a Wednesday it wasn't crowded at all.  We had our pick of the spots: inside room with the bar, inside dining room area, downstairs outside courtyard, upstairs living room-like area, and upstairs outdoor patio.  We chose the last option and had a lovely evening sitting under the light strands and watching the quiet street happenings below.  It would be fun to go back on a weekend when it's a little more hoppin', and when it's at those cooler Fall temperatures I mentioned earlier.

(photos by e.hunt)