The End of September

     Holy Moley its already the end of September.  I am pretty sure this is the fastest month of the year!  It is always an exciting time even though on paper, not much has changed and my day to day life has pretty much remained the same.  It must be ingrained in us from the time we are small children that September brings new beginnings since that is when you would enter the next grade in school, make new friends, and start learning new things.  Even though I am no longer in school, the slight change in weather always brings with it a refreshing change of mindset for me.  It isn't just about getting to wear tights, the changing leaves, or pumpkin flavored treats that I am all too excited about- there is a deeper buzz in the air that I always know signifies a new and fresh start.

   

   

Outfit Details:

Dress: Vintage- for sale in the shop!

Boots: Vintage/ thrifted

Blouse: Vintage/ thrifted

Sunnies: c/o American Apparel

These pictures were taken on a perfect September day last weekend.  R and I got on our bikes and started riding through his neighborhood with no particular destination in mind.  We take turns leading and turn down whatever street seems the most interesting (or ahem, the most downhill).  This time, our bikes brought us to this peaceful little pond at the base of the mountains.  The aspen leaves were a beautiful golden hue against the caked mud and green grass, and it was really nice to just sit and listen to the peace and quiet for awhile.

     With the new-found motivation that September has bestowed upon me, I have also been much happier with how my shop is going. I have always known that the amount I get out of it is commensurate to amount of effort I am willing to put in, and I really have been making a much larger effort to keep it chock full of pretty vintage goodies.  It has been hard to juggle my full time job, the small hint of a social life, and still find time to buy, alter, photograph, and list new items on a consistent and regular basis, but I finally feel like I am coming to a happy balance between it all.

     What changes have September brought for you? 

xo Hannah

Life Lately

So, I meant to upload pictures last night for a blog post today, but some pretty new dresses and my sewing machine got the best of me.  I am going to instead share some of my favorite instagrams from the past few weeks with you!  You can find me @braidedbandit

This morning before work - a newly hemmed vintage chambray dress!

 

My dream house- brick, stucco, pom-pom trees, ivy...ahhh!

 

A neighborhood bike ride with some Dogfish Head Punkin Ale! (who needs water?!)

 

My moms new foster kitten from the animal shelter, Cruz, at a week and a half old!

 

A Braided Bandit Vintage package all packed and ready to go!

 

A yummy Saturday Brunch in Denver

 

The windowsill of in my room with my elephant watering can!

 

Pretty Fall dresses soon to be in the shop!

I read an article recently on I.F.B. called "Top 10 Ways to Lose Your Blog Followers" or something to that extent.  One of the ways was to post instagram photos on your blog haha.  Their reasoning was that readers who follow you on both platforms will lose interest if they are always seeing repeat pictures.  I agree to some extent, but lets be honest, I miss a ton of instagram pictures from some of my favorite people, and love when I can see a few all in one place as a little catch up.  Plus, I like that they can show snippets of your life over a longer span, whereas a typical post for me usually only shows one day or event. I think it can definitely be overused on blogs if you aren't providing other content with obviously better quality photos, but when used sparingly, I quite like bloggers sharing their instagrams! What do you guys think? I promise I won't be offended either way!

Hope you're having a beautiful day!
xo Hannah

An Adventure at Dusk

 I had such a nice weekend that I almost don't even mind that it is Monday! It involved yummy Thai food, pumpkin ales, a fun BBQ with softball friends, a mountain drive at sunset with R, dinner at a brewery, and a long Sunday bike ride; some of my very favorite things!  I don't have a Makeover Monday for you today because I neglected my sewing machine this weekend in exchange for enjoying the last warm days outdoors. But I do have for you some fun pictures from our sunset drive into the mountains!

  

Outfit Details:

Dress: Vintage- for sale in the shop!

Necklace: Vintage- gift

Shoes: Vintage - thrifted

Jacket - J. Jill - thrifted

Crown: thrifted flowers -DIY

     Sometimes it is so liberating to get into the car with no specific destination in mind. We knew we wanted to head West into the mountains to see if the Aspen leaves had started changing yet, and we were not disappointed- a faint golden glow has start to take over the Rockies.  Finally, right at sunset, we pulled over near an empty Ranch that we had visited in the beginning of the summer (seen here).  We were so excited to see that there were actually a ton of horses eating their dinner, and it pretty much made for the most Colorado-esque backdrop I could ever dream of.  I am usually kind of skeptical of horses, but they are really beautiful.  I tried to think of a horse song to sing to them to lull them into coming over to say hi, but my rendition of "Oh home on the range" didn't do the trick.  R however walks up to the fence and just stands there and immediately a few practically sprint to him. Ahem. I cannot say I wasn't slightly insulted they didn't find my singing voice pleasing.

    Since these photos depict what Colorado is to me, I would love to hear what the quintessentially perfect backdrop would be for the place you live! Would it be a sandy beach, a gathering of city buildings, a quaint downtown, a shady grove of trees?  If you have a post on your blog that you think really shows the heart of where you live, link it to the comments and I would love to take a peak!

Hope you guys are having a good start to you week!

xo Hannah

p.s. Please disregard my bum knee from my bike fall, not the prettiest- eek!

Shop Update: Time for Fall!

Happy Sunday!  Yesterday marked the first day of fall, so I thought I would do a little seasonally appropriate shop update!  Hope you guys are having a beautiful weekend, I would love to hear what fun things you are doing.  Mine has been full of BBQs, pumpkin ales, and mountain drives!Grey Plaid Collared Mini Dress- Size Medium Large - $29.99

Maroon Horse Print Blouse - Size Small Medium - $26.99

Red Oversized Sweater - Size Large XL -  $27.99

Vintage Roses Dress - Size Large XL - $29.99

Rainbow Floral Dress - Size Large - $29.99

                                Blue Floral Polka Dot Blouse - Size Medium Large - $25.99

                                           Green Polka Dot Dress - Size Medium - $29.99

Mint Chambray Drop Waist Dress - Size Large XL - $29.99

                                                Deer Print Sweater - Size Medium - $29.99xo Hannah

The Double Threat

Tomorrow marks the first day of fall here in the United States.  Not that a date on a calendar will instantly change the weather, but it definitely works to change your mindset.  I think I am ready for the change, even though the start of fall in Colorado can sometimes quickly spiral into the beginning of winter, which I am definitely NOT prepared for!  One thing, among many, that I will miss about summer is only having to list 3 things in the outfit details section, you can't really beat that for simplicity! Well, besides perhaps blogging in your birthday suit.

Outfit Details:
Blouse: Vintage- for sale in shop!
Bow Flats: Vintage/ thrifted
Shorts: Thrifted

I know you guys are just dying to know what the double threat referenced in the post title is.  Well, it's a beautiful blouse with both polka dot AND floral prints my friends!  When I saw this little gem while shopping for my etsy store last Friday I just about squealed with joy.  It doesn't take too much to make me excited. In case the floral print and polka dots on my blouse weren't enough, I paired it with blue tiny polka-dotted shorts as well, but you have to look closely to see the details.  Print mixing can get pretty crazy, but my biggest piece of advice if you are going to try two pieces with different prints would be to make sure the sizes of the prints are different.  Because the print of the shirt is so big and bold, I paired it with a really small print on the bottom to make it balanced.  

Anyway, its Friday hooray! When I drink too much coffee on Friday (or any day, but specifically Friday because that's payday), I make impulse buys online.  Last Friday that resulted in me getting this awesome fall boater hat that I have had my eye on for some time now, which I have also seen the lovely Katherine from Of Corgis and Cocktails sporting recently here!  Today my impulse buy was these riding boots, which I actually got from the daily deal site Beyond the Rack for half price, wahoo!  I prefer to buy almost everything second hand now, so these two NEW things are a pretty big deal for me, and I hope to get lots of wear out of them!

Lastly, I would like to mention that Marisa of Shades of Monet did the best sponsor spotlight ever this month with adorable little pictures and getting to know you cards for each lady.  I may be partial since I am one of the sponsors, however its so fun reading about the other gals and finding some great new blogs! 

Happy Friday!

xo Hannah

   

All the Pretty Horses

Hi friends,
   Just stopping in for a quick outfit post!  I wore this on Saturday for a yummy brunch, and found a pretty rust colored building with lots of rustic charm to take pictures by.  We weren't too sure if someone still lived there or not, so we didn't stick around for long!

Outfit Details:

Horse Blouse: for sale in my shop!

Tapestry Purse: Will be in the shop this week!

Belt: Vintage/ thrifted

Shoes: Thrifted

Skirt: Target

Hair Bow: Forever21

    I am in love with this horse print blouse, the color and the print make me want to wear it pretty much every day this fall, but alas, it is up for sale in my shop because that was it's intended purpose.  Sometimes its so bittersweet curating a shop where you sincerely love every piece you put up in it.  I obviously still get really excited when something sells, but if it is one of my favorites I get sad at the same time.  I was never really a horse gal growing up or anything, but I really love pretty much all animals and am fully on board with wearing them on my clothing as well!
     I apologize for the slightly sagging belt in these.  You see, last week at my softball game I got beamed in the belly while running for a ball in the outfield; needless to say, it did not make it into my glove.  So, I already regretted wearing the high waisted skirt, and the belt just added to the discomfort.  While I am whining, I may as well tell you guys what happened yesterday too- I flipped my bike riding home from work and flew over the handlebars.  The elderly gentleman behind me who stopped told me it was the most graceful front-ender he has ever seen, but I am pretty sure he was just trying to be comforting.  I am sore and cut up but it could have been a whole lot worse! I was riding on a bike path that I take almost every day, but decided to take a slightly different route this time out of boredom coming home from work.  I was going kind of fast on a downhill where you have to turn suddenly under a little overpass, and tried to put on my breaks gently at first, then harder because I wasn't slowing.  My breaks aren't the best though, and up until this point I was too cheap to fix them, so the front breaks work and the back ones not so much.  And that my friends, is how to do a front flip on your bike! Any biking bloggers here? Have you ever gotten scared by a nasty spill?  I rode to work again today because I didn't want to let myself be afraid of it, but I am definitely bringing miss Minnie Moo to the bike shop during lunch- I prefer my bike to ride like a docile heifer rather than a bucking bronco thank you very much!
xo Hannah