comfy cutouts

Shirt: Urban Outfitters

Skirt: Nordstrom

Shoes: Target

   

    This skirt is going to be my new best friend this summer. The material is kinda slinky and oh so soft! And it's on sale! I may need to buy the black one once pay day comes around. 

    I dyed my hair last night, and it turned out waaayyy too dark. Usually, I mix two parts red with one part  medium brown. But because my hair has gotten longer, I wanted to make sure I had enough dye, so I used equal amounts of each color. Mistake. It's not horrible, and I'm hoping that after a few washes it will lighten up. I just want to make sure it gets lighter before graduation, and I would rather not dye it again. Any tricks for fading color? I'll be using hot water, maybe some baking soda and non-color saving shampoo. I've heard that vinegar and dish soap do the trick, but that sounds so damaging!

Countdown: 6 days until birthday, 10 until graduation!

Also, head over to Meghan's blog, The Magpie, to see my guest post! You can see it here.

Guest Post: Sam from My Latest Obsession

I'm really excited to share a guest post from Sam, who blogs over at My Lastest Obsession. I stumbled across her blog not too long ago, and asked her to swap buttons with me not too long after. Sam has a great sense of style, an adorable little family, and an online shop full of beautiful vintage clothing. So make sure to head on over to her blog and say hi! Thanks Sam!

.............

Hey there! My name is Sam and I blog over at My Latest Obsession, where I write about crafts, clothes, and little life tid bits. I am 21 year old student with a darling, 2 year old daughter (almost 3!) and the most handsome fiance. In my spare time, I sell vintage & upcycled clothes at my online store, Sam Wish.

Today, I wanted to share with you guys a little outfit post, which on my blog I would call "Girlish Garb".... Enjoy!

I want to thank Amanda for being so patient and letting me do a guest post today, it was a pleasure! 

xo Sam

summer scrooge

Dress: Forever 21

Boots: Steve Madden

Necklace: BCBG (outlet)

There are a lot of reasons to love summer. No school, the heating bill is super low, smoothies and watermelon galore, and the days are long. But if I had to choose, give me fall over summer any day. I try not to be a summer scrooge, I really do. But I'm such a baby when it comes to the heat! Anything over about 80 degrees is just too hot for me. Makeup runs off the face, legs stick to leather seats and mosquitoes love to help themselves. I also have a really hard time giving up tights, boots, and scarves.

So after a week of beautiful weather, the rain and clouds of Bellingham are back. It was awesome  to be able to lay in the warm sun, eat pineapple and read a book. But what can I say? Tomato soup, rain drops and wool socks are more my style.

procrastination

Shirt: Urban Outfitters

Skirt: Anthropologie

Shoes: Some cheapo shoe store

I'm in serious denial. I have a ten page paper due on Monday morning at 8:30 am...and I haven't started. Well, I have about half a page. So instead of working on that, I'm writing this post. It's much more important...right? Right!

It's my last big paper of my undergraduate career, and I have lost all motivation. A large part of this could be attributed to the fact that the class sucks. I usually feel like my classes are worth my time, and I learn a lot. But this class is such a disappointment. Instead of learning about cognition, we have spent the majority of the quarter on aging stereotypes. It's kinda interesting, but not what I signed up for.

Ahhhh, graduation is June 9th! Craziness.

where the heart is

♥Tommy and I, on moving day outside our house. Despite both of us looking a little tired from the busy day, this may be my new favorite photo.

festivals & chevron

Chicken is baking in the oven. It smells divine...this place is starting to feel like home.

I feel like I have been running around the past weeks like a chicken with my head cut off. I honestly can't say what a did a few days before, as all the days kinda blur together and seem like a big hectic mash of responsibility and stress. But hey, it's my last quarter of under-grad, so that's only natural, right?

Tommy is in the garage building something for my birthday. I can't wait to find out what it is! My birthday is June 5th, and then graduation  is the 9th, so it will be a busy, and fun, fun week. When I graduated from high school, graduation was on my 18th birthday...it was a big day!

We have juuuuust about finished our move. So, so close! On Saturday my dad came and helped Tommy and I move the last bit of our big items, such as a bookcase, TV armoire and a few dressers. I had to go to work midday, and left the boys as they were mowing the lawn.

I found out later that they hung out for about an hour and a half to drink some beer and talk. Not gonna lie, my heart kinda melted. I rarely see or visit with my dad myself. So the thought that Tommy and my dad hung out and had a conversation made me really, really happy.

I wore this on Saturday to the "Fragrance Fesitval" at work. It's a little event our local Macy's has twice a year where the Tony & Guy Hair Academy comes in and does hair, we have little drinks/cookies, and every counter has a little promo. It's a fun event, and I like it because we get to break out of our all-black attire and wear pretty much whatever we want. I chose a dress I wore to my cousins wedding last year (and haven't worn since!) along with a little sweater to cover the arms.

Dress: BCBG

Cardigan: BP. from Nordstrom

Shoes: Nine West

Earrings: BP. from Nordstrom

Guest Post: Tammy from Lemons, Avocados & the Bay

  I'm excited to share a guest post from Tammy, who blogs over at Lemons, Avocados & the Bay. Tammy has always been so kind and supportive of me and this blog, so I'm really glad to have her as my first guest post! Her blog is full of fun pictures of her adventures in San Diego and much, much more. So head over there and say hello! Thanks again Tammy! 

..............

Hello Lovely Readers of Amanda k. by the bay

I'm Tammy, and am the voice behind the blog Lemons, Avocados & the Bay 

Amanda and I have a lot of things in common...

You know the red hair, the whole living by the bay thing, and that whole "growing up" thing. 

So lately I've been thinking about "growing up" thing a lot and...

What the heck am I?

I guess I'm not really a girl anymore...

I kind of feel like a young woman...

But am I a "woman"?

Lately I've tried figure out how to describe myself and the other females around me, and then my words start to get all jumbled when I attempt to define who is a girl and who is a woman?

Where do we start crossing that line between girl, young woman, and woman?

Is it when you finish college or grad school?
Get a "real" job.. you know the 9-5 kind?
Or the day you start paying your own bills, and start feeling guilty when you ask your parents for money?
How about when you get married? 

Buy a house?

Have kids?

 Or...

Is it when you start gathering the strength to stick up for yourself and what you believe is right?

  When you start thinking for yourself, and worrying less about what people think?
Maybe it's all these things combined into one?


In the end, does any of this really matter?

I guess I'm trying to figure this all out
and...

I guess I'm getting old(er)

...

Thanks for having me Amanda. 

I love your blog and feel so lucky to be guest posting here today.

House Details

   We are in our new place, and things are starting to come together. I have been too busy working, so Tommy has done a lot of the unpacking and reorganizing. It's starting to feel like home! The house has so much character; we are guessing it was built in the 1940's or so. Here are just a couple snaps I took of some things I love about our new home!

    I will say, we have encountered one disadvantage about living in an old house. Back in the day, people seriously underestimated the future importance of electrical outlets.

I will definitely be sharing more of our home in the future :)