Sunday, June 23, 2013

Fashionable Farmer/Runway Rancher Series, Episode 2: The Cowgirl Midi Skirt

Hey Y'all! (No...I'm not from Texas, but I am a cowgirl so it just seemed fitting to say Y'all!) Today I have the 2nd of what I hope to be many posts in a series I call "Fashionable Farmer/Runway Rancher." You know that I love current runway trends, but I'm also a cowgirl at heart. So in these posts I will give you current, popular trends with a dose of my cowgirl flare!
To read about the inspiration for this series you can view the post on my blog called: "Fashionable Farmer/Runway Rancher is Born!" Link Here:

This is the summer of the skirt! You are seeing either Maxi's or Midi's... I love both! So today I am giving you my "cowgirl midi skirt." The term "midi" just means that the skirt hangs from the waist and hemline is from knee to mid calf in length and the skirts are usually more full . Because I wanted to wear boots with mine I felt a hemline closer to the knee looked best. I love this type of skirt with heels also, but for today things are gettin' a little Western! I made the midi skirt I am wearing in the post today. I chose a dark chambray denim fabric. I did a pretty tight gather as to add the fullness I wanted to achieve. I love the way it turned out! It's full, flirty and fun. Then I paired the midi with a beautiful, white sheer top I found at Koodeker in SLC. (If you haven't made a stop in this quaint shop...you should!) As for accessories I chose my red Lucchese boots, a custom made turquoise beaded necklace that has a boot pendant (my momma made this for me a couple years ago, I love it!) The clutch is made of an ultra-suede and has a ruffle.(fancyewe design.) And the earrings are designed and handmade by the amazing Anna Kozole from KMK Designs Park City! I love these earrings, they are some of my favorites!! The copper cuff is designed and made by my little sister. (Man I have lots of talented women in my life!)

Maggie, my pretty little mare.

Here I'm wearing the midi with a lighter chambray denim top, also from Koodeker.




These boots were made for walkin'... And dancin' and stompin' and all things cowgirl! My fav Lucchese's.

Gettin' me some horsey kisses. Maggie is the lovin'est horse ever!! I don't mind a little mare slober.


Ahhh...it's the headless cowgirl!!


With the white Koodeker top.



The accessories shot. Lovin' these earrings from KMK Design Park City!

With the chambray Koodeker top.


Justa swingin'!



A good shot of my "Ombre" hair. (It's called I haven't had highlights put in for too long. Watch out for the black hole. I think I like "Ombre" better!!

I think I'm looking at the dreamy guy on the other end of the camera in this one! Handy Hubby is also pretty handy at taking pics. Who knew?!


Photo shoots are way more fun with horses!!



Happy Trails from "Patch-A-Heaven"
 



I'm having a great time making current trends cowgirl. If you like this style, stay tuned! For now, hope you have a "Fancy Day!" Loves, Kacey


Saturday, June 15, 2013

How Kacey Wears It, Dressed up Belle de Jour

Hi my friends! Hopefully you aren't sick of seeing this dress! This is the last look I will give on
"Belle de Jour." It is getting lots of attention (thanks to fashion blogger Cara Loren rocking it at a recent wedding) and selling well, I anticipate this dress in this color to be sold out soon, YAY! Today I get the chance to dress up and go to the theatre so I thought I'd post how I wear this dress, dressed up. (Basically I just changed to heels instead of flats and lost the denim, dress down jacket.) I stayed with the pink theme, because...well,  I love pink!
(I wore it casual in another post, if you want to see it go here: )
Casual Belle de Jour

So back to the theatre, My mother-in-law got all of us girls tickets to a show, so here is how I wear "Belle" dressed up. I always dress up to go to the theatre! We went to the matinee performance so I went with a pony tail and more casual jewelry to keep it day. I got lots of compliments on it.






Accessories: Pink and Coral colored statement necklace, pink earrings, bracelet and shoes. Pink, purple, mint scarf. Pink Kate Spade purse.



The wind has been blowing like crazy around here lately and I hate wind! But, as I was complaining about it, a thought came into my mind. This dress was actually inspired by another iconic dress. Remember Marilyn Monroe's white, hot, pleated dress in the Subway Grate scene in "The Seven Year Itch?" (Yep, that one!) My dress was actually inspired by that memorable moment in cinema history. It was to be the "Mormon Version" of that great, grate dress! I have always loved vintage styling and Marilyn had such great style. So as the wind blew those delicate pleats around today, I smiled as I thought of what it would be like to live one day in the life of Miss Marilyn! (I am no Marilyn, but I can pretend!) I had a lot of fun shooting these pics today and I must say Marilyn made it look sexy, I just made it look dorky! (But I'm ok with that.)  This has been such a fun dress, so feminine, flirty and you just can't help, but give a little twirl in this baby! If you buy this dress, don't be surprised if it makes you want to have a "Marilyn Moment!" Hope you have loved Belle de Jour, for now "Au Revoir!" Here are a few more pics from my dorky rendition of the subway grate scene:


I love how the wind takes the pleats, so girly.

Yep, I'm a total dork!!



Whew baby! I'd better have a good hold on this thing!




Um... this one went a little high! Super dork face!!






Marilyn, this one's for you!



The real thing! Miss Marilyn rocking the subway grate in The Seven Year Itch.
Photo Credit: found on Bing/www.hotelfashionland.com


Hope you have a fancy day! Loves, Kacey


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

It's Finally Starting to Look Like a Garden!


My "unsexy" garden!
Hi my awesome friends! Today I thought I'd share how the garden is starting to take shape. The
things I have planted are growing so it looks like a garden and not just dirt! Mother Nature is so amazing!! Yes, weeds are starting to pop up too, so don't look at them! Wish my garden was completely weed free, but that just ain't happenin'! (I have a life too people!) Everything is planted and growing well. We have been enjoying Swiss Chard, Spinach, Radishes, Lettuce for weeks now. Peas are almost ready! They are my all-time favorite garden veggie! I was pretty much raised in a pea patch as a small child. My Momma is one of the best gardeners I know! We used to sit and eat peas by the handfuls in her patch. Here is what's "growing on" in my garden: (And remember, I am no expert! You can do this too!!)

Can't wait for this to make corn!! This is "Gurney's Gotta Have It" Corn and it's my fav!!


Green Beans, my kids will scarf steamed "Haricot Ver" like there's no tomorrow. And this makes me happy!
 
Peas and Brussel Sprouts, Peas you already know I love! Brussel Sprouts, are um...ok. Handy Husband calls them "solid farts" sorry, totally gross! I'm hoping to love them more with some new recipes I saw for roasting them. We shall see!
 
 
 
Tomatoes:

 
 
Shallots:
 
 
I planted two of these Strawberry Rows this year:
 
 
Look who I found gallivanting through the garden like they own the place! "Cock-a-doodle Bruce" and one of "His Ladies!"
 
I planted two new Concord Grape Vines (otherwise known as "Grape Jelly Trees") along the garden fence. I already have one that has been there for years and produces nicely, however the way my kids devour Grape Jelly, I needed to plant more to keep up with demand! And since I noticed in a recent article "somewhere" that Grapes and Strawberries are some of the fruits that are sprayed heavily with pesticide when grown commercially, it makes me happy that mine are Organic!
 

 
Um...I know there are carrots in here somewhere!

Aw, there you are my lovelies!
Carrot seeds are so small and they take a long time to germinate in my hard clay soil so I don't do much, but water them until I can see that they made it up and then I thin the weeds out.

My boy grew out of his baby crib, but I didn't have the heart to throw it out. So beans and cucumbers will climb on it instead of kids!
 
Po-ta-toes!

 
Squashies
 


Snap peas growing around a tomato cage
Happy Green Thumbing from "Patch-A-Heaven!"


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Fiesta Kiddo Style!

8 years ago I became a mother. I can't believe how fast time has gone by and what a special girl I get to call mine! When I asked her what kind of party she wanted this year, she replied "A Mexican Fiesta!" Now this doesn't surprise me one bit! She loves to learn words and speak them in Spanish and she is a very creative type. So I planned "A Mexican Fiesta!" We had this party in the evening and adults also came so I decided to serve "big people food" as well. Here are some ideas if you ever need to plan a fiesta:


What we ate:
 I served Pork Carnitas Tacos, they are divine! (I like the My Kitchen Escapades Recipe from Pinterest for the pork prep.) I recently ate at the Black Sheep Café in Provo, they have unique and delicious food. While there I enjoyed some street corn. So for the party I also served my version inspired by the Black Sheep Cafe's street corn. I melted a cube of butter, mixed 2 tablespoons honey and two tablespoons fresh lime juice, then brushed the cooked corn with this, sprinkled with salt, pepper, Tajin Clasico Seasoning, poured enchilada sauce over it, then sprinkled with crumbled Cacique Cotija cheese and cilantro. It was pretty darn delicious! And not a cob left!!
The beverages were a frozen Horchata (from a mix) in the blender with ice and water.
I let Cold Stone do the cake this year. Momma just didn't have it this year!!


Here is our street corn. 





























Frozen Horchata anyone?



Games we played:
Pass the pepper! (I found a blow up red pepper from Dollar Tree) we played music and passed the pepper, whoever was left holding the pepper was out.
Pinata, I bought one at a local Latino Market, best piñata I have ever seen! We had to have dad whack that thing to get it open!!
We danced the Mexican Hat dance and had a Conga line (who doesn't love a little Gloria Estefan?!). We listened to Mexican music and played the maracas (got some plastic ones from Party City online)
We played Escondido (hide and seek) we played it so one person hid and the rest of us counted and then found the one person. To make it have a Mexican feel, we huddled our heads together and counted in Spanish.


Our mustache photo props.





































What we wore:
I found some darling authentic Mexican made white tops with brightly colored, embroidered flowers at the necklines (at my local Hispanic Market) and some elastic waist skirts. These were both hand made in Mexico.
The birthday girl wanted Poncho's so we cut fabric in a simple square and  then cut fringe around the edges and a hole in the middle for their heads to go through, using fabric with peppers, sombreros, and cacti.
Sombreros of course! (Got these at Party City online)
I made some fun photo prop mustaches using black felt with adhesive on the back. the kids were hilarious with these!

Here I am leading the counting huddle in Spanish. (good thing I haven't forgotten everything from Spanish class, you never know when you might need it!)
The gaming pepper!

Close up of our quick, easy ponchos!


Pop rocks and a "stache" what more do you need?!



The fun back drops I found at Party City Online.



The pretty Senorita with a "stache"