You look lovely today

Royal Oak Michigan thinks you all look lovely today! Just thought I would share that with everyone :) Like my shirt? It's a skirt! I had to try it, even though it was oober casual. I liked it because I was comfy, although I am not really sure I would wear it again like this, I dunno, I am not "in love" with it, but it was fun to try something different. I am going to have to keep it short today, the car is still down and my Dad works at the butt-crack of dawn, and then does not leave until 5:30-6pm. So here are a few more pics to enjoy :)

Details:

Skirt worn as a top & belt-F21

Top-Gift 

Capris-DIY

Shoes-Incognito

Purse-Council thrift shop

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like.

Guess what I dragged out of storage again? My bike! I love love love my bike. I bought it at Target two years ago, when Kyle accidentally smashed my bike when we went camping (It was on the back of the car, he then backed the car into a tree). My old bike was a purple ten-speed that I loved. I had it since I was...ten. So, I broke down and got this one! It is sooo an old lady bike, I even have the poofy butt seat because I am like an old person and have to be comfortable when I am riding my bike. I bought the bell and the purple tassels on a whim, but I think that it is great. I called Kyle yesterday at work and I asked him if we could take the bikes out and he agreed. I had to walk Louie before we went so he wouldn't go crazy, but it was a blast. Bike rides on hot Summer nights are so underrated.  

I managed to get a pic of Kyle and his bike, but he was not really in a picture mood. I told him to just make a strange face and this is what I got. The things this boy does for me lol. I know he really wanted to just sit on the couch and chill out, but he even admitted that the bike ride made him feel great. I am hoping we can take them out to Stoney Creek  (a great metro park here in MI) sometime soon, that would be great.

I wore a simple outfit too, just to have more focus on the bike, and I wound up matching it lol. I am surprised that I have not named my bike yet. I am sort of thinking of Stella. I think Stella would be a pretty awesome name for the bike, with tassels like that, she's got to be a girl! Also, Stella was my Great Grandmother's name. I however, called her "Busia". So guys, what is your bike like?

Details

Top-F21

Skirt-Alloy

Shoes-Payless

Necklace-Art Fair 

Song "Bicycle Race" by Queen

Bacon & Eggs

Hello everyone! Summer is turning out to be such a blast! Last night, the neighbors and I all got together and we cooked up the last of the left-overs. There is something about fresh-cooked food, the faint smell of ciggarettes, and cold beer on a 85 degree day that really makes summer. I really could not have thought of a better place to be, it was great just sitting around BSing until late at night. I think we will probably make this a weekly thing. The only problem is.....if Kyle and I are looking for a house, we are going to have to leave them all :( just when we get a great group!

This is the dress that started it all folks. I bought this baby a few years ago at Regeneration in Ferndale, and it was the first thrifted dress that I remember buying. I knew it would be huge on me, so I bought a green belt to go with it. Of course, this black one that came with my NYE dress was free and it is easier to use (it stays put) but it is great to think that this one dress basically got me into thrifting more and more. Instead of spending $20 on a top at hot topic, or American eagle, I can buy more clothes and be a little more creative. The dress isn't anything too special, I am sure if another girl went into a thrift store, she could find one exactly like it, but, I guess the point is to make it your own. (Nothing against department stores, for I am a forever 21 whore) Like mixing it with a great, priceless bag from Target! lol. I know this bag was mass-produced a few years ago, but it was too silly not to pass up. I think it is great. :)

Details

Dress-Thrifted via Regeneration

Belt & necklace-F21 (see? I told you!) 

Shoes-Payless

Socks & bag-Target

Chocolate in the morning

If I wasn't already curvy, this outfit makes me even more so. I am not complaining, but I do feel really outside of my element here. I did not wear the heels to work, I wore flats :) But more importantly, how awesome is this case/box thing? Mariah bought two at a store for really cheap a long time ago, then realized she didn't want this and gave it to me. It is so cool! I figured since I was lacking color in this look that I had to somehow incorporate this black & white box. I really wanted to take some pics by the train tracks, but we are always on a time crunch and we had to still walk Louie. 

At least my bruises are fading. Now it just looks like a don't bath instead of looking like an abuse victim. Poor Kyle kept getting dirty looks from everyone. Of course I took these right after I ate a giant dinner, so I had food-baby going on as well, but I think they came out okay. The highlight of the evening is that I rediscovered my Cyndy Lauper record that Kyle bought for me last time we were at the salvation army. He came home and said "Who the hell is this? It sounds like f*cking Cyndy Lauper!" At which point I started cracking up at his bewilderment.

The last two are a little deer in the headlights, but Kyle liked them so I suppose they can stay....Anywho, hows about a poem guys? It's been awhile :)

Chocolate in the morning

By Sara Astley

Grey haze of awareness-so early it's a secret. 

I hush down the hallway into

an ebony-inspired domain-too black 

for a reflection.

               Long lines and sighs clothe my mind and my awakened 

eyes are thrilled

               by the fuzzy-conscious shadows shaped around my feet. 

               Interrupted by my own movements, when

               Hazelnut is calling.

Hard-fake wood

never felt so good, bracing my back so early.

A glimpse of star-spangled mish-

mash upon my

Moon-caked lids, are reflections of small-times

of uninterrupted purity.

I think this is the only one that I really like :P

Details:

Pajama romper (worn as a top),necklace, headband, belt & skirt-F21

Shoes-Payless

Eat 'em up Tigers, eat 'em up!

Guess where we went last night? Yep, Comerica Park to see the Detroit Tigers play! And guess what? They won! wooooot! I love baseball, I never played it, or softball for that matter, but I love going down to the games every spring, summer and fall. It is very American to say this, but it is such a wonderful pastime. The bright green field, the lights, the songs everyone dances and claps to, the hot dogs, the roasted peanuts, the player's cute butts....what's not to love? 

 Kyle literally took these as we were going out the door, another salvation army find. It is cuter than it looks, I had been sitting and forgot to pull it down, such a horrible fashion blogger lol. Onward to a mini tour of the park!

Above: That is a Ferris wheel back there, the seats are baseballs! Below: Maggs, #30*sigh*

Okay so Kyle may have taken about a million of these, but this one is cool, the pitch, the ball, and the batter about to swing. I was so happy to go because life has been so crazy-busy right now. Kyle thought we needed a little break, and this was perfect. We even saved money because I packed us a dinner to take along with us (so cool that they let you do that). This has been our first date in...I don't know. But a baseball game is always a great date :)

Details:

Dress-Salvation Army

Belt & Necklace-F21

Socks & Shoes-Target

Tell me who am I, without you, by my side?

Hey everyone! How is your hump day coming along? I have been busting major booty at work these past weeks, I need to get caught up. At least I have job security lol. This is another dress that I have worn for this blog, but I am happy to wear it without a coat or cardi or anything. It came down long enough to cover my legs a little more, making it appropriate for work, and also to hide all the gross parts of my legs. You see, I bruise very easily, and between Louie and my Mom's pup Pepper, my legs have taken a beating. Of course, it also has to be 80-90 for the rest of this week and I cannot wear pants in that kind of weather. ugh.

Last night was hilarious, I hate always picking out our food, so I forced Kyle to go to the store with me and we were starving! We almost bought everything in the store, Kyle almost opened the ice cream right after the cashier scanned it. It was bad. We also had about a million pop bottles to return, and we decided to race to see who could get more pop bottles in the machine, which resulted in us knocking each other over, spilling pop bottles everywhere, and the manager glaring at us and visibly wondering why we were acting like a bunch of stupid teenagers. 

Kyle likes the close-ups a lot more apparently. I have nothing new or interesting to report today, I have been spending a lot of time walking Louie, trying to keep the place clean, and looking for houses online with Kyle. Hopefully we can see some more this week :)

Details

Dress-Salvation Army

Shoes-Payless

Necklace-Gift from Friend

Song "What is life" by George Harrison

You are my only girl, but your not my owner girl.

Since I have not finished my book yet, and since I am too lazy to upload a poem, I thought I'd catch everyone up on the housing process. Well, we have looked at 8 houses, 7 in Royal Oak (where we currently live) and one in Clawson. We have a budget, and finding one to fit that budget isn't too hard, but the problem we are having is that everyone else has found them too. We so far attempted to make 2 offers on 2 different houses, and there have been plenty that we haven't even seen because they are already in pending sale. Everyone thinks that we are crazy for trying to make offers so quickly, but apparently we are in some sort of warped race for a house. Which I am shocked at, because Michigan's economy is so bad. That is the problem, people like Kyle and I would normally not have enough income for a house in this area, but since the market value has gone down so much we can. We also have to avoid foreclosures. It sounds odd, but we are FHA approved, and the house would have to pass all these codes before we moved in, so it can't have siding that is falling off, or a torn-apart driveway. We don't have any money to fix up the house before we move in, so we have been forced into looking at mostly quick-sales, which really are not quick. They actually take a long time with all the paperwork, that is why we keep seeing houses with for sale signs, and listed online when they already have offers on them.

Anywho, long story short, I have had my heart broken by two amazing houses. Kyle too. I guess I am mostly mad because the second one wound up with four offers, and the seller didn't say anything to our Realtor. I mean, I wouldn't even had bothered looking at it if I knew that! Gawh. Anyways, we jotted down a few more, but I think we lost a little momentum. I mean, it has only been a few weeks, but we are so pressured, and at the same time scared shitless. 

I am sorry for all the pics, Kyle has been trying really hard to get me to pose different so I don't look like some dorky kid on their first day of school, then when I pick out only two pictures, he gets all bummed out. He makes me look cool, but he is so much more passionate about taking pictures of flowers, or scenery, or even dirt, lol. Oh and I promise that my hair was pretty earlier, MI is so crazy this week, it was cold this morning and by noon it was hot and muggy.

I had forgotten about this dress, I have now thought of about half a dozen ways to style it so that makes me happy. I thought I would show off just the polka dot's for now. I think I switched from plaid to polka this week. 

Oh and I got my sweet top from Sam! I can't wait to wear it. The initial outfit I had picked out would make me sweat like a cow in this heat, but I will still style it asap, it is too cool! Thanks Sam!!

Details:

Dress-Thirfted from Salvation Army

Tights-CVS

Necklace & Belt-F21

Shoes & Purse-Payless

Headband-AE

Song "Talk to me, dance with me" from Hot Hot Heat

Everybody's working for the weekend

Hello my dears!  This weekend was a little crazy, but the whole week was full of events so I guess it is only fitting. Friday night I got to go to the Magic Stick and the Majestic Cafe in Detroit to cover a few bands for the Motor City Blog. I got to see The Like and two other bands, which was awesome because  I really liked them and had a great time. I have not done the post on the MCB yet, but I will post a link when I do so you guys can check it out.  I got in bed around 1:30am, then had to be to work at 7am, yes work. On a Saturday. My dad was working too so he picked me up and we headed in. I lucked out and only had to work a half day and Kyle picked me up at noon. We then met up with his brother Brian and gf Beth for lunch and a pint at Grand Trunk/Foran's in Detroit.

 I was tired as hell so I took a nap while Kyle went to play some golf (most boring sport ever). A few hours later I awoke and we went over to Brian's to have a small gathering because some friends from out of town were visiting. It was great catching up with everyone, I took pictures, but I have those friends that hide from the camera so I am apparently not allowed to post them. We also brought Louie over to the apartment to hangout, it was really cool he was pretty well-behaved all night. I love being able to take him places because I feel so bad leaving him at home.

Sunday I woke up late. I got to my parents house for some BBQ, and it was yummy! After we ate our weight in BBQ, I suggested we tale all the dogs for a walk. Mariah took a pic of all the dogs, but it's a little blurry since they were so excited for the walk. We bummed around Ferndale and it was great to see how much the city has changed. There are some good area's and some bad. But for the most part, Ferndale has become the hipster hangout of MI. It is a very diverse little city and I think Kyle might be looking up houses in Ferndale for us to look at.

(Pepper, Louie, Chloe, and Millie)

This romper was given to me by the lovely Lauren. I really like it and I couldn't help but do the bandanna tie in the hair for the day. After I threw on the jean-jacket, Kyle said I looked like I was from Grease or something.  :P I hope that everyone had a great weekend! 

Details

Romper-gift

Jacket & shoes-Thirfted via That Girl 

Scarf-Dollar store 

Project : Go Green!

Today was one of those days where I awoke and thought it was 10am and it was actually 2pm. So far today I have manged to take Louie for a walk and that is it, thank god for coffee lol. This weekend has been full of ups and downs. I have more projects coming up for this blog though, I thought since I am trying my hardest to be as Green as possible, I thought I would do a post every once in awhile on being more Green, just some tips and ideas that  have that I can pass along to you guys to try out.

1) Plastic bags. I always try to get paper bags at the store because they are so easy to recycle, I just throw my old news papers in them and when they get full I place them in the bin. There are also the reusable bags that you can pick up almost anywhere now, most stores by me even offer a discount if you bring in your own bag, usually about 5-10 cents, but it adds up. When I do end up with plastic bags, I find use for them. I will use them as a lunch bag for work, as a trash liner for my little garbage cans, and also, they are great for taking with you on walks with dogs, because where I live, you have to pick up dog poop. I save all the bags my news papers come in, and also the bags that my bagels and bread come in for this. I also used to use plastic bags as shower caps before I finally got one. There are plenty of ways to use that bag a little more before it ends up in the garbage. 

2) Paper towels. I try hard not to buy this stuff, but there are so many reasons that I end up buying a roll here and there eventually. So what I do is try to reuse them as much as possible.  It sounds strange, but it is easy to do, typically I will have one that I use as a napkin for when I am eating. I will use one side to wipe my mouth or hands, then flip it or fold it over and use the other side to clean up a mess. Same for when I use them to wipe windows, I will fold them over and over to wipe up that windex before finally tossing it away. 

3) Dog toys. Have a pair of old or unmatched socks? Create a dog toy with them. Simply ball up one sock, place it in the other making sure that it goes all the way down to the toe part, and then tie up the longer part of the sock to create a knot. Dogs love to bite the thicker part of the toy and play tug-of-war with you as you pull on the longer part of the sock. Also, the cardboard roll that is used on toilet paper or paper towel rolls are great for dogs to bat around and chew up. Just know that you are gong to have to clean up all the bits if your dog chews it. 

Sorry these are so shady guys, but I was excited to take some pics in Downtown Detroit! It is cool that I have such a big city right by me. I will have to take some pics around Corktown, Greektown, and by the river walk before the end of summer. It usually isn't this dead on a Saturday, but the little park  right by here, Campus Marcius was packed with people shooting a movie. They all wound up in the bar we went to for lunch and a ton of people had cannon slr's and I wanted to sneak into their group with mine and see if I could get away with it. :P

 Look I have eyes and not black little sockets lol. I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I am off to my parents for some BBQ! :)

Details

Top,Skirt & belt-F21

Purse-Thrifted

Shoes-Payless

Socks & Hat-Target 

FNF: Guy Style File, Adam

Alright folks, ready for the second installment of the Guy-style file on Friday Night Features here on She is Sara? Here we have Adam, one of my bosses, who was kind enough to dress up for some photo-shoots that we took around our workplace in Detroit. It was a lot of fun taking these pics because I got to sneak around into some places that I normally would have walked right past. Being outside during lunch instead of being stuck indoors was a nice change. I included some scene shots so you guys could get a little image in your head of what these places look like, enjoy!

 

Details

Shirt & Cords-J.Crew

Shoes-Diesel 

Belt-Express

Bracelet-Gift ("SSG Donald L. Munn 1/7 CAV 11 OCT 2007 Iraq")

How would you describe your style?

 A preppy business casual yuppie for work, and casual during my personal time.

Where are your favorite places to shop? Favorite brands?

 j.crew / incognito (royal oak) / modern skate / diesel (Sales racks)

Details

Shirt-Gift from Dad

Seer Sucker pants & Belt-J.Crew

Glasses-Giovanidi Venezia (Sylvan Lake MI eye doctor)

Bracelet-Gift 

What influences your style?

 I always think to myself if I have on a good looking/comfortable pair of jeans, some cool kicks and a comfortable hoodie/jacket, then I'm money, the shirt never matters.

Details

Shirt-H&M

Cords & Belt-J.Crew

Shoes-DSW

Bracelet-Gift 

 What is your ideal kind of day? 

Chillin' with my gf Anna...anywhere.

 Hobbies?  

Fixing up my house, staying active (boarding, bball, sball),trips up north, and just chillin'.

What are some of your other favorite things/passions?  

Fixing up my pad...I enjoy interior design, fashion, I enjoy checking out new places either restaurants, bars, or shops, and lastly I would say just hangin' with my fam and gf...I have a new nephew and my niece just turned 2...they are so much fun.

Details

Shirt-H&M

Pants-Diesel 

Shoes-Jack Percels Converse

Bracelet-Gift

What is your theme song?

Country boy can survive - Hank Williams jr. 

Dream job?

Owning my own cafe/shop. I picture it being a coffee/tea house, where I would sell eclectic furniture and decor.  

Describe the perfect summer vacation.

 Wow that's a tough one. I would say anywhere on a beach where i could order a mojito or miller lite and have Anna sitting sitting right next to me.

I would like to give a special thanks to Adam for letting me drag him all over outside of our work in the hot sun to take these pictures, and for being kind enough to take the time to answer all of my questions.I hope that you guys liked this weeks Guy Style File, and I hope to have more in the upcoming FNF. Have a great weekend everyone!