What I Wore: Bohemian Rhapsody

What I Wore: Shirt (Old), Scarf (gift), Necklace (Popbasic), Skirt (Cat World via Yesstyle.com), shoes (Old Navy)

I'm sure I'll be singing a Bohemian Rhapsody all summer-long here on NFD. The look is just to perfect for summer! Take this outfit for example; a grey shirt with a cream skirt is something you've probably seen before. A great basic look, flattering to many. Add a headscarf and you've amped up that boho vibe. 

To be honest, I was worried about the head scarf at first. How not to look like a pirate? Or like I was playing dress up. But it was  fun that just one little thing could completely change a look. That is one trick I'm keeping in my back pocket. What about you? Is a headscarf a fashion do or don't?

P.S. I've joined my first link party! Check out these lovely ladies below for more summery outfit goodness! 

Bespoke Post and the Box of Awesome Subscription Review

Bespoke Post and the Box of Awesome is a subscription service for men designed to bring to their subscribers the very best of things. I've talked about Bespoke Post here, but basically, each month/box has a different theme. You get an email saying what the theme is and what is inside the box. You can then choose to opt out at no charge, or do nothing and receive the box. I love this concept for so many reasons- bespoke products, different themes, knowing what you will get (I like surprises but was underwhelmed with another subscription box company Quarter Co. and their surprises), and the easy option to opt out. Subscriptions can be bought in 1 month, 3 month, 6 month or yearly subscriptions; the longer you subscribe the cheaper each box is per month. Since my boyfriend was interested in subscription boxes after the researchI shared for the blog, guess what he got for Christmas? Yup. And like it says on the tin, it's been awesome!

This is actually the second subscription box we've gotten from Bespoke Post and The Box of Awesome (The Boy also chose to get their March Travel themed box, which came with a weekender big and travel planner stuff). We liked it well enough, but this box seemed to have hit it out of the park.


The April box was all about the 'Cue- Barbecue that is! The Boy grills pretty much all year around (in the garage in the winter), so it was a pretty good fit. With all the diabetes stuff that happened, we sadly haven't gotten to try these out (therefore, mind you, we aren't vouching for taste), but you can bet that will be remedied this weekend!

This is what was in the box:

• Hickory, Cedar & Alder Grill Planks from  Outdoor Gourmet. Amos loves cooking on grill planks, but we never knew different woods could make a different taste! This might be our favorite item(s). 
• Wynad Single-Estate Peppercorn from Parameswaran by Salt Traders. An ethical/fair trade company, the pepper comes from a family farm in India. 
• Gourmet Classic Scooping Ketchup from Sir Kensington’s Heintz has always done me pretty well, but hey- it is healther and has the best logo! 
• Summer Southern Honey from TruBee Honey. The Honey is harvested from "free range bees." Yeah, we have beekeepers all around the area, so I know for a fact that "not free range" bees are not any different than free range bees. Instead, I think they want to highlight that the honey is from different types of flowers. But hey- honey. What's not to like? 
• Jalapeño & Blue Corn Chips from  Food Should Taste Good, Their company name says it all.
• Chipotle & Honey Rub, Moroccan Harissa Rub, Chimichurri Seasoning, Whole Spice. Oh man, these smell good! excited to try these rubs out.
• Whole Grain Artisan Mustard from Tin Mustard- I don't like mustards so would never eat it out of the jar with a spoon, but that's what they advertise you'll want to do after trying this. We shall see. 

We will have to wait until we've taste-tested it all, but I felt that for the price we got a lot of bang for our buck. I loved that they were all from small businesses from either America or from fair trade/ethical sources. In addition to the box, each month they make one or articles relating to how to better use the box of the month. For example, this month had some barbecue reciepes. For a box themed around shaving there were shaving tips. They that fine line between helpful and annoying very well, giving subscribers quality information but not spamming.

Personally, I'm excited to see what Amos' third (I got a three month/box subscription) box pick will be! Have you subscribed to Bespoke Post? Love it, hate it, indifferent? Tell all in the comments below! 

P.S. Looking for other subscription box options? Here are some of my top picks here and here!

What I Wore: My Boyfriend's Clothes

People like to dream of living out in the country. "Just me a cabin in the woods," they say. I live in ranching country though. I know what this really means. Out of town- It means bad roads in the winter and unpaved roads all year long. It means a bus ride as long as the school day for kids and no such thing as "a quick run to the grocery store." Let's be real here- for me, it means internet service that is not so great and not just popping into the library unexpectedly.

 For some people it's the life, though I know I couldn't do it. But here? Out among the mountains and clouds and quiet?  I almost think I could.

We drove out to go to just such a home- a ranch out in the Shoshone National Forest. To get there we travelled down the South Fork (For some unexplainable reason, we've really not been utilizing the South Fork to the blog's greatest potential, but after this photo shoot, that will surely change!) We went to a supper thrown in connection with The Boy's job. I got to meet the people he works with and we all ate good food and enjoyed the lovely (if rainy) sites. It was one of those "oh yeah, we're a couple!" moments getting to be introduced to the coworkers and all.

Speaking of rain (and who doesn't want to listen/read to me drone on about the weather?), it necessitated another  last-minute-thrown-together outfit. We never get rain. Unsure of how to cope, I dug The Boy's mustard cardigan out of the closet and claimed it as my own. The tied-off shirt showed a bit more midriff than originally intended, but paired together with the cardigan, rolled jeans. and go-everywhere flats, it worked great. A vintage necklace kept the look tomboy-but-girlish, and  I was ready to rock (dress at the dinner was casual in case you were all wondering I was horribly underdressed).

So, what do you think? These mountains making you wish for a cottage in the wilderness?

Bridal Shower

It has taken me a bit, but here finally are photos of the lovely Bridal Shower that my sister and my good friend, Shannon, threw for me back in April. If you couldn't tell from the invites, the theme was an Alice in Wonderland Tea Party! Taking a page from the White Rabbit, it was an "Around-the-Clock" shower, where guests were given different times of day and got a present to use at that time.  For food, there were lovely munchies perfect for an afternoon tea (and almost all very diabetic friendly, as I had just learned a little over a week ago I was diabetic, so I was hugely appreciative of this). Who even knew cucumber sandwiches were so tasty? Shannon and Danyon, apparently! Garlands and posters were strewn about- all made from pages of the complete works of Lewis Carroll. See the circle garland up top? That's an illustration drawn by the author! (In case you couldn't tell, I'm a HUGE Alice in Wonderland fan.  I even played Alice in a production of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass as a kid, and the director was at my shower too!)

Because it is a small town, there's not a ton of places to host such events. Shannon and Danyon transformed the parlor in our church into a tea party. Wish I'd gotten better pictures to really show the decor and other party favors and goodies.



One of most interesting parts of living in the same town you grew up in- is people have known you forever! Things got a little teary when everyone was introducing themselves; so many of these women have known me since I was a child! But we had plenty of laughs. Above you can see Shannon (in pink) and my sister Danyon (yellow top) introducing a shower game involving a Mad Hatter Cap! Thank you to Gwen, my soon-to-be mother-in-law as well as my sister for so many of these photos. And thank you for the lovely day and well-wishes!

Film Flick: The Third Man

This month we're taking a walk on the seedier side of life, down dark alleys and into the evil that lurked within, with a Film Noir marathon.  

"Has there ever been a film where the music more perfectly suited the action than in Carol Reed's 'The Third Man'?" Roger Ebert asked in his review of this iconic and classic film nior. Indeed, the unique score manages to perfectly convey a sense of place and mood. It is manic yet joyless; it is ethnic yet never gives way to a cartoony stereotype of Austria. Combine this with the film's harsh, expressionistic lighting and the unusual camera angles that serve to keep the viewer feeling off balance and you would be hard pressed to find a more perfectly-suited film where technical aspects are concerned (though some did joke about the extreme titling "Dutch" Angles. Friend and fellow director William Wyler sent Reed a level with the instruction to put it on top of the camera for his next film). Like the previously discussed Double Indemnity and The Maltese Falcon, this film has the trademarks of a noir beyond just the shadowy lighting. It has seedy characters and locales; an anti-hero protagonist; a femme fatale; and murder too. 

Holly Reeds has recently arrived in Vienna to meet his childhood friend Harry Lime. "I never knew the old Vienna," he tells us in the opening narration. The post-WWII Vienna is portrayed as a bombed out city filled with people trying to keep their heads down- a political mess where corruption can flourish (It should be noted the film was shot entirely on location; the rubble and devastation is real. This maybe partly why the film got only a luke-warm reception by Austrian critics). On arrival though, Reed quickly discovers that Lime has died-reportedly run over by a car-only a few days earlier. In fact, he manages to make it to Lime's funeral. Seeing what he perceives to be indifference on the police's part, Reed starts looking at the possibility of murder. In doing so, he is dragged into a world where nothing is as it seems in his quest to find the third man who was present the night of the hit and run.

Like other Noir films, the people and situations portrayed on screen are dark; however, this film seems all the more chiling in how very realistic and unique those situations are. Told in those first post-war years (just as the paranoria that would characterize much of the Cold War was setting in) by men who had been in the war, and set and filmed in that rubble of a city, it conveys a sense of dichotomies  Holly Reeds' the American and Western writer who envisions the world with morals that would not be out of place in one of his novels. Contrasted against him are the jaded police and wary people he meets. For them, there is no ticket out of Vienna; there is survival and, for a very few lucky, there might be love. Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles act this out brilliantly. Plus, you will not want to miss one of cinema's most famous speeches, supposedly written on the spot by Welles himself. Roger Ebert also wrote that he envied anyone who would be watching this for the first time, and I echo that sentiment. You will need to see it to believe it- find out identity of The Third Man.