Primary Colors

The days have been great lately.  Lots of future planning, being productive in the here & now, and enjoying the last days of summery weather.  I keep trying to wear jackets and scarves, but I get all hot and sweaty and realize it's still not quite cool enough for such things.  Back in Anchorage they woke up to snow yesterday!  There are crunchy leaves on the ground, though, so I know I'm not too ahead of the  game.
I was looking through old photos on Facebook the other day and feeling so much more "grown up" than just a year ago.  I'm not sure what it is, I don't really look all that different.  My hair is shorter, I suppose.  Whatever it is, I like it.  I don't feel like, "oh, so I guess I'm a grown up now,"  more just that continual process of becoming oneself that happens in ones twenties.  I just hadn't really thought about it until it struck me looking at those photos.  Maybe "grown up" is the wrong term to use.  Perhaps, "coming into my own" or feeling independent and confident is more accurate.  Not that I haven't felt independent and confident in the past, I've always been quite independent and usually pretty confident. Perhaps it's been the process of making a new home and family with Dan.  It's like... we used to be these subheadings of our respective families, as our parents' children.  But now we're the headings, and someday we'll have subheadings of our own.  We're like a whole new entity, separate from our parents.  A whole new node on a family tree that goes back forever.  Anyway, I know that's not the entire reason for my recent feelings, but I'm sure it's a contributing factor and is interesting to ponder.
dress + cardigan/courtesy of modcloth :: shoes/courtesy of blowfish :: belt/target
This outfit doesn't feel special or amazing or anything.  Just basic.  Basic is good though.  Simple.  I think I'm getting the "simple outfit" thing out of my system because fall is on its way and layering doesn't necessary lend itself to simplicity.  As a natural maximalist, though, it'll be fun to have more to work with.  Scarves, mittens, hats, jackets, tights, boots... come to me!

French Onion Soup

I had French Onion soup in an airport during a layover earlier this year, and ever since then I've wanted to make some myself.  Of course, summer isn't really the time of year for eating hot, cozy soup with melty cheesy bread, so I waited until fall to try out this recipe.  There are tons of recipes for French Onion soup, and I think I'm going to search around for some different ones, but this is a nice basic one for the crock pot.  We had some for dinner and then I froze the rest so we can have it all through the fall!

(recipe adapted from Betty Crocker's Slow Cooker Cookbook)
INGREDIENTS:
3 large onions, sliced (appx 3 cups) 3 tbsp butter, melted 3 tbsp all purpose flour 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp sugar 1/4 tsp pepper 4 14.5oz cans beef broth Sliced French Bread Shredded Mozzarella cheese (and some parmesan if you have it!)
1. Mix the onions and butter in a 3 1/3 to 6 quart slow cooker,  cover and cook on high for about 30-40 minutes, until the onions begin to slightly brown around the edges.
2. In a small bowl, mix the flour, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, and pepper.  Then, stir the mixture along with your beef broth into the slowcooker full of onions.  Cover again and cook it on low for 7-9 hours, (or on high for 3-4 hours), or just until the onions are tender.
3. Cut some slices of french bread, put some grated mozzarella on top and stick it in the oven on broil for a few minutes, until the cheese is all gooey and melty.  I also threw some shredded cheese in the bottom of the bowl before ladling the soup in, so there'd be a cheesy surprise at the bottom.  Put one of your cheesy breads on top of each bowl of soup, and consume! 

Interested in Sponsoring?

Fall is well on its way and October is upon us.  This time last year I was running around getting everything ready for our Nov. 5th wedding, so this year it'll be nice to be able to relax and just enjoy the season.

I'm accepting sponsors for the upcoming months, so if you're interested in driving more traffic to your blog or shop, sponsorship is a great way to do so!  Delightfully Tacky has a solid readership of friendly ladies who enjoy personal style, adventures, delicious treats, and pretty vintage things, so if you're looking to draw a demographic such as that to your awesome blog, site, or shop, consider sponsoring!  I've got four different ad sizes at different price points, so if you're just starting off and don't want to make a huge investment in terms of advertisement, but still want to get more exposure, try something like a mini ad.  If you want a bit more exposure, the small and large ads come with the option of offering my readers a giveaway.  The Featured ad space, which is located at the top of my right sidebar, gets the top spot all month long, and also comes along with the option to both offer a giveaway, and you'll be featured in a sponsored blog post.

If you have questions about the ad spaces/sponsorship in general, check out my sponsorship page and see if your question is answered there.  If not, feel free to email me!  If you're ready to go and definitely want to sponsor, just click here, pick your ad size & duration, and go through the checkout process and you're on your way!

Uncommon Finds

Transitional seasons are the most exciting ones.  We should celebrate the new year on October or April 1st, not January 1st.  Nothing about January 1st screams "new life! new opportunities! turning over a new leaf!"  It's cold and dead and the anticipation of Christmas is gone.  Fall and spring seem like much better times to celebrate transitions and new goals.  New year's resolutions quickly fade... I wonder if resolutions made during fall and spring work out better.  It seems like so many people are making fall goal lists.  
Even if a wonderful season, like summer, is on it's way out, I really to love that little twinge of exhilaration that I feel when I can smell the fall nip in the air.  It's like the whole of existence is simultaneously making a shift.  Trees are changing color, animals are preparing for winter, the temperature is slowly dropping.  Resisting the change would just be silly.  I was sad to see summer go, and I'm still a bit sad, but how can you not dive right into that change?  I think even though we've got all these fancy modern things to keep us warm and comfortable, our bodies still know that the change is happening.  Humans have felt the rhythm of seasons for thousands of years.  Maybe that sense of change has been built into us by now.  Either way, I'm excited for the next few months.
dress/courtesy of modcloth :: belt/thrifted :: shoes/courtesy of blowfish shades/vintage :: necklace/courtesy of peerless charm :: vest/thrifted + diy
I feel like finding a denim vest that is cropped and fitted is relatively difficult.  Then, the other day I was in the little girls' section at the thrift store and there were a bunch of denim jackets that were super cute. I realized that if I just cut off the sleeves, it'd be a great little cropped denim vest!  Voila, perfection.  So, if you're pulling your hair out trying to find a cropped, fitted denim vest, just head to the thrift store and look in the little girls' section for a denim jacket and whack the arms off! Sometimes it seems like the most uncommon pieces in my closet become some of my favorites.  This dress was definitely a departure from my typical style of more vintage shaped, shorter dresses.  I absolutely love the color and pattern, and the sheer maxi skirt almost has an ethereal quality to it.  I have yet to hem it, so I've always worn it with these heels, which are the perfect height.

The Remix Archives // Free People Skirt

Back in 2010 I won a Chictopia contest with RevolveClothing.com, and the prize was both a photo shoot in LA and a gift card to Revolve.  Most of the stuff on Revolve is more edgy-LA/NYC than I wear, but I found my way to the Free People section and that's where I found this little gem of a skirt.  I remember I had been looking for a button down skirt for a while and this one had a great little print on it too.  It's nice because even though it has a print, it's pretty non-intrusive, so it's easy to mix with other bold colors and prints.  I often find myself wanting to pair orange with it to tie in with the tiny orange flowers in the print.