A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

dress: urban outfitters. shoes: dsw. bag: vintage. sunglasses: anthropologie.

Here are a few photos from my day in the city. After roaming around the neighborhood, we found a few interesting, photo-worthy locations. Surprisingly, Chicago is pretty deserted, even with all of the political hype. Who knew that walking around and taking photos could be so exhausting, but I am completely beat. I need to save up some energy for the outdoor breakfast, salvation army trip, and art classes that I will be taking tomorrow. I hope you all had a wonderful day.

Until next time, Mandy

Photos at the Stables

skirt: forever 21. shirt: vintage. boots: vintage.

Good afternoon ladies.My day is filled with school events, including graduation practice and a senior faculty dinner, but I thought I would post this in between. As thrilling as those things are (notice my sarcasm), I am more excited about staying in the city with my aunt this weekend. I haven't seen her in ages, so I am glad to be able to catch up with her in these next few days. She informed me this morning that the art gallery near her house is offering free classes this weekend, so I think we are going to attempt pottery and whatever other classes they let us into. I cannot wait. It sounds like a picture-worthy weekend, so expect new pictures soon.

Until next time, Mandy

Night at the Museum

Although I am not one of those girls who dream about their prom night, there were two reasons that I went to prom this year. One being that I found the most beautiful dress, and two being that I was nominated for prom queen. I don't know if any of you remember my post from a few weeks ago where I said that I found a vintage 1920s flapper in my grandmother's room, well here it is. What do you think? I thought I would add a few personal touches by wearing some of my great grandma Grace's vintage items. She wore the headband to a dance in the 20s and the bracelet was hers too. In order to make the day a little more special, Wil and I took pictures at her house, which is now an abandoned, historical landmark. It was perfect.

Besides the dress, I had to go to the dance because it was required for prom court. I'm not popular, I don't have the most school spirit, and I tend to do my own thing, so I was not all that thrilled when I heard the news. Since teachers nominate the prom court, I guess they realized my hard work and dedication. Too bad it earned me a night of embarrassment in front of a majority of my school. I have never been a fan of large crowds or dancing, however I had to face both of these things. To make matters a little bit worse, my school is not like others that announce the prom court and then just crown the king and queen on stage. Instead, I was paired with the star basketball player instead of Wil, and then had to dance with him in the middle of everyone until the all of the losers were tapped out one by one just like a dance contest. At least I had a fantastic dress and handsome date for the night. 

Until next time, Mandy

Blog Makeover

Obviously Grace and Viola has undergone a little makeover in the past few days. I'm ecstatic with the results, and it is all because of this beautiful lady. Melanie of My Billie is one of the most talented and inspirational people that I have ever come in contact with. I read about her blog design a month or so ago, and I emailed her right away asking her to do mine. As much as I want to be good at blog design, I am new to the blog world and lacking photoshop so I wasn't ready to create something great yet. When Melanie emailed me the first draft of my design, I was so surprised. My blog looked completely different, in an amazing way of course. I love it so much and I love her. If you are looking for an amazing blog designer or just a fantastic blog to read, please stop by Melanie's blog. Thank you Melanie!

Until next time, Mandy

The Forest of Talking Trees

dress: urban outfitters. sweater: forever 21. tights: c/o oasap. shoes: ruche. ring: c/o oasap.

Today was it, my last day of high school! Finally, no more uniforms. So this is what I wore to school today instead. Of course everyone in their sweatpants and running shorts was looking at me like I was crazy, but oh well. This has been a week of great mail. First, I got my ring and tights from Oasap, and they are so lovely. I love the little hearts on my tights, and they even inspired me to try to make my own. Also, I have received so many compliments on my ring. I wear it everyday and everybody thinks it's the neatest thing ever. I love the quality of both items. Usually, my tights are ripped after the first time I wear them. I don't know how, but that is the case. These heart tights look as good as new.Then yesterday, my shoes from Ruche arrived. I was so excited when I opened the box. How cute are they? I rarely ever wear pink, but this is just the perfect amount and shade. I am just thrilled about everything this week. I hope you all are having as great of a day as I am. 

One more thing...Expect a change at Grace and Viola really soon. A new blog design is coming!

Until next time, Mandy

Rain Rain Go Away

shirt: urban outfitters. vest: vintage. skirt: forever 21. shoes: steve madden.

Hello lovelies. My day of picture taking was ruined by an intense storm, so here are a few photos from yesterday. I am loving the burnt orange skirt I bought, so I wore it on a day out with my brother. We rarely do things together, so a little lunch and shopping was surprisingly fun. 

Tomorrow starts my last week of school. It's going to be super busy and filled with tests. Yuck. Right now I should be studying for my AP tests, but blogging is just so much more fun. I can't put it off too much longer though or tomorrow will be pretty miserable.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend.

Until next time, Mandy

Soon It Will Be Over

My final days of high school are here. Eight more school days to be exact. Eight days packed full of tests, essays, homework, labs, and events. Possibly the eight longest days of my life. Eight more days until I can finally have a social life again. Eight more days until I can get rid of my uniform and start having outfit posts again! The whole private school education thing does not work very well with a fashion blog. But I will no longer have to worry about that in eight more days. Okay, I'm sure by now you get that I'm excited. Between studying and migraines, I was able to get out of the house for a bit this weekend. I had a wonderful breakfast with my aunt, followed by a visit to my local anthropologie, where I found the most amazing sunglasses. They were a tad expensive, probably because I'm used to buying five dollar pairs. I keep thinking about this pair though, so I am planning to go back soon to buy them. I have no other choice. I never find sunglasses that look good on my face, so I shouldn't let this opportunity pass, right? I also spent some time cleaning/organizing my room, which was a little scary. I started thinning out my closet to get ready for my days of tightly enclosed dorm living. However, the cleaning didn't work out as planned because now my room is filled with bags of clothes to take to Goodwill. 

Until next time, Mandy