On the Rocks

“The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”
~Jacques Cousteau


Outfit Details: Bathing Suit: Vintage//Cover-up: Vintage//Hat & Sunglasses: Target//Scarf: Vintage from Grandmother

Thoroughly enjoying my week in the sun.  I do wish it would never end.
See you when I return darlings.

Love,

Guest Blogger: The Cat Hag

Hello Everyone! 

I am Addie, blogger at The Cat Hag and owner of Ditzy Granny Vintage. :)

My dearest friend and overall sweetheart, Marisa, gave me a sweet treat in the form of writing a guest post for her while she is busy settling down in her beautiful new town. 

Marisa and I met through our blogs, and without a doubt, Shades of Monet is one of my personal blogger style favourites. She never fails to brighten up my day with her sunny smile, and her beautifully adorable outfits. I sometimes entertain thoughts of kidnapping her, and stealing clothes from her wardrobe... so it's probably good that she lives really far away from me. ;D

I have posted a few of my favourite outfit photos, and though I can only wish I were as stylish and cute as Marisa, there is only one her. ♥♥

xoxo

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Thanks a million to Addie for filling in my shoes, while I am away.  If you haven't had a chance to get acquainted with The Cat Hag yet, be sure to take a peek at her bright and colorful blog full of fun, creative, and inspiring outfits.  Eye candy for sure!!  Have the best of week darlings!
Love and Sunshine,
Marisa

Hold Onto Your Hat

"It is not light we need, but fire; it not the gentle shower, but thunder..."
~Frederick Douglass

Outfit Details: Dress: Thrifted/Hat & Ring: UO/Scarf: Thrifted/Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell

 So apparently I felt very inclined to hold on to my hat today...

I guess lots of big and exciting things are ahead.

Once again the humidity from the stormy weather was very heavy in the air.  My poor lil camera got a little sick from it, hence the blur.  I felt pretty courageous braving this monsoon though (yes, I'm being over-dramatic..hehe).  Valley Forge National Park is beautiful no matter what kind of weather floats it's way and Albert and I make use of every opportunity we get to drive through this majestic landscape here on our ventures home from Philly.

Anyhoo, hope you're having a completely wonderful week darlings. Next week I'll be on vacation down south.  While I am soaking up the sun (and hopefully not hurricane Irene), another gorgeous gal will be guest posting here for me.  Be sure to give her lots of love:)

Until then.

Love,

Red Stripes and White Keys

"If music be the food of love, play on."
~William Shakespeare 

Outfit Details: Blouse (dress) & Skirt: Vintage//Head Scarf & Shoes: Thrifted

Good evening darlings!
On this past Saturday, Albert and I got pleasantly acquainted with our new town during it's summer festival.  It was such a lovely experience getting to meet many of the people from the town, serving the community with some free t-shirt dyeing and face painting and playing a little music for them on the side. Though the heat was intense, it was a very busy and fun day not to mention very sweet to play under a wide open sky and between tall green mountains.  Our little band even got booked again to do another town festival (which is pretty cool, I must say)!  Some of the photos above were from our soundcheck during our acoustic version of "Starlight".  Playing music always gives me an instant high.

On a different note, Justice Pirate recently featured me on her latest Modest Fashion Feature.  This made me smile quite big as I couldn't agree more with her cause and how she promotes modesty in fashion.  Thanks also to Chaucee of The Fieldbook and Streets & Stripes, who took the photo that got featured.

That's all for now.  Have a gorgeous week!

Much Love,

About Town

A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine.
~Anne Bronte 

Outfit Details: Dress: Vintage via Millie & Me/Floral Crown: Little Honeypies/Bag & Shoes: Thrifted

So this is my new town.  I know, I know, perhaps it doesn't look like much of a town but rather more like a quaint little valley nestled cozily between the mountains.  Nonetheless, it's going to be home to me real soon.  On this afternoon Al and I ventured an hour and a half north to our new town to meet up with some friends for a band practice.  We were lucky enough to get a little band together and have the opportunity to play in the town's summer festival... today actually.  I couldn't be more excited and nervous but more excited.  Wish me luck darlings!  I must be off for now as the ivories are calling me.

Much love, 

Guest Blogger: Hearted Girl

My next guest blogger is one sweet lady I immediately became fond of while reading her cheerful, upbeat, and encouraging blog.  Seriously, in the midst of my crazy year, this girl never ceased to put me in the brightest of moods with her thoughtful words and sunny outlook on life.  I absolutely love this girl and I know you will too as she shares some of her empowering little insights with us today.  Thanks Lynn for being a wonderful blogger friend and constant source of inspiration.  See you soon darlings!
Love, 
Marisa

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Hello folks, I'm Lynn from hearted girl and am very pleased to meet you all! The excitement to come over here and be included as a guest on Marisa's space had been bubbling up inside for a while now. Glad to also give Maris a bit of a break after her big move so she can nest n' nook. I'm thrilled to be here sharing a little something I've sort of recycled from my archives. It's called "Nutshell" and the snap-shot is: everyone is given a safety net; something they can trust in to pull them out from tough sitchs, the trick is finding out what yours is.

One of my favorite quotes is from Shakespeare, when Hamlet says “O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.”

This moves me so because I think about the many times my mind feels thick with thoughts so heavy they would seem to require much more space than my own head could hold. Still there are the masters out there in the world that have extraordinary capabilities & strategic trails to follow when the brain tries to entrench them in any badness. Who are these people and could I get my hands on this super power too??? Gosh, can you say work in progress?!

When I was a little girl it was so much easier, I remember having those super scary boogey man meets the creepy-crawlies while Raggedy-Ann’s head twists a 360 kinda thoughts while lying in the darkness of my otherwise cheerful Neapolitan colored bedroom. My mom taught me to use a word to defend myself from the onslaught, yes people A WORD…that’s it, that’s all. I chose “NO” and would repeat it over and over, after practicing this I found it actually worked! No more would I be at the mercy of those beasties that lay claim in my mind, I could now control (for all intents and purposes) my keep out sign. It was very empowering and remembering all that just now gives me a bit more mojo to give it another go.

We all have our stuff and it’s important to face it when it’s real but sometimes it can feel like a switch gets tripped and the circuits can miss fire you into a place that causes tangles and twists when all you really need is the life line to pull you back out. A sturdy, strong tether that will be your own unconditional keeper of the safe. When moonlight approaches I know everything will be alright.

Thanks so much for inviting me over Marisa! You are the best and I'm honored to take part. It's been a supreme pleasure and thank you to everyone who's joined in on this with me today. High held toasts to you all!!! ♥

background with frame image via night fate

Coffee & Chocolate: A blogger meet-up

So, I'm back early darlings.  Moving didn't really go as planned.  As we were all ready to go with our closing date last week, we were surprisingly notified that we needed additional paperwork unbeknownst to us and this set our closing date back a couple more weeks.  Total bummer indeed.

I could definitely gripe as this whole home buying process has been slightly grueling to say the least.  I however will refrain as I have heard many similar stories from first time homebuyers... so seems this is all run of the mill. And really, I am just thankful to actually be able to purchase a house.

On a happier note, I had the quite awesome opportunity to meet up with a dear blogger friend of mine.  Chaucee of The Fieldbook (formerly Streets and Stripes), was one of the very first lovely ladies I met here on blogger.  Coincidentally, she lives only a few towns over from the one I grew up in.  As she just returned from a semester spent in Israel, we were able to arrange a meet-up in the cutesy little town of Lancaster.  Though the night was wet and sticky as all get out, we have such great time of conversation at Prince Street Cafe as well as some heavenly chocolate at Cafe Chocolate in Lititz, and a bit of shopping around Target.  I seriously can't say enough about this girl, as it was pretty darn cool chatting  fashion, but even better to discover how much we have in common beyond the blogging world.  We of course manage to pop in a little impromptu photo shoot...and Albert (who tagged along for part of the night) got in on it as well.  

Chaucee was so sweet to snap so many lovely photos of me and Albert that I couldn't just pick one to post here, so I give you this:

We are cheeseballs for sure.

Have a sunny week!  Later this week, another lovely lady will be taking over as I continue to get ready for my move.  The saga continues....See you soon!

Love,

Guest Blogger: Old Lady Chic

Hello. My name is Kerri and I blog over at Old Lady Chic. Nice to meet all of you lovely Shades of Monet readers. Marisa being the sweet gal she is, was kind enough to let me bombard you with our shared love of vintage, old-fashioned, and thrifted clothing. (Hope the move is going good!)

I'm from South Florida which, can be to some, the mecca of thrifting. Tons of old ladies means tons of old clothing. That is where I come in, swooping in on the racks of Goodwill trying to bring you the best that geriatrics has to offer.


Outfit Details:Top- T.J.Maxx/Skirt- Vintage hand-me-down from Mom/Necklace- ModCloth/Wedges- DSW/Shades- Faces/Earrings- Claire's

I've had this skirt since third grade. No joke. It is a seventies wrap skirt, so basically it can fit me until I die. You hear people talk about investment pieces, let me tell ya!

Thanks for stopping by...

-Kerri Tee.

Kerri

Old Lady Chic

http://www.kerri2gether13.blogspot.com

Steam

Happiness consists in activity. It is running steam, not a stagnant pool.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes 

Outfit Details: Dress: TJ Maxx/Turban: Free People (Old)/Necklace: Vintage from Grandmother/Sandals: UO (Old)

You can probably tell by my hazy looking photos that Pennsylvania has turned into a rainforest these past couple days.  100% humidity is definitely not my friend as the air is thick enough to bite into, making me feel as sticky as a piece of masking tape.  The turban is conveniently covering up my gross, matted looking locks and my lens was fogging up as if I was standing in the middle of a steam bath.  There ya go, definitely not my ordinary style but comfort indeed on a day like this.  As for the chair, a  lovely gentleman, who is one of teachers I worked with gave it to me because he said the bright colors reminded him of me and he thought I would like it...and I surely do.

As my big move is coming up this weekend, I have three very lovely lasses who will be taking over my lil ol blog space to help me out while I will be busy as a bee settling in my new home.  I shall pop in to say hello every so often and keep you updated, but until then, have a quite splendiful week darlings!

Love,