Take it easy

Dress: Connected Apparel;

Shoes: from Philippines, gift;

Headband: borrowed from Nikki;

Sweater: Forever 21, borrowed from Nikki;

Bag: Fossil, thrifted.

How I've worn the dress before: here.

Photos by Jeremiah.

Many thanks goes to Linda from Little Tin Soldier for featuring me in her weekly shoutout. If you haven't checked out Linda's blog yet, you definitely should -- she not only takes adorable outfit photos, but she also does beautiful illustrations of them, too. She's quickly become one of my everyday reads.

Okay, onto this outfit. These photos are from a very easy Monday that involved running errands and going to the bookstore. I spent an inordinate amount of time reading photography books while I was there. It's funny, I spent three years working at my college newspaper, but never had the desire to pick up a camera. Now that I'm out of college and not writing full-time, all I want to do is take photos wherever I go.

It turns out we are finally moving our furniture to Athens on Wednesday, so hooray for that. My sister Nikki (she finally started her own blog here) came over Sunday afternoon and we had a giant clothing swap. It was more like I cleaned out my closet and she got a good bit of things that I don't wear anymore. She let me borrow this sweater, which I think will end up being a good staple in my closet for fall. I love the design of swirls at the top of it, and I like how it mutes out the tie-dye of the dress.

Hope you all are having a fabulous Tuesday. Tonight is our last team trivia meetup because of the move (sniff,sniff). We'll live a little further away, but Jeremiah and I will try to go once a month. I'll miss my friends too much to stay away from Taco Mac too much longer.

P.S. Be sure to check out my Designer Apparel earrings giveaway here.

"Mad Men" links: Season 4, Episode 2

 ["Christmas Comes but Once a Year," image via AMC]

Due to the response from my last "Mad Men" links post, I've decided to make it a weekly thing by compiling the best of the Web's response to that week's episode, and posting Monday night/Tuesday morning. Most of the links will be episode-centric, and I'll also include whatever "Mad Men" news I can find, so you'll be up to speed on what's going on so far at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. It's been a lot of fun compiling these posts (in fact, I used to do massive emails to Jeremiah with links last year during Season 3), so I hope you enjoy them!

- If you need to get caught up, Jezebel has a great weekly analysis here, complete with photos and videos. Check out that Conga line! Television Without Pity also has a great recaplet here.


- Slate's TV Club commentary for this week's show: the return of Freddy Rumsen, the fun of the Conga line, and is Don becoming way too unlikeable after that couch scene? (Check out entries 8-12 for this week's episode)


- Perhaps the allure of "Mad Men" relies on our desire to live vicariously through the characters' vices, surmises the NYTimes. [via Slate]


- If you haven't already, check out Tom & Lorenzo's style analysis of last week's episode, "Public Relations," as well as character reviews of Kitty Romano and Betty Draper, Season 3.

 
- Have you noticed the "Mad Men"-esque ads during the commercial breaks? AMC has reached a deal with Unilever for a season-long sponsorship, according to the NY Times. Some brands include Dove, Klondike and Suave.


- Basket of Kisses tackles the old-fashioned tendencies of some characters -- Peggy, Freddy and Don -- and how they're being confronted with the present time's modernism.


- Remember the prudishness of the swimwear company Jantzen in Episode 1? Jezebel has some vintage ads from the real Jantzen.


-  Feministing ruminates on the lipstick-on-the-collar Clorox ad that ran Sunday night. Sexist, or poking some fun at the ad-man stereotype? Also check out Feministing's midweek commentary for each episode.


- 10 questions with Jon Hamm, courtesy of Time.


- A photo gallery of the most outrageous moments on the show, compiled by Television Without Pity.


- And finally, I'm sure many of you have heard about the Mad Men Casting Call. Lots of great entries from fellow bloggers, including the fabulous Terra from Stylish White Female, Jessica from What I Wore and Kater from All This Happiness.

 

P.S. Outfit post later today!

The month of July in outfits

Here are all my outfits from July! It's really cool to see them altogether, and interesting to see how I pose (I think half of the shots have me crossing my right leg over the left). Which outfit from July is your favorite? I especially love the last set of photos, because it looks like all the versions of me are looking at the exact same thing.

In July, I:

- Talked about tips for thrifting dresses.

- Found a 1980s Laura Ashley tiered ruffled dress, and realized it wasn't as awful as it sounds.

- Ruminated on what it means for me to be an American citizen.

- Did some karaoke in red, white and blue.

- Visited an old fort. 

- Started a shopping ban.

- Promptly abandoned it. (At least the dress was worth it)

- Announced my big move to Athens.

- Tried Indian food and played in an apple grove.

- Channeled my inner Laura Ingalls Wilder.

- Wore some gingham.

And today is the day we've waited for

Dress: Talbots, thrifted;

Belt: Ann Taylor Loft;

Shoes: from Philippines, gift;

Bag: Fossil, thrifted.

Photos by me.
Listening to:"Mister Blue Sky,"
Electric Light Orchestra.

Thank you to everyone who voted, retweeted and reposted for me for the Atlanta Magazine Head to Toe Contest. The outpouring of support is really encouraging and means a lot to me -- you all are the best! Thank you.

About this outfit. I picked up this dress last week during 50% Off Day at the Salvation Army. I think wearing my gingham top the other day put me in the mood for red, because I picked up this dress as well as my prairie one too. Gingham is so uniquely a summer print that wearing it just makes me want to eat popsicles and sit on a porch swing all day. I feel like I really belong to the farm park in this dress, if that makes sense.

I wore this dress to get our keys and drop off our first load of stuff to the new apartment in Athens. It didn't require too much physical effort -- just glassware and minor stuff -- but usually I would just go with shorts and a t-shirt and be done with it on a day like Saturday. Just dressing up a little bit made me feel like I was breaking the rules.

The next couple of days are going to be crazy, so I'll be checking email sporadically. I have a few posts planned though, so stick around!

Yay for Mondays,

  

P.S. Want a new pair of pretty earrings? Check out my giveaway with Designer Apparel here.

Giveaway -- Earrings from Designer Apparel

To kick off August, this giveaway is sponsored by Designer Apparel, a shopping search engine that offers hundreds of designer brands like Proenza Schouler, Jil Sander and Caroline Rose all in a well-cultivated, easy-to-navigate site. They're offering these Jen's Pirate Booty Pixie Dust Earrings to one reader. The simplicity of the black and white design make them versatile and they'd look good with so many outfits. I can think of several of my own outfits I'd wear them with...

Here's how to enter:

a) Be a follower of Sidewalk Chalk, through Bloglovin' or Blogger;

b) Visit DesignerApparel.com and leave a comment on what you like from there. Please make sure to leave an email or some of way of contacting you in case you win.

This contest is open to U.S. and Canadian readers only, and will run until Monday August 9, 2010 11:59 P.M. EST.

Good luck, everyone!