As the French Say 'Au Revoir'

So it's been a while since I've updated this little corner of the internet, hasn't it? Last summer I found myself falling out of love with blogging. To this day I don't really know what caused it but I just felt uninspired and unmotivated - I didn't even really feel like reading blogs. So I just stopped pushing myself to blog, and then I had some personal issues come up that put me in a fairly dark place in my life where I was struggling with self esteem, body image and loving myself - among other things. Long story short I just never came back to this blog.

I'll always love Beautifully Pure and what this blog was to me for the three years I updated it, but it just isn't who I am anymore. I started this blog as a modesty fashion blog when I was a sophomore in high school, but I've been through so much since I started this blog. When I started it I was trying so hard to be one of the "cool kids," but since then I've become comfortable in my own skin and who I am. Beautifully Pure just doesn't fit me and my life anymore.

So earlier this year I started a new blog that I've been quietly blogging away at. I don't post as often as I'd like to, but I'm making an effort to post more often.

It's called That Katie Girl - after a line from Anne of Green Gables (since Anne Shirley is pretty much my spirit animal). Disclaimer, though: That Katie Girl isn't a fashion blog or a lifestyle blog. I'm going to continue featuring my "what I wore" posts, but mostly it's just going to be whatever I feel like posting at any given time. I'm going to post about my new life living outside of my parents house for the first time, the awkwardness of becoming an adult, and whatever else is going on my life.

I really appreciate everyone who's followed along with this blog the last 3 years, and I hope that you'll continue to keep up with my adventures on That Katie Girl. If you do leave me a comment and let me know - I'd love to hear from you!

Lovely Sponsors for September

My apologies for the lateness/lack of posts lately. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you'll know that I recently lost my dear, sixteen year old cat and I've not been keeping up with my blog or email. These are just a couple of my lovely sponsors this past month:

Adored Vintage is an online vintage boutique featuring lovely, handpicked pieces. I know vintage is a huge love of many of my readers (and people of the world, for that matter) but it's so hard to find good quality pieces sometimes! I really love this black lace dress (very Gatsby!) and this black cloak. Perfect for the cooler days we've been experiencing in Chicago-land! ♥

Swing the Day Away is a personal style/baking/travel/lifestyle blog written by the lovely Sara. She's one of my dear friends. I mean, she loves the Lord of the Rings and autumn festivities as much as I do - how could I not love this girl!? Definitely give her blog a read - you won't be sorry. ♥

♥ This is a round-up of my lovely sponsors this month, that help support the Wildwood Flower, but all opinions expressed are my own. ♥

Brick Walls Are Closing In // What I Wore

This is my last post from my trip to Ohio/Pittsburgh last month. As I said in my last post, I got to spend the night with Lauren and explore her town a bit before leaving. I took so many pictures that I thought it would be best to split them into two posts.

I got this dress at Lauren's favorite thrift store, and boy can I see why she likes it so much! I got this dress for a mere $2, and it is the perfect with eyelet dress! Every white eyelet/lace dress I've had before has been too short, but this one is seriously perfect. Not to mention that I also got a lovely purple shift dress for $1, and the most beautiful black velvet strapless dress known to mankind for $2. Seriously, I cannot wait for the weather to cool off more so I can take that dress for a spin.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Maddie and I are heading down south after I get off work to stay with our grandparents tonight before continuing on to Missouri tomorrow morning. I cannot wait to drive on the open road again! (I really am a Missouri gal at heart.♥

♥ ♥ ♥       

dress: thrifted

denim shirt: Plato's Closet

belt:  Talbots

necklace: Little Black Bag

bag + Me Too flats: Forest Bootery

watch + bracelet: Francesca's Collections

lipstick: Urban Decay Revolution in Anarchy

Relax // Where I Ate

Close your tired eyes, relax and then
Count from 1 to 10 and open them
All these heavy thoughts will try to weigh you down
But not this time

~ Owl City, Shooting Star

On the way back from Pittsburgh I got a chance to spend a night at Lauren's house, and the next day we had a few hours to kill before I had to leave so Lauren got to show me all around her lovely, little town including this sweet coffee shop! It was seriously one of the cutest places I've ever seen, the coffee was delicious, and Lauren is a total doll - so all in all it was a great trip.

Thursday or Friday I'll be sharing pics of what I wore to explore Mansfield, before "jet-setting" (in theory - really I'm taking my car) off back to Missouri for another week-long excursion. I'm so excited to get back into the country again! That was what I loved about Mansfield, OH. It's the perfect little county town and I love that. I just want to retire down south, pick up a southern accent and spend the rest of my life driving a big, stick shift pickup truck down back roads in floral dresses/jeans with my cup of ice tea nearby. ♥

Lovely Sponsors and Friends

Adored Vintage is an online vintage boutique featuring lovely, handpicked pieces. I especially love this floral blouse and this 1950's, garden party dress. ♥

Swing the Day Away is a personal style/baking/travel/lifestyle blog written by the lovely Sara. I got a chance to meet her in Pittsburgh last month, so I'm speaking from experience when I say that she really is the sweetest girl. I especially love her most recent post about our brunch at Meat and Potatoes (she got way more photos than I did!), and her outfit post in Philadelphia (I want to go there so badly!) ♥

Elegant Steps is an online wedding shoe retailer. As a shoe sales person I'm super impressed with their selection - especially since they have narrow and wide widths (which are super hard to get!) and vegetarian shoes (also very hard to get)! There are so many gorgeous styles, I love this bow platform heel and this pair of sling-backs! ♥

♥ This is a round-up of my lovely sponsors this month, that help support the Wildwood Flower, but all opinions expressed are my own. ♥

Designer Skyline // What I Wore

{photos courtesy of Laura and Hannah}

I had so many photos from the Blog Days of Summer picnic, that I decided to split them up into two posts, and this is my proper "outfit post" post. *wink*

I've always been really interesting in traveling, and I was so, so excited to see Ohio and Pennsylvania for the first time, but the best part by far was getting to hang out with so many lovely gals! Laura and I ended up (by a really amazing set of parallel circumstances) sharing a hotel room - despite the fact that we'd only talked once or twice before this trip. In all honesty, I was more than a little nervous that we wouldn't end up getting along and it would be really awkward, but when it came down to it, it was really more like preschool- instant BFFs! Seriously, within the first two hours of meeting Laura, Hannah and I were crashing in my hotel room venting about crappy former-love interests. (What did you expect from three teenagers/20-somethings??) And I was so, so sad to say goodbye to her. For reals, you guys, if you've never checked out her blog do it now because she is such a doll. ♥

I don't really have all that many photos of the dinner after the picnic or the brunch on Sunday (I looked like such a mess on Sunday due to a wardrobe emergency and not having a blow dryer in my hotel room. Grrr!) but I'm probably going to do one more Pittsburgh with some random posts of Pittsburgh in general. Just as soon as I finish editing those pics... Ugh! Let's do that next week, kay? Kay.

♥ ♥ ♥       

dress: ModCloth

belt: Pitaya

necklace: vintage

Steve Madden wedges: Forest Bootery

watch: Francesca's Collections

bracelet: vintage

sunglasses: Betsy Johnson via Little Black Bag

Blog Days of Summer Picnic

{photo credits to me, Katherine and Hannah, Sarah and Laura}

Phew! I've been slowly, but steadily going through all my photos from last weekend, and goodness, there are a lot! These are all the non-outfit photos from the Blog Days of Summer picnic last Saturday. It was held at Grand View Park in Pittsburgh, which is ridiculously hard to find using Apple Mapas, as Laura and I found out the hard way. Boo! Construction is what started it - we couldn't turn left where we needed to, and Siri could no for the life of us figure out how to route us around it. Add in a few extra long turns, and we ended up being lost for nearly two hours! Yeah, it was pretty much hell.

I (mistakenly) thought that since I've been frequently driving in Chicago for the past year and half, that I was prepared to drive in any city, but Pittsburgh proved me wrong. Let's get one thing clear: I live in the prairie state. The prairie state. And while my aunt and uncle's ranch in Missouri has made me accustomed to driving on hills out in the back woods, driving on San Fransisco-like hills in the city was a totally new experience for me! And then with the whole Siri thing, the whole "driving in Pittsburgh" part of the trip was just miserable! Laura and I didn't get anywhere on time except brunch on Sunday. Way to go, us! *sarcasm*

Later this week I'll share some proper outfit photos from the picnic, including one of my favorite ModCloth dresses. Eep!

Hope all of y'alls week is starting out well, and good luck to all who start school today! I'm really excited for life to get back to normal. :)

(P.S. Thank you all for the kind and encouraging words about my re-brand! All the lovely comments/Instagram comments have seriously made my week. ♥)