beat the heat

Yesterday I decided that I was going to suck it up and start painting the living room.  All our house was the same color scheme when we moved in: light tan walls, with dark tan trim.  Bo-ring.  And surprisingly dark.  It took 2 coats of primer to cover what seemed like a relatively light colored paint!  I painted the kitchen a few months ago, but have been in the grips of indecision when it comes to what to do with the living room.  So I'm painting it white for now.  I want it to be lighter in there, and perhaps someday I'll choose to put a nice bold color on a wall or two, but for now it'll be nice to have a clean slate.  For now I'm hoping some bold curtains will bring in some nice big slates of color.  I got two options from Ikea to try out, so hopefully one of those two options will look good.  I still have to finish the last coat of paint first, but I'm almost impatient enough to say "screw it" to that second coat and just put up the curtains right now.  Also, having the living room look like a disaster area is obnoxious.  Patience, patience.  


 

dress(similar)/bcbg outlet :: shoes(similar)/courtesy of modcloth :: belt + scarf/thrifted 
necklace/courtesy of peerless charm :: shades(similar)/courtesy of lulu's
It's been super muggy here lately, so I've been keeping my hair off my neck all week.  It always looks so cloudy and cool outside, so I put on jeans and a cardigan, and then by the time I'm done biking to the coffee shop I'm literally dripping in sweat and feel like a hot mess.  Clearly I would not do well in the hot, humid south.  I'm much more adept at dealing with sub-zero temperatures than the humid heat.  The only redeeming thing about having to live in the south would be that my hair, strangely, does not seem to frizz out in the humid air.  Which makes no sense to me, because every other curly, big haired girl I know gets crazy big frizz when it's humid.  My hair defies the laws of nature, apparently.  
I actually got this dress back in '07 when my family was RV-ing around the country while we were in the hot, humid south.  I was in desperate need of something to wear that would accomodate the climate, and being an Alaskan, didn't really have anything.  We stopped at an outlet mall and I found this dress in the BCBG outlet.  I didn't even know what BCBG was, I just knew this dress fit and it would be perfect for beating the heat.  Ever since then, it's my go-to hot weather dress.  A white sundress is kind of like summer's version of the LBD, right?