FORAGE Styling tips

Here at the store, one of our favorite things to do is dressing up the mannequins, so we decided to share some our styling tips!

 Styling tip 1: What to wear on rainy days

Throw on a light trench to cover up (and protect) your favorite summer dress.   

or

Bring out your denim jacket to throw over any outfit, it's a great way to slightly avoid getting drenched and it looks amazing! 

Styling tip 2: How to wear long skirts and dresses for the summer

Yes, it's officially summer and it seems like the temperature keeps going up.  A great way to combat the heat is to wear a loose fitting dress like the lovely white dress pictured on the left.   If you feel like the dress is TOO loose, just cinch the dress with a belt!

Another option is to just wear the dress alone, just add your favorite handbag and call it a day. 

And finally, long skirts can be your best friend during the hot summer days.  Just throw on a cute tank and slightly tuck it into your skirt just like the outfit pictured above on the very right. 

Hope everyone enjoyed our styling tips, and be sure to check back for more exciting posts!

recipe saturday at FORAGE: 3 BEAN SALAD

It's hot, ya'll. Hotter than the last time I posted a recipe for you and complained about the weather. When the temps rise into the 90s, my appetite practically diminishes. If you cross reference between this post and my personal survey, you know I love food more than anything. Ever. I want melted cheese on everything always, and I want carbs, starch and sauces all the time...and I get very upset when the thought of these things induce nausea rather than excitement. So, where can I find full bodied flavor and contentment without an oven, a block of cheese, or a saucepan? Right here. Right here in this addicting 3 bean salad. I was introduced to this recipe years ago, and it has been a staple in our house ever since. Not not only will you find yourself craving the delicious, savory dressing, but also the ease and simplicity of making this bowl of mixed up beans.

INGREDIENTS:

1 15 oz can red kidney beans
1 15 oz can green beans
1 15 oz can cannellini beans
1/3 cup granulated sugar oil
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1. Rinse and drain kidney, green, and cannellini beans

2. Chop parsley and red onion

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper

4. Add rinsed and drained beans to bowl along with chopped onion and parsley.

5. Toss everything together making sure all the beans are nicely coated in the dressing. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for several hours to overnight. 

Now eat it up! As Megan and I always say about the best things...ain't nobody cryin!

xoxo,

A.

Introducing the FORAGE girls: Corinne

Corinne is a bundle of pure, not-to-be-contained joy; she bounds into the shop with a smile on her face and always the coolest outfit on - she makes your day brighter and your mood boost-ier with her hello. She's the kind of girl you want to be friends with, for sure, or at the very least, the kind of girl you want helping you to style a new outfit at the shop. Here she is, in her own words.

What's in her bag? (Megan)

I have always found the ubiquitous "what's her her bag?" blogger posts fascinating in a stalker-y, voyeur-y way. I guess maybe why they're ubiquitous to begin with - I'm not the only one, yeah? This particular installment isn't exactly a window into the depths of my soul (as some surely are) but rather a glimpse into what I consider the bare necessities. You know, the essentials to survival. My regular bag-contents would demand a four page spread rather than a single photograph (many laugh at the sheer quantity of stuff I carry on me at any given time but...they don't laugh when they have a hangnail or a blister and use my nail file and bandaids!).

Onward.
The Bag: American Apparel medium leather clutch. And oh, how I recommend this bag. I recommend it so! It is smooshy and roomy and soft and bright and all the things a clutch should obviously be. My only word of warning: you're not able to choose your zipper color (yeah, weird) so like, you could possibly say "I need a black clutch" and you buy it but then the zipper is bright red and you're thinking to yourself...."this is rockabilly goth and I'm most certainly boho preppy". So, I'm telling you. It's a gamble.
The Keys: The colorful "Megan" keychain is not ironic; it is hipster only by chance. It was a gift from my nana and so there it is on my keychain.
The Sunnies: Rayban wayfarers because they're the only sunglasses I can stand to have on my face, really.
The Altoids, Advil and Ricola: I'm obsessive about not having bad breath, I'm prone to toothaches and my allergies besiege me in the form of a terribly annoying cough all through the spring.
The Wallet: I spied this beautiful thing when one of our regular FORAGE girls took it out at the register.  I said "I love your wallet!" she said "Really? It's not exactly me - you can have it." and that's how I got this wallet. I still love it.
the Balm: I need lip balm on me the way a desert wanderer needs water. Which is to mean mostly that if I feel my lips getting the littlest bit dry, I will fixate, my day will be ruined and I will be miserable until my thirst is quenched. Korres lip butter is trendy and cool and all that - and for good reason. It's moisturizing, leaves a faint hint of color and smells great (mine is Quince).
The Business cards: Don't knock the hustle.
The Bobby pins: There are bobby pins in my purses, clutches, wallets, shower, bed, nightstand, pockets, car, floor, etc. etc. etc. Even on the ground outside our house. I pick them up, though. Don't litter.
The Headphones: I'm lucky enough to walk to work, so in they go. Today was the Andre 3000 and Beyonce cover of Back to Black from the Great Gatsby soundtrack.

Yep, yep: I knew it. You're so, so glad you were privy to all this.

xo,
Megan

How To Wear: Florals + Bold Colors

Florals have been EVERYWHERE lately, so here a three easy ways to incorporate them in your wardrobe using clothes that are currently for sale at the shop.

1. Floral Dress : alone a floral dress can sometimes be a bit too much, but throw on a denim jacket and a statement bag and you're done!

2. Floral Top : A floral top is a statement in itself, so keep the rest of the outfit simple.  Here we just paired it with a black skirt.

3. Floral Skirt : Again like the floral top, keep it simple.  Just throw on a white top and a bold bag and you're ready!

Incorporating bold colors is a great way to update your wardrobe. Above are two ways to add a bit of color using clothes currently at the shop.

1. Color on Color : It might be a bit of a statement, but pairing a brightly colored skirt with a solid colored tee can be extremely flattering. 

2. A Touch of Color : A brightly colored bag is probably the easiest and most cost efficient way to add some color to your wardrobe. 

happy hour friday at FORAGE: southern Pimm's cup

I only listen to Jack Johnson in the summer, Deathcab when it's raining, exclusively. I binge on Talenti gelato for dinner on those 90 degree evenings in July and stock up on hot chocolate in the cooler months. I can't put peppermint anything in anything unless December 25th is around the corner and the neon sneakers stay on the back shelf of my closet until I can wear them with a sundress. All this to say: I like celebrating a season with things I consider its most essence-y.

Enter the summery Pimm's Cup. I first had this throw-back British invasion drink last May, when I was visiting my girl LT in Portland, ME. It's refreshing, light and decidedly different - it's just as easy to mix up a pitcher of Pimm's as it is sangria but feels a bit more exotic (as anything British feels more exotic than Spanish, right?). I found a recipe for a "southern" version of a Pimm's Cup in InStyle magazine last summer and just tried it out last night. Purists will most assuredly balk at the extra ingredients (while researching, I stumbled upon a comment thread on a PC recipe on a mixology website and things got heated re: the right way to make a PC) but whatevs, this was great!

Ingredients:
(serves 4)
1 1/2 cups Pimm's liquer
1 cup lemonade
1 bottle ginger ale (I used Reeds)
1 small bunch fresh mint
4 strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 lemon, sliced thin
20 thin slices cucumber

Prep your mint, strawberries, lemon and cucumber.

Evenly distribute those ingredients in chilled pint glasses and gently muddle (I use the end of a wooden spoon)

Combine Pimm's, lemonade and ginger ale in a pitcher and stir.

Fill glasses with ice, pour and enjoy! I think you could just as easily combine all the ingredients in the pitcher ahead of time and just cut up extra cucumber, lemon and strawberry to add to the glasses when you're ready to serve. 

I made my friend Jacquie the guinea pig for this particular recipe - we sat outside on my front porch for hours, enjoying the warm evening air until the ice melted in our glasses. We had a third member of our party - my cat Stormy couldn't allow herself to not be privy to the conversations, as evidenced above - that little head got as close to the screen as she could manage.

Happy Memorial Day weekend to all our FORAGEers. We say thanks to all the men and women who have died protecting our country.

Cheers,

Megan

Introducing the FORAGE girls: Cristina

Though I've only been officially working at the shop for a short amount of time, I can't express just how much I love my job!  It's a pleasure to get to know all of our wonderful customers each time I work, and hopefully you'll get to know me a little bit better with this survey.