Beyond Brisket: Hair Flair from the Heartland

It's no secret that I love a celebrity fashion brand.  Lauren Conrad, Jessica Simpson, and Katy Perry claim a considerable portion of my wardrobe, and once upon a time, I even had a pair of Paris Hilton shoes.  (Harry Styles, if you want to bust out a line of sequin jumpsuits, then I'm here for it.)  And now I can add Ree Drummond to that illustrious list!  That's right, the Pioneer Woman is cooking up more than casseroles, expanding her Walmart offerings from kitchen accoutrements to apparel.  So I was delighted when my mom gifted me with these lovely Pioneer Woman scrunchies and headband, both of which I adore.  Each one is, as Ree says herself, "as useful as it is gorgeous!" 

Way to pretty up pioneering, Ree.  Willa Cather would approve.

Horse With No Shame: How the West Was Fun

Top: Chaps, Kohl's

Camisole: Macy's

Boots: 2 Lips Too, Zulily

Cardigan thingy: Kohl's

Bag: Betsey Johnson, Marshalls

Scarf: Mossimo, Target

Remember those Stetson cologne commercials from the '90s?  The ones with the glamorous cowboy and cowgirl setting off on a horse for a night of romance?  (By the way, get ready for romance -- the word, not the thing -- because I'm going to use it a lot.)  I always found them intriguing, even if I never smelled the dubious drugstore scent they were hawking and knew better than to romanticize people who smell, not like adventure, but horse hide.  Maybe it's because I'm so firmly East Coast and am attracted to anything different.  Kind of like when Maine-bred interim Dunder Mifflin branch manager Deangelo Vickers (Will Ferrell) declared his love for paintings of the Southwest.  

That said, I think my love of western wear, both its bold serape stripes (I see you, Chaps sweatshirt) and blushing prairie florals (right on, Willa Cather-esque cardi), is rooted in delusion, er, idealism, much like Deangelo Vickers's.  It's a way for me to experience the wild west's romance without having to endure its hardscrabble reality. 

Because if there's anything I hate, then it's stuff described as hardscrabble.  

See above thing about smelly horses.