What I Wore: Skirt (Pin-Up Girl Clothing), Shirt (Mango), Shoes (Gap), Purse (Paris Boutique)

No doubt about it- I wore the heck out of this skirt over the summer. And how could I not,with its cheerful print? Paired with this blue gingham, it has a timeless "country lass" sort of feeling. I mean- despite living in a small town, I'm not particularly country-ish, but- it has a simplicity to it. Really,  a blue gingham shirt is pretty timeless. Leslie Caron and Lauren Bacall wore it, and, decades later, it still a fresh look.  So, yeah, for all those reasons and others, its  my favorite remix of the skirt, and was how I dressed for a birthday-celebrating dinner with my folks a week or so back. We went to Red Lodge (a.k.a. The Star Hallows of the Rockies).  Its kind of the place we go to when small-town cabin-fever strikes, and we want to "get out of town."

I love Red Lodge. I mean, as a kid, they had the best toy store ever- tons of hand-carved things and puzzles and puppets and they didn't mind if you got thing out to touch and play with either.  My favorite thing to get were these little tin soldiers, each dressed in different military uniforms. Red Lodge has the state's largest candy store where they make homemade fudge. The former place is now out of business since the owner retired, and the latter forbidden to me as a diabetic, but my new favorite store there is a funky little shop. Its a tea bar and bookstore (also, a cigar shop, but they are phasing that out) combined. Its run by this 6 foot something guy in a cowboy hat who writes children's books entitled things like "Who pooped in Yellowstone National Park?" (which, un sounds gross, but is very educational, actually). The other employees are equally colorful- like the guy in the kilt and binary tattoos, or the 20 something girl with Hipster-large glasses (no surprise I like her, right?) and a thing for Pureeh tea. They create a lot of their tea blends there too- all of which have punny, quirky names like Lady Greystroke (lavender infused Earl Grey Tea), Apocalyptic Earl Grey (a smoked tea), 50 Shades of Earl Grey, Gary's Kilty Pleasure (Scottish Tea), or The Feathered Serpent (a peppermint one).  You can actually order their teas online too here.

There are other fun and funky little stores too, and something is always happening. My sister came to visit this week and we trekked up to a local Oktoberfest (yes, in September, but it gets snowy earlier in these parts) to listen to polka music with people in lederhosen. So- a great place to hang out, is what I'm saying.

Are there any little places you love to return to again and again to "get out of town?"