Just a quick post for Thursday – or pre-Friday as my friend Ali optimistically calls it.

I haven’t been as dedicated as Lar with the whole ethical-shopping thing, but since I’ve been trying to save up for my next trip to Scotland, I’ve be inadvertently more ethical.

For example? Everything I’m wearing in the photo below is at least a year old except for my phone. Not sure why I didn’t just put the phone down for these photos. . . hmmmmmm. . .

H&M blouse • American Apparel tank • Limited skirt • Dolce Vita shoes • AsianCajuns Name Neckalce

I try to wear my name necklace every chance I get since I know Lar wears her’s a lot in Scotland. As cheesy as it sounds it somehow makes me feel closer to my twinie.

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Dear Lar,

So I may not be quite as ethical as you in the shopping department, but at least I’m trying to be more conscious about what I’m buying or not buying! And I did buy another pair of TOMs not too long ago.That’s ethical, no?

How often do you wear your name necklace? Sometimes I think it’s too informal for work, but that doesn’t usually stop me!

Oh! And I finally saw Moonrise Kingdom! Loved it. Isn’t the set design amazing?!

Can’t wait for our Skype chat this weekend.

xoxo, Cath

Do you remember when Lar wrote about Year Round Layers not too long ago? She made the point that it doesn’t really get warm enough in Edinburgh to not wear layers. The same can’t be said for Atlanta. It gets so hot here that you don’t feel like moving. So while Lar is still shivering every time she ventures outside, I’m sweating non-stop in shorts and a tank. . . unless I’m in the office. I’m cold in my office year round so even when it’s 85+ degrees outside, I still wear outfits like this:

The Webster at Target cardigan • Michael Stars t-shirt • Forever 21 pants • Madewell shoes • thrifted necklace • Michele watch

It seems so counter-intuitive to wear a sweater to work in the middle of the Georgian summer, but the A/C is cranked up so high at the office that I have to pile on the layers – I even wore a scarf today!

I know, I know, first world problems. This is just a long way of explaining why I’m wearing a cardigan in the middle of the summer.

Speaking of summer, anyone going to the Decatur Beach Party this Friday?!

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Dear Lar,

I’m so excited that you bought us tickets to go to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August – now I just have to make sure to buy my plane ticket ;). What does one wear to the Tattoo? Too bad we don’t have kilts we can wear. We should have our own AsianCajuns tartan – use the colors from our blog and logo! Not at bad idea, no?

Red beans and ricely yours,

Cath xoxo

For those of you who don’t follow us on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Instagram or who haven’t read this blog in the past week, you might not know that we’ll be hosting a Google+ Hangout tonight at 6 p.m. EST. Tonight! Lar will be teaching a tutorial on how to make tissue paper tassels and I’ll be there to look pretty – ha! For details, scroll down past the outfit pics.

Notice how I’ve been wearing my hair up in a bun a lot lately? It’s my I-don’t-feel-like-washing-my-hair-so-I’ll-pull-it-back-in-a-bun look. Perfect second day hairstyle. It reminds me of my ballet days when I had to put my hair in a bun everyday. I did it so often that I started getting a bald spot at the hairline – it was so attractive!

Dress from Squash Blossom Boutique • Urban Outfitters linen trench crop jacket • H&M Belt • Madewell heels • Clare Vivier purse

I wore this outfit out to dinner last week. I know sideways asymmetrical skirts aren’t as popular as the high-hem-in-the-front-low-hem-in-the-back skirts, but I love the edginess it creates in the outfit.

Yes, my nails clashed with my purse, but somehow it worked – or at least it looks like it worked in the photo.

Now, for the details on the Google+ Hangout tonight:

At 6 p.m. EST, Lar will be leading a tutorial on how to make those cute tissue paper tassels she made for her flat in Scotland. Up to 8  readers can “hangout” with us and watch or follow along with the tutorial. If you aren’t in the first 8 or are busy at 6 p.m. tomorrow, you can watch the video later on YouTube or our blog.

For those of you who are new to Google+, here’s some basics:

• Create a Google+ account
• Circle up with AsianCajuns on Google+
• Test out the Hangout function to make sure your camera and audio are working – it works best in Google Chrome of course!
• A little before 6 p.m. tonight, you’ll receive a notice from us that you’ve been invited to a Hangout. Click on the notification box in the top right-hand corner to start Hanging out with us!

I hope you can join us. If you do, you might get a chance to see Lar do something like this:

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Dear Lar,

I can’t wait for our Hangout tonight! I feel so high-tech doing something like this!

You’ve been posting such amazing photos of food, that I finally broke down and went to Miso tonight with some friends from school. I’ve been trying to be disciplined about going out to eat and saving for my ticket to come see you, but sometimes I just get a craving for food that I can’t even come close to cooking myself.

I’m currently watching Persausion as I blog – click here for Instagram evidence. Isn’t it such a great film? You need your own copy on DVD in Scotland!

Can’t wait to “see” you at our Hangout!

xoxo, Cath

I made fun of Lar for becoming outdoorsy when she moved to Scotland. I mean, look at her hiking pants! Plus, she now has her own pair of walking sticks. Walking Sticks! If that isn’t outdoorsy, I don’t know what is.

But I really need to bite my tongue because when Troy and I went to Denver last week we definitely went hiking – and not just any ol’hiking. We reached 10,000 feet above sea level! Ok, you experienced hikers might have chuckled at that – especially since it was no more than a mile from the parking lot – but that’s HUGE for someone who usually gets out of breath walking to the local Starbucks every morning.

Target scarf • H&M Jacket • Alternative Apparel hoodie • Blank cargoes • old Adidas sneaks

Inspired by Ashley (she’s outdoorsy and fashionable), I tried to be somewhat fashionable when dressing for the hike. I think I only partially succeeded. The good news is that I was relatively comfortable while crunching through the snow in just a hoodie and jacket. I think Troy looked rather dapper for a hiker in his $20 Target rain jacket.

My conclusion? Hiking and being outdoorsy every now and then (like this time Lar and I went camping), isn’t so bad. I might even use Lar’s walking sticks when I visit her in Scotland in August.

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Dearest Lar,

Have you used your hiking sticks yet? Any recent excursions to Arthur’s Seat?

It was so bizarre hiking at such a high altitude. I was out of breath before we even started the hike. However, come to think of it, that might have more to do with me being out of shape and less with the altitude.

On a completely unrelated note, do you remember the first time we went to the Atlanta Indie Craft Experience? Our blog was so different back then!

Anywho, the Indie Craft Experience is this weekend and I can’t wait to go:

Photo by Leah and Mark

I’ll make sure to take tons of photos to share with you. I’m on the lookout for some more necklaces (you can never have too many, right?) and a piece of artwork for the bathroom.

There must be some type of I.C.E. equivalent in Edinburgh – especially with the wonderfully Scottish Papa Stour. Let me know if you find anything like it and we’ll add it to the places we’ll visit when I come over in August. Deal?

xoxo, Cath

Ah, nothing like starting the work week on a Tuesday! I hope you all had Monday off and were able to get some downtime. I tried to take advantage of the long weekend by going on a picnic at Stone Mountain (30 Rock didn’t make it up, Stone Mountain, GA really does exist!), perusing the artists stalls at the Decatur Arts Festival, and having family over for a cook out on Monday.

These photos are from two weeks ago, but still applicable since I’m wearing my work uniform that I talk about here. Lisa commented on my last work wear post about how much she likes J. Crew’s No. 2 Pencil Skirts. So when I found myself at a J.Crew outlet last month, I made a beeline for the skirts. Orange is a big step for me since I usually stick with black and gray, but I’m really happy I went for such a cheery color.

Shirt from Squash Blossom Boutique (last year) • necklace from a clothing swap • J.Crew skirt • Aldo heels • TopShop jacket

It’s way too hot for a jacket in Georgia at this time of year (sorry to rub it in, Lar!), but the office is usually so cold that I have to bring some sort of jacket/cardigan/scarf-like item with me everyday. The TopShop jacket is over five years old and still one of my favorites.

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Dear Lar,

I’m so happy to hear that it was “hot” in Edinburgh! I feel like Goldilocks because Edinburgh sounds too cold for me and Georgia summers are way too hot. Let’s move somewhere together where the weather is just right! L.A.? I think we might be too east coast for that.

I missed not having you with me at the Decatur Arts Festival – just like everything else, it’s not the same without you!

Last night I had this dream that you and Matt moved back to Atlanta, but didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t find out until I ran into you at the mall – I was equal parts confused, pissed off and overjoyed (and surprised to find ourselves at a mall). How’s that for a thinly veiled I-miss-my-twin dream?!

I wish I could send you some ribs and potato salad in honor of Memorial Day picnics. Next time it gets warm again in Scotland, make some Coronation Chicken for a picnic – nom, nom, nom.

Love, Cath

*Post title inspired by these magnets that Troy and I discovered at the Tattered Cover in Denver.

Dear Lar,

It’s so good to be back from Denver! Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun, but the seven hour difference between Denver and Edinburgh was too much! I’m so glad I live on the east coast or we’d never get to talk to each other.

Now, as promised, here are some photos of the dress I wore to the wedding. It’s a Michael Kors dress I got at Marshalls in Buckhead. The best part about it? The dress is a knit so it doesn’t wrinkle at all! I rolled it into a tiny ball and packed it in my suitcase. No ironing required.

Michael Kors dress • Claire Vivier clutch • Kenneth Jay Lane cuff • Banana Republic cocktail ring • Gianni Bini shoes

I ended up being a little overdressed at the wedding. People are very casual in Denver – something I’m not used to. You know what else about Denverites (Denverians?)? They’re the nicest, friendliest people I’ve ever met. Troy and I even made a list of all the nice things that complete strangers said or did for us in Denver because we knew we’d never remember them all.

I use the Claire Vivier clutch you got me all the time – it goes with everything! And remember that mesh hair doughnut I bought when we went to Primark together? It makes the perfect bun and is so much easier to use than a sock. I must use it at least three times a week.

In my next post I’ll show you what I wore to go hiking one of the days I was in Colorado. My outfit wasn’t nearly as impractical as you’d think!

Now that we’re only 5 hours apart again let’s do lots of Skyping this weekend, okay?

xoxo, Cath