Fresh and Precious: Arkansas Edition

a- So many of you that know Michael well, were confused, bewildered and alarmed upon hearing that he had somehow ended up crossing the Mississippi River into Arkansas. Most of his travel recently has been work related visits to exotic places that make the rest of us supremely jealous... 

so naturally this didn't fit the bill.

A brief explanation of what took him to Searcy, Arkansas 

(locally known as the middle of NOWHERE), is me (above in the blue and teal)! 

I'm Amy Littleton, a long time friend of Michael's who went to college there. 

Long overdue for a visit and desperate for a travel companion to share the 13 (more like 16) hour drive by singing along to showtunes and pop, I pleaded with Michael to tag along. He happily obliged.

After spending 4 years in The Natural State, I came to truly appreciate its beauty and unique traits. Of course, I couldn't wait to share all of that with Michael from Fresh and Precious. One of the favorite and most unique characters from Arkansas is this animal, a hybrid Zebra/Donkey colloquially known as the Zonkey. This creature lives just 10 minutes down the road from my school, in a tiny town named Kensett, Arkansas.

Above are the four characters leading Michael's tour of Arkansas. Top left, Victoria. Top right, Zonkey. Bottom left, me. Bottom right, Stacy. More on our outfits later.

Stacy was my roommate during all four years of college.  We were placed together as random roommates and never lived apart. Now she's engaged and getting married next month, so that was another huge reason I had to make the trek to Arkansas - to have one last visit with the Bachelorette!

After lots of rain during our visit, the sun finally came out and we were able to show Michael the true beauty of this quaint state.  We all threw together our outfits with the help of Fresh and Precious as well as the local thrift shop, Barkin' Barn and set out.

More about Barkin' Barn. This is a local favorite thrift shop, benefitting the local Humane Society. It is a huge warehouse type store full of everything you can imagine. Our favorite part is that any item of clothing is $1. Naturally on our trip we had to stock up, leaving the store with arms full for a whopping $9.50.

The yellow jumpsuit Victoria is wearing was one of the items Michael found and couldn't live without. Luckily, it was perfect for spring and fit Victoria flawlessly! She slid into her floral Mary Jane's from Urban Outfitters and the look was complete. I picked up my blue shirt from Barkin' Barn as well, and we fell in love with the buttons and detail at the bottom. Paired with floral shorts and my teal blazer, I had completed my spring outfit.

Stacy was able to pull out her precious yellow skirt and throw on the ever appealing denim shirt to match. Don't forget to notice her lace oxford shoes, to die for. The above few pictures were taken at Riverside Park, a park just on the outskirts of Searcy that has unbelievable cliffs.  Michael wasn't used to that and was protectively cautious as we showed off our outfits. Ha. :)

Let's talk about these blonde bombshells. Two of my favorite friends from college, both with long luscious locks. Stacy is wearing her perfectly polka dotted aqua dress and Victoria is debuting one of my recent finds from a vintage store in Raleigh. It's a vintage Oscar De La Renta dress!

Again, I am sporting a find from our trip to Barkin' Barn. This pink blazer has huge shoulder pads and unique lines so it was quickly integrated into my collection of blazers!

Afternoon sun and sundresses.

Our next stop was "The experience". Some farm in Arkansas collects unique animals, and it's just down the street from where we went to school. As if the Zonkey wasn't enough character for one day, we had to see the Camels and Zebras too! The zebras were so friendly and beautiful; the camels were equally as beautiful but much more frightening and bullies.

Reactions: a perfect mix of fear and confusion/ excitement/ and suave.

I can't speak for Michael, and I won't tell you all that you have to visit Arkansas, but I would say if you find yourself in the area, it's more than definitely worth a visit.

Because we're (they're) obsessed,

xoxo - Amy