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I've had this vest since I was 16. Maybe even before that. I bought it thinking that it was so cool and like super rock'n'roll. I was so convinced that I'd probably wear it all the time and just be the coolest kid on campus - the sort of thing I usually tell myself. I don't think I've worn this vest since here, in 2010, back when I also apparently wanted a Spirit Hood. Oh, the times they are a changin'.
Anyways, the vest is one of those ones where you can turn it inside out and wear it also, so that's what I did here. It kind of reminds me of a Muppet and now I wish that it was neon blue or something cool like that so that I could really embrace the Muppet in me. Speaking of Muppets, I cannot wait to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol this season. And Mickey's Christmas Carol. I have so much homework to do today so I'm going to try to plow through it and reward myself with some Christmas cartoons afterwards. I'm like so grown up and stuff.
Got this new jacket from Land's End. It is this one here in case I'm such a winter style inspiration that you feel compelled to go buy your own. It's mega warm and I wore it around the office on Friday because it was sort of like being swaddled in a massive quilted blanket. Heaven! Also very convenient when wearing skirts and you don't want ice cold air getting up between your legs. And, red with a furry hood which is beautiful and very Christmas-y.
Enough about the coat. Land's End isn't even paying me for this long love letter or anything.
I'm wearing a faux leather jumper that I got from Sway Chic and which is fab. I wore it shopping the other day and a boy in the store completely stopped in his tracks to freak out over how great it is. See? I'm going places.
I made it a little more professional/bookish by wearing a button down under it cause you know I can never stop dressing for the office. It's like a sickness that is incurable. I must always dress like I'm moderately prepared for work. I belted it with a belt that came off some shorts from Nasty Gal so that the vest wasn't completely overpowering on my tiny frame. Oh, and Doc Martens because DUH.
I just realised that there's only two weeks of school left so life is wonderful and beautiful. I graduate from the twelfth (and then have a final after that, so, dumb) and then will be FREE. And unemployed. And crumbling under the weight of my student loans. But before those two weeks are up, I have two more papers to write and a big old project for my typography class because once upon a time I thought that it would be a really great, fun idea to take a typography class. As if I've ever enjoyed graphic design classes before.
Stay warm out there my friends! I've just about froze my bum off since it's like 18 degrees Fahrenheit out. Brrrrr! But soon there will be snow and it will be a winter wonderland and hot chocolate everyday! xx
p.s. I'd love to do a winter version of Summer of Sundresses. Any opinions on the type of fashion I should feature this time? I need creative input from you, the people who this is geared for!
Being an unpaid intern working in an office and within the court system requires me to dress a certain (boring) way. Gone are my days of ripped tights, cut off jeans, old flannel, and beat up boots. Now, these are the days of pencil skirts and loafers and freaking out that every small snag in my stocking will lead to an unsightly run that will ruin my credibility as a capable working girl.
When I started my first internship, working as an advocate for victims of domestic abuse, I found myself in court with a bunch of attorneys and judges and feeling rather unprofessional and childish in my full skirts and bad shoes. Both my mother and my sister work at Nordstrom and so they took me out shopping for some new clothes to wear! I love all of my new blazers and skirts and tailored pants, but I am starting to get the itch to wear fun things again.
When ANTHOM contacted me about being a blog sponsor, I looked through their collections and immediately said yes - they carry so many stunning pieces! I started perusing with the intention of seeing what they had in stock that would be office appropriate, but quickly snapped out of that mindset, realising that I am too quickly becoming boring career lady who stays in the office after 5 every day. So, with a clear mind, I thought about buying this dress (because it's beautiful, duh) but ended up with this hat. I know it will sound totally lame (and it is), but I saw that it was wool and that swayed me. The coming winter months are guaranteed to be chilly - Minnesota has a pretty good history of that - and so a wool hat that probably won't give me hat hair seemed like the perfect fit. (As a side note, I can attest that this hat indeed does not lend itself to unsightly hat hair - hooray!) I look freaking bad ass in it and have already gotten loads of compliments on it, including from the guy in class who always comes late and never says anything. The hat's style is also called The John Wayne so, you know, bad ass.
Besides my beautiful new hat courtesy of ANTHOM, I'm also wearing an H&M shirt from the second hand store, a Halogen brand skirt from Nordstrom (which is dry clean only, so, you know, THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE), and my new fave The Loft brand cardigan from the second hand shop.
I'm also wearing Cinderella of Boston shoes and Nordstrom brand tights. Lemme talk for a minute about Cinderella of Boston, though. Every time I say that I wear kid's size shoes, I am met with a room full of snickers. It's a bit irritating and it's like, "I'M SORRY I DON'T HAVE NORMAL PEOPLE FEET" but seriously, it's really difficult to find normal shoes that look professional. Most shoes in my size (a 2 and a half kids) light up or have Dora the Explorer on them. They're often pink and foam or animal print. Sometimes they squeak. Often they're adorned with little satin or velvet bows. None of these are things which I want on my precious baby feet, and even more so, none of these are things that I want to be wearing around an office where I'm trying to get people to take me seriously (which is already really difficult when you're only 20, are 5 feet tall, and have youthfully curly locks). Enter Cinderella of Boston. They're a shoe company that stocks quality, totally professional and chic shoes in small sizes. Here I'm wearing the Julie style which is totally beautiful and which, now that I own this hat, I wish I had in the purple colour, too.
Sorry about the clenched fists! It was freezing, damp, and windy out. Winter is just around the corner and the only thing making me tolerate the impending weather, besides the fact that it's impossible for me to move out of state right now, is the thought of snow. Beautiful, lush, heavenly snow!
p.s. There's no snow in the forecast for the next two weeks so that's lame, but, you know, this is Minnesota.
p.p.s. Even though I just hinted about Minnesota being lame, check out this awesome Buzzfeed article of 38 Things Minnesotans Are Too Nice To Brag About. (Hint: it includes Prince, Bob Dylan, Lucky Charms, Scotch Tape, Fitzgerald, and Betty Crocker. Did I tell you guys about the dream I had where I was the new Betty Crocker spokeswoman?)
I'm trying to grow my bangs out gracefully. I'm sort of trying to make them look like Elizabeth's. In fact, I'm trying to make my ENTIRE LIFE look like Elizabeth's. Starting with my kitchen and a fluffy puppy with a clever name.
Okay friends I'm off for the night! The Paradise is on in a little bit and it's the finale so I'm very anxious and also very sad. That show has been sustaining me through the week for more than a month now. It's my Sunday night tradition, that last little bit of uplifting entertainment before the 9 to 5 grind and homework. Gah, I love period pieces. xx
Dweeb. A word from my common vocabulary as a grade schooler has re-entered it in the past few months. I've cut out many more "nasty" words of name calling and, to fill this new void, have taken in some very silly, elementary ones instead. Dweeb is my favourite. I drop it constantly, mostly to my friends and usually to their faces.
Example: A few months ago, my boyfriend comes home and says to me, "I just did something really stupid." I got concerned and said something like, "Uhmm...okay...what?" And he replies by telling me that he bought a few packs of World of Warcraft trading cards at Target. Not as stupid as I was thinking it would be, but still stupid for a 25 year old boy to be buying something like that when it will take him two hours of work to pay it off. So, instead of saying something like, "You stupid fuck up, don't you realize that you're completely broke and can barely even pay to keep gas in your car!" I just said, "You dweeb." And that was that. Using the word dweeb allows me to comment on a situation without getting too passionately involved in the issue, and instead of casting someone off as a loser or a fuck up, they're just a dweeb. Everyone wins because seriously, who isn't a dweeb at least like 10% of the time?
I found the sweatshirt at Topshop when I was in London this past June. I was meeting up with my former pastor and had arrived to Saint Paul's Cathedral early. Luckily, there was a Topshop right across the street from the tube station, so that was great. In addition to that, Topshop was having a sale. It was like the stars had all aligned.
I'm really excited about this outfit because I'm wearing a new skirt that I yearned for for months and finally splurged on (it was on sale!). I found in on Nasty Gal and holy they have beautiful things! I want to buy everything but my income is limited to mostly professional clothes and, unfortunately, not many things on Nasty Gal are oriented towards the career girl.
BUT this skirt is an exception. Because I've wanted it for so long and because it was on sale. Like fate! It's a tad big but that's probably mostly because my waist is two inches smaller than usual, so really, everything is too big for me right now. I've belted it and it has that paper bag skirt appeal to it now. I'm so excited to wear it out! It's also probably the shortest skirt I've worn for like two years now, so, you know...that's something. (I'm not really sure where I was going with that.)
p.s. Gaining weight is ending up to be very very difficult! I'm slurping those protein smoothies like no other, but not putting on anything. Does anyone have any tips? I want all of my clothes - including this skirt! - to fit properly again!
I don't have so many photos today. Yesterday, when I took these, was mighty gusty and I was freezing. My teeth were chattering and in most of the photos I just look 100% miserable. I'm already working to transition my wardrobe to fall - I'm wearing a scarf every day, I make sure there's a pair of gloves in every bag, and I'm beginning to break out the boots and wool socks. These boots here are my total faves and so I'll break them out happily but for the other ones....eh, I'm not so sure yet.
Stay warm my friends! xx
November 5th - voting day! My second favourite day of the year, pretty much. That being said, I almost forgot about it until they mentioned it on the radio this morning. I got very excited and exclaimed, "Oh my! Is that today?! How joyous!" Or at least I would have, if my life was a fifties family sitcom. Either way, I was very excited and headed to the polls after class, my hands trembling as I clutched my ballot. It's not even like there's anything very important up for election this year - a few school board members and the mayor, who is pretty much a shoe in. But I just get so excited about voting, I cannot even hold it in! Plus, you get a sticker afterwards. I will do pretty much anything within my morals to get a free sticker.
As I was leaving the polls an older woman ran by me and completely tripped and somehow landed on her back, though she ripped the knees of her pants. It was very odd. She was carrying a bunch of things and didn't seem to be running towards or away from anything. And then she was very embarrassed about the whole thing and my attempts to help her up didn't really go anywhere as she sat on the sidewalk pretty much shooing me away. I still consider it my good deed of the day. That, and voting.
Jeez, I write a really boring blog sometimes. How do you write excitedly about how great it is to live in a democracy and to be able to vote for your leaders, without sounding like a 4th grader?
I will confess that this outfit is actually a few days old. I took these photos Sunday after church (my father took them for me, actually). Today was dark all day and now snow is blowing in. I could write excitedly about snow but I'd still sound like a fourth grader. My boyfriend is away at the moment so I've been writing him letters. I wrote him one on Monday and the entire 4 page thing ended up being about snow and winter and the Holidays. I can't help it - I get so excited and school girlish about snow! Remember last years' first big snow?? (p.s. that work boyfriend I talked about in that post? Now my real boy friend! A work boyfriend had never before turned into a real boyfriend, until Jesse. Awwwwww!)
Look at that! I got distracted talking about snow again! My purpose to this was to talk about my outfit, which I wore on Sunday. This dress is BB Dakota and I totally love it. It's wool, so it's super warm, and a beautiful deep burgundy colour. My mother bought it for me to wear to the office for my new internships. I have the best mum! Booties are Steve Madden, the cardigan is second hand from The Loft, and the jacket is Banana Republic, also second hand.
I'm working on growing out my bangs - what do you guys think? I'll be on the job hunt soon and want to look older and professional. I love my bangs but I think they make me look young, so I'm going to grow them out and see if that's any better. I've had bangs pretty much forever. Since I was around 2 till 10, and then I cut them again when I was 13, grew them out from there but then cut them back when I was 15. I've had bangs for the last five years! And most of my life! I'd like to see what I look like (as an adult) without them. But ugh, what a freakin' awful process.
I wanted to give a shout out to my new and continuing sponsors for November! ANTHOM is an awesomely curated online store based out of Washington D.C. They have some fab stuff and I'm very excited to be working with them! Susy of That Valencia Chick has an amazingly cute sense of style and puts her blog together very thoughtfully. And then Laila at Tape Parade is continuing! She goes on tons of adventures and captures really beautiful photos from all of them. Check all three out, you won't be disappointed!
Okay well I'm off to make cards for a couple of friends. The snow is starting to fall and my spirit is soaring! Oh shoot, I have homework. Well, that dampens my spirit a tad. But snow!!
Stay warm my friends xx
Do you remember that episode of Freaks & Geeks where the hippie guidance counselor gives Lindsay his copy of American Beauty by the Grateful Dead and she's walking through the lunch room when the table of high school Dead Heads stop her and one of them says, "I wish I never heard it, just so that I could hear it again for the first time." I was watching that episode with my boyfriend a couple of months ago. At that line he bursts out laughing and then looks at me as if to say, "I bet that's how my girlfriend feels." I laughed at it but deep down inside I was just like YESSSSS. I watched Freaks & Geeks for the first time back in, I'm not even sure, 8th grade I think. I was on a church retreat and we didn't have anything to do so we just watched the show. It was my first exposure to the Grateful Dead and I immediately was captured by their music. Several months ago I was having a hard time with things going on in my life and decided to revisit American Beauty. Listening to it in that moment, after so long of just even forgetting about the Dead, was so beautiful and so freeing. It's in that same episode where Lindsay puts the record on and starts dancing to it, just playing it over and over again. And that was me.
I deny being a Dead Head. My boyfriend tries to prod a confession out of me constantly (you should have seen his reaction to when I bought a Grateful Dead blanket a few months ago) and even my parents have called me a Dead Head from time to time. The boyfriend and I were at Succotash not all that long ago and he found a copy of American Beauty on vinyl there, trying to tempt me into buying it. I resisted, knowing that purchasing it would have been a validation of my fondness for the Dead and more so, for that album. But, with all this being said, I'm going to stop hiding and let the world know, yes, I love the Grateful Dead. They have gotten me through some rough times and I will admit that they are my go to band when the times are bad. And yes, I have a Grateful Dead blanket. And yes, I'm pretty sure that Brokedown Palace or Ripple are probably my most listened to songs. So, now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can name this post after another great song from the Dead, fully embrace my love for them in the future of this blog, and urge everyone to give American Beauty a listen if they're having a bad day. I'm not gonna tell you that it'll change your life or anything, but....I mostly agree with the Dead Heads in the cafeteria on Freaks & Geeks.
Now that I've gotten that all off my chest (feelin' pretty good about it, too!), we can move forth. I only have a couple more weeks left before I start my second internship & will be wearing professional wear 5 times a week, so I decided to use that time to wear cut offs, crop tops, and old flannel. The cold weather is quickly setting in, so time is short for this type of wear, regardless of whether or not I'll be stuck working in an office.
I'm wearing my hieroglyphic crop top from Sway Chic which I wore a couple of weeks ago here. I love this crop! I can't wait till summer to wear it. Sway Chic has LOADS of awesome crop tops. This is my fourth from there alone. Guilty as charged.
I'm also wearing my usual flannel from Land's End which I've been wearing since I was like what, 15? Same with the usual cut offs. But, I'm excited to show off this new open cardigan from The Loft. Okay, well it's new to me. It's actually from the second hand store but so soft and cozy and warm! It'll be keeping me warm all winter long, I already know it. It also gets loads of little fuzzies all over my clothes and in my mouth, so I'll be digesting bits of it all winter long, too.
Here I am already with a jacket on between shots (this was a test shot) - winter isn't far off! I've been looking back on some old posts from last autumn to see what I was wearing this time last year since I've been struggling with not getting drab as the weather does. Going through these old posts has been inspiring me to get back into blogging, so here I am and we'll see how it goes! I'm currently hard at work getting my life back under control after a couple of months of dealing pretty much full-time with a close friend's substance abuse issues. I lost between 5 - 8 pounds in that time, my hair has gotten all gross, and my skin went haywire from the stress. I'll be blogging about my weight gain routine as soon as I start getting it under control, so I'm very excited! In the past I've tried to keep this as sort of a "lifestyle blog" and I'll try to get back into that.
Anyways, I'm off to have a girl's night by myself! I think I'm going to do a face mask, paint my nails, watch romantic comedies (like, the good ones with Cary Grant and such), and eat junk food. Ah Friday, what a wonderful day.
I wish that I was here to say that I GOT A DOG. But I'm not. I'm here to say I'M DOGSITTING A DOG! She's a little yorkie named Olive Oyl and is absolutely sweet. She loves cuddling up and giving kisses, so obviously my favoruite type. The other night I even snuck her into the grocery store because she fits right under my arm and happily stays there. She sleeps with me every night and does this cute little army crawl up to my face to give me kisses periodically throughout the night. Anyways enough about Olive Oyl (though isn't she the cutest?!) - this blog is about my personal style (or something) right??
It's suddenly gotten very cold out. Yesterday & today were something like 34° and it was even snowing as I headed into work yesterday - wonderfully fresh little flakes of pre-winter bliss. The point of saying all of this? It is officially sweater weather. And jacket weather. Be prepared!
I am rather excited for sweater weather because I've recently gotten quite a few rather fab sweaters. This animal silhouette print being one of them. It was my aunt's and I scooped it up at the garage sale last May. It's totally amazing and super warm, which is always a massive plus when functionality is just as good as physicality. (If you live somewhere like California or Texas or Florida where this is never a issue, then please find yourself very lucky and never complain about having to wear light sweaters or jackets - YOU WILL NEVER KNOW.)
Unfortunately, when sweaters are very warm they are usually very scratchy because they tend to be 100% wool or something awful like that (are you beginning to understand the trade-offs of sweaters?). I layered this really old bengal striped button down underneath. It's old and faded, tattered and stained, but you'd never know with only the collar showing. Or at least that's what I tell myself every time I clean out my closet & cannot bear to part with it.
I'm also wearing my BB Dakota jacket which is pretty much the best thing about the change in seasons. It's not quite winter-appropriate, but it's great for transitioning, has a hood for rainy days, and is fleece lined to keep you nice & toasty. It's also, coincidentally, the one that Bella wore in Twilight. Is Twilight still a thing? Like do people care about that anymore? I think I did for about 5 days when I was 14 - I remember because I was off to Florida to meet my cousins for the second time in my life and my cousin Millie and I bonded over reading them.
But this jacket is awesome. Don't let the Twilight connotation ruin it for you. Just think about me wearing it from now on, since I am ah-mazing.
I'm off to cuddle with this little pup, eat ice cream and brownies, and make some cards for my friends who are hurting. Something must be going around lately - there's been a lot of people sick, losing loved ones, struggling deeply with depression and substance abuse issues... I mean, there usually are, but it seems like it's all come to surface for several people in my life all at once. Either way, I'm going to make some cards for all of them. It's the least I can do to ease the pain, and help the United States Post Service while at it. I hear they're suffering pretty hard these days, too.
I've been depressed about how little I've been able to blog in the past couple of months. I've been a bundle of nerves lately and haven't been very active - not wanting to go take photos, not even wanting to write. I've just been speechless and feeling a little bit lost about things going on in my life.
A very important person in my life has been struggling with drug addiction. For more than a month now, this person has been stealing from me, my friends, and my family, and lying to me about everything. It's been really tough on me because I rely on this person for a lot, including comfort and companionship. It's difficult when someone who you trust in such a way completely betrays you, when their behaviour is erratic and mean, and you have to completely worry about their safety all the time, checking up constantly and going crazy with anxiety every time you don't hear back. It's been tough on me, and it's been going on for too long. I've lost a lot of weight, dropping back into the 85 pound range, losing sleep, grinding my teeth, breaking out with acne, losing hair...the list goes on. I even bit a massive hole in my tongue out of anxiety. However, I am happy to say that this person has made the courageous decision to give up everything and go back into rehab. I feel like the most giant weight has been lifted off my chest and I am finally free to enjoy my life again.
When I was telling this person how I've been feeling due to their substance abuse, they said to me, "You care too much." I didn't know what to say. This wasn't something that I was ever taught as a child. I care too much. It is possible to care too much. I was floored. I was hurt and confused. What do you say to that? How does someone care too much for another person? I don't think that this person meant it in a mean way, but it's hard to tell. Addicts are selfish and perhaps this person was just displacing the blame, but I haven't been able to shake it ever since it was said to me. I care too much. Like that's a thing that people can do. People can care too much.
I don't know if I can quit caring about this person. I don't even know if I can start caring less about this person. You're never taught how to care less about something. You're never encouraged to care less about something. This is going against everything that I've ever known. But, at the very least, I can take comfort in knowing that this person is in a safe spot. Last night I was able to go out with an old friend and see Blitzen Trapper play First Ave. I'm thinking about getting my nose pierced, too. I've been wanting to do it for awhile but couldn't with my last job. Maybe I will now; It's all me time! It's time to care more about myself and less about this other person.
I'm starting this new phase of my year - of caring more about myself - by blogging! My goal is to blog at least twice a week. I used to love blogging...it allows my thoughts to untangle from my mind and I can interact with all sorts of new people and new perspectives. I was scrolling through some older blog posts from last autumn and was reminded of how freeing blogging is for me.
Anyways, I'm excited to show off this bad ass new denim jacket courtesy of White Crow. It's super cozy, has great pockets, and an awesome faded print of the U.S. flag on the back. You can find it to buy online here. Totally saaaaweeeeet and definitely getting me back in the mood to wear denim. I see denim on denim in my near future....
I called out of my internship yesterday (when I took these photos) because I just had too much work to do, but that also meant that I got to dress fun and perhaps semi-trashy for class! Usually I have to dress for the office, since I work in one, so I was excited to have fun and dress like an actual college kid. I got this new Phoenix faux leather jumper from Sway Chic which is like a total dream. They have lots of great new stock in and it's making me wish I had income!
This hieroglyphic crop top is also from Sway Chic because I just couldn't help myself. Not exactly perfect for the office but still, SO COOL. I skipped on the matching leggings.
These past couple months have been tough on me but one thing that's been sustaining me - the promise of graduation looming in my near future! Only 8 and a half weeks of class left! I don't think I have any finals (the true beauty of only having papers) so I'm completely done after that! Like, forever. No more undergrad! Life is beautiful.
Oh, but then it'll be full swing job hunting, resume re-working, and student loan re-paying.
Thanks once again to White Crow for the beautiful jean jacket, and to my friends over at Sway Chic for stocking equally great goods.
And now begins my time to pamper myself! What sort of things should I do with my new found freedom of caring (almost) only for myself? xx
Hmmm I can already tell that autumn is just around the corner! My favourite time of year - Minnesota is beautiful. Crisp and cool, with winds that blow your hair everywhere and beautiful sunsets, the days getting shorter and shorter. And, sweater weather! I was excited when I came home to a package from the folks over at White Crow and found this totally lush sweater waiting for me. I was able to wear it right away thanks to the beautiful weather and yeah - LOVE IT. The jewels around the neckline, the boxy structure, and the high-low front and back. Can't wait to show it off more this autumn!
White Crow is a new line that's just launching. I love their look already - edgy, contemporary, and that great mixture of grime and glitz. I already look forward to seeing more from them!
I paired the new sweater with these sweet ass holographic leggings from Thrifted & Modern via Chictopia. I am obsessed with them. And anything holographic. I want to wear holograms from head to toe some day. Swear I will.
I'm also wearing my go-to saddle shoes and my faux leather jacket from H&M. My sister has been harassing me about this jacket lately. I think I'm going to have to start hiding it whenever she's over, otherwise one of these days she'll take it with her. And she's moving to Arizona, so I may never see it again! (Sidenote: If you're moving to Arizona, in what occasion would you want or need to wear a stuffy black leather jacket?? Enter: My Sister.)
Three days a week I wear business clothes and starting in November, I'll have to be dressed business casual 5 days a week. What a bummer! I'm trying to use these last remaining days to get all that grunge out of my system. I've been buying tons of dressy/chic clothes and trying to still dress a tad wacky everyday regardless. I wonder if I could get away with wearing holographic print to the office? Maybe in a blazer...? Hmm, something new to think about! I went to Nordstrom and raided their petites section, so keep your eyes peeled for some more "professional" outfits coming your way. And rants about dry cleaning bills. What a drag! Welcome to my future. And your future, if you choose to keep reading this blog. (Which I highly recommend you do. And tell your friends about it, too.)
One of my internships requires me working in the courts. I'm trying to get all my court lingo down and start thinking like a lawyer/detective, so I've been bingeing on Law & Order with my cat. I think it's time to settle down for the evening to start watching again. (Hey, I'm sick, give me a break.) Keep cool my friends and again, thanks to White Crow for the beautiful sweater. Keep your eyeballs peeled for this brand & more great stuff to come!
