Outfit; back to basics

It's not your typical fourth-of-July outfit, but it's my typical style. And besides, how can I resist wearing half of the new things I got while shopping with Bayley yesterday?

shirt/forever 21. shorts/pacsun. shoes/forever 21.

bow/forever 21. earrings/gifted; from nantucket.

Outfit; 50's flare

Naturally, my hair looked much better before I went outside in the wind to take the pictures. Still, I'm absolutely loving this style while my hair grows out! It makes it look a little bit longer than it is... maybe? Anyway, I love 1950's style makeup; perhaps I'll do a short tutorial in the future.

shirt/forever 21. lace headband/vintage. shorts/delia's. heels/forever 21. 

yule ball earrings/warner brother's site. lipstick/l'oreal #315 true red.

Strawberry Balsamic Pizza with Sweet Onions, Chicken and Bacon as a welcome back present?

Hello, all! I've taken a bit of a break from the blogging world, as you may have noticed, but I'm feeling happier and more inspired than ever and looking forward to jumping back into things. Posts probably won't be as frequent, perhaps two a week for the time being, and I'll kick it back up to speed once the summer is upon us. :)

Speaking of summer: this heavenly homemade dish was my dinner tonight, and boy, do I wish I could take credit for the recipe, because it's pure genius! I only varied the recipe found here, and it was one of most amazing foods I have ever eaten, honestly. Such depth of flavor! And, of course, you can't go wrong with bacon. This would be the perfect course to serve at a summer garden party with a few friends!

In other news, I've dyed my hair! Temporarily, for now, but I'm thinking very seriously about bleaching  my bangs and dying them blue permanently as my hair grows out. What do you think?

And yes, I am leaving the pixie cut behind... at least, I'm trying to. This is my second attempt to grow out my hair, so we'll see how far it gets me; I'm into the awkward stage now, and I came very close to cropping it all off again over the weekend, but I'm going to try to persevere. I just miss braids and non-terrible bedhead, you know? Especially with all the summery hair tutorials floating around on the interwebs...

This school year is coming to a close; only five weeks left, eek! I simply cannot wait for summer to arrive. With all the friends I've made and personal growth I've achieved this year, I have some very happy times ahead of me. :)

A stormy Sunday

"It's out of focus because that's hipster"

Pete and I spent a while at Starbucks on this gloomy Sunday before doing some spring cleaning in my train-wreck of a bedroom. It's a beautiful building with an even more beautiful courtyard outside, including an extremely beautiful tree that Pete wouldn't let me climb because the employees would yell at me. Psh, safety hazards are irrelevant. It was a perfect climbing tree.

And, only because I love you guys so much.... an extremely terrifying picture of Pete and I. 

Converse Shirt: Forever 21

Denim Vest: Forever 21

Jeans: PacSun

Docs: gifted

Crossbody bag (not pictured): TJ Maxx

A health kick, Anything Goes, and some other jumbled thoughts

Hello, all! You are looking at an obnoxiously large photo of my new Nike Free Runs! I got them this morning and I kind of don't want to take them off. They're super comfortable and they actually look good, too! I always hated wearing sneakers because they would completely clash with any sort of outfit I had planned, but I can actually see myself wearing these as part of an outfit! They're extremely lightweight as well. Good purchase? I think yes.

Getting these fabulous new shoes made me want to go for a run, so I did - I jogged 1.4 miles. Considering that outside of gym class I never, ever run, I'm very proud of myself for not dropping dead with cramps. My body was built for athletics, honestly, and I'm pretty fast, but my stamina is awful because I've always had an aversion to sports. Ah, well. I intend to jog or at least walk every single day now.

As well as contracting a furious case of spring fever, I'm on a health streak as well. I've never needed to watch what I ate, and I still don't, because my metabolism is so high. But it's actually kind of interesting, nutrition and such things... and I might as well get into an exercise routine now, so when I hit 40 I don't gain 1235979123 pounds. And the endorphins produced while exercising are always a plus. Now, instead of eating chocolate in lame attempts to fight off depression, I pledge to go for a jog instead!

I apologize for my absence this week. I've been pretty busy and feeling a bit down, so blogging hasn't exactly been my top priority, but I am getting back on track! Yesterday was pretty exciting, though; in the morning I attended a dance rehearsal for the upcoming school musical, and then around noon my family and I drove down to NYC to see the Anything Goes revival on Broadway! And let me tell you, Sutton Foster is basically a goddess. In addition to being wildly attractive, she has a phenomenal voice, and incredible dancing and acting skills! It was a fantastic show, I'm so glad to have seen it.

Forgive my scatter-brained thoughts; I'm a little bit sick and very tired. And since the final days of preparations for the musical is next week, it's a fine time to start living on Vitamin C drops, protein bars, and tea! (: I hope you've all had a smashing week. I'll be sure to blog more often from now on!

It's finally winter!

Our school let out early today due to "inclement weather," and it wasn't even snowing when I got home. Although today's outfit was my lazy-day ensemble of a tank top, sweater, and jeans, I wanted to take some pictures in the snow, so here's an outfit post nonetheless!

It was extremely foggy down by the reservoir across the street from my house, so my brave camera Phillip took a trip with my through the snow to get a few shots before I couldn't feel my hands. Anyway, I got at least one good one!

Fuzzy-hooded sweater: PacSun

Tank top: Aerie

Jeans: PacSun

Boots:  Khombu

Bow: F21

Necklace: I don't remember, but it's a friendship necklace: I gave the other half to my friend Sophie when she moved to Florida in fifth grade.

Choker: Claire's, probably. A relic of my childhood that I dig out sometimes. :)

Photography by yours truly.

Outfit: a heavy dose of atmosphere

I'm notorious for wearing all of my new clothes the day after I purchase them. And, to my mother's distress, wearing "spring dresses in the winter". Okay, the windchill was below freezing today, but I had this outfit planned before I even got up in the morning, so how could I resist? 

I'm a dork, but it was really cold.

Dress: PacSun

Cardigan: Forever 21

Booties: Clark's

Tights: No idea, but children's tights are all that fit me. :p

Earrings: Forever 21

Necklace: PacSun

All pictures taken by yours truly.

I hope everyone is staying warm! I know I'm about to change into some sweatpants and my love's hoodie and bum around the house for the rest of the evening. :)

A Sunday shopping trip

In effort to beat the winter blues, I took a trip to the mall today. Retail therapy (even if I only spend a few bucks) always makes me so much happier. Meandering around stores gives me so many design ideas myself!

So, here's a glimpse of what I picked up today:

From The Body Shop, (and for 20% off using my membership card!) I got two lovely, extremely pigmented eyeshadows. The evening lighting is pretty poor, so the colors in these photos aren't as vivid as they are in person. The first is a beautiful purple, and the second a stunning silver.

Remember when Forever 21 was that tiny hovel in the corner of the mall? And now, in my local mall, it has two gigantic stories! Anyway, their prices are hard to beat, so it's always worth it to pop in. Earrings for $2 are worth the risk of running into 32589927 girls from my school. I got two pairs of fabulous, extremely lightweight earrings today!

And finally, along with a dress that you'll likely see in an upcoming outfit post, I used my PacSun gift card from Christmas for these two necklaces. It was buy one get one 50% off, so I decided to get the duel-necklace birdcage one as well! I have a thing for birdcages. 

I'm a firm believer that you can never have too many accessories. I'm also taking a film photography class, so I picked up my rental camera today. It's going to be my baby for the next semester. 

I hope everyone's weekend was as lovely as mine! I plan to make myself some ramen and watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off to cap off my Sunday night. Cheers!

Outfit: Cuddle weather

Hello there everyone! I hope January has been treating you well. I, personally, have watched myself grow as a person more rapidly and dramatically than ever in my life. The new years has brought on an influx of creativity, as well as a bought of enlightenment and self-discovery. I went out of 2011 in a spiraling depression and miraculously emerged into 2012 with passion and determination. One of the most important life lessons is to keep fighting for your dreams and your happiness against all odds, and I have finally found the courage to do so. :)

In other news, Friday was my lovie's birthday, and we spent yesterday together in informal celebration. We ended up bumping into our close friends Nicole and Bailey while meandering through Barnes & Nobles, which was a lovely surprise. Seeing as the restaurant we wanted to go to ended up being closed, we made ourselves some chicken and ice cream sundaes and did a lot of cuddling. It was a wonderful day, as days with Pete always are. 

My outfit choice for yesterday was a cozy, earth toned ensemble, featuring my brand new cardigan that I thrifted on Saturday!

The sleeves a bit overlong, which makes the cardigan ever cozier!

Cardigan: thrifted

Lace top: Macy's?

Jeans: PacSun 

Boots:  Macy's, potentially.

Earrings: gifted

Glasses: Michael Kohrs (prescription, I'm blind)

(All pictures taken by my darling Pete!)

Outfit: The girl who was on fire

This outfit doesn't have much connection the Hunger Games at all, but I titled the post as thus because that's how I've felt this past month. On the edge but blazing through life.

The colors got a bit washed out, but on the main part of my lid I have a bronze color with quite a bit of shimmer, blended into a shimmery lilac with white beneath my brow as a highlight. All of these shadows are from an unnamed Sephora palette, so I don't have any specific product numbers for them. 

And this is my cat, Willow! She hates me a little bit but that's okay.

I can't tell you how many compliments I got on this outfit today, especially my shoes and my spiked hair. It was also my lovely boyfriend's birthday today, and the last day of the semester, so overall today has been overwhelmingly awesome. I hope you're all having fabulous days as well!

Jacket: Abercrombie kids (I know, who would've guessed)

 Shirt: PacSun

Jeans: PacSun

Shoes: Forever 21

Earrings: H&M London