Thursday, January 15, 2015

Essentially Basic: Part 2

There were too many essentials that I could think of so I split it into two parts because I get bored when someone posts super long posts. I think I might have short attention span sometimes.




(Long) Blazer
Whether you have an office job or not, you will need a blazer. Because sometimes you need to look professional. I just like the look of long blazers so all of mine are past my waist.

(Cross-Body) Satchel
Because I hate carrying my purse, just like to swing around out of my way so I opt for a cross body bag. But I also like getting ones with a top handle. I shamefully didn't put that on here and now I feel stupid.

Your own signature jewelry
Buy yourself a delicate piece of jewelry and wear it all the time. Invest in something small that's a part of your own history that you can pass on. Mine is an amber ring I found at a market in Poland and a necklace I found in TopShop in London. I plan on keeping these forever.


Black (opaque) tights
These tights and black skinny jeans go hand in hand in my mind. I look forward to fall and winter so I can wear these under my dresses. The blacker and more opaque, the better.


Oatmeal sweater
I know it sounds weird to call this color oatmeal, but what other name would you give this? Light tan? Anyways, this color of sweater is my favorite. You might think to get black, white or a grey sweater but seriously, this color is the best. It looks prime with a denim shirt underneath.


Leather brown belt
One that fits around your waist and around your hips. Belting a dress can make you look a little less stingy and more casual. Plus it keeps your pants up sometimes, amirite?

(D'Orsay) Black flats
Sorry I'm such a black person but deal with it. I love the black ballet flats just as much as the next person but I really am taking a fancy to pointed toe flats, and more specifically, the d'Orsay flat. It elongates my legs and makes my feet like super chic (I don't usually throw that word around but it feels so appropriate due to the name of the flat being oh so French).

(Aerie) Comfortable Bra
I love wearing fancy, adorable push ups bras, don't get me wrong. But there is something to finding that bra that is just "Ahhhh....". I've found it. Believe it or not, it isn't at Victoria's Secret. I know, shocking right. There's a place that actually sells bras that isn't Victoria's Secret? Broaden your horizons a bit here folks. I'm about to change your underlife.
I don't know how, but I stumbled into a Aerie store one day (American Eagle's underwear brand you usually see at the back of the store, but it was it's own store). I started looking around at the bras and I was amazed at how adorable every single one of their bras were. None of them were "Come and get it boys, I'm sexy with my hugely padded bra". They had an entire section of just bras with no padding. I was amazed. I was mostly in love with the little ditzy floral pattern one had on it. I bought two. That was 3 1/2 years ago and I still wear them on the regular. I would be driving somewhere and be suddenly think to myself,
"Oh shiz! I don't feel my bra.. Did I forget to put on a bra!?"
That's how comfortable they are, I'm not exaggerating. That happened more than once. I've gone back many times and I think I may be a lifelong customer.
They also just this past couple of years launched a campaign of no photoshopping their models. And their models are every size, not just the pin skinny 32A. It really is quite impressive.
But they back up their talk! Since my poor three year old bras were starting to get wear, I thought I would treat myself to a brand new bra. A saleslady handed me a bra she thought I might like... The Sunnie.
Go to the store and try it on now. You're welcome.

(Colored or patterned) Wool coat
Because it's cold outside. And this kind of coat will always look great. You could get it in black, or you could get it in your favorite color. Don't worry, somehow.. It always matches your outfit. My signature coat is my buffalo plaid double breasted peacoat.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Essentially Basic: Part 1

Because sometimes I like to pretend I know what I'm talking about.
Here are (in my opinion) some very basic essentials you need in your closet.
These are just basic and then the style that I fancy and prefer.


Dark (high rise) jeans
I just suggest dark jeans because they're slimming with the dark color and skinny jeans go with absolutely everything. My personal preference is high rise because I have a long torso and you know that muffin top you could possibly have with tight skinny jeans? It's gone.

Denim shirt
I have three different washes of denim shirts. And I wear them on the regular. Under sweaters, with a skirt, with a different wash of jean, etc.

Watch
Because having to pull your phone out of your pocket gets old sometimes. Plus they look great.

Striped (navy) T-shirt
One time I went shopping with my boyfriend and I told him not to let me buy anything with stripes because my closet is full of them. He now calls me stripey whenever he sees me wearing them, which is more than I really realize. But you can buy so many different colors and so many different sizes of stripes.. Point being.. I buy them so often because I wear them so often. 

Booties
Heeled or flat. These are shoes that make your outfit look just a touch cooler without doing too much. Get them in a neutral color and you can really wear them with anything. I even wear them with shorts.

(Midi) Black pencil skirt
This one is very obvious. But one style I really love is the long midi pencil skirt. Make sure that rises high also. Such a fan.

Heather grey T-shirt
The absolute most versatile T-shirt ever. Most people would say that a white T-shirt is but I respectfully disagree. Heather grey is where it's at.

Sunday, January 4, 2015

My cousin and my second date

People knew that I was living Europe so it made me so incredibly happy when someone from home told me they're coming to Europe too. Better yet, they want to meet me there.
So when my cousin told me she was going to be in the UK for a week, I was like... yes. Let's do this.

I had been waiting for the perfect excuse and now I had one. I was going to London.

We had planned this trip for a couple of months now. But after Festinord, this trip got even more interesting. Wes just happened to be in England the exact weekend I was going to be. So after a month of not seeing each other after Festinord, we would finally have our second date (not counting our 20 something other FaceTime dates).

So Haley and I received our own personal tour guide around London. And it was far past fantastic.








I know, I know. He's so cute right?




The second day we did nothing but shop and eat.
If you've ever been in England, you know Primark. My wardrobe is basically part Primark now.


London then became my new favorite major city.
And then I realized.. I was in even more trouble than I thought I was from Festinord.

Birthday Haul

My mom doesn't buy my birthday gifts anymore.

My birthday is only a week after Christmas so I get things like a phone, laptop, down comforter, etc. then. After that I get some money and then I just shop. It's fantastic.

Usually I get clothes. For some reason this year, I got an eclectic array of stuff. That I adore.

Make up


Booties


Books


and a glass box.


So I saw this box in Anthropologie and I really wanted it but I am a huge cheapskate and buying anything from that store takes a lot of pushing because it's so overpriced! Let's get real. It is. Does it really cost that much for a mug?
Anyways it costs $24. Which was stretching it a bit so I put it as a maybe in my head.
I went back to Anthropologie to decide if I really wanted it and I was looking at them closely and found one in the back that had a slight crack. But guess what? It was only $11.
Slight score? Yes.

And I enjoyed my birthday shopping day.

Also I concluded that while I think I have a pretty cool style, I am not cool enough to shop at Urban Outfitters. Seriously. How does anyone pull that stuff off?

Saturday, January 3, 2015

I'm feeling it

That's right, I'm feeling 22

Yesterday was my birthday and I am now 22 years young.
I can't believe I'm this old but alas, time just keeps going faster.
I'm quite impressed with what I've done with my 22 years but also a little disappointed about what I haven't done yet. I still consider myself a baby so you can't tell me otherwise.

One present I gave to myself was getting my hair done by the famous Ruth


I'll be writing a post about how this haircut has pretty much changed my life later.

Then I forced my family to take me to The Bombay House in Provo.
Which was amazing. Craving Indian food? Go there. Now.

Then we ate some very chocolate cake.

We had a problem finding regular candles so we just used all the number candles. I think it made it more festive.


Happy birthday to me!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Overdrive



This year, one of my goals is to run a 10k. A pretty simple and realistic goal I must say.
I love to run. I really do. But I have very little motivation to do it. I'll go for about a week and then I'll stop, then a couple of weeks later I'll start going every morning. I just need some consistency.

So armed with new running shoes, very comfortable running leggings and a bright pink down jacket, I'm doing it.

It's a very common to have some fitness kind of goal. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

So here's the playlist I've been using for my recent runs and I'm pretty proud of it. Feel free to steal it.

Tschüss 2014

In regards to my goals last year. I think I did pretty okay.

I absolutely demolished my third goal (travel somewhere I've never been).
I did decently at my first goal (read more books).
Not so great at my other ones (be more selfless, eat cleaner, create more).

My point being.. I did okay.

But, as always, It's customary to make new goals for a new year right? Let's see if I can do okay with these ones too. 



Yes, my first two goals are the same as they were last year. Get over it. I think they'll be goals I will have every year. Especially the second one.