Lumberaud

{flannel: Forever21, tank: Forever21, shorts: Nordstrom, boots: Lucky Brand, headband & stud earrings Forever21, cheesy laugh pic: me}

Today consisted of sleeping through my alarm, getting a midterm back with a big fat C on it, skipping the gym (for the second time this week...it's only Tuesday y'all), crossing absolutely nothing off of my day's to-do list, consuming my water weight in coffee, and committing carbicide all day long.

Regardless, I still look at it as a good day.  I got to start my day with a phone call from my mom, who got me up in the knick of time to get ready for classes.  Speaking of classes, I miraculously made it to all four, consecutive, hour and a half classes that demolish beautify my Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I got to watch Sleepy Hollow in my popular culture class (such a Halloween treat, especially that Johnny Depp. Yum.).  I broke out my veeery favorite lumberjack-esque flannel that was totally inappropriate in the 80 degree weather, but I was so comfy it didn't even matter, especially during the six hours of class in which I normally freeze my booty off.  Not today!  And above all, after an devastating reminder yesterday, I couldn't help but just be thankful for life today.

I hope your Tuesday was as beautiful as mine.

For Alex

Today I found out a boy I went to high school with died.  I went to my sophomore year homecoming with him.  I call him a boy because that's all I know him as.  I don't know the man he was becoming, or even the person he was yesterday before the car accident.  I only know him as a friend I had four years ago, who asked me to homecoming by surprising me at soccer practice with decorated goals and a pink soccer ball that he had his mom write on for me.  As the kid I had a giddy schoolgirl crush on leading up to the dance.  And as the boy I slowly lost touch with as high school years carried on; people changed, relationships changed, friendships changed.  It happens with everyone, right?  Even though I couldn't tell you the last time I spoke to Alex, he remains fresh in my memories.  I can't explain to you the palpable heartache I feel not only for him and his family, but for the knowledge that I let a friendship that once meant something big to me fade to something so small.

So I invite you to take a challenge with me.  To keep in touch with the people you care about, even those who have touched your life in less obvious ways than your immediate family and closest friends.  Or maybe you're like me, where even those dearest relationships seem to slip to the wayside as daily, often mundane, tasks push their way into the top priority slots.  One of the toughest things for me is balancing the people in my life with the things in my life-- to-do lists, projects, school-- when in actuality, people should always come above the things.  Sometimes it's easier said than done, but hearing about Alex's passing today brought the realization back to me again full force.

And lastly, please say a prayer for Alex and his family.  No one deserves death so early in life.

You are loved and missed, Alex.

Broke College Student Confessions

{blouse: Forever21, jeans: Urban Outfitters, heels: Forever 21, necklaces: Brooklyn flea markets}

I'm pretty sure I'm legitimately in love with these shoes.  I caught myself staring at them multiple times rather than looking at the people I was actually having conversations with.  And at the end of the night, I was sincerely sad to take them off.  Every girl knows that if you're not ready to kick your heels off and across the room by the end of the night, those shoes are miracle workers.  Five and a half inch heels were not created to be fun to wear, but these, ladies and gents, were like an amusement park for my feet.  Yes, they are even worthy of such strange analogies.  The arguably best part about them?  The price tag: 25 stinkin' dollars!  That's it!  

Do you own any equally adoooorable and wallet pleasing pieces like these cat-licious heels?  If so, please share!

PS, fun fact: this was the first time wearing my hair straight since I trimmed it myself last week.  Not too shabby, eh?  Confessions of a broke college student, right here.

Long Day Made Better

{cotton T: Gap, scarf: Old Navy, boots: Forever21, jeans: Nordstrom}

You know those days where you wake up and only one word comes to mind: crap...?
That was today.  Thursdays are without a doubt the longest days of my week.  What with a few hours of work in the morning, followed by six straight hours of classes, and usually (if I'm feeling particularly crazy) ended with a solid workout or run outside, Thursday never fails to completely and utterly demolish me.


But there's something about putting on a simply cute yet comfortable outfit that can really pump me up, even on a Thursday.  I don't know if anyone else's wardrobe has these kinds of magical powers... Just me?  Ugh, thought so.


There is one more thing might work to get you going on days like these that works for me: cutting yourself some slack.  Prime example?  Skipping my last class.  Sorry I'm not sorry!


Happy Thursday, xo!

{mismatched Forever21 studs}

Marvins Room

{original (naughty language warning, FYI)}

I just stumbled upon Drake's song, Marvins Room, today when I was downloading another one of his newest singles.  He comes from a perspective where he's missing a woman that he let go, and he painfully and regretfully wishes he wouldn't have.  He talks about how he parties his sorrows away with drinks, clubs, and other girls, but nothing can get this one woman off his mind.  Completely encompassing the bad boy persona, Drake expresses his intense desire to have her back and his intense hate for the guy she's with now in the song.  His lyrics, albeit pretty blunt and crude at points, elude to the fact that he drunk-calls this woman he can't get over, just to tell her she belongs with him.  For some unexplained reason she actually answers his phone call.

As someone who seems to consistently go for guys literally exactly like this, I resonate with this song.  I've been clicking replay on my iTunes for probably an hour and a half now and have forced all my roommates to fall in love with it, too.  After doing a little YouTube search, I found an almost perfect cover by the adorable Conor Maynard.  His version, while just as emotional, is for sure the PG-13 rated version.  Subtract Drake's excessive cursing (okay Conor still uses the F bomb, but you'll forgive him I'm sure); and add beautiful piano acoustics for the instrumental.  While I love both versions of the music videos, emotional qualities, and song approaches, I think I might actually prefer this latter version.

Do any of y'all seem to go for this kind of guy, slash is anyone else thinking why don't these guys realize what they have when they have it?  Just making sure I'm not the only one...  Also, which version of the song do you like better?

{Conor Maynard's cover}

Healthful Habit

{granny smith snack}

I will be the first to admit that my sweet tooth is out of this world.  I could literally eat ice cream, preferably Rocky Road, everyday of the week and not get sick of it.  And honestly I would if I had the metabolism like some lucky ducks out there do, where they can eat anything and everything and still be a teeny little twig.


For me, though, it takes hard work, commitment, and self control to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  I can workout everyday; that's not really the problem.  See, for me, running, yoga, resistance training, or really anything else that gets my blood pumping is what keeps me functioning in the rest of my life.  Exercise, sweating buckets with music pumping full blast into my ears and body, this acts as my de-stresser.


My main struggle is commitment to healthy food choices.  Does this happen to anyone else?  So you go through your day, eat balanced and nutritious snacks and meals, get home after a long one, and you just grab anything/everything in sight to devour.  It's like, why don't we just get a bulldozer to make this food-in-mouth-shovel-fest a little easier?  I think I have these days more than I care to admit; it's so disappointing to know that all those good choices from my day just went right down the drain my throat!


I've discovered, though, a method that seriously has made a difference in my eating habits.  I'm a big to-do list person;  I love the satisfaction of being able to cross off items on my lists, not to mention the utter elation of finishing an entire day's list.  I've found making a sort of food to-eat list for my next day is extremely helpful.  I create well-balanced meals and snacks at night and follow that list exactly to par the next day.  Having things pre-planned out eliminates the whole refrigerator scan that we all know and love: searching through the fridge frantic and hungry and ending up choosing maybe not the healthiest option.  My kryptonite happens to be quesadillas, high in both fat and carbs; but if I write down salad with a side of rice, beans, and veggies, then I've found the fridge scan the next day will be much less tempting to grab the cheese and tortillas.  I promise it's just as easy to do and follow as it sounds.


I'm curious, what are some health habits you live and swear by?  I would love to give them a shot!

{a divine lunch of fresh spring greens, sauteed asparagus, apple, chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, & strawberry vinaigrette}

Scarves on Scarves on Scarves

Regardless of the weather app on my phone so rudely telling me that today's high is a whopping 90 degrees, I decidedly chose to ignore that scorching news and, as per usual for me, look forward to tomorrow.  Tomorrow's beautiful forecast reads a high of 68, low of 46 degrees.  Yum.


Can I just mention real quick how much I LOVE fall?  No but seriously.  It's my favorite season of... all... time.  Crunchy leaves to stomp on in knee-high boots, nippy breezes that inspire cozy flannel button-ups to be pulled from the back corners of closets, pretty assortments of colored scarves magically appearing in stores everywhere, and, above all else, it's my birthday season.  I mean I'm just sayin'...


So today, anticipating autumn right around the corner, I broke out my winter clothes from boxed storage in my closet.  I use the term 'winter clothes' loosely, mind you.  Growing up in Vegas and going to school in Texas doesn't exactly yield the same winters as, say, my (slightly crazy) sister in South Dakota has to endure.  I don't even think I own a winter coat...  Nonetheless, as I hung pretty pea-coats and leather jackets and comfy sweaters and thicker leggings, I couldn't help but get so excited for this new season approaching us.  Scarves have always been one of my favorite accessories, and breaking them out of the confinements of their summer storage almost even made me a little giddy.  Is that embarrassing?  Wait I don't even care.  That's how much I love them.


Keep calm and scarf on, y'all; I hope you're looking forward to the season swap as much as little old me!

New Kid on the (Blog) Block

Let me just start out by saying I do NOT like change.  Or new starts very much, either.  That being said, I wanted to make this new blog regardless of my contempt toward change for a two reasons.


a) Pure procrastination.  Okay, this might seem like the epitome of lame reasons, but hear me out.  I have things to do that I actually NEED to do.  Don't we all?  But where's the fun in being responsible?  I work much better under pressure anyway... That's my validation for putting off all my homework, working out, and other deadlined writing commitments on this lovely, lazy Sunday.  Does anyone else relate?  Can I please get an amen?


b) Inspiration and new directions.  As an aspiring writer, I look for inspiration all over the place: books, blogs, people, magazines, photos, you name it.  But my problem is that I haven't been utilizing these inspirations to my advantage lately.  I had a fairly steady style blog that I kept up with all last year (click here if you want to check it out), but what started out as a fun and creative side project became slightly stressful and more of a burden than a creative outlet.  So with this new start, I'm going to take a more multidirectional approach when it comes to inspiration.  Rather than sticking solely to fashion and style, I'm going to pull from inspiration from anywhere and everywhere: travel, food, health, music, and life in general... But of course fashion will still be a big feature; I couldn't give up on the love of my life thaaat easily.


I can't really believe I'm saying this, but those reasons alone actually make me excited for a change...  Maybe I'm not as phobic to it as I thought.  Cheers to new beginnings!