Catching Up..

Wow, it's been awhile. As I said in my last post, I was in Vietnam for about 11 days. I don't think I'm going to want Vietnamese food for quite some time, but the trip was amazing. Vietnam has such a diverse culture and landscape in such a tiny country. Our trip was a bit hectic because we wanted to see as much as possible in 11 days, and that we did, and it was so worth it. Since I'm a photographer, I'm still working on getting my hundreds of photos edited. Once I'm done with them, I can definitely do a post of the highlights of trip/my favorite photos if that's something you'd like to see. It's one of the most colorful places I've ever been, so I was pretty much constantly photographing something/someone haha.

Anyways, I'm back to blogging finally. In this post I'm going to include a variety of outfits that I've neglected to post in the last month or so. Hopefully then I'll feel all caught up and ready to get back to a few outfits a day! I'm also hoping to do a favorite beauty/hair products post, & new items I've recently purchased post very soon. :)

Thanks so much for bearing with me through this huge gap in posting. There's been a ton going on other than being out of the country for a bit. Mainly, me & Mary's apartment situation. Super long story short, we thought we found the perfect place, signed the lease, and started to move it. Gradually we noticed tons of problems from the lack of smoke detectors, to electrical problems, and we decided to get out of our lease and find a safer place to live. Unfortunately, it's been a headache and a half to finalize this thing, and trying to deal with this landlord is nearly impossible. But! We did find an absolutely gorgeous perfect apartment that we're moving into November 1st, and we cannot WAIT. It couldn't be more perfect. This new apartment has definitely been the silver lining in all the chaos. Okay..that wasn't exactly a short story, sorry.  :) Now on to the outfits, already!

Shirt, shorts, & sandals: Forever 21

Ring, bracelet, & belt: H&M

Shirt: TJ Maxx

Shorts & purse: Urban Outfitters, BDG

Belt: Goodwill, Mossimo brand

Necklace: American Eagle

Ring & bracelets: H&M

Sandals: Birkenstocks

Sweater & brown bracelet: H&M

Jeans: Jeanswest(in Australia)

Belt: Abercrombie & Fitch(years ago)

Gold bracelet: Free People

Necklace: Gift from mom

Shoes: Aldo

Sorry for the photo overload, but I'm all caught up now! As I was adding each outfit I realized this is also kind of a shift in seasons through outfit photos. Accidental, but kind of cool haha. Fall is definitely in full swing now, as you can see in the last outfit(only a few days ago). Once again, thanks so much for bearing with me. I hope to get back to posting at least a few times a week now :)

Off to Vietnam!

Hi Everyone! First of all, I'm posting this from my phone so it'll probably look different from my other posts, but I wanted to get a post up about this. You can probably tell from the title, but I'm going to Vietnam! I'm going with my family for 10 days. I'm on the bus to Chicago to fly there as I type this! There are a few outfits I wanted to get up before I left but I guess they'll just have to wait as packing took priority over posting the past two days :)

I'll definitely do some kind of post with photos from the trip, but probably not outit posts considering I packed for the weather(90 and raining, and lots of hiking/being outside). I'm so excited to share my experience with all of you when I get back! Talk to you soon! :)

PS - Here's a photo of one the places we're going. Sapa, Vietnam. Isn't it beautiful?! (Taken by Dan Ballard)

Scarfbelt & Wedges

So, I'm not going to lie, this outfit is from a few weeks ago. For some reason, I've been off my styling game lately. I've even been shopping quite a bit, but then my new stuff just sit there because I don't have the energy to style them. I think I'm just ready for fall. I've been seeing a few fall inspiration/fall line posts, and they're making me so excited to be able to layer again. I miss my layers!

Anyways, I wore this outfit to a performance of the musical I stage managed this summer. Where my theater geeks at?? I love stage managing, but it doesn't hurt that I get to dress up for each performance :) When I first chose this outfit, it didn't have the scarfbelt added yet, but I thought it needed a little more color so I tied this scarf as a belt!

Denim Top: Forever 21

Black Jeans: H&M

Wedges: Dolce Vita for Target

Scarf: Gap

Oxfords & Stripes

Lots of new things in this outfit!

1. I'm wearing a tiered shirt. I never ever thought I would look good in a tiered shirt, but I tried this one on and actually liked it. So happy to change up my plain old racerback tank for something more fun. 

2. New shoes! Got these babies on sale for $30 at aldo :)

3. Feather extensions! Gave into this trend..and I love it. It's like a permanent accessory to spice up any outfit. 

Also, had to take these photos inside as I didn't have time during the day. Having studio lights on hand for late night outfit shoots is definitely a perk of being a photographer!

Shirt: Forever 21

Jeans: H&M

Shoes: Aldo

Necklace: Old Navy

Back to Basics

This outfit may not look like 'basics', but it's full of things that I know work on me...if that makes sense. From the boots to jeggings to the gray drapey tank to the turquoise jewelry, these are the things that I know that I can throw on and not have to change two million times. :) What are your 'basics'? 

Gray tank: Cotton On(bought in Australia)

White lace tank dress: H&M

Jeggings: Urban Outfitters(BDG brand)

Necklace & earrings: Forever 21

Bracelets: Australia, H&M

Boots: Nine West

Red, White, & Leopard

So these photos were actually taken at the same location as this shoot with Mary. I was with my really good friend Kelsey and we decided to venture further down the path and this is what we found! These shorts are definitely a new favorite of mine. I'm already a huge colored denim fan, so buying these was a no brainer. They make dressing fashionable in the summer super easy. Which is why just pairing them with a white tank, belt, and sandals worked perfectly :)

Me & Kelsey!

Tank: Banana Republic Outlet

Shorts, Belt, Sandals, & Earrings: Forever 21

Thanks to Kelsey for taking these for me!

5am Wakeup Call

Gotta love the magic of photoshop! Setting up a tripod and snapping my 2 go-to poses gets old real fast so I thought I'd do something a little different for these outfit photos, and have some editing fun. I don't know what's with my blog drought lately, but I don't like it. I can tell that it's affecting my style too. Usually when I don't blog as much, I'm not reading as many blogs either. Which ultimately leads to feeling a lack of inspiration when I get dressed. Enough I say! I'm so over it. Funny how lacking a bit of style for a week makes you realize how good it feels to absolute love an outfit.

Okay, enough rambling! I wore this outfit to class in Chicago. I've noticed that my Milwaukee > Chicago commute outfits are all about layers. The weather can be totally different even though they're really not all that far apart. This outfit was all about mixing patterns/textures. Lace+Denim+Pattern = a super easy throw-on-at-5am outfit(yes, 5am. I wish I was kidding about that).

Denim Button-Up: H&M

Top: Urban Outfitters

Leggings/Pants: TJ Maxx

Shoes: TOMS Shoes

Jewelry: Forever 21

And now a random shot I took while taking these in my backyard. I just love how everything looks after it rains.