New favorite store?

We just recently got a Plato's Closet and I swear I'm in love. I've brought a ton of my stuff there and switched it out for some new and updated things...

There's been a ton of weddings and baby showers and other parties to go to these past couple of months and it seems like I never have anything to wear. The first dress is by Charlotte Russe and is basically just a shift dress. It's not fitted at all, but throw it on with a pair of heels and it looks so classy and chic. All the rest are the type were you can pair it with anything and it looks cute. They're all so versatile. You can pair it with a blazer, flats or heels and the look totally changes, but still looks dressy.

i love color-blocking and am obsessed with orange and pink right now. I also picked up a few sweaters because they were like $4 a piece and I couldn't help myself. Now for the part I'm most excited about, the shoes....

Can you tell that I love shoes?

Rue 21

Ok, this is honestly making me so excited. Summer is finally here which means days out in the sun that end way to fast, cold drinks, bonfires, late nights, hot weather... honestly though, I'm so much more excited about how cheap things are right now. I went to the mall a few days ago and was drawn into Rue21 by huge neon posters on display about a blowout sale. Who can resist going in there to look around? So planning to just look around and probably finding just 1 thing at a really good price, I left with a bagful of items- 7 shirts, 1 jacket, 1 necklace, and 2 pairs of shoes.. all for about $30. Is that not crazy?! And it's all items that I actually really like, not just things that I bought because it was such a good deal.

The weather here is crazy, so I've already gotten to wear the heart sweater and the black jeweled one, and I absolutely love them! I just can't believe they were all so cheap! I've worn the Timberland-inspired boots a couple of times too, and I swear they don't look as fake as they do in the picture. With a 1 1/2 inch stacked heel, they're super comfortable to wear too with an excellent grip for those of us who are a bit on the clumsy side.

American Eagle

I was never one of the "stylish" kids in high school- mostly because I tried a hard as I could to not focus on the brand of clothes, but just dress myself in whatever made me fell confident and what expressed my personality for that day. Most of all the other kids were all clones of each other wearing whatever one of the popular kids deemed to be "cool" for that week. That usually meant everyone wore Hollister, Abercrombie, American Eagle... all just clones of each other. Call it being rebellious or stubborn or just stupid, but I didn't want to fall into the norm.. I wanted to be myself. So I left all the other kids to wear a uniform of Abercrombie polo shirts and American Eagle jeans and shared quite a few laughs with my friends when everyday, at least 5 other students came to school wearing the exact same outfit. Honestly, I was probably just jealous that I couldn't afford to spend $40 on a shirt or pair of jeans, but don't tell anyone I said that. Still to this day I get a secret rush when I find something that's Hollister or Abercrombie or American Eagle at a consignment shop though because I feel like I'm getting away with something amazing that I couldn't have before. I still don't get things just because of the brand though, I've found that I still gravitate towards the things that express me the most and whatever I'm most comfortable in. I found some American Eagle things, and basically everything that I loved either had lace in it, made of billowy chiffon, or just plain comfortable. And yes, a lot of it is black.. I'm still working on that part

Easter tradition

For so many years, my grandmother would always make a lamb-shaped cake for Easter. It was the perfect centerpiece and conversation starter.. mainly because it's head would always fall off. My grandmother loves to tell the story about how when my Mum and Dad were newly married and came over for Easter, my Mum just adored the Lamb Cake and the decorations and just how beautiful it looked. Right after she said that, the head fell off. It's been going on for years and some of my aunts tried their hands at it for a few years to see if they could make one that lasted intact for more than an hour or two. It always failed. So, a few years ago, my grandmother just gave up on it. You could cut off a piece of her cake, but you would only get a couple bites out of it because the rest was mutilated by toothpicks valiantly attempting to hold it all together.

I've missed this Lamb Cake, and this year I put myself up to the task. After some research and help from my Mum, we made not just 1, but 2 cakes.. and their head stayed on the whole time.

Leave it to me to go totally OCD on the lamb and try to make it as realistic as possible. My Mum was like uh... you know it's just going to be eaten right? It doesn't have to be perfect. I was so proud, but turns out that actually nobody would even touch mine because they said it looked so good, they didn't want to mess it up. The stupid thing just ended up sitting out on the table all day and getting stale. All well... that's what I get...

Happy Easter!

Spring Colors

This is my attempt to try to break away from having so much black and white. I'm still trying to get comfortable with it all, so until then I'm just going to pair some of these fun and colorful things with my boring and neutral outfits. Wish me luck

Hot and humid

I'm so excited that summertime is here! This past winter and spring has been so crazy, and I can't wait to just relax and enjoy seeing sunlight for like the first time in years. Some big changes have been going on lately... I just graduated and I'm trying to prepare for my next career move in August, looking for a new job, I'm doing pre-marital couples counseling, my father has retired, my sister in-law is expecting again, and my grandfather is taking a turn for the worse. It hasn't been the best situation, but it's easy to see how blessed we have all been through our life and how much we really do value each other and how much love there is between all of us. It's bittersweet, but our whole family seems to have become more close and stronger-knit. Through all this, I just keep telling myself that tomorrow is a new day and to just appreciate the little things and recognize all the beautiful things in life. Just a couple days ago, everyone was complaining because we've had storms all week and the weather has been more humid than normal and unbelievably hot. But, because of all the humidity and warm weather, everything outside began blooming and growing like crazy and just looked gorgeous to me- all the colors, the shades, the light trying to break through the clouds...

I love images of light trying to shine through the clouds- it symbolizes, to me, hope.