19 YEARS AND COUNTING

Romper - Urban Outfitters

Why is it that 19 seems like a younger age than 18? I feel like 19 is such an in-between age...

I know I'll probably regret saying (blogging?) these words in about 10 years, but...CAN I JUST BE IN MY 20'S ALREADY??

Yesterday, I celebrated my 19th birthday. And by "celebrated," I mean that I basically just ate a lot of delicious food that I usually don't allow myself to eat. Things got a lil wild.

I started the day in Echo Park, where I enjoyed the delicious French toast served at

Sqirl

. If you guys have been following along with the blog for a while, you may have seen my previous rave reviews about Sqirl. I'm still infatuated with this place. Seriously...once you've traded out your basic Aunt Jemima syrup and butter, for a dollop of mascarpone and scoop of homemade strawberry jam, your life will be changed - there's no better way to eat French toast.

Top - Urban Outfitters

|

Jeans - Madewell

After indulging in our delicious breakfasts (I forgot to mention that my mom ordered the Sorrel Pesto Rice bowl...sorry about that. I was too preoccupied with the memory of the French toast to be bothered to include my mom's order), we headed over to Old Town Pasadena to pick up some flowers at

Gilly Flowers

.

It's pretty amazing what a bouquet of fresh flowers can do for your mood. I think I need to start buying myself flowers on a monthly, or bimonthly, basis because it just feels so damn good carrying around a beautiful arrangement of seasonal blooms all bundled together with ribbon and butcher paper. Flower power is real.

Are you even surprised that the next thing we did was get MORE food? You shouldn't be. You should have seen this coming.

And what better way to celebrate a birthday than with an 8x8 donut???? Yes. These are real. They exist. And they're incredible. I'm pretty sure this donut tasted 1000x better than a regular-sized donut, simply due to its enormous size.

And that's pretty much all I did - French toast, flowers, ginormous donut, and a lot of Instagramming/picture-taking throughout. And I'm fine with that. So many people asked me if I was going to do anything "special" - even the guy at the flower shop!! The thing is, I'm not a huge party person. In my first semester of college, I had a completely different view on the subject. My birthday last year was...  ... ... . .. ..... I don't think I can properly recount it, or even share any positive/factual anecdotes about it. I've since moved on (read: become a recluse) and have learned to enjoy the simpler joys of life.

18 was a pretty tumultuous age for me. There were a lot of not-so-great experiences I associate with being 18, and I'm happy to have put many of those struggles behind me. I still have no idea what I'm doing with my life, I continue to live at home with my parents and two siblings, and I have yet to start the transfer process. And yet, I feel happier and more "at peace" than I have in a long time.

So cheers to huge donuts and flower power, because this year's going to be a good one. 

SCHOOLGIRL Q, Part 2

One of my first (if not THE first) blog posts was entitled "Schoolgirl Q." Fast forward one year later and I'm blogging about another back-to-school/fall-inspired look.

Here's the twist: this time, I'm not back at school. It's quite weird to see all my friends from high school and college enjoying game days and weekend social events, while I'm at home interning and babysitting. I'm not necessarily upset about it. Far from it - I'm happy I've taken the time to recharge. It's just a bit weird to not be back...

These past few weeks, I've been trying to get more on top of my blogging schedule. If I'm not at school, I might as well put as much effort as I can into the things I

am

doing (one of those things being blogging). So with this new goal in mind, I got in contact with my friend

Justin

(check out his photography from one of my past posts,

here

) to shoot some looks.

It's still in the mid-80's everyday, so it's a little...uncomfortable...trying to shoot fall looks right now. Naturally, I didn't go full-on "Fall." As much as I would have loved for this to be a post featuring a ribbed knit bodycon or staple camel coat, LA's fall weather is a tad too hot for that, hence the shorts and sleeveless knit (at least there's a knit, though, right?).

Justin and I headed into Downtown LA to scout a location for our shoot, and decided on a rooftop. Well...

I

decided on the rooftop, because I'm boring and predictable like that. I should really try to expand my location comfort zone to extend beyond the realm of white walls and parking garage rooftops, but hey, that's where we are right now.

Luckily for us, the rooftop level was deserted, and my minimalist side was happy. I feel like I went for the obvious here with the letterman jacket. What says "back to school" more than a letterman jacket??!! Cool story, though, this is my dad's high school letterman jacket, and it's so stereotypically "American High School" with its colors. I love it. It's just really damn uncomfortable to wear during the summer (gotta love a jacket that keeps you warm when it's hot, amirite?).

The sleeveless knit featured here is also one of my favorites - a piece I picked up while I was in Japan this past July/August. I've been wearing it at least once a week. Yes, I'm one of those - an...an..."OUTFIT REPEATER!!!" I don't care. It's perfect. It's sleevless. It has a cool half-turtleneck neckline. There are side slits. What more could you possibly want??

Another fall staple - shorts. Sorry, I mean an

LA

fall staple. I feel very on-the-fence about these because they fit a little oddly and they make my ass look 50x bigger than it already is. But high-waisted is a plus.

But moving on: THE SHOES. I finally got them!! After stepping into countless shoe stores and facing constant disappointment, my search for the Adidas Original Stan Smith's was complete when I discovered them in my size on Asos. Of course, my brother went to the mall the next day and found them for $50 cheaper. Gotta love it.

Jacket - vintage (my dad) |

Top - Apart by Lowrys

 |

Shorts - Zara

(now SUPER cheap) |

Adidas Originals - Asos

 (on sale!!)

DESERT SHENNANIGANS

Remember when I went to Palm Springs almost two months ago? If you follow me on Instagram, you probably remember this all too well. So why am I only posting about the glorious trip now? I would really love to blame it on a "busy schedule," but lets be honest, I've done nothing but go to the gym and watch lots of Netflix since I got back from Japan two weeks ago.

One might ask what possesses people to do a desert vacation in the middle of summer.

I, too, asked myself this question quite a few times during the days leading up to the trip. But with the promise of a pool, air conditioning, and amazing shoot locations, my friend Georgia and I set out.

Very wind. Much racy. Much Calvin Klein.

This trip was INSANELY fun. Like, more amazing than I ever expected it would be. While our initial plans were to stay at the Saguaro Hotel, it came to my attention that you have to be 21 to check-in, which I am not. So with only an hour left to cancel the hotel booking before cancellation fees (aka the full cost of the room) would be charged, I rushed to find an alternative place for us to stay.

Without thinking, I clicked on the first available airbnb room with an opening. All I can say is, unexpected changes to an initial plan can actually be a good thing. Our stay with airbnb at 

The Wesley

 was absolutely amazing. For an incredible price of $130 a night, we stayed in beautifully furnished room with a couch and lounge area, great TV, king bed, beautiful bathroom, fully-outfitted kitchen, AND a private patio. Oh, and we also had full access to a beautiful pool, all the trendy pool floaties one could hope for (they had the donut one!!!), beautiful canopied lounge chairs, and the kindest hosts. I could go on and on.

After floating around in our amazing pool and cooling off in our beautifully decorated room, we set out for an evening shoot a little ways out of town. We were really going for that road trip/middle-of-nowhere vibe.

Take two girls who love fashion, photography, and Instagram, and what do you get? Two girls who spend hours running through the desert in their Calvin Kleins, sprinting across the highway and gushing about how beautiful dusk light is. We really looked like a pair of idiots out there, but we had the best time. No one got run over, either, which was really somewhat of a miracle.

On our second and last day in Palm Springs, we decided to venture further out to Salvation Mountain, an art installation created over the course of 28 years by Leonard Knight. This piece was truly incredible. In between trying to not pass out from the heat and wiping buckets of sweat from our bodies, we couldn't help but gape at the immense size of it. It's not even just the main "mountain" part. There are caves, with a million and one nooks and crannies, all painted and decorated with care.

So the next time you have the opportunity to drive a few hours out of the way and into the wild...go for it. (Also, make sure to invite me. Because I really want to get back out there.)

Tee - Brandy Melville |

Skirt - Topshop

|

Lingere - Calvin Klein

| Jacket - Levis (thrifted)

BACK AT IT

I've always done well in school...until second semester of my first year at Berkeley. Let me tell you, it was rough. It really was.

All I'm going to say is, life happens. And there comes a time where you have to prioritize your health and happiness, even if it means taking a year off school.

Which brings me to this point: I'm taking a year of school. It's so weird to think that all of my friends will be a year ahead of me when I go back, and it's also really terrifying. I keep going back and forth between being completely confident in my decision to take time off, and freaking out and worrying about what this says about me as a person. Am I lazy? Will I ever be successful? I'm always going back and forth, but I know that at this point in my life, I have to focus on myself - my health and happiness. I can always go back to school. It's just a year.

So...now, I have an entire life to do whatever. I mean, not

whatever

. I'm currently job-hunting (am I the only who hates questions like, "What is the theme song to your life?" Like I don't even know what that's asking!! Do they want to know what my favorite song is? Or do they want me to tell them a song that describes my life? Job applications are draining), and I'll hopefully be blogging a lot more than I have as of late (so sorry about that two-month absence...).

My pool's been under construction for the past year-ish, so naturally, I used it to shoot the pictures for this post. I never did much shopping while I was away at school, so when second semester ended, I had a huge list of things I wanted, including this amazing

denim button-up mini

from topshop. I'm a tad obsessed. I love the A-line cut, and the buttons up the front are super cute and elevate the denim mini's we're all familiar with to a trendier level. You know the ones...those suuuuper short skirts that are just really boxy and are usually worn with cowgirl costumes and stuff?

The weather in LA has been so odd lately. One day, it's 60 degrees and raining, and the next, it's a beautiful 75. I don't understand. I had actually planned  to shoot this look with a white cropped cami, but the day I planned to wear it, the projected high was 60, so to keep with the 90's theme of the denim skirt, I settled instead on my mom's vintage long-sleeve. This is the only item of clothing I can share with my mom, since she's about 5'4" and 90 lbs.... *sigh*

And obviously, I had to finish the look off with some high-top chucks. This look is definitely 90's all the way. I can't even remember the last time I wore a denim skirt, but I'm pretty glad about the giant comeback denim is making!

So go channel your inner 90's/early 00's childhood years! If only we could get those quality Disney shows back, too...

*moment of silence for "That's so Raven" and "Lizzie McGuire"*

Shirt - from my mom

|

Skirt - Topshop

|

Shoes - Converse

WHITE-OUT

You never know how edgy an all-white outfit really is...until you try to wear one.

You know those times when you decide to wear a single article of white clothing and consequently spend the rest of the day worrying about spilling crumbs, coffee, tomato sauce etc. etc. etc. onto that item?

Well imagine that fear, magnified to the level of an outfit with

only

 white clothing items.

Yup. It would be petrifying.

I've never worn an all-white outfit, myself, but I'm ready to try. And these Polyvore sets I created definitely gave me some inspiration.

The first would be great for a Spring lunch date. I like the idea of mixing textures for all-white outfits as a way to bring variety to the look. Here, chiffon lounge shorts contrast with a delicate, hand-beaded crop top.

The focus on this second look isn't so much on contrasting textures, but rather, contrasting styles. A cropped, lace-detail top and high-waisted slacks create a crisp, dressier foundation for the outfit. Dress it down with leather trainers (I'm obsessed with the Nike Air Force 1's) and a perforated messenger bag, for a sportier element.

I know the gem on the ring is grey, the nail polish is blue, and the frames on the sunnies are purple...so maybe this is a bit of a cheat, but I'm going to overlook that. After all, those accessories can easily be changed. You could do white almond-shaped acrylics, and an opal ring! Opal would actually be stunning, as the stone itself is mostly white, but there are flecks of color that reflect beautifully in the light.