A favorite

You guys. I love a good stripe + floral combo as much as I love a good turkey, avocado & cucumber sandwich. I could wear it everyday while I eat that sandwich everyday. True story. 

One of my favorite things about working in fashion & apparel is that your daily wardrobe is kind of your resume, portfolio and canvas all in one. You have the opportunity to express yourself through your style and that, my friends, is something I can get on board with.

The good thing about a look like this is that you can throw some sneaks on with it to dress it down and run around town in, and then you can transition it into night and slip into a great heel for dinner with your man. Does anyone else keep a pair of heels in their car for a rainy day? No? My husband keeps a pair of tennis shoes in his car in a case a good pick-up game of some sort starts up, I keep a pair of heels in my back seat in case I need a little wardrobe boost. We are who we are, folks. That's why we work.

In other news, I cut 13 inches off my hair recently and it's still freaking me out a little. This girl has never had short hair. We'll see if I keep it around. Not that I can reattach my old hair and have it long again immediately, but you know what I mean.

Blazer: Nordstrom; Dress: Chrome Boutique (Lubbock, TX) (old) (to create this look, try one of these adorable frocks!); Shoes: H&M; Bag: F21; Necklaces: Urban Outfitters, Dogeared; Watch: Michael Kors; Lips: NARS 'Schiap'

Insta-4th

I know, it's been 1,000 years since my last post. Things have been a bit crazy in our life and spare time has totally gotten away from me!

But, I'm back now. And I'm here to brag on the aMAZE holiday weekend I spent with friends out in east Texas.

July 4 is like, the number two best holiday of the year. It just makes ya feel good to be alive, ya know? Yeah? I don't know.

Anyway, we spent it at a friend's gorgeous home about two hours east of Dallas and I never wanted to leave that little hidden paradise.

Here's just a quick little photo diary of the patriotic weekend...what better to get my blog rolling again than to recap on the fun memories as of late? Obviously these aren't my only fun memories recently, but they're the only ones you're going to see for now.

Yea yeaaaa....go America.

lace + boots

I love that it's spring for 1,000 reasons. One of those many reasons is I now can bust out every single lace item I own and exhaust them to no end. I just picked up this little sundress at H&M a few weeks ago and I'm pretty obsessed. It's comfy, simple and the cut is easy to wear. It can be belted or worn with a statement necklace...I mean, options are endless here, guys.

To dress it down a little, I threw on my favorite little boots that have just a little pop of salmon/coral in them, so I donned my fave Kendra Scott gems to bring out that spring color up top.

Be prepared to see me in the dress numerous times...it's going to happen.

Happy Monday!!

What I'm Wearing - Dress: H&M; Clutch: Target; Boots: Corral; Watch: Michael Kors; Earrings: Kendra Scott

Grunge

I mentioned yesterday that this camo shirt of mine has been on serious repeat as of late. It's so light and comfortable and it's the perfect little layering piece to throw on with a tank and jeans or some easy stripes and denim shorts like I've done here. 

I giggle a little when I think about the fact that I'm wearing this around by choice, because there was a Halloween circa 2002 when some friends and I were like, "Ooooh, let's be army barbies!" Or whatever the "costume" was that allowed us to dress is tight camouflage stretchy pants and a white tank top with a bandana. What is that?  Uncreative is what that is. But anywho, after seeing myself in pictures that year, I swore I'd never think camo was appropriate to wear on the reg. Unless I was out on the ranch with my dad...then, obviously, there's no other wardrobe choice. 

BUT, all of that aside, and more than ten years and about 5 other stupidly uncreative Halloween costumes later, I really do think it's a fun print and can look easy and cool from time to time.

Obviously any excuse to throw on an outfit and look semi-grungy, yet tag it as "effortlessly cool" is what I strive for. Some might just call me lazy. Which is fine too.

What I'm Wearing - Shirt: Cotton On (old, looove this one); Thermal Tee: Gap; Shorts: Express: Shoes: Converse; Bag: F21

Traveling

Girls - particularly those that find yourselves traveling a lot...the maxi skirt. Embrace it. I think it miiiiiiiight be the single greatest creation known to man. Just kidding. It's up there, though. I mean, it's long and covers our legs on days when maybe they aren't the prettiest things to be seen. It can be casual or dressed up. Can be worn at anytime. HELLO. Come to mama.

I've been pretty weary of these bad boys just because I always felt like they looked a little strange on me (and maybe my husband is not a fan...) Ha! But geez, I found this little number and it just lit my world up. I think I'll be wearing it frequently.

It's a perfect item to throw on for those long road trips, or cross-country flights. So ideal for traveling! I threw this dark plum colored cotton gem on with a tank and a denim shirt and I was ready to go. I looked decently cute on our three-hour road trip (I mean you never know who you're going to run into at the junky truck stop off of Hwy 37, right?) and I was already dressed for the evening, just in case we decided to go out. Which we didn't. But I was prepared nonetheless. 

Moral of the story: make the maxi skirt your new best friend. 

And don't stop at junky truck stops off of Hwy 37.

Get My Look -  Tank: Cotton On; Denim Shirt: Madewell (similar here); Skirt: Target; Bag: Target; Fedora: Target; Watch: Michael Kors; Sandals: Sam Edelman (love this pair)

Weekend Inspiration

Hooray! Another weekend has arrived. Thank. The. Lord. Amiright?

I don't know about you guys, but I am ready for this one. Not only because it's a few days off, but because it is my sweet little sister's FIRST bridal shower. I'm just beyond excited. Being a bride-to-be is so stressful fun and I'm just so thrilled that her time is here! We're all so excited to be celebrating her upcoming nuptials. T-two months and she'll be a married woman! So crazy.

Nothing sounds better to me at the moment than a weekend celebrating my sister's wedding with some amazing women, alongside a little fun in the sun down in ole South Tejas.

What are you guys up to this weekend? Enjoy every minute of it!

Accents

I donned this getup for a girlfriend's wedding back in February. I love a classic black and white piece with a little bit of a surprise element...hence the leather paneling. I liked the modern look of this dress and it's definitely a staple that I can recycle again and again! However, I did have a bracelet on at the time with spikes on it and over the course of the night I snagged the dress at least 5 times across the front. Looks like I need to do a little maintenance and tuck those pesky threads back where they belong...dangit.

Anywho. As with any black and white item, it's fun to add a pop of color to it, so when I found these booties at Zara marked down from $89 to $19...I mean, hellllooooo. Obvs I had to snatch them right up and add them to my stash of shoes that can't be worn every day. Yes, I paired the look with my favorite leopard clutch that you've seen a zillion times on on this blog. Get over it. Leopard's a neutral and can and will be worn with everything.

I know you're probably like oh, another dress + boot look. I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of the ankle boot + short dress/skirt/shorts look. It edges up your look a little and I always like a little spice. Good thing it's spring. 'Tis the season to show a little leg! Keyword, "little", gals....don't get crazy, you hoochie mamas.

To quote the hilarious Lena Dunham (Hannah) in the show "GIRLS" on HBO, "I don't want to wear appropriate pants because I'm pretty sure one could go through life wearing shortie shorts everyday and offend almost no one."

Happy Monday AND April everyone! It's going to be a good day.

Get My Look - Dress: H&M (available in store - similar here, here); Booties: Zara (similar here); Clutch: Express (similar here); Sunglasses: Ray-ban; Watch: Michael Kors; Necklace: Kendra Scott (customizable here)