Rarely one to shy away from color, I noticed that my winter wardrobe often tends to skew towards monochromatic.
The addition of of this blush pink coat was a sure way to brighten things up, in addition to the mix of prints, patterns and textures, the resulting look is anything but monochrome.
The Rundown
Sweater Madewell similar
Plaid Pants Gap similar
Blush Coat Tahari via TJMaxx
Croc Pumps Unisa similar
Bag Vinthanthromodern similar
Hat Forever 21 similar
Scarab Necklace Etsy similar Thin Gold RingEtsy
Since turning 30, um, a year and a half ago, I've been on a mission to finally rid myself of the acne that has been plaguing me since 13. I've changed up my skin care routine, swapping my physical exfoliant for a chemical one, in addition to cutting down the number of times I use it to twice a week. I've tried weaning my skin off of benzoyl peroxide and using a rosehip oil as an alternative every other night. I've switched up my birth control, made a conscious effort to drink more water, and take regular make up breaks.
While my acne has never been super bad, it's always been pretty consistent. For the most part, thanks to makeup and more so the healing brush tool, I never let anyone see it here. I've actually been photoshopping acne out of my life for 18 years.
Several months ago my sister sent me an article about how a person gave up dairy for a month and their skin was completely transformed - do a quick search and you can find of number of such accounts - clear, glowing skin after a few weeks and I'll I'd have to do was ditch dairy.
But I love cheese. I mean, I LOVE cheese. I'm the kinda girl who goes into Whole Foods and spends $30 on two pieces of cheese... I can just close my eyes and think about that Mightnight Moon Gouda... Of course it's not just cheese - it's my morning coffee, yogurt, ice cream, and present in 90% of menu items in any restaurant which isn't asian. So I delayed the experiment until I could come up with a month when I'd miss dairy the least, and landed on October.
Eating ice cream out is pretty much exclusively dairy, unless you happen to live near a place specializing in vegan treats. I wasn't about to deprive myself of a single lick of my favorites over the summer, which was a big factor in my October decision. However there were still plenty of warm nights when ice cream was in order. Thankfully there was SO Delicious chocolate truffle cashew ice cream, and it tastes nearly as good as the dairy stuff. The price tag on the other hand, is a far cry from a Bryers two for $5 sale.
Cheese of course was the hardest thing to eliminate, since it's pretty much my go-to snack, and I'll put it in pretty much everything. No pizza, no mac and cheese, no salads with feta or goat, no grilled cheese; not realizing how overwhelmingly present cheese is in food dishes really made eating out an issue.
One thing I did not give up was butter. I tried to avoid it when I could, but it's butter. I wasn't about to decline a slice of apple pie because the crust was made with butter!
Now my month is up, and as for my skin, it's definitely not glowing. As usual I consistently got whiteheads throughout the month. First on my right cheek, then my left, and finally on my jawline. The last one cleared up on Saturday. A new one has not appeared... yet. The true test would be to continue to abstain from dairy and see what happens. If I went another month and didn't breakout at all, I might have something conclusive. But I ate pizza last night because I really wanted pizza. I'll see what happens. Though unlike some people who tried this experiment, I experienced no ill effects from that pizza. No stomach ache or bloating or sign from my body screaming "no! dairy is bad!" All I experienced was the deliciousness of cheese I've been missing.
And no, there are not any before and after photos, just my usual, with blemishes removed.
I'm often guilty of indulging in more than a few trends each season, and since they might not be styles I'm going to want to invest in, sites like Zaful, which offer super affordable on trend pieces can be fun to shop at.
The lace-up shoe, combined with a platform sole and tassels made these sandals a great trendy summer shoe, and with the padded foot bed they were easy to wear as well. Over all I'm pleased with the quality, I like the accent stitching and the faux suede is very soft.
I also got an off the shoulder top, and while the hemlines were straight and the stitching looked good, the design was done in a fabric with no stretch or give, thus making the top difficult to wear in the size I chose, based on the measurements. I'd probably have to go several sizes up for it to be wearable.
But I would not let that dissuade me from trying something else from Zaful, I'd actually like to try this off the shoulder blouse, a safer choice since it's got elastic.
Thanks to Zaful for sponsoring this post!
The Rundown Safari Dress c/o Cabisimilar Platform Lace-up Espadrilles c/o Zaful Bag Tahari c/o TJMaxx similar Turquoise Necklace Gift similar Gold Twisted Bracelet The Cavernous Jewelry Box similar Crystal Bar Ring Upper Metal Class Gold Circle Bracelet St. Thomas c/o TJMaxx Sunglasses "Meteor"Ray-Ban c/o TJMaxx
Spring has very nearly arrived in New England; the trees are starting to bud, it's raining pretty much every other day, and I'm so anxious to start getting my dresses back into rotation, that I'm willing to deal with a bit of a chill to do so.
Shopping for spring is one of my favorite activities as well. Bringing color and pattern back into my wardrobe after months of reaching for greys and blacks just feels so refreshing. When Cabi invited me to check out their new line for spring, the Andiamo collection,I was delighted to see whimsical prints and bright colors which I could easily mix with pieces I already have.
While I'm not print mixing extraordinaire, I'm more than happy to let a designer take the wheel and wear a piece where all the hard work was done for me. This Safari dress mixes leopard, chevron, and ikat prints, and it was just calling out to be worn with my new leather field jacket, which incidentally is also African inspired.
I'll be sharing a couple other pieces from the Andiamo collection this week, but naturally I had to start with my favorite!
The Rundown Safari Dress c/o Cabi Brown Leather Jacket"Zippy"Anna Trzebinskivia Roundabout similar Shoes Me Too via TJMaxx similar Fringe Bucket Bag Margot via TJMaxxsimilar Ascension NecklaceHouse of Harlowvia TJMaxx Green Ring Taken for Granite similar Gold Ring Thrifted
Some grey mornings it's tough to get out of bed. The change of the seasons can often leave me in the doldrums, and I allow the looming of Monday morning to put a damper on my Sunday.
With more than half the day already wasted to my despair, I knew I had to rally. Sick of my endless cycle of denim I remembered this gem of a maxi dress tucked away in the back of my closet. As comfortable as pajamas, as easy as denim, but the appearance that I was really trying. And I suppose I was, I was really trying not to ruin the rest of my day with my negative thoughts.
Spring is here, the time to bloom is coming, if I could enable myself to embrace change.
Every year there is the tradition of the tree hunt. Well, sort of. There used to always be the tradition of the tree hunt - the ride in the hay bale tractor, the search for the perfect tree, cutting it down and then going to the little Christmas shop and having hot cocoa and those butter cookies that come in an enormous tin.
Unfortunately due to lack of time and an inability to coordinate multiple schedules, the past few years the hunt was relegated to back parking lots of strip malls.
Since this is my first Christmas living with Sean, and he never had the experience of the tree hunt, I thought we'd go to Jones Family Farm, as Meg and so many others love it there. But it was just too much for me. So many cars mobbing the place they actually needed people to direct traffic flow, such a huge expanse of trees I didn't even know where to begin, and then I saw the sign that made me feel like everything had become a little too commercial - flat rate cut your own tree: $68.
Knowing we were only going to get an itty-bitty tree there was no way we were spending that much for it, so Sean and I hiked up the hill to the trees, wandered around a bit, talked about what tree we might get if money were no object, and took our photos.
Then it was back to the old parking lot where we took home a tree for $25.
I do miss the tradition, I love the naturally growing trees that aren't all trimmed into a perfect shape, and the tractor rides, and the watery swiss-miss, but I need to find a tree farm that is quite and small to rekindle those memories the way I'd hoped.
Her Rundown Striped Turtle Neck Ralph Lauren via TJMaxx Jeans Joe's Jeans via Saks off Fifthsimilar Boots Migliorini via TJMaxx buy on ebaysimilar Plaid Scarf c/o Front Row Shop similar Red Pea Coat Nine West via TJMaxx similar$$, similar$ Gold Twisted Bracelet The Cavernous Jewerly Box similar Antler RingHouse of Harlow Nail Color "Sole Mate" Essie
