Crop of Love

Here are my outfit details from the Mitch Monday post! Although from the rumblings on Facebook, I think most folks are more interested in his outfit details, haha! My bfferboo, Kasey, and her sister had a housewarming party this past weekend. Let's be real though, when you have a sick rooftop with a grill, you're obligated to throw monthly get togethers for your friendz! It was a beautiful Seattle day with some mighty fine company. Thanks for hosting, Kasey! And thank you for taking these pictures!

The BBQ was after my weekend wedding with Claire. I was just looking to put on something comfy but accidentally created my FAVORITE outfit of the summer thus far! Or maybe I was just having an extra good hair day, that tends to sway me. Either way, I felt AWESOME on this day and I'm grateful to have photos that documented it.

Top H&M | Skirt Forever 21 | Sandals Report (from Ross)
Alligator Ring Target | Other Rings Forever 21

Bare by Nature

Last weekend I found myself out in the middle of Eastern Washington nature with friends, floaties and fun! Our surroundings were gorgeous so Katrina and I took the opportunity to snap some photos in the lush greens. I love how raw these photos turned out. You might have noticed, I very rarely wear makeup. It is not part of my daily routine. I have nothing against makeup and I actually admire girls that are able to apply their makeup expertly. I just never really learned how to do my own makeup, despite many patient attempts with lovely MAC associates! Conveniently, I feel quite comfortable bare faced and am grateful for the extra sleep it affords me in the morning.

Thank you for the snaps, Kat. You are the most amazing blogger buddy!

Dress Forever 21 | Caged Bra Forever 21 | Sandals Merrel (via DSW)

So Fly

Please meet my friend, Josh Henry. We went on an amazing cliff jumping adventure with friends this past weekend and I got the chance to snap some photos. To say I admire his style is such an understatement. He is just... so... COOL. I understand that some folks might be intimidated by his tats and his mega fly vibe but Josh is so sweet and soft spoken. Honestly, it's quite unexpected. I enjoyed the day with you, Josh! Say hi to your mama for me!

Seriously, how cute are you? Until the next adventure, Josh!

Printed Tulip Dress

Summer is supposedly the season for weddings! I haven't had any close friends get married this summer but my soccer BFF from middle school flew out from North Carolina to attend her friends' wedding in Bellevue. Claire stayed with me for a few days and took me as her +1. It was awesome catching up after not seeing each other for three or so years. Thank you, Beth and Dillon for celebrating your love and giving us an excuse to celebrate our friendship!

Wedding attire is quite possibly the best thing ever! This tulip dress from Forever 21 is a nice cut for a conservative daytime wedding, but features a playful print to keep things interesting. The bride looked perfectly lovely and kindly let me take home one of the centerpieces! I was a very happy girl! Thank you for the photos and the quality time these last few days, Claire. I love you!

Dress Forever 21 | Shoes Cathy Jean

Real Talk

Hi, Friends. At the beginning of the summer, I expressed a desire to do more than just post pretty pictures. Recent moods and events have inspired me to share something more personal with this post.

Today is my 3 year anniversary with the big guy! It's pretty surreal. We've come a long way since our first date after our intern signature event at the Woodland Park Zoo in 2011 (Microsoft FTW!). Every relationship has its own story and like many other couples, we are constantly navigating the ebb and flow of our relationship. I used to think relationship nirvana for me meant cruise control. Reaching a state with my significant other where conflict didn't exist and everything just felt easy. "Oh, we just need to work out these problems and then everything will be perfect." I've come to realize that I will never reach a state as an individual where I've worked out all of my problems. I will never be perfect. Yes, I feel confident about myself and my abilities to lead a good life, but that doesn't mean I live my life without emotional conflict. I can get down with my emo self and can be very sensitive to my surroundings and the people around me, especially when I am under stress (which is more often than not, unfortunately). I know there are a lot of cliche lines out there about, "Being you is enough!" and "It's okay to not be perfect!" but seriously, I am enough and it's okay if I can't be perfect. So what does that mean for my relationship?

It means that I've come to deeply appreciate a partner who is willing to work together to evolve our relationship as we continually evolve as people. I can't lie, when I first met Mitch, I was more focused on his beautiful body and his perfection on paper, Caltech engineer employed by Microsoft with an interesting cultured background, than I was with who he was as a person. I felt prideful. He was my trophy, and our relationship suffered for some time because of it.

Now, I feel lucky to be with someone who truly lives his life with integrity. I am grateful to be with someone who patiently listens when I need to emotionally process a bad day and responds with kindness. I am inspired by his desire for self improvement in every aspect of his life and he motivates me to think critically about my actions and feelings. Thank you for a wonderful 3 years, Mitch. I love you, and I look forward to continuously growing together.

Sorry not sorry if things got a bit deep there for a bit! On a much lighter note, I think Mitch is ridiculously good looking and has incredible style. Hello, did you see that AMERICA tank?! It't not even the 4th of July and he was rocking that tank like nobody's business. I've been toying with the idea of running a style blog for him, but my genius friend, Katrina, came up with the best idea ever: Mitch Mondays! Get ready! It's happening!

P.S. I'll follow up with a post for my outfit later this week!

Summer of the Lovebug

My Bfferboo, Kasey, just bought a 1979 Vannigan at the beginning of summer. If you knew her, you'd understand why this is the perfect vehicle for her. I love poking around in all the nooks and crannies and nothing can beat it's 70's charm. She graciously obliged my request for a mini shoot with it for this outfit post. I've been wearing this crochet top nonstop ever since I purchased it at the beginning of the season. I love having go-to uniforms and this top goes with every pair of shorts I have.

These very green sandals have been waiting to make their debut. Please excuse the unkept pedicure. With everything July has been throwing at me, ain't nobody got time for that! The intense color was throwing me for a loop, but these crazy printed shorts made a good backdrop. I also appreciate how the crochet tones down the tank top so I could experiment with some mixed prints.

I've been on the go since Friday and it doesn't look like I'm stopping anytime soon. Hope everyone is having an awesome weekend!

Top, Tank, Shorts Forever 21 | Shoes BC

Summer Neons

Hooray for my first fashion post in weeks! I couldn't wait to make my fashion comeback with this new top that I found on mega clearance at Anthropologie! This shape is not quite my forte but with the beautiful pink design, I just couldn't help myself. I struggled a little when trying to figure out how to wear it but eventually landed on these jeggings. A good rule of thumb with more shapeless pieces is to pair them with fitted items.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for this busy month! It's almost Friday, everyone!

Top Anthropologie | Undershirt Forever 21 |
Jeans Gap | Wedges Bamboo

A big thank you to Katrina of The Demure Muse for taking these photos for me. I'm looking forward to many more Fashion Thursdays with you and learning from your beautiful ways.

I Kalamazoo and you can too!

July is my favorite month of summer. The season is in full swing and it feels like it will never end. This July has been a little crazier than others. My social and work calendars are AT capacity and they're beginning to blur together. At work, I feel like I've fully settled into recruiting, but there's never enough time to annihilate the to-do list. Leaving things unfinished at work has always been a struggle for me. At home, I haven't figured out my workout/food schedule, but summer always tends to disrupt that part of my life anyways. I'm not going to lie, this month has been hard to keep up with. So when the opportunity came up for me to make a getaway, I jumped at the chance.

I was adopted for a week by the incredible Wright Family for 4th of July week! Grandpa Dick and Grandma Diane welcomed me into their new lake home near Kalamazoo, MI. My favorite grown up friends, Richard and Meghan have the best kids, Addison and Richie, and I can never get enough time with them. Richard's brother Chris and his boyfriend Ben became my new GBFs for the week! I love the gays. Seriously, you guys are my people. Let me have your babies!

I left the house a total of 3 times the entire week. Once to run a jenky 5K, once to visit Richard's awesome cousin Sara and once to visit the urgent care clinic- because it's not a real adventure unless you make it to the hospital! The week consisted of yummy buttery/cheese based meals, getting out onto the water every day, learning how to water ski, spending quality time with quality people and some quiet work time.

I love you, America. And the people that call you the motherland.

I have a road trip with Mitch planned through the PNW and Northern California at the end of August before the fall recruiting. I can't wait!

Flower Crowns and White Dresses

My cousins and I are big fans of craft night, so of course we had to have one upon our reunion. This time, we chose to make our own flower crowns. I got the idea last year while I was shopping at Urban Outfitters with friends. Flower crowns were beginning to come into style and I thought they were so cute! Oh, the possibilities! But I did not approve of the $20 price tag. I ventured to the local craft store and for $20, I was able to make ten of my own! I've been using them for various photos and adventures over the last year, so it was nice to get a fresh batch of them made. It was really fun to see how each girl crafted her crown.

All of that work called for photo documentation! What better way to feature vibrant crowns than pretty white dresses? We visited Sylvan grove for a mini shoot. Enjoy!

Until next time, Cousins!!!

Vivacious Vicky: Young, Wild and Free

Vicky is the oldest of the cousin group and I am glad because our careers at the UW managed to overlap. I've really enjoyed watching Vicky cultivate her independence at the UW. Growing up in a tight knit family provides an invaluable support system, but it can sometimes be difficult to forge your own path when you have a constant safety net engulfing you. I've never seen anyone work so hard to make their own way. This summer, Vicky is working at Impinj,a startup that utilizes RFID technology in multiple sectors including retail and health care. She is focusing on UI. I can't wait to see where she decides to go next!

Vicky LOVES to have fun and I think her summer outfit expresses this best, quite literally really! I can't help it, crop top plus circle skirt is THE SILHOUETTE of the summer! Vicky and I want you to have an EPIC weekend! Happy Fourth, everyone!

Never stop dreaming, Vicky!