Bloggers & Blossoms

HELLO. HI. Long time, y'all. There goes my "blog more" resolution for 2016, huh? Sometimes life gets actually crazy and you just have to do what you need to do to stay afloat. My travel schedule for work has been insane. Since January, I've had 7 weeks of travel with 2 more ahead of me before I can (kinda) take a break from airplanes and hotel rooms. I've spent a ton of time in SoCal (Irvine, Anaheim, San Diego, Claremont & Los Angeles), hitting up New York City, Austin, Las Vegas and Orlando with a couple days at home in between. Currently, I'm in Boston and I will have hit up middle-of-nowhere-Pennsylvania, Florida, Nashville and Santa Barbara before I get to sleep in my own bed again. It sounds glamorous and exciting and honestly, sometimes I feel too cool for school but it's official, I am HELLA ready to be done travelling. I need some serious down time when this is over.

I miraculously managed to find some time to visit the UW Cherry Blossoms before all the petals fell from their branches :) So I'm back for bit today to share some pretty photos I snapped with lovely Nini from The Nerdly Beautiful and handsome Hector of Geek-Q.

We woke up bright and early to catch the quad at a less busy time. WTF it's spring already?! My body does not understand which season it is because rotating through the 4 corners of the US will do that to you :D I've had super fun times with my minimal luxe babe vibe this winter but I am ready to return to the full skirted glory of the candy colored part of my closet starting with this butterfly dress from Lindy Bop!

Hopefully more blogging and fashion will be in my near future! Thank you to my blogger besties for now being put off by my adversity towards early mornings! I can't wait until next time!

"Holly" 1950's Inspired Blue Butterfly Swing Dress Lindybop, exact
Gold Ankle Strap Sandals Calvin Klein, similar
Cat Eye Sunglasses thrifted, similar

Peachy Pink Valentine with The Nerdly Beautiful & Table Manners Aside

Happy Valentine's Day, friends! I've been waiting FOREVER to share this post with you :) It's my first double collab post and I couldn't be more excited to partner with the lovely Nini from The Nerdly Beautiful and the luscious ladies behind Table Manners Aside. Nini and I have made a friendship pact to do 5 collabs this year and we wanted the first to be for Vday. So of course we were delighted when Temi and Mari invited us to help with their own Vday themed post! Temi created a decadent raspberry molten lava cake recipe and Nini and I were going to get to be the hand models while Mari composed the perfect pictures. Basically, we pretended to daintily eat Temi's yummy cakes and after the shots were taken we INHALED THEM. Find out how to get this goodness into your own mouth here!

I love TMA's food photography. Mari really knows what she's doing behind the camera! I have to say my favorite thing about their blog is their joint writing voice. It feels like I'm chatting with a sassy girlfriend who is always in-the-know about their favorite restaurants whenever I read one of their posts. Temi and Mari co-write a recurring feature called TMA Mondays where they give you a heads up on their picks of all the happenings on the Seattle food scene. Bookmark their blog for new recipes, Seattle restaurant views, food porn worthy photos and a good time!

After enjoying good cakes and company, we were a bit pressed for daylight to get our outfit shots in so we jetted down to Nini's courtyard for some quick snaps. I love the way these photos turned out! Nini is basically Nigeria's next top model, AMIRIGHT?! The contrast between her edgy twists against the flirty flower crown and princess pink tulle is fab. I asked Nini to send me photo of her dress ahead of time so I could coordinate. I picked up this perfectly peachy fit-and-flare from the Nordstrom Rack clearance section before Christmas and immediately thought of it when I saw what Nini was planning to wear. As the weather warms in the PNW, I'm feeling drawn to the pretty pretty princess half of my closet.

I'm spending this Valentine's day hanging out with husband, brother and sister (in-law) on a sunny sunday in Florida. Sister's whipping up a scrumptious brunch and we have a beach excursion planned for later. I hope your day is filled with reminders of how much you are loved by your own loved ones. Thanks for reading today :)

His & Hers: Orange, Pink, Plaid and Floral for Valentine's Day

Happy February, friends! It's been a little while since I last posted. 16 posts in 20ish days was a serious accomplishment for January but then I needed to prioritize other parts of my life aka work, husband and netflix :) I'm ready to get back at it again and I'm kicking this month of blogging off with a Valentine's Day inspired outfit post with my blogger boyfriend, Hector. Hector was kind enough to take time out of his busy work schedule to accompany me on a recruiting trip to UCLA last week. We had an absolute blast with our bruin-loving crew. Hector did an amazing job representing Microsoft and I am so grateful to have such cool friends to rep my favorite company with me.

We stayed at Le Meridien Delfina in Santa Monica together. I LOVE this hotel, it's definitely my favorite. I had this vision of a fun and sunny shoot but the weather was not on our side. Instead, we bought a spread of yummy desserts from Bay Cities Italian Deli and had a cookie and cake fest in the lobby. Huge thank you to my #1, Kasey Champion, for taking these photos and putting up with our shenanigans. Hector and I went for a bright and flirty twist on traditional Valentine's Day wear. Orange and pink is a fun and bold alternative to red. I love the pattern mixing we have going on with my busy florals and Hector's bold plaids.

I'm lucky to have such good friends to lollygag around with and I'm happy to say that you'll be seeing quite a few His & Hers posts this month! So see you again soon!

On Kim:
Floral Skater Dress Forever 21, similar options (dark floral, light floral)
Braided Wedge Nine West via Nordstrom Rack, similar




On Hector:
Button Down Brice, similar
Hot Pink Chinos Bonobos, similar
Blue Gingham Scarf Zara, similar
Shoes Public Opinion @ Nordstrom, similar

Where Are Your Pants?

Hi Pretties! Here it is, my final post of January! Almost 16 days in a row of blogging! I'm definitely impressed with myself, not gonna lie. Not sure if I'll carry this habit into February, but I have some good things planned for le blog next month! Currently, I'm in Santa Monica with my Microsoft besties for some good ol' fashioned recruiting at UCLA and Harvey Mudd.

To close out the week, I leave you with this questionably short, but unbelievably fun ensemble. Husband immediately (jokingly?) questioned where my pants were when he saw me in this get-up, but I was definitely feeling myself :D Special shout out to Seattle weather for being so mild these last few days so I can rock everything sans leggings.

I wish you a wonderful week ahead, friends. I have a good feeling about mine :)

Wool Boater sold out from Forever 21, similar(save, splurge)
Cinched Waist Camel Cape Jolt, similar and exact spotted on Poshmark
Gid-Patterned Shirt Dress Forever 21, exact
Steve Madden Gorgeous Boot via Nordstrom, exact, similar for $35

Shiny and New

Oh, harrow! What's this you say? A style post on a Saturday? Well, I was down for the count yesterday because of a lovely migraine and I am determined to get through this 16 post challenge before the end of the month! I believe in myself :) Yesterday was my 28th birthday and although it was no where near ideal to be sick, I still had a nice day being babied at home by husband. My bfferboo and surrogate sister (aka Kasey and Niky) brought me my annual DQ ice cream cake! I don't expect these things, but I seriously appreciate their effort every year to do something special for me on my birthday. Mitch helped me rally enough to go see The Big Short and eat a late dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. So all in all, completely wonderful. Today felt like an extension of my birthday. My migraine was gone and I was able to catch up with old friends that I don't see as often as I'd like and get a board game in with my apartment mates before packing for my upcoming week in LA. Overall, feeling pretty damn good and ready to take on whatever is ahead for me this year!

I'm wrapping up the white shift series with this casual glam take. I treated the LWD like a long tunic and threw it over my favorite pair of jeans. I dressed the look up with a bold statement necklace and my new strappy golden sandals that I picked up on my last cali trip. I don't know what it is with my shoe luck at Nordstrom Rack, but I got these beautiful Calvin Klein "Abiba" sandals for $30! WHAT WHAT?! To finish off the look, I threw on my familiar friend, this longline knit jacket to keep the look weather appropriate.

Well, it's time to finish cleaning and packing before takeoff tomorrow. See you back here again for my final post of January!

Grey Longline Duster last season from Forever 21, similar(1, 2, 3)
Statement Necklace gifted, similar
Mock Neck Shift Dress Forever 21, exact (on sale!)
Jeans Forever 21, exact (for $7.90!)

Wool, Buffalo & Faux Suede

Hello hello, beautiful friends. Only 1 day from the weekend and 1 day until my 28th birthday! Wheeeeeeee!

For today's take on the shift, I've made it all about the accessories. This LWD is the perfect blank canvas for all of my go-to pieces. My obsession with my OTKs was seriously out of control last week but I #cantstopwontstop! This buffalo scarf has been a staple since last winter and my tried and true wool boater from the fall go together effortlessly.

I'm keeping it short and sweet today. Crossing off all of those to-do's one by one and as soon as I post this, that's one more off the list! Have a lovely evening, my friends!

Wool Boater sold out from Forever 21, similar(save, splurge)
Buffalo Scarf Forever 21, similar
Mock Neck Shift Dress Forever 21, exact (on sale!)
Steve Madden Gorgeous Boot via Nordstrom, exact, similar for $35

Dove Gray and Pure White

Happy hump day, pretty people! I'm back in the shift with some cooler than school metal studded loafers and my favorite summer to fall transition pieces that seem like they'll be perfect for winter to spring! Lols I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch, tho :) I am seriously feeling this dove gray + pure white combo. So fresh! This is probably my favorite way to wear this shift (so far). I'd definitely categorize this in the LA Luxe box.

So, midweek check in! How is everyone doing? I've gotten the chance to be pretty dang productive. I have to admit I was a little stressed on Sunday just thinking about my to-do's. For someone who is very organized and feels very capable, I still struggle with feeling stress even when it's for tasks I'm pretty confident I can complete. Maybe it's conditioning from college? Mitch worries about me when I get this way and seeing his concern is a reminder for me to truly evaluate if my stress is necessary. In this case, it wasn't and he was just what I needed to refocus positively. Partners- they're definitely a thing. I feel pretty lucky that I have multiple partners to rely on. Kasey always encourages me to put everything down on a list and cross each every little task off as I go along. So simple, but hellllllla effective. I also need to shout out Hector for giving me a much needed creative boost this week. Being able to take midday work breaks with people that re-energize you is such a privilege. Can't wait to share our next project with y'all!

One of my favorite lifestyle bloggers of all time recently wrote a post that's relevant to this check in. That's what's up for me. What's up with you? :)

Grey Vest Forever 21, similar
Necklace Forever 21, similar
Mock Neck Shift Dress Forever 21, exact (on sale!)
Circus by Sam Edelman Lali Loafer via Nordstrom Rack exact