WEAR | Long and Cropped, & Why I'm Doing Style Posts

Booties | Anthropologie (last year)    Sweater | Anthropologie     

Maxi Dress | Anthropologie ( similar here & here )

I started up these style posts again knowing full well I had no time to scout out pretty building fronts and locations as my style backdrops. Style posts went silent for months, until yesterday, because I just couldn't wing them. It was too much time and planning. What held me back was the production of it all. You know, making a trip to River North to stand in front of a bright warehouse door in an outfit that I do wear, yes, but that I planned out to a T for the shoot; making Matt go with me, and finding somewhere to be photographed that wasn't surrounded by people. I so admire fashion bloggers, who walk the streets of places like Nashville and New York turning heads while being trailed by their photographer. But for me, that's just not my thing - you know? 

Maybe I'm more of an introvert style blogger. I love pretty things and I love making myself feel like a piece of art, and expressing myself through clothing. I have no problem doing that in real time, in person, face to face. However, blogging it is different. And it never felt completely natural for me to go and do full on photo shoots for blog posts. I still am a bit modest and don't like to be showy (which can be a real fine line with blogging at times), so at first style posts felt truly uncomfortable. I mean, I sell clothes daily at my job, and put together head to toe looks for myself and others hundreds of times - but to blog about it became too much for me. I think the novelty wore off a bit, and it started to feel unnatural to make Matt fill in as photographer while I posed in front of buildings. Not to be confused with a lack of confidence. I always felt great in what I was wearing and my inner and outer beauty, but I just didn't want to spend my time trudging Matt to take my photo. It's somewhat hard to explain, but I bet some of you can follow my sentiments. Truly, for our marriage, our time together is spent more organically on bike rides, working on our house, adventuring, and being with friends - not on style posts. SO, I stopped asking him to take my photo for style posts, set them on the back burner entirely, yet continued getting dressed every day with WEAR posts completely out of sight and mind.

Now here I sit. Adding words to a style post after saying that I don't do style posts. Well, this week things shifted. My dear friend Anne, who has such great style, started talking about maybe chronicling her personal looks on her blog - my response was a resounding YES! I really want her to do it. But Anne is a busy lady. I mean, she blogs full time, is a student and wife full time, and is somehow always in Boulder doing a million things. I don't know how she does it. And I want her to blog her style. So to support Anne and show her that style posts can be done in the moment and with ease, I decided it was time for me to do them again - but this time differently. When I decided to pick up sharing my own style on here again, I chose to do it the most realistic way I could - in the moment, in what I literally step out the door and go to work in, and what I might have truly just figured out five minutes prior while juggling feeding the dog, making coffee, and making sure my teeth are brushed. I decided my wear posts are going to be completely, one hundred percent, real. Like, if you bump into me later that day, I will be wearing that outfit. And I might have taken all the photos myself. (With my phone. In my house. With Shelby photo bombing.) Because for me, this is the most natural and genuine way I can share who I am in what I am wearing. It just feels the most honest and true.

So I hope you stick with my not so perfect style posts.  I hope you feel inspired. I really find so much joy in putting together a head to toe look for both myself and other women, to help them feel confident and radiate the beauty inside, and I hope that you can see that here in this little blog space of mine.

Happy weekend, beauties.

p.s. Go tell Anne she should blog her stylish self.

WEAR | Candied Ginger, Braids, & the Slouchy Sweater

Theca Cardigan | Anthropologie    Polkadot Blouse | Anthropologie (old)    

Wooden Bib Necklace | DIY    Pilcro Hyphen Chinos (in candied ginger) | Anthropologie (on sale!)    

Braided Locks | Darling Magazine DIY

The reality of my look is that my alarm clock went off at 4:30 a.m., yet I continued to sleep through it until waking up when I usually am out the door. So in day old braids and an outfit that I thankfully laid out the night before (because who can honestly pick clothing out of a pitch black closet without waking up their husband who sleeps one foot away from the closet door?), I hurried to work, and now nine hours later I sit in my backyard, hold the camera out for some down to earth in the moment style. You can use your imagination a little with this head to toe look, because without a tripod, photographer, or a crafty set up, taking a photograph with my entire body in the frame all by myself? Yeah, I wasn't that clever.  Selfie's are hard. And I'm sure my neighbors were watching through our connected backyards scratching their heads. But I can tell you this sweater made by Moth is pretty much the best investment I've made in my summer to fall wardrobe. Hear that, neighbors? I love this sweater. Its perfect with pants, pencil skirts, AND dresses. Actually, Moth has some of my favorites right now. Like this cropped knit pullover with buttons down the back (which I literally did wear four days in a row right after I bought it…) So versatile. Cost per wear, cost per wear! ;)

(The items in my look are below, minus the top and the shoes which aren't available any longer - I added two tops and flats that would still make the same vibe.):

WEAR | Floral Peplum

floral peplum // anthropologie     striped skirt // LOFT (similar here & here )  

  sandals // anthropologie (similar here)     bag // gift from my mom

Oh warm nights! YES. They are finally here. And to think that last weekend we saw over a foot of snow. Oh, Colorado, you are teaching this California girl what Spring is all about. This weekend was an amazing 80 degrees and to celebrate, I wore tank tops, linen shorts, cotton skirts, and even a big floppy hat while out in the yard pulling the never ending weeds. Sunday night we cleaned up and went out on a double date for some serious Mexican food and margaritas with our cousins. We managed to squeeze in these style shots literally as I walked out the front door. Oh yeah, this is the front door of our house! Which I am going to be painting this summer! Speaking of, this peplum top is a metaphor for how my heart longs for the vibrant hot days of summer. The back detail might be my favorite part, but of course we forgot to photograph that (don't you worry though, the peep hole back detail is shown off pretty great right here.) I hope your weekend was refreshing. Happy Monday!

WEAR | Scarf that Dirty Hair

A busy life means prioritizing. And for me, that means clean hair often gets the ax. Especially on the weekends. Dry shampoo is a life saver, truly and always, but lately for me I've had to come up with clever ways to make amends with hair that cannot be helped by dry shampoo. Embarrassing, really, to share this maybe, yet the reality of my life (and yours too I'm sure)! When my day is going to potentially end with a run or a swim, it feels silly for me to wash my hair in the morning when its just going to get dirty or completely soaked later in the day. Work days at Anthropologie are pretty much designated hair washing days -all the rest- fair game for dirty. One of my beyond the help of dry shampoo hair solutions is the head wrap. Scarf, handkerchief, fabric: any and all do the trick. Yesterday I wore my hair like this through yard work, errand running, coffee shopping, and a mid-afternoon stop for Belgium fries.

I like the messy Bohemian feel, and tend to leave it a bit tousled and imperfect. I take the front portion of hair around my face and leave it down, then wrap the scarf around and under the back portion of my hair (you can put the back portion in a pony tail while you wrap the scarf and tie it in place). Then for the braid, incorporate the front pieces into the back pieces. Pull a few strands out to frame your face and  wiggle your fingers through the braid to loosen it up for a more messy look. Or, just wear it all day and it becomes tousled on its own :) The key is that the scarf covers dirty roots. Shhhh, don't tell….