Christmastime in Heidelberg

After leaving Munich, Andrew and I took a train to the charming city of Heidelberg. We arrived just in time for the start of their Weihnachtsmarkt, a Christmas market that was set up all around the city. Andrew and I absolutely loved hanging around the Weihnachtsmarkt. When we weren't sightseeing, we sat around for hours drinking Glühwein, talking, and people watching. The great thing was, even though these Christmas markets were just small carnivals, everyone in the city was there! Heidelberg is a university town, so the markets were filled with college students and the bars were almost empty while the markets were open! It was great to experience the sense of community that existed in Heidelberg—a sense of community I wish existed back in LA.

For my outfit, I decided to wear one of my favorite sweater dresses. Looking back, I realize I styled it with the exact same scarf I had worn last time! But, I think my orange beanie and light boots gave it a bit of a different look. Ever since I bought this beanie last winter, I have struggled with styling it (I also never really felt like I was hipster enough to pull it off...). However, it was perfect for the chilly days in Germany and I thought it made me look a little more "European" :) One of my favorite parts of traveling is experimenting with new styles I normally wouldn't try back home. There is something about being in a new place that makes me feel like I can really wear whatever I want!

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Outfit Details:
Sweater Dress—Nordstrom BP (similar // remixed) | Scarf—vintage | Beanie—Anthropologie
Cardigan—H&M (similar) | Boots—Anthropologie (similar) | Bag—Fossil (shop)

A Day in Munich

For a long weekend, Andrew and I decided to take a trip to Germany. We flew out early Wednesday morning and intended on having two full days in Munich. However, due to a number of unforeseen travel delays (and the satellite Munich airport being very far away from the actual city) we didn't get into Munich until late at night. So, we wound up only having one day to explore the city.

We decided to make the most of our one day in the city by getting an early start the next morning. Our first stop was Nymphenburg Palace, which had amazing grounds with forest paths and little creeks throughout. Almost no one else was at the palace since it was so gloomy and rainy, so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. It's hard to describe, but I just had a wonderful sense of calm the whole time we were there. One of my all time favorite moments from my whole trip abroad was walking through the forest with Andrew.

Next, we headed to the Englischer Garten—a central park in Munich—hoping to visit one of its many beer gardens. Unfortunatley, none of the beer gardens were open since it was rainy (and probably off season) so we just walked around some more (we did a lot of walking that day...). Finally, we headed over to the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl for some litres of beer and hearty food. It happened to be Thanksgiving Day back home, so we made sure to give thanks and stuff our faces :) Even though were were thousands of miles away from home, it was great to have one another and spend the holiday in such a cool city!

Something Old, Something New

I found this skirt at Turquoise Flamingo, an adorable vintage shop near Cork's city centre. It had been on the mannequin in their front display for the longest time, and I kept passing by it on my way to class. One day, on my way back from class, I finally gave in and ventured into the little shop. Not only was everything in the store adorable, but it turned out the skirt was just my size...so I couldn't resist :) It is also a nice thick brocade material, which was perfect for Ireland and should work nicely on some chilly California days as well.

I kept my outfit simple by pairing it with a chambray and green scarf that matched the print on my skirt! I love it when my old accessories match well with new items. It's always nice to have a good mix of new and old in any outfit. (It's also a good way to save money...something I will be doing a lot of these next few months!)

P.S. These photos were taken in the alleyway by my Cork apartment. I'm sad that I'm not there anymore, but I'm also really happy because my best friend Kelsey is headed to Cork for the spring semester tomorrow! While it would have been great to study abroad at the same time, I am so excited for all the adventures Ireland has in store for her :)

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Outfit Details:

Chambray—Urban Outfitters (shop) | Skirt—vintage, Turquoise Flamingo

Scarf—Nordstrom BP (similar) | Boots—Marks & Spencer (similar)

A Very Merry Christmas

I recently picked up this plaid shirt from Madewell and I thought it would be perfect to wear on Christmas day, along with the red scarf Andrew's family got me before we left for Ireland. I had a wonderful Christmas morning exchanging gifts at Andrew's house. He got me this adorable bag from Madewell, a scarf, and a world cities calendar from Rifle Paper Co. As you can see from my outfit photos, I couldn't wait to wear my new bag. I was also really happy, because I couldn't wait to give Andrew his new watch. I like it so much...I just might have to steal it from time to time ;)

 It was a great morning, even though I wished we could have spent the whole holiday together. I guess I'm still getting used to the fact that we are no longer living together (for now). I shouldn't complain though, since I was able to see him, his family, and then spend the rest of the day with my family. My mom made a huge feast (I helped! I helped!) and I can promise you we will be eating leftovers for the next week I am home...

Merry (day after) Christmas :) I hope you all had a great holiday!

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Outfit Details:

Plaid Shirt—Madewell (similar) | Skirt—Target (similar) | Scarf—gift (similar) |

Handbag—Madewell "The Camden Bag" (shop) | Boots—Nordstrom BP |

Meet Me in Barcelona

For a weekend in November, I decided to travel solo and visit some of my good friends in Spain. The three of them were studying abroad in Sevilla (a city in southern Spain), but we all met up in Barcelona for a few days. The funny thing about Barcelona is, it's very different from the rest of Spain (as I was told by my friends and picked up after being there a few days). The principle language is Catalan, which is similar to Spanish but also distinctly different. This confused me, because I figured my best bet in communicating would be to use my (extremely limited) Spanish knowledge. However, I quickly discovered that Barcelona is very international and I almost had a better shot at speaking English to people rather than Spanish.

To be honest, Barcelona wasn't my favorite city. Because of how international it is, I don't think I got an entirely "authentic" Spanish experience. The next time I'm in Europe (whenever that may be...) I would love to see a little more of Spain, especially places like Sevilla and Granada. Nonetheless, I still had a really fun weekend. My friends and I wandered around the city, ate lots of good food, visited La Boqueria (a massive food market) too many times, saw La Sagrada Familia, explored Park Güell, and caught up on the past two months we had been apart. Overall, it was a good weekend...made better with great friends :)