Art Teacher

The second I saw this sweater at Nasty Gal I knew I had to buy it. Don't ask me why of all the trendy and usually bodycon styles on their site, I honed in on this oversized, chunky coatigan. I'm not an art teacher and/or crazy cat lady yet but I'm definitely channeling my inner eccentric whenever I wear this (note: extremely cozy) statement piece.

Not pictured: my paper mache earrings and patchwork vest.

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Nasty Gal Coatigan

Target White Tank

GUESS High-Rise Jeans

Gold Pendant Necklace

TOMS Sunglasses

GUESS Gold Watch

Brown Leather Satchel

Black Leather Mules

Rooftop Blues

These photos were taken during my rooftop excursion. I tend to avoid taking blog photos at night, but I love how rich the colors turned out in these. It almost looks like I planned my outfit to match the vibrant blue sky and city lights. I'm definitely your average Type A...but I can't take credit for this happy accident.

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Outfit Details:

Ruche Floral Bomber Jacket

Madewell Grey V-Neck

Paige High Rise Flares

GUESS Classic Gold Watch

Madewell Glasgow Satchel

Banana Republic Tan Sandals

The Archives

As I'm sure I've mentioned many times before, I'm a bit of a clothes hoarder and will keep certain pieces for years. I like to think of my closet as a collection of my favorite things and I often pull from "the archives" when I look at my wardrobe (full of clothes, mind you) and foolishly declare: I have nothing to wear! Which on this particular day translated to: I have nothing new to wear, and will therefore pull out my tried-and-true cardi from one of my very first blog posts.

That's the thing about having a blog. I've documented the wear and tear of this silly little cardigan that I got on sale (yes I still remember and yes you should read my old posts and cringe with me) and, without realizing it, the past 4 years of my life in between. It's a little unnerving reading old posts, realizing how much my priorities have changed over time. It makes me half-miss college, while half-realize I was a complete nutcase who stressed out way. too. much. (Admittedly still kind of do, but I'm getting better!) Anyway, do yourself a favor and look back at a photo from your own archives (old Myspace?—would love if mine still existed in cyberspace). Maybe it'll get you thinking about life and priorities and things like that. Or if you're like me, maybe you'll just really question why you thought that haircut was a good idea.

Nostalgia aside, a word to the wise: this whole "archive" rule should really only be applied to fashion. But at the same time...sometimes you won't know unless you try. At least that's what I seem to keep telling myself.

Happy hump day :)

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Outfit Details:

Anthropologie Lace Cardigan

ZARA Black Tank Top

GUESS Classic Gold Watch

Etsy Gold Wishbone Necklace

GUESS High-Waisted Jeans

Madewell Glasgow Satchel

Banana Republic Tan Sandals

Rooftops

I'm not quite sure why, but I've always had a thing for rooftops. When I was shopping around for a new apartment, any place with a rooftop view got huge bonus points in my book. Surprisingly, I wound up signing a lease at my current apartment before I even realized it came with an amazing view. It took me about 2 weeks to discover the "secret" rooftop access that makes for a pretty impressive panorama of the city at sunset. A part of me really thinks I'm meant to live in Brooklyn and have Pinterest-perfect rooftop picnics all summer long. This is still in the plans...eventually.

Anyway, I left my apartment mid-dinner to run and snap these photos before the sunset. This whole outfit has a '70s vibe to me and consists entirely of old pieces in my closet. You might recognize this daisy blouse from the archives. If you go back far enough you'll see it was one of my very first blog posts. Further proof that I literally do not get rid of clothes. I've heard the word "hoarder" thrown around a few times and I'm still not sure what to make of it.

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Outfit Details:

Daisy Blouse—Anthropologie

High-Rise Jeans—GUESS

Leather Watch—Nixon

Shoulder Bag—Anthropologie

Brown Clogs—Target

Lalaland

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I'm going to do that annoying thing where I call LA "Lalaland" but only because I can't think of a better title. I like my city...so I bought a printed tee to show everyone. Added with my denim skirt, this whole outfit feels very 90's Babysitters Club and I love it. 

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Outfit Details:

Printed Tee—Madewell (shop)

Denim Skirt—GUESS (shop)

Sweater—Nordstrom (similar)

Bracelet—Coordinates Collection (shop)

Watch—GUESS (shop)

Sneakers—Converse (shop)

On The Rise

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I could have named this post "feeling blue" but that just wouldn't be fitting, aside from the whole denim/blue wall thing. Which, side note: I'm completely obsessed with these high-rise jeans and haven't taken them off since I got them a couple weeks ago. They're part of the GUESS Originals collection, which I've already bought way too many items from. (This is no paid promotion people, I just love the brand I work for.)

 Back to the title—I'm not feeling blue. In all honesty, I'm actually pretty happy. Happier than I've been in quite some time. Job, life, friends—it's all coming together in a crazy and exciting mix.

As I've said before, happiness and contentment exist in such a fragile balance. And it's only when I'm coming out of a period of slight discontentment that I'm actively aware of both sides of the coin. Which is why I don't want to jinx it by publicly acknowledging it. It seems nuts, but it can really only take a few weeks to "adjust" to certain feelings of elation until those become the baseline. Don't believe me? It's a thing, really.

Granted, things are still crazy and I'm still (at times) mildly insane. But, right now, I wouldn't really ask for much else...except for maybe a few more hours in the day.

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Outfit Details:

Top—Nordstrom (similar)

Scarf—Vintage (similar)

Cardigan—H&M (similar)

Watch—GUESS (shop)

Jeans—GUESS (shop)

Bag—Anthropologie (similar)

Boots—Madewell (similar)