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 :)