Wagons, Spilled Milk, and an Early Spring

Oh boy, the weekend I've had. First, San Francisco was as rainy as a butt crack. It wasn't much different from being in Utah except for the fact that it was a balmy 55 degrees. It was quite pretty to see all of the pretty trees atop the small little mountains, though, but it was just a weekend full of stresses and a whirlwind of emotions. Family, however darling they may be, can sometimes be a bit of a pain in the rear. ;) Except for you, Allison, of course. ;) Also, I've discovered that I kind of like the driving part of trips far better than the arriving at the actual destination part. Weird, I know. There's just something about looking out of a window that captures my fancy like nothing else. Also, I've decided that as soon as I'm a millionaire I'm going to buy myself a lakeside cabin at Lake Tahoe. ;) Lake Tahoe just really captured my heart, it's so ridiculously pretty!

Even, though, I went from rainy San Francisco to even rainier Utah, I'm glad it's just rain and not snow. Knock on wood. Plus, I like the rain. It's strangely relaxing. Also, rainy days just remind of that little children's song, "You are my Sunshine". I always looooooved that song. It was one of my favorites as a kid! Although, the rain does make it seem like Spring is coming a full month early! Not that I'm complaining. It's nice to be able to start incorporating more Spring pieces, like this floral top and baby pink sweater!

 Floral Top: F21

Cardigan: F21

Pencil Skirt: h&m

Shoes: h&m

Gold Belt: American Eage similar

Now, I have to confess something. This entire outfit is new. I fell off the band wagon, guys. My mom and I were just feeling super down the day we dropped my little sister off at the MTC so we decided to take a trip to the mall. I hadn't planned on buying anything but after my mom bought me couple of things it's like a switch went off in my mind and I immediately had to get everything. I didn't of course, but I did buy 6 things. This outfit included. I feel yucky. But, hey, the only thing left to do now is learn from this experience and realize that I created the guidelines of my Closet Challenge for a reason. Now what I need to do is add the equivalent of the money I spent into my savings account, and move forward again with a full effort to not shop! There's no use crying over spilled milk, right? All that matters now is that I've followed my guidelines for situations like this and that I'm not going to fall of the band wagon again. :)

Much love!

P.S. Guess who is heeeeere! My aunt and my little baby cousin! They came to visit from Guatemala for the next couple of weeks! I love them! This little one is a TALKER. And she says the cutest things! When we met each other for the first time she told me, "All my wildest dreams have come true now that I've met you!" Oh, and the other day she told me I looked Chinese because I have pointy eyes. She's a hoot and a half! ;)

White Christmas

This past week it was just snowfall after snowfall with little reprieve for my poor poor shivering bones. At least we will most definitely be having a white Christmas. Today, though, the skies finally cleared, the sun came out to shine, and surprisingly enough, 15 degrees felt deliciously warm. I swear, I wasn't even shivering one bit for these photos. Even, though, the snow is truly beautiful and a wonderful sight to see, it is the mortal enemy of heels, especially suede heels. Maybe it'll be just straight up boots on Sundays for this girl from here on out, but ha! We all know that's not gonna happen. ;) Sundays are for heels. Guys, I'm so so happy to be in the full swing of the Christmas season. It's truly and honestly my favorite season of the year! In my family, holiday territory is split between my older sister and me, Thanksgiving belongs to my older sister, and Christmas belongs to me. I'm the official decorator in the family and I take it upon myself to spread Christmas cheer whenever possible. Call me Cindy Lou Who if you will. :) I think I became the official Cindy Lou of the family because my mom has never been much of a decorator and Christmas decorating just always seemed to stress her out and give her a headache. I remember Christmas' past when my grandma would come to visit she and I, along with my siblings, would go crazy pulling out all of our Christmas decor and spend hours upon hours converting our house into a winter wonderland. Those were such happy, happy times. I remember how we'd always pull out the radio, tune it to a Christmas station, and dance to the holiday music while we decorated. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was always a favorite of my grandma's and we would listen to it on repeat until we all felt like going back in history and destroying that nasty little Rudolph. ;) I remember that when everyone else got tired and would eventually give up on the decorating my grandma and I would stay strong and decorate all the way through midnight.  As the years passed everyone else seemed to show less and less interest in decorating for Christmas, but I've always wanted to hang onto my spirit of childhood and getting giddy for Christmas is one of the biggest characteristics of the childhood spirit, so year after year I would take it upon myself to make sure our house was decorated. I don't know why, but as a child I promised myself that I would try my hardest not to loose that magical warm feeling that I felt during the Christmas season. This year, though, I thought I might finally have to give up on hanging onto to that Childhood magic. This Christmas will be the first Christmas without my dear grandma and I thought that I would be too sad to care about keeping that childhood Christmas excitement going. Surprisingly enough, though, so far, this Christmas season I have felt that special warm spirit that I felt as a child, the strongest. Sure, the first time hearing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" or "Oh Come all Ye Faithful" (my grandma taught me that one and it was the first Christmas hymn I knew by memory) brought a little pang to my heart and couple of tears down my eyes, but for once they were tears of tender, warm remembrance rather than sadness.

I think the passing of my grandma this year has actually helped me better remember the true spirit of Christmas. It has kept in my mind the knowledge of what I'm really celebrating, the birth of Christ, and the fact that since he lived and died I will be able to see my Grandma again, that it isn't the end of the road. This Christmas season my heart is full of such a peace and gratitude that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) My heart is full. My heart is truly full. Just the other night my sister and I were able to have such a special, magical experience. We were heading toward our local Target when we passed by a small clearing with a few trees. The trees were lit with Christmas lights and the snow all around was untouched and sparkling, and amidst that small glittering clearing there was a small family of four deer gracefully grazing. The road was completely empty so we stopped to just drink in the presence of such delicate and pure creatures. We felt so touched to be able see them. Their presence reminded me that amidst the hustle and bustle of this crazy busy world there is still innocence and beauty around. I don't know why, but seeing them there just innocently standing in the sparkling snow made me wonder how anyone can question the existence of God. I'm so happy we were able to see them. :)

 {Gap: tie front button up similar; Space 46  Boutique: tulle skirt; American Eagle: glittered gold belt; h&m: pointed toe pumps; Target earrings}

I think I mentioned in my last post that I love dressing up during the holiday season. For that reason, I take getting dressed on Sundays during the holidays very seriously. ;) I got this tulle skirt about a week ago from an online boutique called, Space 46 Boutique, that specializes in making tulle skirts. I know I had previously promised you all a DIY for a tulle skirt, which would've been more like a HYSDI (Have Your Sister Do It), but after attempting it, it became very very clear why tulle skirts cost so much. It's difficult to cut evenly, the sewing is a pain in the butt, and it's just difficult all around. If I could successfully make and sell tulle skirts I would charge a butt load too. After a LOT of research I found Space 46. It has excellent reviews and compared to a lot of other shops I looked into, the price was very reasonable. I'm not gonna lie, the skirt still cost me a pretty penny, but since I was paid for getting my wisdom teeth out I just dipped into those funds a lil' bit. ;) I'm so excited to wear the crap out of this skirt. I can promise you guys you will be seeing a heck of a whole lot more of this bad boy. For my first time styling this skirt, though, I decided to go with an all white classic sort of look. I then paired it all with my handy dandy glittery gold belt, because what says Christmas spirit more than tulle and gold glitter, right? Rather than accenting the look with a classic red or green I decided to accent it with some powder blue earrings. I think a soft blue is the perfect unconventional Christmas color. It just screams winter wonderland to me. Whelp, I guess that's all for today, I hope you're all having a lovely holiday season!

Much love!

Chocolate

Notice the giant band-aid on my face? Yeah, I know, it looks pretty ridiculous but it beats the alternative which involves slathering makeup on top of a pretty painful scab, which is more raw skin than scab. Beautiful, I know. Anyway, wisdom teeth removal surgery is coming up in t minus 30 hours. AHHHHHHHH. Swollen cheeks here I come and, yes, I mean my face cheeks. Ha, lame joke, I know. I just heard it once on The Fairly Odd Parents about a thousand years ago when I was a kid and I thought it was incredibly hilarious at the time and now I just can't stop myself from using it whenever I get a chance.

You know how they say that once you can't have something it instantly becomes the one and only thing you can think about and/or want? I'm feeling that way about chocolate right about now. I have to be caffeine free 5 days before surgery and 5 days post surgery, which means no chocolate even, though, its levels of caffeine are infinitesimal. Sighhhhhhh. And the thing is, I'm not even a very big chocolate fan. Now all I can seem to think about, though, are Oreos, brownies, hot chocolate, Hershey's chocolate bars, s'mores, my gosh s'moressssss, peanut butter cookies stuffed with Snicker's bars, the list goes on and on. I digress. One thing I'm trying to fully enjoy while I can, though, is popcorn. Which, funny enough, is another thing I'm not a huge fan of but I figure I might as well enjoy it before it's forcibly removed from the menu for 6 weeks. Five day liquid/mushy food diet say hello to your soon to be slave.

 {F21: plaid top similar; h&m: pleated skirt similar, sheer tights, spiked necklace similar; Charlotte Russe: heels similar}

When I got dressed this morning my little sister told  me that I wear this shirt too much. And she's probably right. I mean, if anything, this blog is proof of the fact. But plaid is just one of those fall staples that transitions beautifully for the winter/holidays, am I right? I mean, I was totes ma goats feelin' ready for Christmas in this outfit. Which, speaking of, I have shamelessly started jammin' out to Christmas music. Judge away if you must now. ;) The Christmas season is just my favorite. There isn't a time of year when I feel giddier or warmer in my gooey marshmallow insides. Now that we're on the topic of Christmas, though, I just want to quickly remind you all of the Blogger's Give Back campaign. We're still accepting donations, and every dollar helps! I'll attach the link again at the bottom of this post, so if you're able to it'd be much appreciated. :) Oh, and quick question. Did the stunna shades I stole from my sister do their job of drawing attention away from the giant band-aid on my chin? No, because I pointed out said band-aid the second I started this post? Yeah, I probably shouldn't have done that. ;)

Much love!

Penguin

In case you where wondering, it snowed here in Utah. Luckily not enough to actually stick but it's started to snow again now as I speak. Sigh...I guess it's time for me to just let go of fall already. I might cry. Mostly because it feels like fall lasted for all of two seconds, and we seemed to skip straight over chilly, or even straight up cold, and just went right to FUH-REEZING. I'm telling you all, it's seriously colder than a penguin's butt crack over here. And you're welcome for that visual. ;) As much as I hate the cold I think I've gotten pretty good at sucking it up and enduring. No matter how much I gripe and complain about it, I don't seem to ever get as cold as everybody else or as much as I used to. I guess it just takes 17 years to get warmed up to the feeling of cold. Haha, see what I did there? Get WARMED up to the feeling of COLD? I'm so punny, guys. ;) Just kidding, I actually don't think it has anything to do with time. I think the difference has been 3 years of running all through the winter season. When I'm out on one of my winter runs I don't really have much choice other than to suck it up and go, go, go so I guess I've just gotten used to it. Anyway, remember how I told you all last post that you'd be seeing a lot more of this lovely little fur vest? Well, as you can see, I wasn't kidding. I wore this little number for church yesterday. It was inspired by the lovely little pin that you can see below, side by side with my version of the look.

Didn't so bad of a job recreating it, did I? :) Except that my version involves my mega awkward hands. Whoops. Oh and since my cardi was already so close to white I layered a pale pink top underneath it instead of a white one like in the pin.

{h&m: faux fur vest similar, pink heels similar; F21: cardi similar, leaf necklace borrowed from my sister similar; Tanger Outlet: baby pink henley shirt similar; White House Black Market: a-line skirt similar}

Oh, and guess what? The most flattering thing just happened to me today. When I was at Subway picking up lunch for the office the register boy who helped me said, "Have a great day. Thanks for coming in, we love it when cute girls stop by." Haha, my oh my, thank you Subway boy. I'll take compliments where I can get 'em. ;) Anyway, can we discuss false lashes for a quick minute here? I'm not usually a big fan. I had tried a pair for the first time last Spring, for my twentieth birthday, and I ended up completely detesting them. I felt like I looked like a baby prostitute. Forgive the comparison, but that's honestly what I felt my face looked like. Maybe I had just picked an ugly pair, I don't know. Anyway, I decided to give them a second chance this year and got a different pair a couple of weeks ago to wear on Halloween. I ended up going with this pair of Katy Perry's Cool Kitty eyelashes. This time around, I actually didn't hate how I looked with them on. I thought they worked really well with my costume makeup (I couldn't find a fox costume anywhere so I ended up being a Panda Bear) and I decided to try them out with an everyday look with this outfit. I didn't love them quite as much with my lighter everyday makeup as I had with my heavier costume makeup but I definitely liked them a whole lot better than my first try with false lashes last year. Once the self adhesive strip on these babies looses their stick, though, I think I'll just stick to rockin' my real lashes. Although I do enjoy the drama the falsies bring to my everyday makeup routine, I think I'm perfectly content with the thickness and length of my actual lashes. Oh, and one last thing, don't the little lights of the train tracks up there look like little Minnie Mouse ears on my head? I think so, and I think it's pretty funny. ;)

Much love!

P.S. There always seems to be at least one of these with my outfit photos but look at this outtake. Pretty hilarious right? I think I look like a little penguin about to slap together my little flippers. Oh, and that last picture is just a testament to how penguin's butt crack cold it was. I think I've said the word penguin about a thousand times now in this post. Penguin, penguin, penguin.