Any Way I Can

leather jacket: h&m
mock neck top: F21
suede skirt: c/o OASAP (sold out) basically identical version here
tights: h&m
booties: F21

Told ya guys I was back for realsies. ;) Anyhow, thoughts, thoughts. There's so many! Let's start with throwing it out there that Conference was stinkin' awesome. Yeah? Yeah. I'll pretend like you can all ja feel with me as I'm typing this because it was. There will be more on that later, though. BUT, if you do care to read a more spiritual post written by yours truly please go check out Foundation Magazine! Oh and because this isn't an essay -thank HEAVENS- I'm not even going to bother to try and connect that former thought with the one that's coming next. Partly because I'm lazy but mostly because they don't even match and I full on sat here for ten minutes trying to figure out how to make this post flow and I just flat out gave up because it's a futile task. You're welcome. ;)

Kay, now for what I'm actually trying to get at, you know how every gym -and I mean EVERY gym- has that one weirdo that dances like a freak while they work out? Go on, think about it. Picture your gym in your minds eye and you'll realize your gym has one. It's just a thing that happens. If there's a gym, there's a dancing weirdo. Some gyms even get blessed with a handful of them, one for the morning, midday, and evening gym goers to enjoy chuckling at. Mostly these "dancing-while-they-work-out" weirdos stick to the elliptical because sliding your legs forward and backward ferociously is already half way to major jammin'. All you have to do is throw in some booty shakes and arm jives and you're basically at Beyonce-Back-Up-Dancer status on that thing.

Anyway, the reason I even bring this up is because I've slowly started to realize that the dancing weirdo at my university's gym is...me. Yup. And, freak, I don't even need an elliptical. Doing my plyometric workouts? You best believe I'm jammin' before/in between/during/after every single dang jump squat, box jump, lunge etc. What about arms day, you ask? Pffft. Pffft. Where there's a will there's a way. I'm talking booty shaking in between push ups, and head bouncing to ma sick jams during tricep dips. I know I probably look insane, but I just can't care enough to stop. So...yeah, that was basically the extent of that thought. Can we think of a prettier way to end this, though? How about, "Ima do me, and you do you"? Or, "dance to the beat of your own drum"? Nah, I actually hate both of those statements with a passion so because this is technically a style blog we'll end this post with, this leather jacket is ma jam lately and this skirt is tiny and should therefore be retired but it's still majorly cute. (<-Run on sentence. I have learned nothing in my bazillion years of schooling, clearly.;)

Much love!

Reflections of You

Guys, I had the most fabulous beyond fabulous weekend! I went on two mini road trips with two of my main babes. First, we went on a midnight trip to an abandoned town in Eureka, Utah. The stars were INsanely beautiful! It's wonderful how visible they are when you leave all the city lights! Seeing them that clearly is so breathtaking! Anyway, on our next mini road trip we took a drive down to Midway, Utah to soak in a crater hot spring. Ohhhhhhh my, there are NO words for how delicious that was! Mmmmm, I could have stayed soaking in that cave for the rest of my life. No joke. Honestly, I felt so relaxed and at peace afterwards! Yum. After we soaked, we hit up a cute little diner and, guys, BEST peach cobbler I have EVER had. Hands down. Man, I love cute little hole in the wall small town diners! They're legit places to dine. Also, friends, you guys. This Valentine's weekend I was just beyond grateful for the incredible ladies I have in my life and all the wonderful ways they enrich my life! Seriously, there's nothing quite like the power of friendship. I know, super cheesy but it's the gosh dang truth! Also, this last week I put together a new BOMB playlist! I wanted some super bouncy-edgy-dancey jams to party to in my car with the sunroof open so I spent some SERIOUS time putting together a mix of new indie-pop finds (that I'm OBSESSED with) mixed with some of my favorite indie-pop classics! I kid you not, I spent at least two hours researching new music, mixing it with my own oldies, and then organizing them all into the perfect order! I know, I'm SO weird. I really enjoy putting together playlists and getting them to FLOW perfectly, though. I honestly think I could be a DJ in another life. I would seriously LOVE that! And it seriously makes me SO happy when others like my playlists!! I spend so much time putting them together so it makes me so excited and giddy when people say they like them!

top: h&m
suspenders: h&m
skirt: c/o OASAP
tights: h&m
shoes: Aldo
photos: Ro Photo

This look was alls about that retro-mod feel! I'm obsessed with suspenders and short flouncy skirts for some retro "frou-frou" vibes! I love it! I just think it's funky and fun! Anyway, yeah, that's all I've got to say on the outfit front! Surry! You should all give my playlist a listen, though, I seriously think you'd all love it!



Much love!

If I Had You

So. School. One week down. I'm exhausted beyond belief but I still think it's fab! We'll see how long this lasts. ;) Waking up at 5am has been both harder and easier than I expected. Which, I know that makes no sense at all but that's how I'm feeling about it. I'm sure you're all wondering why in the heck I get up at 5 if my class doesn't start till 8. Well, here's the thing. For starters, it's about a 45 minute drive, then I've also got to get up with enough time to eat breakfast, pack a lunch, prep my backpack for both school AND work, clean my room, get through a few yoga postures, and finally, actually get dressed and decent looking. So yeah, all that's a 3 hour encompassing routine. Lovely init? So far my favorite class is Intercultural Communication. I've already learned a bunch in just two days and I pretty much devoured the first chapter of the textbook. Sooo good. The only thing is, I pretty much started crying in class when we started discussing white privilege. Well, not crying but getting sniffley and that teary burning sensation you get in your eyes when you know the water works are about to start in full ugly force but you're trying to force them back. I mean, white privilege is a very important topic to me but it certainly isn't one I cry about. I'm a tough cookie. (Sort of) What really got me going were the comments a couple of my peers were making. I won't repeat what they said because I've already erased them from my mind, but let's just say I was extremely disappointed to hear that there are humans on this Earth that harbor such ignorant and rude opinions. I do have to say, though, that I was very impressed by what the rest of the class had to say! Progress, guys! Also, surprisingly enough, I'm REALLY liking "History of Rock N' Roll". The only reason I really took that class was because one of my art credits from Westminster didn't transfer over and that was the only class that would fulfill that requirement within the parameters of my schedule. I was completely expecting it to just be a "fluff" class but I've been so surprised by how interesting it is and how much I've already learned. I mean, we pretty much discuss the ins and outs of music for an hour and a half and you guys know how obsessed I am with anything to do with music. We covered the early 50s and the crooners today (one of my FAVORITE music eras!) and sigh...that Frank Sinatra, you guys. He's the babe of my heart. Best male voice I've ever heard and I sort of think he's weirdly attractive too. Swoon. If you feel like being wooed give, "If I Had You", and, "I've Got You Under My Skin", a listen.

denim top: F21
suede skirt: c/o OASAP
tights: h&m
shoes: F21similar
photos: Shailynn

I've just got a few outfit things to say today. First, this is my new favorite skirt. It never fails to get compliments when I wear it and it's super duper cozy. Next, since it's a little on the shorter side, these super thick tights are ma best friends. Also, denim & suede? Match made in heaven. Finally, my hurrs are black again, can you tell? No more subtle ombre!

Much love!

Yes, Please

Guys. School starts tomorrow. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have class bright and early at 8:00am. So delicious, am I right? ;) Seriously, though, I don't actually mind, haha. I'm a morning person ALL the way so morning classes are actually really good for me. That's when my mind is the most awake. I know, I'm not a normal human. What else is new? ;) As far as classes go, though, since I registered so late in the game I didn't exactly get the cream of the crop when it came to classes and many of the classes I need to take just straight up weren't available. Sucks to suck. Which, apparently in this instance, I sucked at registering. I seriously can't wait to get started, though! I know this is going to sound super freaky, but I flippin' LOVE homework. I know, I know, I'm certifiable. The doctors may cart me away now. I'm whacky. ;) Some people are street smart and others are book smart and I guess I'm just one of those book smart peeps. All the way. As far as I'm concerned, real life can suck it. I'd rather spend the rest of my life endlessly learning, studying for exams, reading textbooks, and writing essays. Ask me to book a flight? Not a clue. Ask me to write a 30 page paper analyzing the channels of communication within a business organization, how they work, and theorize a new mode of functional communication within said organization and be the only student to get an A? Boom. Cake. Anyway, I don't know where I'm going with this anymore...maybe that I'm excited for school? Yeah, we'll go with that. Oh, oh, in other unrelated news, though! I'm back on the Maroon 5 bandwagon! I had LOVED "Songs About Jane", their first album, but after that I just wasn't a huge fan anymore. All the stuff of theirs that I heard on the radio, was just "meh". Oh, and then when that "Pay Phone" song came out? I was like, "mmmm, definitely hate them now." Anyway, a cute human of the male persuasion (That sounds so weird. Why I didn't just say "boy" is beyond me. Again I say, I am whacky;) told me to put on a Maroon 5 song from their new album and I sort of fell in love with them again. Seriously, I've been listening to the new album NON stop! A few favorites, "Coming Back For You", "Unkiss Me", and "Sugar". Also, there's this lyric from one of the other songs on the album that says, "Woke up sweaty from a dream" but for a few days there I was singing, "Woke up sweaty from a tree". Haha, I didn't realize I had misheard it till I stopped to think about it and realized that "woke up sweaty from a tree" makes absolutely no sense. I'm hard of hearing apparently haha. :)

camel coat: Old Navy
sweater: c/o OASAP
skirt: F21 similar
boots: F21 similar
photos: Shailynn

So winter is pretty much fading fast here in Utah (knock on wood) and I'm pretty excited about it! Some days are still fairly chilly, though, so this chunky turtle neck sweater is PERFECT! It's so toasty and cozy! Also, layering chunky sweaters on top of skirts is a great alternative to the typical sweater+leggings winter uniform. Also, the trick to wearing skirts in the winter is boots, boots, boots! Seriously, get yerselves a pair of over the knee boots and you're pretty much set! Also, once again, Shailynn is DA best. Girl makes me crack up alls the times and she is insanely good at what she does so once again I say, BOOK HER.

Much love!

Happy Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve! Yippee! For Latinos that means that today we'll be having a HUGE Christmas dinner, celebrating the birth of our Savior, and counting down till midnight when we'll open our gifts! Since I'll be taking tomorrow off of blogging, though, I wanted to stop by today to just quickly share my last "holiday" inspired look! I also wanted to take a moment to share with you guys the reason behind my joy for this season and one of my most cherished Christmas moments! I want to preface this all by saying that when my family and I made the move to the States we moved into very humble circumstances. My first Christmas here is one that, although I don't remember clearly, is spoken of almost every Christmas season in my home to remind us of God's tender mercies and the gratitude we feel for the place we've reached as a family. It was a cold and quiet Christmas Eve night and my family and I sat gathered together in our small apartment. I can't quite remember if we had any Christmas decorations, if we did they would have been quite simple. My two sister's and I would have been somewhere between the ages of 6 to 2 years old. It was as we sat there, quietly celebrating, that my dad looked around to each of his little girls and felt an ache in his heart that he hadn't been able to get even one gift for us to share. We, of course, where happy regardless but still he sat in silence ruminating over his disappointment. As he sat, quietly wrapped in thought, there came a knock at the door. When my dad went to see who might be calling on such a night he found that there was no one at the door, instead there lay a carefully wrapped gift on the doorstep. As he looked around at the snowy surroundings to find the blessed stranger who might have left the gift, he found that there was no one in sight. He closed the door with a feeling of such great love and gratitude. As he was gently setting the gift down, there came another knock at the door. Once again, there was a gift placed on the doorstep but no giver in view. All through the night this process continued until when midnight came, and we where to open gifts, our small apartment was overflowing with gifts given from unseen hands. Now, the importance of this story isn't that we went from having no gifts to an abundance of gifts, rather, that a loving father's quiet and unspoken prayer was answered by an even greater and loving Father in Heaven. That there where people out there in tune with The Spirit so much that they answered those promptings and thus became unseen angels for a small family. Many Christmas' have since passed and there have been many seasons of abundance and many seasons of humility. Regardless of the grandeur that we may or may not have on a particular season, though, we know that the true reason we celebrate is to show our great joy that "God so loved the world, that he sent his only Son" and because he sent his Son we have the great and blessed opportunity to be with Him again and be re-united with loved ones beyond the veil! How deep and great is my joy for the Savior! "Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare him room! And heaven and nature sing!"

sweater: c/o SheInside
skirt: c/o OASAP
socks: c/o Aerie
shoes: h&m similar
photos: Shailynn (She is the best!)

I don't want to ruin the message of this post with too much outfit talk so I'll keep it simple. If you want a more cozy/casual Christmas look this sweater and skirt are definitely for you! The sweater is so, so, cozy, warm and perfectly over-sized to hide your Christmas dinner pooch and this suede skirt is so soft and keeps things fun/flirty! Also, Shailynn is a MAGNIFICENT photographer and one of the sweetest girls I know! Seriously, girl has got it all! Plus, she makes me laugh like a goober, if you couldn't tell. If any of you are in need of photos, she is your girl! I mean, she made ME look good and I'm a gosh dang awful model! Anyway, that is all! I hope you all have a very happy Christmas and take sometime to consider the reason why we celebrate!

Much love!