Things I'm Loving Lately

Here are just a few things I'm loving lately!

Eating Healthy!

I've been trying to eat healthier lately. With such yummy fruits and veggies in season it's not that hard. Even though I have had a few slip ups recently (cough Saturday night cough at the bar), but otherwise I've been trying my hardest to steer clear of overly processed junk food. I love buying produce and trying new snacks and meals. Even though I still crave bad foods all the time, I can make it through the cravings and always feel better after resisting. Instead of feeling ickly because I ate a heavy bad food, I feel proud of myself and full of energy and motivation. Its a lifestyle change I've been wanting to make for awhile, and I'm so glad I'm working hard and making conscious choices about what I eat. I've been looking all over the internet for new recipes, and Pinterest is full of mouth watering healthy choices! Last night I made mock "ice cream" with a 2 frozen bananas and 2 tablespoons of cocoa (served 2) and it was amazing. An awesome alternative to chocolate ice cream, I even added some sliced strawberries on top. Heres the recipe I used.
Also, heres the link to my Healthy Inspiration Board on Pinterest with recipes and such.

New Hair!

It's been months since I've had my hair done and it was just out of control. Luckly my good friend Hannah is an amazing hair stylist. She works at a cute Aveda salon called Trixies on the south side of Des Moines. I adore my hair every time she does it, and today was no different! She gave me a carmel-y ombre color back in Feburary which grew out nicely so today we wanted to make the ombre more contrasted. We also thinned out my hair quite a bit. I've never gotten my hair done without the stylist saying I have the thickest hair they've ever seen.

I snapped a few photos on my hair after she styled it to show off. If your in Des Moines make sure to go get your hair done by Hannah at Trixies.

Simplicity.

I've really been loving understated simpler outfits lately. One reason is because the weather is getting hotter, but I also just like the way these outfits look. A a-line or mid length skirt and a plain white shirt is just what I want to wear lately. I'm starting to lean more towards basics with a statement bag or shoes with a bold lipstick. Maybe I'm just lazy.

These images are from Madewell. I went to their store while I was in DC and it was so cool. I wish I had the money to shop there, but for now I'll just use the free inspiration.

Have a great midweek everyone!

p.s I have a few invites to Pinterest, comment if you'd like one!

Outfit Post: Memorial Day Casual

Happy Memorial Day! I usually have Mondays off work, but this holiday still makes me want to get outside and enjoy the beginning of summer! This weekend's been a nice, calm one for the most part. Me and Nick have been enjoying a lot of time relaxing and hanging out on the couch and indulging in more than one SVU or How I Met Your Mother marathon. No shame though! We are promising to be more productive this week! On Saturday I worked all day, but Saturday night I went to "Pressure Drop" with Hannah and her boyfriend Tim at the Beechwood Lounge. It was an awesome atmosphere with tons of people outside on the patio and DJ Eight Ten playing in the basement while the dance floor was packed. And the kind of dancing I love! He spins old records, playing mostly old reggae. Its fun to just let loose and dance without having to worry about creepers like a lot of the bars I've been to here. I also learned about the skinhead culture in Des Moines (not the racist type, duh!) which is something I didn't know much about. Interesting for sure. I love the way they dress! I'll defiantly be attending next month too, and hopefully I can convince Nick to come along.

Sunday was Nick's 25th birthday so we spent the day celebrating. We went downtown to Panera for a late lunch and tried to find a few old book stores. But of course nothing was open on Sunday afternoon. We'll have to go back later this week. We also went to Fudruckers for dinner. I managed to stay under about 200 calories for the day too! (I'm on a stupid diet, but it's not that bad and I've lost quite a bit.) (EDIT: yikes! 200 calories under my goal of 1500! That sounded bad, Nick pointed out) The hardest part about dieting for me is that since I'm in a new city I really want to try local restaurants, but most of these places don't offer calorie information so we've been sticking to chain restaurants when we go out. Sigh. Trying new places is one of my favorite things to! At least I can check out the bars while drinking the standard drinks, ha.

Today we slept in and headed to the grocery store this afternoon to get supplies to make a taco salad. This was the best decision ever. Oh. My. Goodness. This huge yummy filling salad is probably the best thing I've had in awhile.

I also wanted to pick up some Vodka or such at the store, but this cute bottle of wine caught my eye! The last thing we need is another bottle of wine, but I couldn't resist! I'm going to use the bottle as a vase after we finish the wine. Excited. (yay you can also see my mushroom canisters, my fav)

After getting groceries we went to Barnes and Noble so Nick could check out a couple books and I picked up the monthly Bust and Nylon's. Needed some casual reading for by the pool! I think I'll lay out tomorrow if it's a nice as today was.

Anyway, here is what I wore today. I actually switched out of the shorts and into a denim skirt, but you get the idea.

Top- Goodwill

High Waisted Shorts- American Eagle

Wedges- Goodwill

Bag- Target

Ah these pictures were really a pain because we tried taking them right at 2pm when the sun was the brightest. Won't make that mistake again!

Blogging on Vitae Design Collective's Blog

Check out my latest blog posts over at Vitae Design Collective's blog.
I'm really enjoying my internship there and have a lot of fun coming up with outfits for the mannequins. It's only my first week so I'm still getting the hang of it, but so far I love it! Stop in an check it out!

Outfit Post: Two Tone Lace

I'm back from my little blogging break! Nick and I are settled into our new apartment and loving it! Its a pretty big place for us and we have a little porch with a grill and everything. Another good thing about this porch is a brick wall perfect for snapping a picture of my daily outfit. I'm still getting the hang of posing for outfit pictures but I still feel silly doing it! I wore this outfit today to Target and the mall in West Des Moines for a little me time. Tonight I'm going to see a DJ with Hannah. I'm excited to see her finally! I've been here a week and live just half a block away but we've both been pretty busy. I started my internship last week and I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Denim Jacket- American Eagle Outfitters

Tights and Skirt- Target

Lace top- Goodwill

Shades- Forever 21

Pocketbook- Salvation Army

Boots- Rue 21

I've gotta run! Sorry about the short post with lack of details!

Outfit Post: Nautical Notions

It's so gorgeous outside today! Nothings better than blogging and browsing my favorite sites on the porch with a big glass of tap water. I'm taking a much needed break from packing up my rooms. I've been living at home for the past school year and I've accumulated so much junk! Well to me it's treasures but to some it would be junk. I have filled up plenty of boxes with just sewing things and decor. I haven't even touched my clothes and shoes yet... Uh oh. It looks like we'll be making multiple trips when moving on Monday.

This outfit is another one featuring a skirt I found at Goodwill earlier this week. I am (obviously) going for a nautical theme with the cute flats with the anchor button and boating hat. Nautical has been one of my favorite ways to dress for as long as I can remember. I love nautical americana color schemes. Next time I try this outfit I'll wear a bright red lipstick. I think my next tattoo will be nautical... sorry mom :)

Skirt: Goodwill

Shoes: Goodwill

Top: Aeropostle, when I was in high school

Hat: Forever 21

Outfit Post: Fancy Floral

Truth be told, I didn't actually wear this dress today. I found it at Goodwill in Waterloo. Today me and Helica hung out for a while since I'll be moving next week. We wanted to make sure to get some eating and thrifting in, and thats what we did! We grabbed a yummy late lunch at Panera Bread. I had a tuna salad sandwich and caesar salad, but I was really jealous of the Mac and Cheese Helica got.

After lunch we cooled down with some Mocha Coconut Frapps since they are half price in the afternoon! It was 95 degrees today! We totally got ripped off this year weather wise. We had virtually no spring and all of a sudden it's summer. We had so many gloomy rainy cold days it was depressing. I won't complain too much because I'm excited to wear the new summer wardrobe I bought today! Yes, I bought a wardrobes worth of clothes. We stopped by JC Penny because I always love the "I <3 Ronson" dresses, found one I wanted but put it on hold. I wanted to see how this Goodwill trip went... Let's just say I never thought of going back.

It went really really really good. Probably one of the more fruitful trips I've been on recently. We went to the Waterloo Goodwill which is smaller than the Cedar Falls Super Goodwill. The problem with CF is that it gets picked over quickly, but there was so much good stuff in Waterloo. Another one of my thrifting secrets it the Waverly Goodwill. So much good stuff there and it's so bright and clean. Anyway, back to this trip. We spent at least an hour going through the racks. We looked in every section, and I usually don't do this. I haven't been a big skirt person but I love wearing dresses. One of my style goals it to try to incorporate skirts in my wardrobe cause you can mix and match them and create new looks. We spent a bit of time in the skrits and I found 4 lovely skirts, all hitting below the knee. I have a problem of buying dresses that are too short (or shrinking them) so I'm excited to try these out. And, you know it's a good trip when you find legit vintage YSL for only $3.95!!!

Another great find was this Bassett Hound statue Helica snatched up for ourside her house. Looks just like her dog Peepers! Not really but its adorable. She has quite the collection of Bassetts. I love it.

After an hour in the fitting rooms we were finally ready to go. Our cart was almost as full at the check out as it was heading into the fitting room and thats a sign of a good trip. Everything seemed to fit us well and we only picked up a few items with the intention of altering them. After we headed home I had my mom snap some photos of the new outfits I picked out. I'll post a few today and the rest throughout the week. Good thing I could crop these, since my mom's not the greatest photographer. At least she played along though! Thanks mom! Nick is into photography so I'm looking forward to document my style for work this summer.

I didn't accessorize at all besides the shoes since this was a spur of the moment little photo shoot. In the future I'd like to wear a belt with this dress. Also maybe a headband. I'm looking forward to styling it up more soon! Well time for me to do a little packing!

Have a good one... xo

Reason to Celebrate: Graduating College!!

After 17 years of schooling, I'm finally done forever! (minus the internship) I'm done with classes and went through commencement on Saturday. I'm 4 credit hours of an internship away from my college degree. It's amazing to know that I did it! It was really hard sometimes but all the experiences I've had at college have been so worth the time and hard work.

First Lady Michelle Obama speaking at graduation. I was so honored to have one of the women I admire most speak at my graduation. Mrs. Obama spoke about family values, commiting yourself to service, and finding your passion and remaining passionate. It was a beautiful speech and have been reflecting on it frequently the past few days. I am a passionate person and when I find something I'm passionate about, I really mean it.

I had always just assumed I'd go to college and was raised with a college degree being expected and I'm really glad. Sure there were semesters that I thought I'd never make it through and plenty of pointless classes, but now that I'm done I so glad I found my path. I attended 3 colleges before I found my major. Finding that thing that I'm passionate has made all the difference. For a semester I was a sociology major, then a teaching major, (What?!?!) and I even looked into to "General Studies" major. Then I went into the career services at UNI and took a career aptitude test (how funny is that) and it was decided that my ideal job was an artist or a costume designer. I signed up for Drawing 1 and Intro To The Textile and Apparel Industry and I knew after the first week which route I wanted to take. A part of me wishes I would have found this passion before my junior year of college so I could have attended a Fashion design school, but I don't regret my choice to stick with UNI's program. I worked hard on my own to develop a lot of the design skill I have and I'm proud of the work I do. My education has pointed me in the right direction, now I just need to keep going!

I'm so excited for the next chapter of my life now. Another good part about this year coming to an end is that I'll finally be done with this stupid long distance relationship. Nick, my boyfriend of 2 and a half years, has been attending Georgetown Law School for the past 9 months. Long distance is no fun. I visited him and he came home a lot but it was still really really hard. In 5 days he'll be moving to Des Moines with me because his summer job allows him to work from home. I'm looking forward to decorating our temporary apartment and cooking lots of good meals and drinking lots of strong drinks! We're going to listen to records on our porch and watch plenty of bad tv!

xo

Folk Dreams

Not many people know about my lost ambitions to be a folk singer. This was a secret dream of mine through most of high school which I kept to myself. I'm not a horrible singer and am not afraid to belt out an anthem at karaoke, but it's something about delicate singing that I can't grasp. I love the emotion these singers can give without trying that hard or without a full band even. I can play the guitar and have been since I was 10 years old, so I do enjoy doing covers of these songs for Nick or by myself but I don't want to share.

I kept this dream a secret because I didn't want to spoil it on others. If someone knew my secret I thought I'd be embarrassed because I didn't know many other girls in high school who would understand. I didn't know many girls who would take their ipod outside at night and lay on the hammock while reflecting on this music. It was my special little dream that I knew wouldn't happen but that didn't stop me from staying up at night listening to Denison Witmer trying to harmonize and pretending to be Rosie Thomas. I'd imagine going on tour and playing shows at night under the stars.

In a world where we tweet about what we ate for lunch, blog about every detail, and are constantly looking for recognition it's nice to keep something just for myself. This dream is still alive in the back of my mind and I think it always will be.

Here are a few of the songs I loved back then and some newer ones that I love now.

What are some of your secret ambitions?