Cherry Sundae

I'm just realizing how quickly this year went by. It's hard to believe Christmas is only a month away! The warm weather makes it feel like it's still summer. We had 90 degree days here well into October, but it's cooled down these past few weeks. The drop in temperatures can only mean one thing... the coats, boots and colorful tights can finally come out! In the meantime, I'm still enjoying the last bits of the warm weather with this beautiful sundae print Bernie Dexter dress :). I thought my cherries necklace and strawberry red heels were the perfect additions! Pictures below...

Outfit Details:

Dress: Bernie Dexter

Shoes: Ruby Shoo

Petticoat: Leg Avenue

Necklace: Modcloth

Hair Flowers: Sidecca

Close up of the cherries and sundae print!

I'm so excited for the holiday season and transitioning into fall/winter outfits! I'm planning on being a little creative and mixing/matching pieces from last winter to make new outfits. Is anyone doing anything special for the holidays?

Blue Angels Air Show

Last weekend I was down in San Diego and had the chance to experience the super awesome annual Blue Angels Air Show. It took place at the Marine Corps Air Station military base in Miramar. It was so cool seeing all the performances by military and civilian planes! I took the opportunity to dress as patriotic as possible. After the show, we had the chance to walk around and take pictures with various planes, which I'm sharing below :).

Outfit Details:

Top: Heart of Haute via Pin Up Girl Clothing

 Skirt: Steady Clothing via Modcloth

Neck Scarf: Vintage

Heels: Qupid via Modcloth

Brooch: Erstwilder

I've been totally lazy with blog posts lately. I've been so involved with the application process for occupational therapy school (among everything else) that I haven't made blogging a priority. The good news is that by God's grace I got accepted to my #1 choice program! I start in January, which means I have a few months to enjoy before I buckle down for school. I'm going to try blogging more often until then...

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Dog Days of Summer

As a dog lover, this Bernie Dexter Dog Print dress had long been on my wish-list. I was super lucky to finally get my hands on it a few weeks ago. I pulled it out yesterday and wore it with my black cropped cardi and patent black Mary-Jane heels. My Henry's Delightful Duo brooch from Erstwilder was the most perfect finishing touch. I can't imagine wearing a more appropriate brooch with this dress!

Outfit Details:

Dress: Bernie Dexter Dog Print dress

Cardigan: Sidecca

Brooch: Erstwilder

Headscarf: Vintage

Petticoat: Leg Avenue

Heels: Chinese Laundry

I love all the different dog breeds included in this print!

I've had my hands full with a million different things lately; standardized tests, pre-req classes, volunteering, grad school applications, and working part-time. That's no excuse for my lack of blog posts, I'll admit I do get lazy when it comes to taking pictures of my weekend outfits. This 100 degrees SoCal weather has not been helping my motivation either!

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Happiest Place on Earth

Last Friday I went to Disneyland with Edwin, my sister, and a few of our friends. We had two June birthdays in our group; what better place to celebrate than with some Disney magic? And, what better piece to wear than my train border print Jenny skirt from Pinup Girl Clothing? I was so lucky to score this skirt at the PUG Yard Sale a few weeks ago! I had it taken up 3" to hit just below my knee and now it's perfect. I'm glad there was about 6" of fabric below the lowest part of the print so hemming it didn't cause the print to come too close to the edge. Ideally, these pictures would have been taken in front of the castle in Fantasyland, but the lighting wasn't great at the time we there so I had them taken here, in front of people's strollers... at least the lighting was nice!

Outfit Details:

Sunflower Mouse Ears: Little Crafty Queen

Top: Le Bomb Shop

Cardigan: Sidecca

Belt: borrowed from another dress

Brooch: Erstwilder

Skirt: Pinup Girl Clothing

Shoes: Restricted via Modcloth

It's so much fun spinning in this skirt :). And I just love the details of the print. This was my first purchase from the Mary Blair collection and I want all the different prints now.

Closer view of my top half, including the lovely Ula the Unicorn Erstwilder brooch!

Me with my Goofy!

One of the great things about Disneyland is the whole magical Disney vibe everywhere you go. The rides, the shows, the characters, the shops, the food, it's difficult to feel anything but happy! Right now Disneyland is celebrating their 60th diamond anniversary so a lot of the attractions are special edition, such as the beautiful "Paint the Night" Electrical Parade that we ended our day with. Even though we were exhausted by the end, I had an absolute blast and can't wait to go back again.

Do you have anything fun planned for this summer?

Belle of the Ball: Last Weekend's Wedding

I wore the ever-so-beautiful Aurora dress by Tatyana Boutique to a relative's wedding last Friday. I was so lucky that one of my Instagram fashionista friends had an extra in my size and sent it to me for the cost of shipping! Through blogging and social media, I've been lucky to meet so many amazing people like her and gain an incredible network of friends who share my similar taste in fashion. Even though we've only "met" online I feel like I can connect with so many of them!

I had Edwin get a matching tie to go with my dress. We spent some time planning and coordinating our outfits so of course we had to take some nice shots before heading off to the wedding. A few people at the salon thought I was dressed for prom... I did feel like a princess in this dress, and I guess it's a good thing that I look younger than I am? People didn't believe me when I said I was in my mid-20's!

The quality of this dress is unbelievable. It has a built it crinoline at the hem so I didn't need to add my own petticoat. The pictures don't do this dress justice; the colors are so beautiful! You know that scene in Sleeping Beauty where two of Aurora's fairy godmothers are fighting over what color to make her dress? Make it pink... Make it blue! I'd like to think this dress is a beautiful combination of both! I hope you enjoy the pictures :).

Outfit Details:

Dress: Bettie Page by Tatyana

Necklace, Earrings, Headpiece: Icing by Claire's

Clutch: Amazon

Heels: Shoe Dazzle

Brooch: Erstwilder

Hair by Jasmine at Art to Beauty Salon

Nails by Paola Ponce

Photos by Armanotty Photography

Close-up shot of brooch, clutch, and jewelry details

I hope everyone is having a good week so far :).

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:12 (NIV)

Unique Vintage #iamunique Campaign!

In honor of Unique Vintage's #iamunique campaign, today's post is going to be about my personal style and how it has evolved over the years. A few years ago I probably would have had trouble answering the question, "what makes you unique?". That's because I realize how much my style today contributes to who I am. Before I got more invested in fashion, I’d always had a "hidden" knack for vintage-inspired style (hidden because I didn't know what the style I liked was called). During college I was way too focused on school to worry about what I was wearing. Jeans and a t-shirt were perfectly fine most days. What’s kind of funny is that my college roommate was a model; she had a lot of clothes and was very invested in fashion. I didn’t care much for it back then but maybe her morning outfit rituals subconsciously influenced my eventual interest in fashion!

My going-out outfits weren’t clothes I necessarily loved but bought anyway because they were currently trending. On one occasion 5 years ago, I saw what I thought was the cutest polka dot dress at H&M. I fell in love with it immediately and bought it even though it was different from mainstream style. At the time I didn’t know it was called a swing dress or that it was vintage style, I just loved the fact that the skirt would twirl when I spun. I wore it once to a daytime birthday and put it away for years. Now I realize that the dress is the only piece of clothing from my former wardrobe that falls in line with my current style. So, I feel like I have always loved vintage-inspired clothing but never fully embraced it until recently. Below is a picture of me wearing it back in 2009!

Three years ago I discovered stores and online boutiques that specialize in or carry vintage-inspired clothing, which was also around the time I graduated and started working (to you know, fund my new fashion hobby...). Slowly over time my wardrobe transformed with fit-and-flare dresses, novelty print tops and skirts, and vintage style shoes. Today, the way I dress has become a part of my identity. I feel like how I dress isn't "the norm" and I like that it's different. I love any occasion to dress up; whether it’s a casual outing with friends, a fancy date night, or just to run errands. My interest in fashion has helped me to embrace the style I really love and made me more confident in how I look and present myself to other people. It doesn't matter who you are and what your style is, as long as how you dress makes you feel good about yourself. And I think this is what makes us all unique in our own way :).

UV is one of the stores I discovered in my fashion-makeover journey and it has quickly become one of my favorite places to buy vintage-inspired clothing. I own a few things from them that I treasure dearly. I'm lucky to live driving-distance to their Burbank Boutique so I've been able to drop into the actual store a few times, too! Also, I was so excited a few weeks ago when I got chosen as one of the lucky winners on their Instagram contest (and I never win contests, haha...thanks UV<3)! I got to pick an Erstwilder brooch to keep, and being the owner of a maltipoo, I went with Paige the Prancing Poodle. I love how all of their brooches come with a little story in the packaging! Below are a few recent pictures of the H&M dress styled differently (many years later) and also a picture of me wearing the Poodle brooch on my doggy's 5th birthday :).

Critters on Bikes

I knew I had to have this orange Knitted Dove gingham dress the moment I saw it! It has the cutest print at the hem: owls and squirrels sitting on bicycles. I wore it a few days ago and paired it with my "Grouchy Bear" Erstwilder brooch; a bear riding a bicycle couldn't have been a better match for this dress!

I discovered Erstwilder a few months ago when I saw other bloggers wearing cute little critter brooches with their outfits. I was lucky to get my first Erstwilder brooch, Paige the Prancing Poodle, as one of the winners on Unique Vintage's giveaway contest on Instagram (thanks UV <3)!!! I loved my poodle brooch and ended up purchasing a few more from an Australian eBay seller. My collection has slowly been growing since :).

I initially took these photos at a park close to where I live. It was the first time I went by myself with a tripod and used the camera's 10-second timer feature. It's one thing when you're with someone else and they're taking pictures of you, but it's a whole other thing when you're by yourself setting up the camera, clicking the shutter button, and running to pose in front of it. I have to say it got pretty awkward at times with people staring as they passed by. I didn't get too many nice shots at the park (plus it wasn't the best time of the day for ideal lighting) so I just had my sister take some with my iPhone later... so much easier and faster too! I commend all you ladies who take outfit pictures by yourselves...

Outfit Details:  Brooch: Erstwilder
Dress: Knitted Dove
Cardigan: Unique Vintage
Petticoat: Leg Avenue
Shoes: Loly in the Sky
Hat: Kaitlyn Bag: Michael Kors

Summer is fast approaching, which means applications to grad schools are opening up soon! That is probably the part about summer I'm least looking forward to. Anyone have any fun summer plans in the works?