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project 365 : days 191 – 197

by Kaylah Stroup July 17, 2017

191 : 365 Wrestlemania.

192 : 365 The cutest kitty lapel pin from Bee’s Knees Industries (and an excuse to show off my new hair color again!)

193 : 365 16.5 miles zig zagging around the city. On the way home Jeff and I stopped off at this little overlook to shoot the sunset and flowers. I didn’t get any awesome shots of the sky but I like my photo of the flowers. They look so whimsical. Also, Jeff got a really cute photo of me hanging out in the flowers.

194 : 365 I got some dentures in the mail (thank you, Stephanie!) and thought it’d be funny to take a photo of them beside Professor. I was not expecting that face from him but it absolutely kills me. How did I end up with the most expressive kitty ever!?

195 : 365 Home made iced coffee with cholocate and caramel syrup! Earlier this year I bought a cold brew maker. It’s the best! I drink so much more iced coffee. It’s great to just always have some ready, especially when it’s hot out. Nothing beats iced coffee!

196 : 365 Mindi shared a photo of her TDS zipper pouch collection which (gave me butterflies and) inspired me to shoot some photos of my pouches as well. You can still grab this one as well as a handful of other designs here.

197 : 365 Sunday was Taste of Tremont which is a huge neighborhood food fesitival. Usually we have to walk or bike in because it gets SO crazy. This year though? I live literally one block away. So we actually moved my car out on to the street early in the morning, let family park in our driveway for most of the day and after they left started charging. We had two “customers”, made $20 and immediately spent that on food. It was A+ puppy watching. I’m already lookin’ forward to next year.

Happy Monday! Hope your week is off to a great start.
xoxo

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La Jolla

by Kaylah Stroup July 12, 2017

It feels strange to still be posting about May’s road trip but I still have things I need to share. Our stop in La Jolla is one of those things. Before heading down into Southern California, we had made a handful of stops at the ocean. There were a few things I was really looking forward to seeing including sea lions, seals, and tide pools. The last time we drove a portion of the Pacific Coast Highway I fell in love with tidepooling. I’ve been impatient waiting for the day I’d get to do more of it.

Well, we just kept striking out. Let me take that back. We weren’t striking out. I was still very much enjoying the ocean but the stops we made weren’t the kind of place you could play around in tidepools. And the seals and sea lions? They just kept eluding me. In Monterey I could hear them but couldn’t seem to get close enough to see them. (I did eat my first fish taco on that pier though, aaaand that may have trumped sea lions.) With only a day left in our trip I had basically come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t going to get to explore tidepools or squeal over how cute seals and sea lions were.

san diego, california, seal, children's pool san diego, la jolla, children's pool

…Then we went to La Jolla. To say I loved La Jolla would be a massive understatement. Everytime I thought “holy cow, how could get this better?!” It would get better!

The thing that originally caught my attention was Children’s Pool Beach. I found it while searching online for locations that would basically guarentee me the opportunity to see seals and sea lions. We managed to find a parking spot super close by and almost immediately after shutting my door I could tell I was going to get my wish. I saw a crowd gathered and speed walked my way over to them.

SEALS! They were so cute! They’re just like lazy water dogs. I loved watching them wiggle around, and arch their backs tobrace for the waves. I didn’t realize how smelly seals would be but they were every bit as cute as I had thought they’d be.

I was super pleased after getting to watch all the seals. We still had a bit of time to waste before we were able to check in the hotel so we decided to keep wandering around. After a few minutes we stumbled upon an area where I could see that down below people were on a beach. It was a gorgeous day and I’m always down to dip my toes in the water so we headed down the stairs thinking it was just regular ole’ beach. I got to the bottom and realized that the only other people down there were staring at the rocky ground an awful lot. I casually wandered over their way and realized I’d get to explore tide pools after all!

I’m not super versed in tide pools. I’ve explored a few on both the west coast and the east coast but always have the worst luck. I’m really really great at finding dead things (which I’m not going to lie, is still interesting) This was easily my most successful attempt. I have never seen so many live crabs in my life. I was kicking myself for not bringing along my macro lens – not that that would have helped me since every time I spotted one I let out a little squeal of excitement which prompted them to scurry away.

la jolla, sea lion

When the tide started to come back in I figured it was time to move on. We continued walking along the path a little more and eventually found the motherlode! Sea lions galore! They were out on some cliffs that weren’t surrounded by fencing meaning you could literally go a close as you’d like. The 70-200mm lens really came in handy at this stop. I was able to keep a safe, respectable distance and still get awesome shots. It was SO awesome, and so incredibly smelly. It was really exciting to be able to see so many of them in their natural habitat.

I loved visiting San Diego so much that I’m sure eventually we’ll make our way back there and visit La Jolla again. I can’t wait!
xoxo

Check out more of my road trip adventures under the ‘travel‘ tag.

what I wore – feelin’ myself

by Kaylah Stroup July 11, 2017

yellow hair, mimi chica, romper, green hair, the dainty squid kaylah doolan, yellow hair, black felt hat, colored hair, fashion blog romper, yellow hair, yellow and green hair, cleveland blogger yellow hair, fashion blog, cleveland blog, outfit post, ootd, the dainty squid cleveland fashion blog, cleveland blog, yellow hair, dainty squid, kaylah doolan

Y’all, this might be my favorite outfit I have ever shared here. Nearly ten years of sharing funky outfits on the internet and one simple romper rules them all.

A few weeks ago Jeff and I were laying in bed when he just randomly spits out “Can I buy you a romper?” It was reeeally stinken cute the way he said it so nervously like he anticipated a “no”. He explained that he’d someone wearing one recently and thought I’d look really cute in one. I told him that with my long torso I wasn’t sure I’d find one that fit comfortably but that I’d be more than willing to go try some on for him. Of course you can take me shopping, duh!

Target didn’t have much of a romper selection but TJ Maxx came through – as always. TJ Maxx is my jam! I quickly found three that I liked enough to try on and the second I tried on this starry one I knew that even if he wasn’t sold, it was coming home with me. Luckily he loved it just as much as I did, if not more. Jeff doesn’t really buy me clothes so this romper feels really special. I love wearing it, and I love wearing it even more when I’m with him.

I can’t believe this whole time I’ve been missing out on rompers. Sure, I tried on more than a few after getting this one that were definitely way too short for my body. Perma-wedgie! But finding the right one is so worth the annoyance of trying a bunch on. It’s SO comfortable and it’s like the easiest possible outfit to wear. Paired with this hat that I now wear constantly, cute sunglasses, and literally any shoes I want – I feel like a million bucks. I can’t believe I’ve survived summer without one before this. On really hot days, it’s so much cooler than wearing anything else! I’m changed woman. The last few times I’ve been to TJ Maxx since I head straight to where I think rompers might be. I need more!

details
hat – Target
sunglasses – TJ Maxx
romper – TJ Maxx
necklace – tooth necklace by Goingsnake Silver
shoes – espadrilles c/o Viscata Barcelona

PS. To my long torso pals, the brand of the romper is Mimi Chica. I obviously can’t speak of how all their rompers fit but if you’ve found it hard to find ones long enough starting with this brand might be a solid idea. They have a few available on their website, at Tillys, at Nordstorm, and Nordstrom Rack!

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project 365 : days 184 – 190

by Kaylah Stroup July 10, 2017

184 : 365 I was taking photos of my new hair color when Jeff wandered into my office. I hit the button on my remote a few times without bothering to check if we were in focus or anything and ended up with this shot. I absolutely love it. It’s even better in color but then you wouldn’t be surprised when I revealed my new hair tomorrow! Heh!

185 : 365 Shot an outfit post that turned out to be one of my absolute favorites. Sometimes I feel like I’m shooting solid gold and then have a hard time finding even six shots to post from the set but I had such a hard time choosing which of the thirty or so perfect photos to include. I LOVE when that happens. I’ll share the full outfit tomorrow but for now, you can just check out my shoes!

186 : 365 After a while of trying to keep my bike as clean and streamlined as possible I recently started adding little odds and ends… and I can’t believe it took me so long! I resisted a water bottle cage for a long time but sometimes I’d really just like to ride without a backpack. Finding that bottle definitely helped the decision too! I also bought a brand new headlight, and of course, I have that ridiculous shark horn. I am ready to ride!

187 : 365 “Jeff, what did you do to his ears?”
” I fixed them.”

188 : 365 So dumb. I love him.

189 : 365 Pretty new pins!

190 : 365 Coffee + donuts – my favorite weekend morning ritual. If you’re local and not eating Peace, Love and Little Donuts, you’re missin’ out!

What a crazy week! First of all, the obvious, the week was all weird because of the fourth. Jeff had off Monday and Tuesday which made Wednesday feel like Monday. Of course that throws off the whole week. Then, on Wednesday, I got a phone call that I was cast to be an extra in a pretty awesome project for one of Cleveland’s biggest attractions. So Friday, Saturday and Sunday I spent a lot of my day in a green room waiting for my turn to plaster on a fake smile. It was a pretty wild experience. As soon as I see the final product I’ll be sure to share, and write a little about the whole experience. It was definitely out of my comfort zone but WAY fun. I’m proud of myself for doing something different but y’all, I am people-ed out and ready to hibernate for approximately a week.

Hope your Monday is off to an awesome start. Make sure to stop back tomorrow to see my new hair color. I am so excited to show you!!! xoxo

Friday Favorites #422

by Kaylah Stroup July 7, 2017

This pin!

(via Lost Lust Supply)

Are you kidding me with this ring? It’s so much fun!

(via Sofia Zakia)

LOVE these nail decals.

(via little surprise nail)

I discovered Keep It Wild Co on instagram recently and instantly fell in love!

(via Keep It Wild Co)

Compliment pencils! Also, compliment cards if you’re feeling extra nice.

(via band.do)

The other day I was trying really hard to figure out a way to attach flowers to my bike then I remembered that tiny little planters like this one exist! It’s super affordable too!

(via 3DMood)

This vase! So cute!

(via Kingston Jewellery)

Every one of these pins is adorable!

(via Hemleva)

Nothing says summertime like a jar full of fireflies!

(via auntie mims)

This dress!! It comes in a darker colorway too.

(via Eliza J)

A coconut green tea facial stream sounds heavenly.

(via Urb Apothecary)

Link love…

This globe lampshade is the bee’s knees!
I’m not crazy about peplum shirts but the model is ROCKIN’ this one! Plus that print is perfect!
A frame for your photobooth photos. Yeah, I’m going to need about a hundred of those.
Motivational socks for coffee lovers.
Cactus mugs!!
This is one of my favorite pairs of jeans buuuut in a color I don’t already have, and a new length. NEED ‘EM! Finding jeans that are actually awesome is so painfully hard so I should obviously buy them, right?!
How cute is this desk organizer?! Yamazaki has a ton of really simple yet cute organizing thing-a-majigs.

Happy Friday!
xoxo

what I wore : stripes + overalls

by Kaylah Stroup July 6, 2017

This post was sponsored by Reebok as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

I feel like my wardrobe is heading toward something Steve Jobs-esque. Not that I’m going to start wearing black turtlenecks and jeans every single day but that I’ve started simplifying it without even meaning to! I really enjoy getting dressed up, and puting together fun outfits but maybe more than that I love anything I can just throw on and know its going to look awesome without having to waste time over-thinking it. Overalls and stripes are basically that to me. Honestly, stripes in general are just my jam. I’m sure you could have gathered that information from looking through my past what I wore posts though, right?

I already had an abundance of black and white striped tops, my collection of overalls is pretty respectable (lol), and I just picked these snazzy white Reebok Classics from DSW! They are so comfortable. Also – maybe sort of getting off topic a bit here – have you guys been in DSW lately? I hadn’t and felt a little bit like a kid in a candy store with the number of shoes I actually liked. I feel like I browse the shoes at all my regular stops but never make it a point to actually go to shoe stores which, surprise surprise, is clearly a mistake! SO many amazing shoes there. I’m honestly surprised I made it out with only one pair.

Back to what I was saying, all together this is such a simple outfit but I feel like it looks like I spent more than three seconds picking it out. Despite the fact that clean white shoes are really hard for me to maintain I still always end up choosing them. For the few times I get to wear them while they’re still their original color I feel so fabulous, and fashionable. I’m excited to pair these ones with some simple dresses this summer before they’re absolutely destroyed.

What’s your favorite quick + easy outfit? I’d be very interested to know because I’m sure overalls wouldn’t be a quick + easy outfit for everyone and I bet a lot of other people’s choices would be something I’d end up overthinking. I guess it’s all about what makes you feel best.
xoxo

One last thing! My hair in these photos is extremely faded green, as you probably noticed. I’d been purposely fading my hair for a while so that I could finally move on from green. I felt a little self consious about it because I knew how faded it really was but looking at these photos I realize it looked dang awesome! Sometimes I wish dyeing hair could be more of a science but the journey really is half the fun and it leads me to colors I probably wouldn’t do otherwise. I definitely rocked this faded hair! Needless to say, if you didn’t catch on by the past tense I spoke in, I’m no longer green. At least, not entirely. Photos to come soon, OBVIOUSLY!

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six months + six reasons

by Kaylah Stroup July 5, 2017

July 1st marked six whole months since Jeff and I moved in to what has to be the world’s cutest apartment together. It feels like we just moved into this place a few days ago but on the same hand, I can’t even remember what it was like to live seperately. It took nearly three years before we were both ready to make the leap but any fears about it were quickly washed away. I think I speak for both of us when I say living together has done wonders for our relationship.

To celebrate six months I’ve made a list of my six favorite things about living together…

▴ Watching Jeff bond with the animals.

All of the animals definitely already had a special relationship with Jeff but over the last six months they have undoubledly become BFFs. Nothing makes me happier than seeing Squid love on him. This was a kitty who previously only really let me pet her and now she is constantly baring her belly to Jeff which is such a huge sign of trust. And Klaus – gosh – that dog! I think the biggest supporter of our relationship, the person who most wants us to succeed as a couple, is that dog. Him and Jeff are inseparable.

▴ Spending more time together but separately.

There came a point before we were living together where things were kind of frustrating. We’d want to be together but also at home and doing our own separate things. Like I want to be near you but not necessarily doing that same thing as you. Living together obviously solved that problem! I love that I can get my work done but also pop into his office, give him a smooch real quick before grabbing a snack from the kitchen and getting back to work. Life feels so much more fluid.

▴ Making food together.

This is one of the things I was most excited about and it most certainly did not disappoint. Over the last three years Jeff has turned me from the world’s pickiest eater to a complete foodie. I couldn’t wait to some day live together and be able to share meals more often. I adore when we make food together, especially when it means he makes one element of the meal and I make another. Being in the kitchen together is easily one of my favorite things in the whole world.

▴ Sharing chores.

He takes out trash, I wash dishes. He hangs things on the wall, I do laundry. It works out perfectly. He does the things I hate, and I do the things he takes forever at. (Seriously, you should see this dude try to wash dishes. It takes him forty-nine years. I’m happy to save him some time.)

▴ Combining collections!

The first time I went to Jeff’s apartment I knew that someday our stuff would look really good together. Our tastes are very similar yet different. He chooses things that I think are neat but maybe wouldn’t necessarily want to purchase for myself and those things always end up looking perfect with the things I own. It’s like his weird collections and mine are two pieces of the same puzzle. We have one damn cute apartment. Nary a day goes by that one of us doesn’t comment on how much we love this place.

▴ Lazy mornings.

Some days we wake up early just to move to the couch, turn on the tv, and continue sleeping. Other mornings we grab coffee from our favorite coffee shop and pick up donuts that never make it back to the apartment. I truly love the mornings we get to spend together. There is just something special about starting the day with the one you love.

Jeffrey, I love sharing my space and my life with you!

xoxo

July Goals

by Kaylah Stroup July 4, 2017

June Goal Recap

Work hard to save money! I started investing! In June I began using both Stash + Acorns on top of Digit. That sounds like a whole mess of apps to be dealing with but honestly, I feel so much better spreading out my savings like this. While I can withdraw my money at any time if I need it, it’s nice that it’s not just one simple click away like moving money from savings to checkings is. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve just moved some money from savings to purchase something I didn’t truly need. Now that money gets invested instead so I’m not able to make those spur of the moment poor decisions.

Stash is an excellent way to start investing if you’re new to it (which I definitely am!) Jeff had been bugging me to sign up for months. He’s obsessed, and I’m starting to see why. It’s simple to understand, and makes getting started a breeze. Acorns rounds up your purchases and saves that money for you. For example, if you made a purchase for $4.76, it rounds it up to $5 and saves the twenty-four cents for you. It’s just small change but it quickly adds up! FYI – both of those are referral links, you get five bucks to start investing and I get some too! Win/win!

Build running stamina. While I’m sure I’ve built stamina, I don’t feel like my results are super noticeable which I find a little disappointing. I have not given up running though! With the exception of two days, I did some sort of work out (running, biking or yoga) every single day in the month of June. Y’all, I am proud of me! The biggest results I’ve seen so far are mental and that’s worth so much more than anything else.
Get The Dainty Squid’s shop running again. Yeah, buddy! Did you see the pouches? I have a little something else coming your way soon. …But in the meantime, definitely go look how cute the pouches are!
Bike 50 miles. Guess who absolutely slaughtered this goal? ME! I rode just over 150 miles in the month of June. There are a bunch of photos here if you wanna look at my beeeeautiful bike.

July Goals

Stay ahead! I’m not great at staying caught up on my work. I always manage to get it done in time but I really miss when I used to be a week ahead of my blog schedule. I felt so much happier and in control. This month I’d love to get back to that. I don’t know what happened that I can no longer seem to stay ahead but I’m determined to fix it.
Dye my hair. I’m leaving green. At least I’m trying. I know, I’ve definitely said that before but this time it’s happening. …Maybe. At the very least, I have the supplies for a color I’ve never done before, I’ve been working on fading my hair, and something needs to happen because these roots are out of control. Cross your fingers for me, I’m not feeling all that confident I’ll be able to get my hair as light as I want.
Keep on pedaling! Last year I met some people at Critical Mass who I immediately clicked with. We rode together for the evening and even went out to dinner afterward which for me, as a shy person, is a HUGE deal. We exchanged numbers, talking big game about how we’d have to ride together again soon but never did. Last month, one whole year later, we finally met up again and ended up hanging out three days in a row. I feel like making new friends can be just as awful as dating and making new friends who share a major interest of yours is like winning the lottery. This month I want to ride a ton with my new buds!

I’m the first to admit there’s nothing too exciting in this month’s goals. I don’t really have any big projects I want to work on right this second. My main thing I’d like to do is stay ahead of my work so that I can focus on the fun stuff like going out with friends, riding bikes, and photo adventures. Those are the things that make me happiest and therefore make me a more productive person. It’s basically a tornado of goodness once the ball gets rolling, ya know? After all the miles I put in last month on my bike, I feel like I’m on the upswing mentally. I’m even ahead on my blog schedule for once. July, you’re going to be one fine month!

How about you? What do you want to accomplish this month?
xoxo

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project 365 : days 177 – 183

by Kaylah Stroup July 3, 2017

177 : 365 Fancy pants new pillow – which is literally the most comfortable pillow I have ever laid my head on – and some cactus sheets I still can’t get enough of. Also, while searching for a link to those sheets I found this cactus shirt from Target that I had somehow never seen before.

178 : 365 I really love my black desk and how colorful it makes everything else look.

179 : 365 Flowers drying. This arrow makes the best possible display for dried flowers. I love it!

180 : 365 I think its hilarious that the first shot is crisp and in focus and the second one, where he looks like he’s screaming, is out of focus. It reminds me of one of those memes where someone realizes something and the second frame looks like its at hyperspeed. That’s a truly awful description but hopefully you know what I’m talking about. If not, Professor is cute so whatever.

181 : 365 Do you guys think I like these Friend Assembly planters, or nah? I mean I’ve only posted a million photos of them. I just really love inanimate objects with faces and I love plants, obviously, so these are the perfect combination. I need a whole army of them.

182 : 365 Fourth of July shenanigans. We usually camp out at my parents for the weekend but Jeff had a wedding to shoot the next morning so we were only able to stay for the day. Don’t think that means I didn’t have a ton of fun, and eat until my belly was about to explode though! My parents always throw a rad party. Fireworks that rival the ones you’d see anywhere else except in the comfort of only family and friends. Its the best!

183 : 365 Home, sweet rainbow filled home!

Hope your week is off to an awesome start!
xoxo

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