what i wore

Oh hey guys, what’s up? Did you hear the news? ITS MY BIRTHDAY! Wahoo! The big twenty-six this year! I don’t think anyone actually calls it “the big…” but it kind of feels like a big one. I’m on the other side of twenty-five now… and it feels exactly the same.

So far no special plans. I’ll probably spend my day wandering around the beach, hanging out at my new favorite coffee shop, and eating all my favorite foods! Literally went out last night and bought myself broccoli for today. Never in a million years would I have guessed that some day broccoli would be my favorite food, the one that I choose for my birthday lunch! But hey, that’s life. Always full of weird, delicious, surprises.

Here’s to starting off the next year of my life right!
xoxo

Just because I love silly traditions here’s a peek back at previous year’s birthday outfit posts ft. balloons! 2013,  2014+ 2015! Some things really never seem to change…

I am finally at the point in my life where I’m understanding how to dress for summer. I have struggled for SO long with how to look cute, and not just roast. I’ve found a handful of dresses, this one from Old Navy included, that actually look great with no other accessories added. By “accessories” I mean cardigan, belt, etc not pins or necklace because those are always a necessity in my book. This is probably the weirdest thing to be frustrated with but I seriously feel like everyone makes buying clothes look so easy. I love shopping, and I go fairly often but I rarely ever buy anything because I’m so picky about how everything fits. I find so many items I love, then I try them on and realize “yeah, this isn’t easy enough to wear, nevermind.” For the first time I actually feel like I have a solid wardrobe of clothes I can just throw on and feel confident in. It took a reeeeally long time but it’s happening! Woo! This will be the year I learn to love summertime, staying cool and lookin’ cute, mark my words!
xoxo

kaylah’s details;

dress – Modcloth  (same dress but in a different color!)
cardigan – Marshalls
pins – pizza + bossy c/o Moorea Seal
shoes – Modcloth


jeff’s details;
shirt – Black Market
shoes – Asics

Whenever I go to my parent’s house I try to take outfit photos. The main reason outfit photos came to a bit of a halt when I moved to Cleveland was that I just didn’t know where to take them. As a shy person, setting up a tripod somewhere that a lot of people are and posing for photos by yourself is basically out of the question. It’s just weird. In the last two years I’ve found a handful of spots that are fairly reliable places to shoot but nothing compares to the complete lack of people at my parent’s house. When I get there I normally go say hi to everyone, leave Klaus with them, and head off to take pictures before I inevitably get dirty. If you didn’t know, I am a dirt magnet.

On this occasion when I told my mom I was going to go take outfit photos she said “Both of you? Everyone looooves when you do those!” So although it wasn’t in the plans, I was “forced” to take photos with my handsome dude. (We totally would have coordinated if I thought of it before leaving the house!) I wasn’t sold on the photos as we took them. They just weren’t wow-ing me but I’m pleased with how cute they turned out. We really should do this more often.
xoxo

Also, why stilts? Because they were leaned up against the garage and when there are stilts near by you can’t just not use them as a prop! Duh!

Can I tell you guys a secret? One time I cried because the thought that Jim Carrey probably wouldn’t be attracted to me popped into my head. I guess I should have started with these two facts first; 1) Jim Carrey is my one and only celebrity crush. I’m not like crazy obsessed or anything. I realize he’s just a normal human being (plus he has a daughter older than me!) but he’s SO funny, and SO handsome! 2) I’m a crier. I cry when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m mad, and definitely at the sight of cute animals. So me crying over that isn’t exactly a huge deal.

I don’t think I’ve ever thought that I was “ugly”. I’ve kind of always just been “well, that’s me” about my looks but I’m definitely guilty of wishing I looked like other people at times. I have a good
side that I prefer to be photographed from (which you’d have to be pretty oblivious to not have picked up on by now! Hah!) and I’ve always been little self conscious of my round face. One eye is a little bit
squintier than the other and when I got braces a few years ago my orthodontist pointed out what a large chin I apparently have. …Seriously, what a butt! That aside, even if I had been born with the “perfect” face, I’ve chosen to do things to my body, such as covering a large portion of it in tattoos and always having an unnatural color of hair, that aren’t always seen as beautiful by people. It’s what I think is pretty, and how I like to look though. If I had a quarter for every time someone commented I’d be prettier with natural hair or without tattoos I’d be able to finish tattooing the rest of my body, AND keep my hair permanently fresh! There are definitely times when I think how much easier things would be if only I had “normal” tastes. I feel like that’s something that anyone with tattoos, funky hair, or a penchant for unique clothing can related to at least a little bit.

The last few months I’ve been feeling this almost childlike understanding that everyone looks different, and that THAT is what makes people beautiful. Also that another person’s beauty doesn’t take away from mine. We can be completely opposite in looks and still both be attractive and you know what… IT RULES! I’m going to have to give credit to the internet for this. I’ve never felt that advertising had a huge impact on my views of beauty but I think that might actually be impossible. Even if you don’t realize it, you’re affected by advertising. But seeing so many selfies everywhere I look – instagram, blogs, facebook, etc – is pushing that advertising to the side! Yeah, the ads are still everywhere but so are so many other faces, and styles that prove that beauty isn’t just this one image.

I obviously don’t think taking selfies is the most important thing in the world or that it’s all we should do with our time but I can’t deny the impact they’ve had in my life. Sharing selfies shows that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. That there isn’t just one beautiful image that everyone needs to replicate. I look at others and I see they have the same “flaws” I have but guess what? They’re still beautiful!

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while now, just to talk about how much I love seeing everyone’s faces, and personalities on social media. I actually had some of it in a draft along with some random selfies but a post with this fish dress seemed even more appropriate. It’s weird, no question there. More people probably go “what the…” than people who think “wow, that’s cute!” yet I’m still crazy into it! The post ended up a little more all over the place than I had planned but it would take forever to write about all my feelings on beauty, even this post I’ve come back to a few times to add in thoughts. I’m sure as soon as it goes live I’ll think of something else I want to add on the subject.

So, maybe Jim Carrey wouldn’t be into a girl with green hair, lots of tattoos, and who thinks a dress covered in fish is funny but I think I’m pretty rad and I hope that by being true to my very strange self I’m encouraging others to do so as well.
xoxo

 

details

sunglasses – TJ Maxx

dress – Dear Creatures (via Modcloth)

cardigan – Modcloth

belt – Modcloth

pins – cactus by Valley Cruise Press, terrarium by Finest Imaginary

shoes – Reading Room Romance Flat via Modcloth

lipstick – Colourpop Bumble

A lady walking her dog watched me take these photos… and that’s
just about the most interesting thing I have to tell you about this
outfit. I swear, sometimes figuring out what to write in posts is stupid
hard. You start to overthink it, and then it just becomes impossible.
I’ve been putting off writing this post since the day I took the photos.
Now it’s crunch time, the night before I want to post, and I’ve been
sitting here watching a movie with my laptop open. “Working”, ya know? I
finally gave into Netflix’s suggestion and watched The Fundamentals of Caring which proved to be a very good distraction from the keyboard that was calling my name.

Hope you’re having a lovely Thursday! Maybe go watch that movie so we can pretend this post was about recommending you something to watch..?
xoxo

PS. Check out the last two times this dress was featured on The Dainty Squid here + here!

Sooo, my hair is getting long! Woo! Finally! Compared to a lot of people this isn’t really all that long at all but for the past probably at least fifteen years I’ve been rocking some kind of short-ish bob. I LOVE getting my hair cut. I normally start to feel real anxious and like my hair isn’t pretty at all if I don’t keep my cut maintained but for some reason earlier this year I decided I wanted to see what it would be like a little bit longer. For a few months it just felt like it looked the same then all of a sudden one day I looked in the mirror and was like “whaaaat!? where did this all come from?!” Actually the last few times I’ve shared outfit photos I feel like I’m also sharing a new look just because my hair feels so different. I’m so happy with how it looks, especially curled! I’m sure the urge to cut it will come on randomly and I’ll have to cave but I am living for it right now.

Other “new” things, this dress. It’s been in my closet a while. I was considering selling it because even though it’s super cute and fits well it’s just a hair too short. It’s sheer and underneath is a slip except the slip is just not long enough at all, like booty almost showing even while you’re standing still. I’ve never been huge on wearing shorts underneath dresses just because it always feels like a clunky addition to an outfit but for some reason I tried on a pair I wear around the house and yeah, this dress is definitely not leaving my possession anytime soon. I wore this outfit downtown to watch the Cavs win (seriously, best night ever!) and on our walk there I told Jeff “I feel like I could do kung fu in this outfit!” I don’t exactly know how to explain what that means but I certainly hope you’ve experienced the same thing in something you’ve worn even if you wouldn’t describe it the same way. It’s like feeling really attractive but like you could still totally whoop some butt if anyone crossed you. So, strong, sexy, and confident? It’s a great feeling, and I will probably be wearing this dress all summer long, only taking it off to wash it.

Hope you’re having an awesome week!
xoxo

 

details

sunglasses – Kenley c/o Moorea Seal

sweater – Modcloth

dress – Modcloth

pins – planet c/o Moorea Seal, ufo via Nasty Nasty

belt – Foxy Moxie Belt in Black via Modcloth

purse – Robinson c/o Moorea Seal

shoes – ASOS

lipstick – Bumble via ColourPop

You guys, these photos don’t have any green in them right? Haaaa! I go back and forth on what my opinion is on matching my hair to my clothes. First of all, it’s annoying when random dudes on the street point it out. No waaaaay? But there’s this part of me that seriously thinks nothing is better than being all matchy-matchy. I would love to have a gang of lady friends with brightly colored hair all wearing clothes that match. Not in a cheesy way like you’d fake for a photoshoot but in something they’d really actually wear, like this.

Also, on a kind of related note, you know how people draw hipster Disney princesses? This outfit actually kind of makes me feel like the human version of a hipster Saria from Legend of Zelda, especially photographed in these very green surroundings. I dig it!

Other fun things – these sunglasses!!! Okay, seriously, Moorea Seal has THE best selection of sunglasses. I’ve been meaning to photograph my collection of them for some time now. These ones are my newest acquisition and I’m obsessed. They’re ridiculous but not too ridiculous that they couldn’t be worn with any and every thing. PS. If you’re in the Seattle area, you can shop in person. Go try on all the sunnies for me, please + thank you.

Hope you’re having a lovely week!
xoxo

PS. Check out the last time I wore this dress on the blog here.