A VERY Important Announcement.

Brown Ruffle Blouse: Thrifted.

Navy Pleated: Thrifted.

Navy Skinny Belt: Charlotte Russe.

Brown Socks: Stolen from Mom.

Brown Wedges Shoes: Target.

Brown Purse: Thrifted.

Gold Chain Earrings: Thrifted.

Hello everyone!

So I have been thinking lately about a lot of things. It seems like my mind is always swimming with thoughts and I have no idea how to put these feelings and emotions into words.

I originally started this blog last November for two reasons: 1.to document my personal style as it grew 2. to express my feelings because I had no way else to release them. Blogging quickly went from being a hobby, to an absolute passion. Although I had no followers for months and comments would be one here and there, I still loved to blog with all my heart because it was for myself. Even after I started gaining followers, I always kept in mind what I wanted to blog about, not what I thought would please others. When people ask, "I'll follow your blog if you follow mine," I've never accepted that offer. I want my followers to be genuine and not just follow my blog because they want to gain more followers. Blogging was never about how many followers I had, or if I got any comments on a post. It still isn't about all of that. I blog because I am so inspired by all of you, and I want to share what I love with others who are like me because honestly in reality, I am quite alone.

Whenever I'm having a bad day, it's such a relief to come to this blog and vent out my feelings and frustrations. My blog is my sanctuary. It is who I am and what I am all about. Lately, however, I have just felt so...not me. Whereas I used to feel like I could say anything I wanted on this blog, recently have felt restricted in what I can say. Many people from school read my blog, and this concerns me. I feel like what ever I have to say will be blasted around at school, or that I might offend someone by something I say. There have been things I have wanted to tell you all who do not know me personally in real life, that I have not because of fear of conflict arising from fellow classmates who read my blog. Some of these classmates I have given my address to, some of them I have not. I'm not even sure who from school read my blog. The point is, it's not fair that I can no longer fulfill one of my main goals of my blog of expressing my personal feelings. This just absolutely breaks my heart.

Also, I've had a real problem at people from my school lately. During the summer I felt so...free. I felt so...alive and totally and utterly...me. With school having started, the life and individuality I love about myself has disappeared. Every outfit I wear is scrutinized, and then soon copied. People are so uninspiring and everyone is...the same. I get little to no inspiration from my fellow classmates. There is no individuality, no spark, no anything really. The people at my school devour me and tear me apart everyday... The one thing I love people are taking over and doing for all the wrong reasons. My individuality is being stripped from me and there is nothing I can do about it. I cannot stop people from copying me and the things I do. It makes me so upset because these people do what I do because they are insecure, not because they want to express themselves through clothing. These people are unsure of who they really are, so they find it acceptable to steal someone else's identity. They want compliments to make themselves feel beautiful and confident. They want stares to make themselves feel noticed and important. They want to dress up for all of the wrong reasons. It's literally killing me inside to see what I am passionate about being done by other people for reasons like those. I dress for no one but myself. I do not wear dresses and heels everyday to get compliments or prove myself to all of you here that read my blog. I dress in dresses and heels everyday because it's just who I am. Clothing is the only way I can let people see who I really am since I am such an introverted individual. I'm tired of posers, copy cats, and wannabe people. Is it so hard to just be yourself anymore!?!

So, because of all of these thoughts that have been bouncing around furiously in my head. I have made an important decision. I will be taking a short hiatus from my blog. Nothing major, I promise. I love blogging too much to give it up completely. I will not be blogging at all for approximately 5-7 days so that I can sort some things out in my mind. I need to get inspired again. I have to clear my head and just... think. I know that when I come back to blogging I will have a fresh and new mindset. Things in my life have just been so overwhelming lately and I need to find focus. When I say I will not be blogging, I mean just posting only. I still plan on reading and commenting on all of your blogs as usual! I just need to take a little break from mine to refocus.

I just want to sincerely thank you all so much if you just read my big long rant, and to those of you who skimmed, that's okay, too. ;) ( I really can't blame you) It sounds so corny, but I want to thank all of you and tell you that I love you. Really. Your support means everything to me.

Lauren.

Fallish Finds!

Hello everyone!

So usually early every Saturday morning I just go out thrift shopping to think, relax and do something for my self for once. Thrifting is so great because you get twice the high of shopping because you never know what wonderfully unique item you will find for next to nothing! Last Saturday was a good thrifting day for me I would say :)

• Black 1980's Dress with Shoulder Pads and Cut Out Neckline ($3). Okay, so this is definitely my favorite piece that I thrifted! I am by no means an edgy person. My style is very dainty, feminine and girly; however, when I saw this dress and tried it on my usual style subsided. The dress fits beautifully is has sort of a hard, daring edge that I really like! I thought that the cut out neckline was really beautiful and the shoulder pads...oh the shoulder pads! Usually terrible 1980's shoulder pads steer me away from any 1980's clothes but these are actually fabulous. They hit me in the right spots, aren't to big, and actually add to the appeal of the dress.
• Brown Long Sleeve Ruffle Shirt (.99). I love, love,love this piece too! It's almost in a Victorian style with the ruffled bodice and then ruffles at the sleeves ( which I really like!). I really don't own many brown clothes, although I do love to wear brown, so this shirt was an excellent addition to my closet! Another positive is that it's long sleeved to keep me warm in the upcoming months!
• Black Casual Corner Blazer ($3). Even though I already have a blazer that I love I from Forever21, I still think this was a good and practical. Whereas the F21 blazer is long sleeved and longer in length, this one has a three quarter length sleeve and is quite a bit shorter. I actually think this blazer fits be better than the one from Forever21. It seems to be just made for a girl with short arms and a short torso!
• Black Charlotte Russe Wedges ($3). So I cheated and I've already showed you all these shoes, haha. But I was very lucky to find these adorable wedges! They were in perfect condition, and come on. Charlotte Russe? I couldn't pass them up!

Thrifting Total: $10.00!

Hope you all are doing great! Oh, and on Friday I have some very,very important news I want to share with you all...

Lauren.

P.S. Some of you might want to check the post below to see if I passed on a blog award to you! Chance are I most likely did :)

A Big Ole' THANK YOU!

Hello everyone!

So I've been a pretty bad blogger not to have posted these lovely awards from some fellow bloggers until now!

The first award that I received in August was a widget award from

R E V A S R A G S 2 R O S E S . It was completely honor to receive her first one! Reva is one of my absolute favorite bloggers. She wears what she wants and doesn't give a crap what anyone thinks about it! Her style is truly unique, and I always look forward everyday to see what new outfit she has concocted! :)

A blog award that I received more recently was from the lovely Allison of Love me...Love me not! Allison's blog is one I found through Chictopia and instantly fell in love with! Her photos are absolutely breathtaking, and she's a complete sweet heart! It was an honor to receive an award from her. The only rule is to just pass the award on to twelve other bloggers!

Here are the ladies I pass on the Sunshine Blog Award to because all of them make my days brighter! :)

BARE STUDY

La Ville Inconnue

oh être dans l'amour

R E V A S R A G S 2 R O S E S

Refashion, Recycle, Reuse

style en mi opinion

Texas Love, Life and Fashion

The Darling Homemaker

The Girl In The Purple Pants: Middle School

the other girl

Undergrad Fab

The Daily Fashionista

Lauren.

P.S. I was SO excited to find that my outfit picture I shot with Blake was in the Chictopia Style Gallery this morning! Gah, I was so happy! :)

I Never Dress For The Season...

Floral Blouse: Forever21.

High Waisted Aqua Shorts and Belt: Thrifted.

Black Charlotte Russe Wedges: Thrifted.

Gold Key Necklace: Came with a book.

Mirror Necklace: Target.

Hello everyone!

I feel so terrible that I never have any time to write much on here anymore :(

Hopefully things slow down a bit tomorrow!

I DO have some new finds that I thrifted this past weekend to show you all though! Also, I have some blog awards that I've been waiting too long to post, and of course I still need to post my daily outfits everyday this week :)

So much blogging to do, so little time!

Lauren.

Real Life Style Icons.

Hello everyone!

So glad that you all enjoyed the photos! Isn't Blake just a truly phenomenal photographer?! I know that he has a very bright future ahead of him!

Anyways, I've always thought it was important for a person to have style icons or people they look up to. There are two types of style icons every person should have: celebrity/fantasy characters and real life style icons. I would have to say that Blake and Erika are my real life style icons.

Blake and Erika are best friends that go to my high school and are in the grade above me, seniors. When I was just an eighth grade girl I remember looking out my bus window everyday for Erika to walk by because I wanted to see what she was wearing. For me, Erika embodied the person that I always wanted to be. Once I got to high school, I would always see Erika, but was too nervous to talk to her. I also would see Blake with Erika, as well, and was in awe at how well he dressed.

I joined Chictopia sometime last year and was so surprised to see that Erika was a part of the site, too. All of her photos were absolutely beautiful, and her outfits impeccable. Almost all of her photos made it into the Style Gallery,and she had hundreds of fans. Through Erika I found Blake on Lookbook and was blown away by his photography skills. He,too was a prominent figure fashion figure, and had also been featured on Forever21's blog, The Skinny, along with being having a personal style blog.

Imagine how excited I was when Erika emailed me and asked me if I wanted to model for a few photos for Blake for his portfolio. I was SO nervous for the photo shoot because Blake and Erika had always been the real life people I have looked up to, and I felt inferior and so amature compared to them. As soon as they picked me up though last Tuesday for the shoot it was like I had known the two of them forever. Talking to them was so easy and I felt a instant connection that I had never felt in my life with other people. My own life experiences and feelings were strikingly similar to Erika's and I was just so blown away.

For the shoot Erika did my makeup, and also picked out my outfit using some clothes I brought. The three of us then went to Blake's grandmother's house to do the shoot in her woods. The setting was set up beautifully where Blake had hung records in the trees. It was so inspiring!

After we were done shooting, the three of us went out to eat some Italian, and oh it was so delicious! It was just so nice to talk to them about the feelings of being an outcast that I've had the past few years, and have someone actually understand what I had gone/ am going through. When Blake and Erika dropped me off at home, I just had this amazing feeling of...hope. Hope because I knew that I had finally found people that I could be myself around. It was such an incredible feeling.

If any of you want, here is Blake's Facebook page that shows all of his other photographs. It's really fantastic and you should check it out!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Blake-Jacobsen/285751914236?ref=ts

Also, here's Blake's personal blog address:http://blakejacobsen.blogspot.com/

And of course, if you would like to look at the lovely Erika's personal outfit photos, here is her Chictopia account link: http://www.chictopia.com/iamappleorchard

Hope everyone is doing well! See you all tomorrow :)

Lauren.

I'll Be Seeing You.

Photographs by Blake Jacobsen.

Styling and Makeup by Erika Lipps.

Hello everyone!!!

So here's my mystery surprise that I've been talking about for the past few days!

About a month of so back I got a Facebook message from a girl from my school named Erika Lipps. I was in utter shock because Erika is probably one of the most beautiful girls I've ever seen, and I consider her to be the most fashionable person at my school, let alone the most fashionable person I've ever met in my life. Ever since my eighth grade year I have looked up to and admired Erika for her sense of style and her natural beauty! Imagine how shocked and flattered I was when I read the email that Erika and her friend Blake Jacobsen (whom also goes to my school) wanted me to model for them! Wow, wow, wow! Blake Jacobsen is a phenomenal photographer and easily the best dressed male I have ever seen. I really couldn't believe that Erika and Blake wanted me, the amature little fashion blogger to model for them. Of course I took the opportunity right up and oh my goodness... It was honestly one of the best experiences I've ever had. For me it was like realizing that your idols were everything that you always wished them to be and more. Not only was doing a photo shoot with Blake and Erika a complete honor, but I really connected with them both. I have never in my life felt an instant connection with someone like I did with them. It was like...I had already known them for years. My social awkwardness vanished and in it's place I found myself talking nonstop about all of the things we had in common. All of my life I've felt as though I would never really meet anyone who was quite like me, but Erika and Blake proved me wrong. Everything felt just so...right with them. We had so much in common that it felt like I was looking at myself in a mirror, but seeing them on the other side.

Since this was an extremely picture heavy post, I won't go into huge detail about everything. Tomorrow I plan on doing a little "information" post about Blake and Erika and more detail about the shoot and the absolutely amazing time I had. Looking forward to doing the post! Hope you all enjoyed the pictures. I know I'm in LOVE with them! See you all tomorrow ;)

Lauren.

Living A Teenage Dream.

Purple Peter Pan Pea Coat: JcPenny's.

Black Dress Underneath: Gabriel Brother's.

Black Socks: Stolen from mom!

Yellow Beret: Target.

Purple Heels: Thrifted.

Hello everyone!

So last night Matt and I went to a home football game! Whoohoo living the teenage dream, right?! ;)

My school's colors are purple and gold, so it's always fun to put outfits together for the football games! Usually for every game there is a "dress theme" and this game it was neon which was so stupid. Why does everyone want to wear neon instead of our school colors!? I don't even own anything neon! So, I broke the "dress code" and wore what I wanted haha.

Last football game I wore these high waisted black shorts and a little short sleeve top, and let me tell you that I was absolutely freezing! For yesterday's game I was smarter and actually wore something a little bit warmer. (Oh, and the hot choclate I got also really warmed me up!) I got this amazing purple coat at JcPenny's last spring marked down for hardly anything! When I bought the coat it was just starting to get warmer, so now I'm so happy that I finally get the chance to start wearing it! I should have gotten a picture, but the back of the coat actually has a huge adorable bow on that back :) It's my favorite part!

Like I mentioned last post, I've really been having a sock fetish lately. I wore lacy socks to school yesterday, and wore these little black ones to the game last night! Socks add such a cute little twist to a otherwise boring outfit. I'm obsessed!!

Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying their weekend! Stay tuned later in the evening for the unveiling of my mystery post! I am SO excited. :)

Lauren.

Socks and Shoes!

Yellow Peter Pan Pea Coat: Forever21.

Floral Strapless Dress: Forever21l.

Navy Skinny Belt: Charlotte Russe Belt.

Navy Socks: Stolen from mom!

Tan Wedges: Thrifted.

Clear Beaded Necklace: Thrifted.

Hello everyone!

Ugh, excessive amount of homework tonight! I didn't even get to take pictures of today's outfit

:( These pictures were of yesterday's outfit. I've really been on a socks and knee socks kick lately! Tomorrow I'm wearing lace socks with some heels! Also, tomorrow I get my year book from last school year which I am so excited about! Oh, and I'm going to a home football game with Matt. GOOO LEX! :)

See you tomorrow!

Hopefully I'll get to do my mystery post... :)

Lauren.

Just A Sneak Peak...

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to give you a little glimpse of my little "fashion related" surprise I mentioned in my previous post! I am SO excited to tell you all about it, but you'll most likely have to wait until Friday or even maybe Saturday. Reasons I can't really say ;)

Hope you all are doing utterly fantastic!

HINT: I didn't take this picture myself with my trusty old tripod and self timer...

Fall Hues.

Brown Dress: Thrifted.

Red Cardigan: Gaberiel Brother's.

Floral Scarf: Target.

Brown Belt: Kohl's.

Knee Socks: Stolen from mom!

Brown Ridding Boots: Thrifted.

Hello everyone!

I don't particularly have anything to say today, but I do want to tell you all that I am very, very, VERY excited about something I did tonight! I can't tell you all now, but in a few days you'll see what I mean ;) Seriously though, I haven't been this excited for something fashion related in a very long time and can't wait to show you all! Hope I keep you all guessing and wondering, hehe.

Hope everyone is doing GREAT!

Lauren.

Wake Me Up When September Ends...

Blue Floral Dress: Forever21.

Light Pink Cardigan: Forever21.

White Tights: JcPenny's.

Tan Flats: Thrifted.

Gold Cameo Necklace: Thrifted.

Hello everyone!

Jeez, I've been terrible about posting comments/replying to comments lately! I feel terrible

:( I'm going to try to do my best to catch up! Please excuse my rudeness if you can my dears...

School has just been...ehh lately. It hasn't been terrible, but it hasn't been fantastic either. Sometimes I just get depressed though because it feels as though I can't to anything right. My school work, socialize with people, put together good outfits. Sigh. I always start to feel so insecure when I go back to school the beginning of each year. During the summer time I just wear whatever I want, freely, no one to judge or compare myself to. It seems like when I go back to school, however, that I'm surrounded by all of these stunning girls that I just can't compare to. Often I feel as though since I'm not as naturally pretty as they are, I can beat them at the one thing that I'm good at. Dressing up. Dressing up gives me power, it gives me confidence. It seems when I go to school in just jeans that my confidence level wanes... I feel bad about myself all day and I'm constantly comparing myself less attractive than other girls.

By no means am I saying that I dress up to please other people. Oh no, no ,no! I love to dress up for myself and only for myself. All I'm saying is that when I don't dress up, I feel less confident in myself. And for me, confidence and self acceptance have always been things I've coveted!

Well, I don't know exactly where that big long spiel came from! Sorry you all had to hear my endless ramblings...haha. See you all tomorrow! Hope you're all doing wonderful :)

Lauren.

P.S. I don't know if you all noticed, but I did dye my hair a slightly darker brown! I quite like it, but it seems as though no one has really noticed. I'll take that as a good thing and assume that it looks very natural which is what I want, hehe.