Reindeer and Snowflakes.

Reindeer Sweater (similar): c/o OASAP (old).

Velvet Skirt (similar & only $15!): Thrifted.

Black Turtleneck (similar): Thrifted.

Lace Boots (similar): Thrifted.

Flower Necklace: Kate Spade.

Hello everyone ♥

Since it's been the end of my semester here things have been pretty stressful. Lol, if finding out that I have a five page paper due at midnight (when it's 10:15) and worth 20% of my grade doesn't tell you how my week has been going...then I don't know what does. Anyways, between the stress I really enjoy the little things that help me relax, take my mind off such a zeroed in view of my life, and unwind.

Tea in the evening has really been my savior. When deadlines are approaching and the clock keeps getting later and later...nothing soothes me more than taking a few minutes to make myself a cup of hot tea. There's just something about the process of making it that even soothes me. Picking out the perfect mug from my collection... and then I love to get the hot water ready and steep my tea white I sit with it as it cools enough for me to drink. I've been an avid mint tea drinker for about a year now, but I've recently gotten into all sorts of other teas, too. An irish man I met in NYC got me into Irish breakfast tea-- I love having it with a small pinch of sugar.  We have TONS of teas at work and I try a new one about every shift...black berry sage, vanilla apple, and honey ginseng have been my favorites! 

Getting a hot bath is also one of my favorite things to do in the evenings. I get really bad tension and neck headaches where my muscles just ache so badly... or since I'm from Ohio the cold can be unbearable in the winter (although not this year yet), and it feels like my body just will not warm itself up once I'm inside...drawing a bath is always so comforting. I like mine really hot so all the mirrors in my bathroom fog up and I'll just soak for a long time, massaging my neck muscles whilst in the water to loosen them. I'm not a bubble bath fan, but I do love to light a candle in the bathroom and have the room filled up with sweet aromas ♥ I also really enjoy listening to music when I'm in the bathtub and just floating about, staring up at the ceiling and doing some dreaming...my favorite stations on pandora to listen to have been Birdy radio, soothing bath sounds, and now that it's the holiday season, Christmas Jazz.

Something then that I've gotten into to help me relax that I haven't done in years is draw. I loved taking art classes in middle school and highschool, but then it got to that stage where you begin to notice everyone around you excelling and it's not just a 'fun hobby' anymore, so I stopped because I felt I wasn't good. Recently, I've realized you don't have to be good at something to enjoy doing it. I got a set of amazing colored pencils at the Hullabaloo event I went to a few weeks back, and have been drawing with them, and then making them into water color paintings. Like I said...my art isn't good, but there's something so soothing and quite magical about that creative release and just letting your mind drift away to another place...

These are a few things that have been keeping me sane during an incredibly stressful semester (I'd say my most yet out of the three and a half years I've been here). What do you all do to unwind? I'd love to hear :)

With much love, Lauren.

Talk Coffee to Me.

Textured Sweater (just like mine): Thrifted.

Corduroy Jumper (similar + similar in a different color!): Thrifted.

Single Pearl Necklace (very similar to mine!): Thrifted.

Brimmed hat (similar): c/o OASAP.

Lace Up Booties (similar): H&M.

On a totally unrelated fashion note; let's talk coffee (perhaps my other love aside from fashion!). I think it's interesting how my coffee tastes have changed over the years based on where I've been in life/what I've been doing. I started off like most do in high school with blended frappucchino beverages from Starbucks that have just as much (if not more) sugar as they do caffeine. Near the end of high school I started getting into espresso specialty drinks, but my OCD got so bad they actually gave me really bad panic attacks and I cut back drastically. My freshman year here at Kent though I had a meal plan and began purchasing espresso drinks again at the campus coffee shop, Jazzman's, where I now work. I had gotten better hold of my OCD and soon began drinking between 2-3 drinks a day and started my love for coffee! 

I continued this pattern my freshman and sophomore years, cafe mochas being my favorite, until I went to Italy my junior year. While there, the option for specialty drinks was completely cut out. There were no Starbucks in Italy, and really the only two options at any cafe were espresso shots or cappuccinos. I remember I first hated cappuccinos but would drink them because there was nothing else...but by the end of my semester abroad I couldn't go a day without one, and still a year later I'm dreaming about the perfect Italian cappuccinos! Being in Italy made me really appreciate coffee without all the fluff, and I realized I didn't need all the sugar and 'extras' to enjoy coffee. I also started getting really into tea while I was over there since my coffee choices were sparse, and then when I got back I began to have a cup of mint tea every night as a nice way to wind down.

Once I got back from Italy, I drank a lot less specialty drinks and stuck to more classic ones like cappuccinos and flat whites. I started my job at the coffee shop this semester and my intake of specialty drinks went back up because I had so much at my finger tips! It was pumpkin spice lattes and vanilla lattes for days...It was surprising though, but mid semester I got so sick of drinking all those heavy drinks and actually developed an aversion to them. Since then, I have been LOVING just plain drip coffee with a little bit of cream. I get it wherever I go and rarely do I order a specialty latte anymore. It's saved me a lot of money and lets be honest...calories! Four to five years ago you could have never convinced me that I would be drinking nearly black, drip coffee...I hated anything that didn't have AT LEAST equal amounts of sugar to the caffeine. I also am an avid tea drinker now and love to try different ones. I don't know how I just thought it tasted like dirty water before! Tea has become part of my every day evening routine to have a cup before bed.

 It's been interesting and fun to see how my tastes have changed and matured, and I have no doubt they will continue to as I go through life! 

With much love, Lauren.

I'll Be Home for Christmas.

Oversized Navy Cardigan (similar): Thrifted.

Gray Jegging Jeans (similar & on sale): Aeropostale.

Green Blouse (similar): Forever21.

Yellow Beanie (similar + only $5 :O ): c/o OASAP.

Elisa Flat: c/o Loly in the Sky. 

Plaid Scarf (super similar + only $20!): Store in Florence. 

Hello everyone! 

The holiday season is upon us!! These photos were taken back when I was home for Thanksgiving with my family and I'm already dreaming of being back there in just one week's time...♥ I won't be there for long though until I'm off to NYC for a few days as my Christmas present! I've been dreaming a little more than I should be with finals amongst me (I've gotta get this stuff done...) but I can't help it. It's been four months since I've been in my favorite city & my excitement can hardly be contained.

For me, this isn't just a frivolous trip to NYC either. I actually planned and desired to go a slightly more serious reason. 

When I lived in NYC, I knew it was where I wanted to end up after I graduated. Every day since I've left I've continued dreaming and working hard to get myself back...but sometimes when you dream and work so hard for something, you begin to wonder; is it really worth it? Meaning in a sense, could this place I fell in love with, what I spend all my time, effort, and money pursing really be it? Is this really what I want? Sometimes it's hard for me to remember if I love NYC really as much in my mind as it is in real life. Maybe I dreamt it all. Maybe my summer there was a type of strange Cinderella story and the 'real NYC' is just a slush hole of bitter cold, gray concreted, stone hearted people. It was never that to me in the beautiful summer days where I worked on the 38th floor of one of the most established publishing companies in the United States, stumbling amongst the city for my first time ever with bright eyes...but what if it is now?

I've got to be sure what I felt for NYC in my heart four months ago is what I still feel before I decide to only put in applications there and truly set my mind solely on moving there. I've got to see once and for all if this is real. And right. I'm a big believer that you can't put yourself half way into something. Either I plan to give everything I have to get back to NYC these next few months, or I won't even try at all. 

I want to use this trip for it to just be me and the city again, to explore it and who I am inside of it. I've never doubted it not to have been what I want...but I am a cautious creature, and sometimes my dreams just seem too incredible to be true. It never hurts to make sure right before you leap in feet first ♥

With much love, Lauren. 

Retro Stripes.

Tan Pea Coat (similar): Zara.

Striped 50's Dress: (similar) Thrifted.

T-Strap Heels (similar): Thrifted.

Vintage Hat: Thrifted.

NYX Matte Lipstick.

Hello everyone!

I'm back from my Thanksgiving Break which was much too short for my liking. It's been a very difficult semester for me with my course load and working, and a break from it all to be with my family was much needed. I was able to spend a lot of time with my little sister which was perhaps the highlight of the break. With her being ten years my junior, it pains me sometimes to miss out on so much of her life and be absent...

We had coffee (& hot chocolate for her!) at the local coffee shop in the morning, taught her how to play scrabble (she's better than me now), baked chocolate chip cookies, had copious amounts of snuggling, and also decorated the house + tree for Christmas. Spending so much time attached at the hip unfortunately had one adverse consequence....she passed on her nasty cold to me! Ah, oh well. Cuddling up next to her and watching HGTV in the evenings with a warm blanket is well worth the week of sniffles I have before me ♥

I've got a tough couple of weeks ahead  with my finals and lots of projects coming up. I have some outfit photos back logged, but it might be sporadic posting here over the next three weeks. Just trying to make it through because on the other side of the tunnel is my trip to NYC right when I get on break! I've been dreaming about it every day....

Hope you all had a lovely holiday!

With much love, Lauren.