Rainy Day Attire.

Plaid Button Down (similar) | H&M

Black Fit and Flare Skirt (super similar for $35) | Thrifted

Red Rain Boots (similar from JCP) | Walmart

Beanie (similar under $10!) | c/o OASAP (old)

Rainy days are my favorite. Growing up in Ohio, sometimes it would rain for weeks on end with not a hint of sunshine in sight. It was easy to be convinced that I lived in some well-known rainy place like London or Seattle, but no: just good old Ohio. Fickle and problematic weather since 1803. Since moving to New York City, the rainy days have been few and far between which makes my heart ache for my favorite comforting days back home. When rain is in the forecast for the week, all of my coworkers groan but I secretly give a little inner cheer. It's a time for warm drinks under colorful umbrellas. Splashing in puddles while briskly walking towards a destination, or sitting inside to watch the steady downpour. When talking rainy day comfort, it's impossible not to touch on rainy day attire. It can come in many forms. A laid back effortlessness in a chunky knit cardigan, thick leggings, knee high socks, and rain slickers. A sophisticated city-chic with a neutral trench coat, protective turtleneck, black slacks, and a chelsea boots. I wanted to make this outfit a combination of the two styles: fashion forward, but also comfy and utilitarian as well. I loved this day and I loved this outfit. Already planning outfits for the next rainy day New York blesses me with...

With much love,

Lauren

Spending Holidays Away From Home.

Cream Cable Knit Sweater (one for $22) | Thrifted

Velvet Skater Skirt (one from Topshop/love this beige one!) | Thrifted

Knee Socks | Uniqlo

Lace Up Boots | H&M

Fall Neck Scarf (very similar color + feel to mine) | Thrifted

Camel Beret ($13 at Modcloth!) | American Apparel

Hello ♥

Still posting photos from when I was home in Ohio nearly a month ago...these make my heart hurt. I had such a lovely time visiting home, and I won't be going home for Thanksgiving. It was my choice, but that still doesn't make the reality any easier. Living hours away from home makes difficult and expensive to fly/drive/ride home for every holiday...I don't have the money, or the vacation time. Instead of splitting my days up between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I decided it would be better to just lump it all together to have a nice, longer Christmas with my family. This won't be the first time I'm missing Thanksgiving with them. When I studied abroad in Italy two years back I also missed it, but it made being reunited for Christmas all the much sweeter. 

Although I am very bummed to be missing the holiday with them, I am excited and looking forward to starting new holiday traditions for my life here in New York City. I'm attending the Macy's Day Parade for the first time! It's all I can think about lately. I grew up watching it on TV while the kitchen filled with smells of my dad's cooking...it's so wonderful I'll get to see all the spectaculars in person. I may lay low key after all that excitement for the day...or perhaps I'll go to Thanksgiving with my boyfriend's family (yes, you heard that right! I'll speak on it soon. x). Haven't made up my mind quite yet. I DO know I'm grateful for technologies like skype so I'll get to be in on a little bit of the festivities back home...too bad you can't send pumpkin pie through! Mmm my favorite part of the holiday. Although I'm crazy enough to go see the parade, I haven't hit the level of crazy it takes to go Black Friday shopping in NYC. Sleeping in for me 💤

Holidays are best spent with family and those dear to your heart. It's hard growing  older and not always being there, but it's a part of growing up and creating a life of your own.  Even if I wasn't in New York, holidays would be different because I'm no longer in school. I'm an "adult" (technically speaking, although it often doesn't feel like it). You can't fight getting older or stop it: it's just something you must learn to accept. 

With much love,

Lauren

Skeleton Girl.

Skeleton Sweatshirt | H&M

Collared Blouse | Forever21.

Black Skirt | Thrifted

Heels | Payless

Skeleton Hair Clips | H&M

Silver Metal Belt | Thrifted

Hello everyone & Happy Novemeber!

I'm a little late in sharing my Halloween look this year, but I've been SO sick the last week or so. It was my first time being sick away from home without family to take care of me, and it was difficult to say the least. Just knowing someone is there to help is such a huge comfort when you're feeling poorly, so not having that didn't make getting better any easier. I was very sick on Halloween, but I did wear this themed outfit the day of (the pictures were taken the day before!). In the past I've gotten very into Halloween. I love dressing up and coming up with unique DIY costume ideas. Since I'm not in school any longer and don't "go-out" I didn't feel like dressing up in full costume was necessary this year. I still wanted to get in the spooky spirit of the holiday though, so I picked up this skeleton sweatshirt and hair clips at H&M. It was the perfect little twist to wear on Halloween to still participate. Tbh, I only wore the outfit for a few hours though before I was so miserably sick I had to go home from work early, ha.

Blogging has been difficult for me to get around to doing lately. Not in the way because I'm busy, but just that I lack motivation. In the nearly 7 years I've been at it, I log fewer and fewer entries every year. I find that instead of looking forward to getting home and writing a post like I did in high school, I feel annoyed that I can't just be at home and relax how I please without feeling guilty. It's a hard pill to swallow that blogging is not as big of a passion for me as it once was. I got together with a friend and reader last week and she told me she really doesn't read blogs any more, but still reads mine. I asked her why she continued to read mine and she said because I'm real and honest: that's what keeps her coming back. I appreciated her saying that so much, but for me I don't even feel that my writing is of substance any more on here. I used to talk very candidly on my blog about a lot of things. Over the years whether it's been because I've grown up or just become more private, but that candid aspect of the blog has dwindled. I think it's still there...but not as strong and not as free. In a way I feel like I'm unable to talk that freely now because I have responsibilities and I'm not a teenager any longer...on the other hand, I don't feel the need to speak so freely any more. For a very long time I used this space as a way to get my voice heard when I was unhappy, angry, or frustrated. Now that I'm not that angsty any more...there's no reason to rant and rave. I still get angry and upset: yes. But I have a much more controlled way of dealing with those feelings now.

I want to continue blogging because there are still aspects to it that I really enjoy. I have such a back log of photos on this computer because I've still been taking them multiple times a week. I enjoy and love doing that still. It's the editing, the coding, the meaningless writing, promoting, ect ect ect that gets me down and makes me think "this isn't so fun anymore."" I'm not sure what the future of this blog is. I'm coming up on 7 years of blogging on the 11th of November, and truthfully I wasn't sure I would last this long. I think I'll always be making content on the internet in one form or another. Whether that's posting on here, or perhaps moving to a simplier platform like Instagram. I don't know. It's a hard future to predict and not one that I want an answer to right now. I just want to continue doing what feels right until it doesn't feel right any longer.

Love you all.

With much love,

Lauren

Into the Night.

Velvet Bodysuit with Mesh (very similar) | Thrifted

Velvet Skirt (similar for $35) | Thrifted

Black Heeled Booties | H&M

Lipstick in MAC's Rebel

Happy Halloween weekend!

I've been getting in the Halloween spirit lately with my outfits. I wore this outfit yesterday to look around at the Union Square market and to meet a friend for coffee later in the evening. I've been dying to wear this velvet bodysuit. Yes, you hear that right. Although this may look like a dress, this outfit comprises of two separate pieces. The top is this amazing velvet bodysuit  I thrifted back in Ohio for $1.99. Its sweetheart neckline and little covered buttons make it look like something you could find in H&M or Forever21 this season. But what goes around come back around and the tag suggests it's an 80s/90s piece. To me it is perfection! I paired it with a matching velvet skirt I thrifted a few years back that has been my go to for the spookiest month of the year. To top it all off, I needed a coquettish lipstick color. MAC's Rebel always does the trick for me. I don't use it as much as I use my Russian Red, but it's a great fall color to pull out to up the ante to outfits.

Sadly, there are no fun Halloween festivities for me this year. Partly because I've been sick with a sinus cold since Thursday and also because I'm a loser and don't go to parties lol. This is my first year in a LONG time I won't be dressing up--which does make me sad because I love doing DIY costumes every year. I do have one more themed outfit for tomorrow I'll be wearing + posting pictures in so stay tuned. It may not be a full blown costume, but it is a character I'm quite excited to emulate for a day :)

Hope you all had a great weekend! See ya tomorrow, spooks.

With much love,

Lauren.

Fall in Ohio.

Camel Sweater (very similar from Missguided)| Thrifted

Black Jeans (exact pair)| Target

Loafers (similar pair) | Walmart

Hat (very similar from Revolve)| Walmart

Blanket Scarf  (similar in style and color)| Forever21

Hello there ♥

These photos are from a few weeks back when I was home in Ohio for a little vacation. It felt so nice to be back. Really it was the first time coming home for any substantial amount of time since I moved to NYC. Things felt very much the same as they always have, and thankfully I found I haven't changed too much yet. I wasn't getting all huffy at slow walkers or longing for the subway over driving a car. It was almost like I'd never moved. It was easy to sink back into simple, mid-western life back home. Although it is so familiar and comforting to me, I know I can't live this way right now. Maybe at some point I'll come back to Ohio permanently and sink back into my old way of life. For now, I know I'm meant to be somewhere else (whether that be here in NYC or maybe even another city) so that I can use these early 20's as a period to really grow. As a senior in college I thought I was a grown up. I thought I was ready for working and living on my own completely. Life kicked me on my ass after graduation though and I was given a huge wake up call. I'm not done learning yet. A long way from it. x

With much love,

Lauren

Honorary Sanderson Sister.

Bell Sleeve Sweater (really, really similar!) | Thrifted

Printed Skirt (similar) | Thrifted

Silver Metal Belt (similar) | Thrifted

Rust Skinny Scarf (similar) | Thrifted

Knee Socks | Uniqlo

Black Riding Boots | JCP

I was talking to my boyfriend the other day about Halloween movies and he mentioned he has never seen Hocus Pocus...I was kinda like ARE YOU KIDDING ME. This movie was everything to me growing up. I remember curling up at my grandmother's house one fall evening and it was on tv. I couldn't have been more than 8 or so. I begged my parents to let me stay up late and finish this captivating movie. It took me years after to find out what the movie was actually called, and it brought back so much nostalgia when I found it again! It's been a few years even since then that I've watched it, so when my boyfriend said he had never seen it that had to change. We baked some homemade chocolate chip cookies on Saturday and sat down to watch it--so, so good! Even he had to admit it, too :)

The movie prompted me to dress as witchy as I could the next day. Witches are trending for Fall 2016, ya'll. I thrifted this amazing sweater last year and only wore it once...when I was back home in Ohio I snatched it up to bring back to NYC because it's the perfect October shirt! You can make me an honorary Sanderson Sister now.

Come, we fly!

With much love,

Lauren

Mustard Yellow Cardigan.

Checkered Dress (Similar from Kate Spade + on sale!) | Thrifted

Mustard Yellow Cardigan (amazingly cute one for $59) | Forever21 (so old!)

Silk Neck Scarf (love this rust one in the same style) | Thrifted

Black Booties | Thrifted

Mini Backpack (SO cute similar one) | Thrifted

Red Beret (buy one here)| Target (old)

Black Belt w/ Gold Buckle (similar from Nordstrom) | Thrifted

Hello there ♥

I've needed all things in my life to be mustard yellow this fall. I begged my parents to ship me fall clothes before my recent trip home. Not that I needed the clothes because it's cold (still 80 degrees here in NYC!) but mainly because it couldn't be October if I didn't bring out my favorite mustard yellow cardigan. I bought this sweater many moons ago at Forever21. So many I can't even remember how long I've had it, or really when I even bought it during the year. It's my favorite wardrobe piece to pull out when the air begins to grow crisp (although the air was just muggy in these photos lol). Since I've had such affection for this cardigan (the many pills and pulls are evidence), I've set out to accumulate more mustard yellow pieces for my life. I have a mustard beret from Target I love pairing with red; picked up a cozy knit blanket from Target for my bed here in NYC; and even a mini bowl for my air plant caught my eye at my fave NYC dish shop, Fishes Eddy. Oh, also a big proponent of gold eye shadow atm. Fellow brown eyed girls, I'm sure you can feel me on the magic sparkle it brings to the eye.

Mustard yellow, you have my heart forever!

With much love,

Lauren

Red Velvet Ribbon.

Denim Jacket (super similar from Mango) | Thrifted

Black Boat Neck Top (similar)| H&M

Printed Skirt (love this similar one with a larger print!) | Thrifted

Knee Socks | Uniqlo

Boots (similar with amazing lace detail!) | Thrifted

Red Velvet Ribbon (very similar from Express) | Paper Presentations

Hi guys!

So sorry I've been MIA. I just spent 5 days in Ohio with my family and got back to NYC last night. I have SO many photos to share with you all: both outfits from before my trip and many amongst the fall foliage back home. Cutting this short tonight to work on editing some pictures-- missed you all and glad to be back! Tell me what you've been up to. x

With much love,

Lauren