Jumper

I never thought I would say this, but I actually really want a jumpsuit of some kind. I used to heavily mock them on the web pages of Forever 21, and then I tried one on from there and was surprised at how non-ugly it was! I felt so 70s chic. Plus they're like onesie pj's for grown-ups, so that's pretty sweet. Then I saw the below jumpsuit on one of my favorite style bloggers and went straight to zara.com in search of it I loved it so much (no such luck in finding it though...). How sassy does Krystal look??

Here's another fave blogger/best friend rocking the jumpsuit look (plus olive, gold accessories, and leopard shoes are the perfect combo in my opinion)

And then here are a few I found myself:

F21 Surplice Knit Jumper, H&M Jumpsuit, F21 Drawstring Shoulder Jumpsuit

What do you think? Would you wear one? And where would you wear it to?

Good Hair Day

I've always been jealous of my friends that can go days on end without washing their hair, and have it still look perfectly presentable. I am not one of those people. Add that to being a perfectionist and you get someone who washes their hair almost every day, sometimes every other. I've tried a couple of dry shampoos but nothing seems that great, and I don't like baby powder because of the smell and how it turns my hair white. Enter: my solutions:

I love how the bottle says "New Look!" yet still looks like something straight out of the 70s. Also, not sure if you've noticed or not yet, but I try and get my cat in the background of as many of my pictures as possible.


Pssssst! Dry Shampoo I had a friend recommend this to me, and I also saw it on this lovely blog as well, so I finally decided to try it for myself. Especially because it beat out most of the other suggestions in price as well (only around $7 from the drug store). Going on day 3 of not washing my hair (big deal for me), I can say that I am pretty impressed! Having bangs is the tricky part, and using this makes them look freshly washed and not greasy and gross. Plus I LOVE how it smells, which is huge for me. If you have dark hair like me, it will turn it a little white-ish, but that's solved by brushing through your hair a few times, and lightly tousling the hair around your roots.

Ballerina Bun I know most girls (especially in the blog world) have already mastered the fine art of the ballerina bun, but just in case you would like a little step-by-step, here you go! It's super easy.

1. Put hair in high ponytail

2. Tease and hairspray every part of the ponytail like crazy (this picture doesn't fully capture how poofy your hair will get)

3. Wrap hair around into a bun and secure with a few bobby pins. Hair spray again. You get a nice full bun/nest on the top of your head! Even for someone with fine hair like me. 

I love how easy this is for a bad hair day solution, or a sleek updo for a night out. If you want a better tutorial, check out this video by the adorable girl behind Hairdresser on Fire.

GHD Straightener I just have to throw in a shout out to my favorite hair tool of all time, my straightener, the GHD (stands for Good Hair Day, love it). Sometimes I cringe when I think of how much I spent on this, but then I remember that I use it usually two times a day, it heats up in under 10 seconds flat, and straightens and curls my hair perfectly, while somehow making it shinier. It's a blessed thing. Plus I plan on owning it for years to come. I owe my bestie Molly for introducing me to it, love you!!!

K hope those tips help you next time you're having a BHD, or just want an extra 30 min of sleep ;)

xoxo

Ombre Nails

Ladies and Gentleman (maybe just ladies?), you are looking at the most repinned pin on Pinterest. Well at least on my boards. Originally pinned from here onto here, it has been repinned 206 times (and counting) and to be honest, I'm not sure how people even keep finding it! But needless to say, it is obviously popular for some reason and I figured it was about time I tried it for myself. I've seen it all over blogs, but it just seems tricky and next to impossible to get the gradient shades right, even for a polish-aholic (ooo that has a nice ring to it) like me. I figured my best bet would be with pinks since I have so many, but surprisingly, I couldn't piece more than a couple together that worked. Tried a few more shades then finally I realized that I might actually have the best luck with my grays and neutrals.

Something I did, and would suggest to others, is to use a piece of paper and test out the colors first on there. A lot of times the bottles might look good lined up next to each other, but then they come out so differently. So below are some "swatches" of mine and then the colors I finally went with. 

Started with these colors (left to right: Earthly Harmony by MAC, Taupe by F21, Jazz by Essie, Gold by F21, Nude by F21)

Didn't like how Gold looked so I painted Light Gray by F21 over it instead

This is what I got

Not super impressed after all that. When professionals with the perfect colors do it, it looks good, but otherwise I think Ombre Nails are kind of a tough trend. They didn't make me happy when I looked down at them and that is usually my main goal when it comes to painting my nails! So off they come. But luckily I have a few other fun nail painting ideas that I'm excited to try out! They're all on my Pinterest board if you feel like trying to figure them out ;)

Do you ever try anything different on your nails, or just keep it basic?

Sun Rays and Rollerblades

Hiii!! And Happy Monday!! I think the Vitamin D from this weekend is still working it's wonders on me so I am in an ESPECIALLY good mood. I was a happy little lizard this weekend - soaking up the sun, spending time with my parents and good friends, going on walks, sleeping lots, rollerblading (!) and apparently taking lots of pics to document it all! Sorry if it's a little excessive, but I am just trying to inject the sunshine and happiness I experienced into your life through them. So here you go:

Celebrating the birthday girl

Breakfast and Bible reading on my building's terrace

I have patio chairs now thanks to my sweet neighbor!

Now I just need a table and a plant and I'm good.

Nail polish experiments...

Mommy whisking Moby away to bond with a fellow cavalier

Aren't my parents the cutest?

Sweet present from my Mommy :)

Pride and Prejudice (again) in bed with kitty

Yes

I wore a fanny pack. Because they're genius. On the lookout for 

a cute one though. Got any suggestions??

Apparently I'm a giant??

Got to babysit Moby (my parent's dog) on Sunday. 

We sat in the park together. I gave him a bean from my burrito.

Is it summer where you are? Did you have a wonderful weekend? I hope so. Five days and then it's 4th of July weekend time! Happy Happy xoxox

Pieces of Glitter

Oh boy am I happy to see you Friday. There were way too many early days this week, I can't wait to turn that evil little alarm clock off for the weekend. And see my wonderful parents tomorrow!! Woo hoo!! Here were my sparkly pieces of glitter this week:

Delish summer berries from Trader Joe's!!

Making my prosecco extra fancy by adding a strawb

Pretty sunset. And this tweet about sunsets. That guy is hilarious on twitter.

Looking down at my "walk home from work bag" and realizing it contained a box of Gushers, high heels, my sippy cup, Jane's Krazy, a cucumber, and red wine. Normal.

Letters posted on the door to the neighborhood grocery store that is closing :( I read them and started to tear up at what wonderful words of affirmation and encouragement they were. The amount of notes has quadrupled since I took this. How lovely to have supportive neighbors and friends in one's life.

This article which I highly recommend to anyone in their 20s-30s(ish). I already tweeted, facebooked, and e-mailed it, but I figured I would throw it on my blog for good measure as well ;)

Happy weekend my little lambs!!

Snapshots of Summer

You guys I was so proud of Portland yesterday! On the first day of summer, the sun actually pulled through!! With highs in the low 80s, the chance to eat my lunch out in the sun, and a perfect walk home after work, I was one happy summer girl. Oh and because of my new favorite nail polish on my nails. I wish there was a way to properly capture the color that I am seeing with my eyes, but alas, it has not been possible. You will just have to come find me and see for yourself!!

Here are a few snapshots from my balcony last night, such a gorgeous evening. Thank you Lord for the beautiful weather!

That's me, being happy. And looking like I have 80s bangs and highlights.

Weekend in Review

So I had quite a fun weekend, despite having to work on Saturday and it being a very dreary drizzly day! 

I know I've mentioned it about 5 times already, but Friday I got the fun treat of going to dinner with my Dad unexpectedly. And it was delicious.

That night two of my dear friends, Brock and Amanda, got engaged!! And her ring is to die for (obviously). So I got to meet up with them and some friends at Brix to celebrate. Then I had run into a few of my other friends nearby (I love living in the Pearl, it's like a small friendly neighborhood!) so I went and met up with them at Oba afterwards.

Saturday night I had some free tickets to Portland Center Stage to use so Nicole and I went and saw this play called "Bust." We're so cultural, I know. It was interesting! But funny and she was very talented! (One woman show with an hour and 45 min of dialogue. My first reaction was: if she can memorize that much speech, I'm pretty sure I can step up my Bible verse memorizing game. Nicole, Anna, and Fawn you with me??) Then I ended my night with the wild and crazy plan of making myself a late night snack of couscous and peach tea and snuggling in my bed to watch (the new) Pride and Prejudice. Couldn't have been happier. *Sidenote: have you guys seen that movie? I've watched it about 3 times now, but after finishing it on Sunday night, crying in my bed by myself (haha), I came to the conclusion that it is the most romantic movie I have ever seen. I love it so much and have been thinking about it all day!

Then since Sunday was my only day off, I tried to make it simultaneously as productive and fun as possible. So I finally unpacked from my trip (!) and cleaned my ENTIRE apartment! It felt so good (I could vacuum for a living I love it so much). Then I walked downtown to the mall to use some of my bday gift cards and got some really fun stuff! Went to church that night and came home to watch the rest of Pride and Prejudice and called it a day. 

Hope you all had a splendid weekend and I'm crossing my fingers for sunshine the rest of this week!!

xoxo

Eating Out

I'm the type of person that doesn't get sick of things very quickly. That includes songs, certain kinds of food, restaurants, movies, etc. So sometimes I'm not the best at branching out and remembering to try new things. And since Portland has about a billion amazing restaurants, I think it just overwhelms me and makes me want to stick to my faves even more. But I've started a "Portland Bucket List" and am determined to start checking off some places and restaurants I've yet to visit here in P-Town. This last week I actually went to two new places for me so that's a good start!

First was Irving Street Kitchen in the Pearl, which is an American restaurant with a southern feel to it (the menu reminded me a little bit of Screen Door). I had already eaten beforehand so I just got some biscuits and ham and just ate the biscuits with the butter and red pepper jelly. Haha. Pretty yums though. For dessert we got some butterscotch pudding thing with whipped cream and caramel and caramelized bananas (best part for sure) that was so rich I probably only had about 3 bites of the whole thing.

Then last Friday night I went to Besaw's with my Dad (I've always heard about what a good breakfast they had but figured we'd try dinner for now). SO yummy!! I ordered the meatloaf which was one of the most flavorful things I've ever consumed. Plus it had bacon on it. My Dad and I were dying. My dad's pasta was super good too. Then my Dad spoiled me and let me get dessert (even though I'm pretty sure I was already so full I could burst). I got the rhubarb tart with lemon ice cream and it was delish as well! Thanks again Daddy!

Some more places I'm hoping to visit soon: Laurelhurst Market, Toro Bravo, Beast (when I win the lottery or someone wants to take me on a date there), and then Tasty n Sons. There are plenty more, but I'll stop with those for now. If you're a Portlander, what are your favorite restaurants here??