just call me whimsy

Dress: Zulily, Top: J. Crew, Necklace (similar): Ruche,
Booties: Urbanog, Tights: Target

Here's a very true fact about me.

I was a little bit boy crazy. Gasp, I know, it's true, it happened. 

I had many real-life crushes but, even worse, my walls were covered in magazine clippings and home-computer print-outs and life-size posters of Orlando Bloom, Tom Welling, Elijah Wood, etc...my adolescence was obviously smack dab in the middle of Lord of the Rings and Smallville mania. 

It was a good time, my friends.

I was young and foolish I suppose, but you know what else? I was still young and foolish when I got married. Maybe I still am. Is there such a thing as being young and foolish until you're old and grey? 

I feel like I can say I'm not young and foolish anymore...but I also feel like that's something a young and foolish person would say. 

I'm getting off track I think. The point of this whole conversation is that I kind of got to skip the whole dating scene. I was the typical boy crazy adolescent, but my husband and I started dating in high school in the midst of all that, and have been together ever since.

No awkward bar conversations, no flirting with strangers at the baseball game. No awkward pick-up lines. Part of it makes me feel a little excluded, because I don't have any funny awkward stories (about that, at least). 

I did have a guy drop a sugar packet once and tell me that I dropped my name tag. But it was when I was 13, maybe 14, and it was at a Christian summer camp. Haha. Look out!

Until Monday, I had pretty much avoided all of those cringe-worthy encounters. I didn't know what being hit on would even be like.
I would just wave it off naively, like, oh, he was just being friendly! 

So here it goes: I work in a library, and there's a guy that I've seen several times due to his exceeding number of interlibrary loan requests. He's a nice-looking guy, maybe a year or two older than I am.
He's had some problems with his account lately, and after I helped him out again on Monday, I was starting to walk away when he quickly says,

"You're looking whimsical today, by the way." Wink. 

I'm not gonna lie, I did love my crazy print-mixing ensemble and being called whimsical is the best kind of compliment for me, truly. Right next to you could be in an Anthro catalogue and I feel like Jess from New Girl would wear that. But then he winked and made it weird.

Why are winks so creepy? Why?
I love winking. I think it's adorable, it's sweet. But to a stranger? There is nothing in the world that's creepier than being winked at by some crazy nomad, some wandering half-blinking soul.

You know when it's not creepy? When it's a secret, a wordless exchange between two people who know and love each other:
Heath Ledger in A Knight's Tale, winking at his lady.
Geoffrey Rush in The Book Thief when he's winking at Liesel, his adopted daughter.

Winks should be reserved for those who don't need words, because their hearts are already entwined.

Don't be a creep. Don't wink at strangers. 

a snowy day in paris

It's easy to see why Paris is beloved by all.
The art, the architecture, the streets, the history, the food, the river...it all sparkles with its own spirit of beauty.
Take it from me: if you ever go to Paris, go ahead and get a Nutella crepe, but also try the Grand Marnier crepe. It's divine.
There's nothing like taking in the age-old sights with a warm crepe in hand.
And Starbucks, just to feel at home :)


As with all of my trip outfits, I had to be extremely creative with how I bundled up!
It's not easy to look or feel cute when you're wearing the same big black coat and boots every day.
However, it very quickly became warmth over cuteness!
Our first day in Paris was all snow and chilly breezes, so it was essential to try and layer our clothes as much as possible to take the bite out of the cold.
This is how I managed to stay warm while still feeling feminine and making use of some of the cute items in my suitcase:

1. I wore tights under everything. In this instance, my bottom layers are Target tights, Forever 21 skinny jeans, and then the dress!
2. I wore socks over my tights and the tips of my jeans, to add extra warmth for my feet.
3. I wore a turtle neck under everything almost every day, as well as a buttoned-up cardigan (sometimes two, or an added cashmere sweater), the dress, and then a scarf and coat.

Feel free to message me for any trip details, and head on over to my personal blog for full details of our experiences. In the meantime, let all the pictures do the talking:

Dress: Ruche (similar), Jeans: Forever 21 (shop!), Boots: Urbanog (similar), (similar),
Purse: Target, Scarf: Disneyland, Sunglasses: Ruche (shop!)

We were pretty tired out and numb from our first day, and the perfect way to remedy that was to go to Laduree for dessert and hot tea.
I would highly recommend this fancy haven for a sweet treat and definitely for their famous macarons!

What a perfect way to end a perfect day. :)

layering: collars and sweaters

I just recently discovered layering.
I was a classic dress + cardigan, or jeans + t-shirt kind of gal.
I had no concept of using my dresses as skirts, or using a collared shirt to peek out of another top.
It's literally doubled, maybe tripled, my potential clothing usage.

Which actually makes it a lot more stressful to get dressed in the morning.
Question: what do you start with to create an outfit every day?

It's really no joke when a girl looks at a packed-full closet and says: "I have nothing to wear."
What that really means is, "Goodness, where do I start?"

It has been frigid here.
I love skirts and dresses, so they're still the first thing I reach for in my closet even when the temperatures are ungodly.

Coat: Gifted/Zulily, Scarf: Gifted, Top: Banana Republic, Sweater: Express, 
Skirt: Ruche, Tights: Target, Booties: Urbanog (shop)
Necklace: Gifted/Etsy

This long skirt is so comfortable. It's soft and flowy and I love the colors. It was difficult to accept that longer skirts are accepted now, because for a long time all I could think of was Little House on the Prairie. 
And I still kind of think I'm channeling Laura Ingalls, especially with this wintery wilderness for a backdrop.

I'm trying my hand at curling my hair again.
In college, I was in a choir that was dead-set on killing any and all desire to ever curl hair again.
We had to meticulously curl-curl-curl for every concert. I think I've only curled my hair a few times in the last two years because of the residual disdain for the process.
Also, I feel way too fancy curling my hair around here. People look at me like I'm on my way to prom if I'm too dressy, so I'm trying to find my "it" hair style, my daily look.
I'm also in search of my "it" haircut, because I still haven't found it after 24 years. Well, maybe 20-22 years, because I was a pretty bald baby.

I plan on a good haircut this weekend, so wish me luck!
And feel free to send me some ideas.

Cait