Little Black Romper

Taking advantage of the sweet joys of a fleeting summer

These days you'll find me doing everything I can to make this magical summer feeling last forever. That includes impulse buying lace trimmed rompers (on Amazon of all places!) that I know I will only realistically be able to wear once or twice before fall snatches my tan away from me.

"For less than the price of a Chipotle burrito with guac (always with quac), there was no justifiable reason not to get this romper..."

I tried not to buy this romper on account of the fact that I really didn't need it—I'm trying to be an adult and save my dollars—but Amazon's prices can be ridiculously affordable. For less than the price of a Chipotle burrito with guac (always with quac), there was no justifiable reason not to get this romper, even if I would only wear it a few times.

I know the joy I get from this summery romper is fleeting, with September right around the corner, but it's one I think we all should experience sometime: the joy that comes from something being made sweeter by its impermanence. Summer, along with this super cheap romper, won't last forever, but I'll celebrate them both while they're here.

photos by Brian Cheung

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Finally Carefree

A story about how a hair change can change your life

If you've read any of my previous posts this summer you'll know there was one thing I wanted more than anything. More than a tropical vacation, more than a summer filled with rooftop parties, I wanted to simply feel carefree, however that feeling came about.

"...but with one small change, I finally figured it out: hair. It always comes down to hair, doesn't it?"

It was a hard feeling to get a grasp on, between working odd writing shifts and the continued career search. How was I supposed to feel carefree when I in fact had so much to care about? But, with one small change, I finally figured it out: hair. It always comes down to hair, doesn't it?

I've never tried any hairstyle like this before, but with the addition of boho locks a la Lisa Bonet and Zoe Kravitz (major hair inspo), I feel like I have not a care in the world. Nothing has changed, fundamentally — I still have two jobs — but when I whip my hair around, all feels right in the world.

photos by Brian Cheung

Finally Carefree

A story about how a hair change can change your life

If you've read any of my previous posts this summer you'll know there was one thing I wanted more than anything. More than a tropical vacation, more than a summer filled with rooftop parties, I wanted to simply feel carefree, however that feeling came about.

"...but with one small change, I finally figured it out: hair. It always comes down to hair, doesn't it?"

It was a hard feeling to get a grasp on, between working odd writing shifts and the continued career search. How was I supposed to feel carefree when I in fact had so much to care about? But, with one small change, I finally figured it out: hair. It always comes down to hair, doesn't it?

I've never tried any hairstyle like this before, but with the addition of boho locks a la Lisa Bonet and Zoe Kravitz (major hair inspo), I feel like I have not a care in the world. Nothing has changed, fundamentally — I still have two jobs — but when I whip my hair around, all feels right in the world.

photos by Brian Cheung

Just Right

I finally, finally feel like I've got it together...ish

I'm in the middle of my first New York summer. It's sticky, humid, and to make matters sweatier, the old house I live has no central air system—I've been surviving with a fan and windows opened wide. Hell-like temperatures aside, I finally feel like I've got my feet firmly planted.

That's not to say everything is perfect, but everything is...right. Things feel like they are as they should be.

That's not to say everything is perfect, but everything is...right. Things feel like they are as they should be. And on the topic of things being as they should be, I wouldn't ever make it through a summer without these shorts. You've seen them for years, here and here, and though I do love a good new addition to my closet, sometimes it's just right to stick with the classics.

photos by Brian Cheung

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Summertime Mom Shorts

Bringing back mom crotch in a major way

A lot has happened since the last time I've posted: I've got a haircut I'm in love with, I've had my first lobster roll ever (life changing), and I've developed a new Sandy-at-the-end-of-Grease sense of style, complete with the moto jacket.

I also anticipate that in five years I'll look back at these photos and think, 'wait, what, why?' like most people from the 90's do when they look at their past outfits...

Well, really, I think it was always there, but being in New York where you can wear literally anything, I've gotten more comfortable with experimenting. Yes, my legs are out! My belly button, too! And yes I'm rocking 90's mom crotch—and I am okay with all of those things! 

I anticipate a lot of summer outfits of this caliber. I also anticipate that in five years I'll look back at these photos and think, 'wait, what, why?' like most people from the 90's do when they look at their past outfits, but I won't regret the feeling of freedom. Yes, freedom in the form of shorts. I'm all about it.

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I'm Wearing A Dress

And other thoughts on clothes & blogging about them

Well, here I am folks, wearing a dress. Don't let my lackluster tone confuse you, though—I really do love this off-shoulder summer shift. It's the perfect dress for shimmying here and shaking there, and what is a summer dress if not something you can shimmy and shake in?

Yes, I, the unabashed lover of wardrobes, accessories and frills can, on occasion, be a little bit over it.

But, and this but is a hard one to type out, sometimes I just want to yell at my computer screen, "it's just a dress!" Yes, I, the unabashed lover of wardrobes, accessories and frills can, on occasion, be a little bit over it. Right now, I'm living a life that's 98% new to me. I'm trying to figure out how all these new pieces fit together, and that includes how I write about the clothes I choose to put on my body.

If it sounds like I'm about to renounce blogging, I'm not. I've always wanted to do this, just in a genuine way. If I say, "this dress is my favorite" one more time, I just might strangle myself with said dress. Wait, that's drastic. Truth be told, I will still be saying things are my favorite because us bloggers love our favorite things. Did I mention that this dress is my favorite, top-five, must-have off-shoulder dress for summer? No? Oh, well, it is.

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The Littlest Blue Dress

A periwinkle blue babe of a dress for summer

Today is a holiday, and there's not much on anyone else's mind but enjoying the summer kickoff celebrations, so I'll keep this post short. Short much like the length of this dress. Yes, this periwinkle blue babe of a dress is quite possibly the littlest one I own, but damn if I don't love it. What it lacks in fabric, it makes up for in attitude.

It's the kind of dress you wear when it's summer, you're 25, in a new city and you want to feel like you have not a care in the world...

It's the kind of dress you wear when it's summer, you're 25, in a new city and you want to feel like you have not a care in the world, if only for a brief moment, because in actuality, you have a lot of cares. So many cares that you often feel like you just want to go back home where things were easier. But, then you stop, breathe and realize that none of those things matter once you put on a dress like this.

Tobi provided the Rebel Front Tie Skater Dress for review, but as always, opinions are all my own and not influenced by the brand. 

To Culotte or Not To Culotte

How do you really feel about these billowy pant-skirt things?

At some point in our lives or another, we all become hypocrites—saying one thing, but bold-facedly doing another. It may come in the form of advice we give our friends and don't ourselves follow, or as the high expectations we have of others that we couldn't possibly uphold. For me, it came in a much simpler form: wearing (and liking) culottes.

...But when I saw these and decided to try them on to, you know, just see what they looked like, my mind had already started changing.

These culottes should've never been in my closet or on my body for all the anti-culotte hate speech I was spewing a year ago. For one, they were pants that looked so badly like they wanted to be a skirt. "Just commit to one, already," I thought. Oh, and the wideness of them. My hips, passed down from woman to woman in my family, were not getting a good feeling about being in cropped wide leg trousers.

I could credit the comfort that comes with age, the wisdom that comes with experience or the inspiration of being in a city where people wear whatever the hell they want, but when I saw these and decided to try them on to, you know, just see what they looked like, my mind had already started changing. And then I saw myself in them. The shift in opinion was immediate. Sold. So, call me a hypocrite or a flip flopper. It don't bother me none.

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