The sun, it rises slowly as you walk

Hello there! I'm sorry for my lack of outfits and updates, but I just headed back to school and have been pretty busy. My school is pretty strange. Instead of picking classes and making a schedule at the end of spring semester, we have a week at the beginning of the year (this week) where we have interviews with different teachers to pick our classes. So, I've been running around in the super heat wave, reading the class schedule, and trying to convince teachers - while sweating like a gross cow (do cows sweat?)- that they should want me in their class. OH BOY! It's really not so bad though. It's a good way to see if you get along with the teacher before you're stuck with them for a semester. My only problem is that I'm not sure exactly what I want to take. I know I want to take a literature class and a poetry writing class, but it's my third class that I'm puzzled by. Right now I'm looking at a philosophy class and a history class, so we'll see what happens.



Top, skirt, bag: UO, shoes: TOMS, belt: Target




So this is my campus! It's full of lovely lawns and cool, old buildings. I think it's a really pretty campus, so while I was there doing interviews, I asked Zak (he goes to the same school as me) to take some photos. I had to say, though, that I felt a bit insecure taking photos on campus. Besides the fact that I still feel a bit uncomfortable taking pictures in public places, practically everyone (girls AND boys) on my campus is so well dressed. Seriously, they could all (and should, really) have their own blogs full of cute outfits. While it's cool, because it's inspiring to see so many cute outfits, it also makes me feel kind of insecure, like maybe my outfits aren't good enough to blog about. I know, though, that at it's core my blog is just a way for me to be a part of a really great community who likes the same things as I do, not to make me feel like I'm the best dressed person in the world. Do any of you ever feel this way, though?

Oh, by the way, I got a new purse! I needed a smaller one, so I bought one from UO



Well, tomorrow I'm scheduled for a few more interviews, then I have to put my schedule together, and hopefully I'll be done for the week! I hope you all are having lovely weeks :)

Until tomorrow,
Nicole

I need to learn how to live my life as it's meant to be

Yesterday, I headed over to Zak's house. He lives in a lovely little area, way nicer than my super urban neighborhood, so I knew at some point I wanted to take some photos over by him. And honestly, I think he did an amazing job taking my pictures. He would never admit it himself, but he's so talented in everything creative and he never ceases to impress me :)



Top: Forever 21, Shorts: H&M, Sandals: Steve Madden





To be honest, we didn't do anything extravagant, but we didn't have to. He's been having some medical problems lately and we've been taking easy, but I like it that way. We took a walk, played some games, and played with his adorable cats Coco and Angel. Honestly, I've been enjoying spending my last few days of summer in a really simple, fun way. Some people like to have a big "last summer hurrah," but I'm content with just spending some time with someone I really care about.

Oh goodness, am I getting gushy in this post! Okay, I'll stop, but not before sharing a picture of my and my most favorite photographer



AND a picture of me with the cutest cats in the world



I hope you all had lovely weekends. Now, I'm off to prepare for my first (sort of) day back at school. Oh goodness!

Until tomorrow,
Nicole

And my head told my heart to let love grow

So, despite totally wanting to wear all things fall, it's simply not fall yet. And despite having three days of rainy cool-ness, it's simply not chilly out anymore. So even though I wanted to wear jeans, boots, and a cozy sweater, I decided to try and put together a very summery outfit. For some reason, blue and white feel, to me anyway, like the perfect warm weather color combination. Also, I apologize for my angsty facial expressions in these photos. It wasn't intentional, it's just that generally when unattended my facial expression comes off a bit... depressed, rather than the neutral it's meant to be. Oof!





Top: Delia's, Dress: UO, Belt: NY&Co, Shoes: Steve Madden, Bow: Claire's

So, counterproductively, I purchased the best ugly sweater ever (or it's close, at least). Seriously, it's way better fitted for the rug on the floor of a log cabin 10 years ago. In my (weak) defense, it was drastically reduced (I can't figure out who in their right or wrong mind would pay 65 dollars for it). I want so badly to wear it, so despite tomorrow's predicted eighty degree temperatures, I may just have to show it off, completely ignoring the first paragraph of this post. Oh well! Also, I got my Toms in the mail today! They're so comfortable and I can't wait to wear them all the time.



Now, I'm off to try and figure out my class schedule for next year and which teachers I want to interview with. Wish me luck!

Until tomorrow,
Nicole

You were like a walking compliment

I seriously can't get enough of these jeans. I know that I'm wearing them in my last post, but I've got my reasons. Lately it's been wonderfully chilly and stormy out, and I've really just had the urge to dress super cozy in jeans and a sweater. And while I greatly miss my tights, it's not quite cool enough out for them. Also, these jeans are amazing. I made my way into a Levi's store a few weeks ago with no intention of buying anything. I really just wanted to see what size I could fit into, since last time I went there about a year ago I couldn't fit into any of their jeans. I tried on this pair (not even the biggest size, which is a new experience!) and they fit like a dream. Seriously. It was as though two heavenly, denim-shaded clouds had wrapped themselves around my legs with no intention of leaving. So, while they were a bit more expensive than most of the jeans I have, they made me feel wonderful, so I figured that was a good incentive to purchase them :)



Shirt: Delia's, Cardigan: H&M, Jean's: Levi's, Belt: Delia's, Glasses: Claire's, Moccasins: Minnetonka



On my way home today, I stopped in CVS with my mom to pick up a few supplies for her classroom (I'm helping her decorate. She's chosen a purple and yellow color scheme which I think is working out swimmingly, despite her covering the walls with math related decorations, boo!). I ran into two people from grammar school/high school who were both working there. While I really wasn't ever close to either of them, and only exchanged brief hello's with one of them, I got to thinking. I've never had a job. A lot of people I know worked throughout their later high school years and continue to have jobs now. I was thinking about getting an on campus/work study job this semester at college, but I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it. I mean, I'm pretty diligent with my school work, but reading and writing papers has always been my focus. I'm worried that adding a job into the mix will overwhelm me. I know I sound like a big baby, I agree, and I know that tons of kids go to school and have jobs, but I've always put all of my efforts into school and am kind of worried about getting a job. Oof!




Thanks so much for reading, especially since a lot of this post wasn't quite fashion related.

Happy Wednesday,
Nicole :)

Sweet Disposition

I feel like my mind's just done a complete one-eighty from easy-breezy to two year old on a sugar high. Seriously. Last week, I was strolling down easy street in my Mickey Mouse ears sipping butter beer, and now I'm trying to create a schedule, pick classes, and maybe even find a job. Oof! I'm feeling eighty percent overwhelmed, and 20 percent excited about being busy and learning new things again. It is a bit stressful, since I've spent the summer doing nothing all that productive, but I think I just need to get back into the whole swing of things again



Top (Dress): Shop in San Francisco, Jean's: Levi's, Sandal's: Steve Madden, Bow: Claire's, Bracelet: Grandma's

I know today's outfit is a little on the uncreative side, but I really wanted to wear jeans. This outfit kind of just came together nicely and, more importantly, it didn't make me feel like the whale/cow/whalecow that I was convinced, yesterday, that I was, so that was a plus. Today was just spent doing a bit of driving - since I'll be driving myself back and forth to school EEP!- and hanging out playing video games with my boy at his house again. He, surprisingly, thought I looked cuter without a large pink bow on my head. Who would have thought?




Are any of you back at school yet/kind of freaking out about getting everything in order? Or maybe I'm just the lone freaker-outer. Anywho, I hope you all had wonderful Mondays, and have great weeks!

Until tomorrow,
Nicole

Isn't this a lovely day to be caught in the rain?

Today started off (and continued) as one of those lame, blah days. I put on an outfit that I loved for about five minutes, then hated for no reason, but I stood with it, my boyfriend and I weren't on the best terms, and I wasn't feeling very well. Despite all this, I went to take outfit pictures anyway. They're not the best pictures because I'm not in the most wonderful mood and while my shirt is supposed to be loose and tunic-y, it really just makes me look wide. BUT, I decided to post them anyway because while I still feel a bit sick, the day was perfectly stormy out, I got to get things straightened out/watch an Adventure Time marathon with my boy, and this outfit did make me happy.



Shirt: Forever 21, Jeans: UO, Shoes: Hat: H&M




Sorry for keeping things short today. My head's all full of pain and I really just want to relax and wath bad reality television. Hope you all had lovely weekends!

Until tomorrow,
Nicole

Tale as old as time

So, I'm back from Disney! I had such an amazing week! I got to go to all of the parks, as well as the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios! Oh my goodness. Harry Potter world was amazing. It was super crowded, but so well done. I even got to drink a butter beer! I also got to go to the Magic Kingdom three times, where I rode Splash Mountain and Space Mountain for the first (and second and third) time. Ahh, I was so sad to leave, but I think we may be going back next summer! Also, it's good to be home since school starts up again next week (already). Right now, I'm super sleepy (early flight) and catching up on some tv I missed. Oh, by the way, disney's internet was a whopping ten dollars a day, which is why I wasn't able to update :( I'll leave you with some pictures of my week!

So, on day one it rained. It rained a lot. A magical disney thunderstorm of dreams and magic. See, look how happy I am



Shirt: Forever 21, Poncho: Disney

The next day was much nicer than the first! We went back to the magic kingdom, where we saw cinderella's castle



Dress: Thrifted, Shoes: Nordstrom

Then had dinner in the castle with the disney princesses! I got to meet Belle, my most favorite disney princess (because she loves to read and isn't shallow. Sorry, I thought I may have to defend my position)



The next day we went to Hollywood Studios! They have a little film walk of fame where I got to take a picture with "Betty White!"



...And Bill Cosby :(


I also got to take a photo on a movie set made to look like New York city.



Shorts: H&M, Shirt: Macy's, Ears: Disney

Then, it was on to the wizarding world of Harry Potter! The castle and the ride inside of it were amazing, and you know I had to wear my HP glasses




With one of my favorite characters, Sirius Black



and some butter beer, which was delicious. I also purchased a wand as a souvenir! They had the wands of a bunch of characters, and I decided on Remus Lupin's, because he is one of my absolute favorites and his wand was classy and simple (does that sound inappropriate at all?)



Dress: UO

The next day we went to Epcot, one of my favorite parks! We went on Spaceship Earth



Then we went to the world showcase, where they have mini-recreations of a bunch of countries from Mexico to France to Japan, and a bunch of others as well. In France I ran into my two favorite characters again



Skirt: UO, Shirt: Delias

Next, we went to animal kingdom where I rode the craziest roller coaster, Expedition Everest



And saw the cutest baby elephant ever



And rode in a car with some crazy dinosaurs!



On the last day we went back to the Magic Kingdom, and I took hardly any pictures. I'll leave you with one of the few I did take. We saw a show at the castle, and I thought Peter Pan was a bit of a dream boat, so here you go



I had such an amazing week, but I can't believe summer is practically over! Part of my is looking forward to being busy again, but I'm going to miss taking trips and riding roller coasters and all of that. I'll be catching up with your blogs as soon as possible!

Until tomorrow,
Nicole

It's all about soul

So, I realized that I really wasn't being as creative as I could be with my closet. Lately I've been throwing tops and skirts together in a way that I like, but I haven't been thinking outside the box in ways I used to. Maybe it's because it's been so ridiculously hot out or maybe I've just been in a bit of a rut. So I decided to get creative and put together something I really like, and so I did.



Dress: UO, Top: Forever 21, Belt and boots: Target

I wear this dress all the time because it's cool and comfortable and summery, but I generally don't do much else with it. Since I haven't worn my lace top in a while so I figured I would try the two together, and I really like how it turned out. I also haven't worn these boots in a while, despite how much I like them, so I threw them on as well. Basically, I put on a bunch of my favorite things, hoped for the best, and felt really happy because of it. Yay!





Today was spent shopping with some of my favorite people, picking up a few pieces for fall and for my last vacation of the summer. I know, I'm spoiled and it's ridiculous, but on Friday I'm leaving for Disney! I'm really excited, and I'm so grateful for all of the great experiences I've had, and hopefully will continue to have, this summer. I'm not sure if I'll get a post in tomorrow, since most of my clothes will be packed, but I'll try to update as much as possible while I'm away, since I basically took a week off during my Cape Cod trip. Have you guys taken any fun trips this summer? I would love to hear about them :)

-Nicole

If you've never stared off into the distance then your life is a shame

Today's been a pretty laid back day. It yet again started off with me sifting through my closet twenty times, disliking everything and feeling uninspired. I got dressed around 5 times before I just pulled this skirt and top from my closet, was happy, and got dressed. I worried that MAYBE it would be cute overload, what with both my peter pan collar AND bow, but I felt like cute-overload today, so I really didn't care. I really just went food shopping and to the dentist (boo!) today, and my night will be filled with weight watcher brownies, blogging, and law and order: svu marathons. Yay! :)



Top: UO, Skirt: Alloy, Belt: Target, Shoes: Steve Madden





Jumping! Oh man, it seriously took about, oh, 8 million tries to get a decent shot of me jumping. Bless my mother's patience. This isn't the most flattering thing ever, but for some reason, I felt this outfit garnered a jump photo :)

Until tomorrow,
Nicole