Time is honey

This is my "I don't know how to stand" pose.

I always feel uncomfortable taking photos where I'm not smiling, but my mom loves them so...enjoy.

I'm starting to feel like each post I write says basically says, "this is what I wore and this is why I love it so much. Really, you guys don't understand how much I love this item of clothing." If it's gets a little repetitive, well, I honestly don't care.

In the spirit of keeping things consistent: I love this shirt. Really, you guys don't understand how much I love it. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I got $100 to Modcloth for my birthday and this is one of the pieces I got with it. I decided I wanted a dress, a shirt, and a pair of shoes and I was choosing between so many that I was this close to not getting this top. Needless to say, I'm so happy that I decided on this one. I've been on such a yellow kick lately, which is a nice break from buying everything in mint green.

My favorite thing about this outfit is how little money it cost me. The most I spent was on the shoes ($20, one or two years ago) and I still don't remember what I store I bought them from. I know it was somewhere in the Irvine Spectrum, but I digress. The skirt was $1 at a thrift store, the ring was $1 on Ebay, the belt was a freebie that came with another item, the bracelet was a gift from my friend, Jessica, and the top was, as I said, bought with a giftcard. Not bad.

I'm glad I took these pictures a few days after I wore this outfit and got a chance to wash it. The night I wore it, I got a giant chocolate chip cookie from the Starbucks inside Barnes & Noble and got a chocolate stain on it within five minutes. Another fun fact about me: I'm an incredibly messy eater. My friends and family like to hand me stacks of napkins whenever we go out to eat. I usually need all of them. So if anyone is thinking about buying this top (which is still available on Modcloth), be assured that chocolate stains come right out with one wash.

Also, thank you to everyone who left iPhone suggestions! I decided I might as well just jump on the Instagram bandwagon before someone tries to convince me to do it anyway. Feel free to add me, my name is @room334.

Top: Modcloth Time is Honey top 

Skirt: Thrifted

Shoes: unknown mall store

Bracelet: gift from a friend

Cat ears ring: Ebay

You're tearing me apart

Is is fall yet? It can't come soon enough because I want to wear this jacket with everything. Instead, I'll continue to wear it as often as it's bearable, despite the fact that it's far too hot outside.

I wore this yesterday to only go to Best Buy for my iPhone, but I pretty much wore the exact same outfit (with a different white dress) the night before. Saturday night I went to Hollywood with my friends Whitney and Adam, where we ate at an adorable bakery/cafe (my mouth is watering just thinking about the chicken pot pie that was served in a mug and the nutella macaroon I had for dessert) and attended a midnight screening of The Room. I mentioned this before, but The Room is my favorite "movie so bad it's good" and this was the first time I was able to go to a midnight screening of it. For anyone who's gone to a Rocky Horror screening, it's pretty similar...except instead of people dressing in drag and fishnets, they throw plastic spoons at the screen and toss plush footballs around. It was awesome. Bonus points to anyone who laughed at the title of this post.

Don't mind the fact that my mom and I didn't realize there was spot on her lens when we were taking these photos. We did it on purpose. You know, for artistic value.

Thanks again to everyone reading, I'll never stop being pleasantly surprised by the fact that people take the time to read this. I hope everyone is having a fantastic start to their week. On an unrelated note, anyone who sends me iPhone recommendations (places to buy cases or accessories, apps to get, etc.) will forever be awesome.

Dress: Francesca's Collections

Jacket: Bass, via outlet store

Shoes: Modcloth

Bag: Melie Bianco

Necklace: Jewelmint

Ring: Slow in L.A.

Things that caught my eye this week #5//Plus: Links a la Mode

I love all of the colors this adorable Fox Parse dress comes in, but I'm especially digging this one which is cleverly named "The Sunnyside Up Dress"

Tela has the best clothes for some pretty great prices, I wish I hadn't gone on a buying freeze because I'm kicking myself for not getting this bicycle print dress

I don't know what it is about them, but these animal pillows by Laura Frisk belong on my bed right now

Once I start working again in a couple of weeks, I've decided that this is the perfect simple, no-fuss tote I've been looking for to use for class. The lining is polka dots, you say? This will definitely be mine soon

About that buying freeze... I'd love to say it's because I finally realized that I have far too many clothes than I'll ever need and I'm being responsible, but it's mostly because I decided to spend my money on something else. Today I made the giant leap towards joining the 21st century and bought an iPhone. I was actually able to get the phone for free (thank you to whoever returned their iPhone 4 to Best Buy three days after they bought it with zero defects), but that monthly bill is not going to be pretty. However, I am allowing myself to buy a stylish case since I saved so much money on the phone. I know I could buy one for dirt cheap off of Amazon, but everyone knows I love supporting little designers on Etsy so I've narrowed to down to these two. I can't decide between this awesome geometric design or the understated colorblock case

Lastly, I'm going to make this post even longer by talking about IFB's Links a la Mode. Every week, bloggers can submit their best links to IFB and the following week, IFB chooses to highlight a select few. I submitted my post about my personal blogging rules on a whim and, to my surprise, it actually got chosen! It's wonderful to be included among these stellar blogs and posts, I hope you check out all of the others as well:

1. A Minor Obsession: How to wear brocade
2. Anthony & Elle: DIY glitter shoes
3. Bespoke Baroque: How one item can begin to change your life
4. Best Of Bklyn: 5 things to do in 5 minutes to look 5 times better
5. Chic Black Chick: How to wear the Fall trends
6. Classic Glam Blog: DIY Nautical Knot Rope Necklace
7. Crisis in Denim: Retail Therapy
8. Elegant Idiosyncrasy: A close-up look at styling a shoot
9. The Fashionistyle: Celebrating 66 years of the bikini
10. Fashion-opolis: The Art of Sale Shopping
11. Favor the Brave: Embracing simplicity
12. Girl in Betsey: Summer pieces and how to wear them in the Fall
13. Life.Style.Flash: A few honest thoughts on blogging
14. Madly Chic: An Interview with Project Runway contestant Joshua Christensen
15. Pish Posh Perfect: 10 Essentials for the Beach
16. Room 334: Some personal rules for blogging
17. Soffs Blog: The Swinging Sixties
18. South x Style: Five cheap ways to upgrade your look
19. Style Chain: The Formula to the Perfect Arm Party
20. The Style Confessions: How to shop successfully for clothes

Buffalo

When I asked my mom to take photos of me in this outfit, she said, "You mean you haven't taken pictures in your favorite dress?"

It's not necessarily my favorite (though let's face it, I have a lot of favorites in my closet), but I do wear this dress a lot. I've had for about two years now and I still can't get over how pretty it is. It doesn't hurt that the full skirt makes it incredibly comfortable. 

Without realizing it, I purchased half of this outfit from Buffalo Exchange. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I have a buying problem when it comes to T.J. Maxx, but I'm starting to realize that Buffalo Exchange may have it beat. I think it might be impossible for me to walk out empty-handed. I try to justify it by bringing in items to sell as often as possible. Every so often they actually take my stuff. 

I don't own too many things from Urban Outfitters (those prices are just trying to kill me), but I do own quite a few pairs of shoes from there. I love the fit of the Kimchi Blue flats and just picked these up last week. The color shows up really weird in these photos, but their actually lavender. Just trust me on this. 

I spent most of the day at the O.C. county fair, but I finally have time to reply to comments and catch up on blogs. And by that I mean completely shut out the outside world while I stare at my computer screen for a couple of hours.

Dress: H&M, via Buffalo Exchange

Blazer: Frenchi, via Buffalo Exchange

Necklace: Buffalo Exchange

Purse: Thrifted

Belt: Thrifted

Shoes: UO

Primary

If my face looks a little more awkward than normal (which is pretty difficult to do), it's because this was my first time having my mom take my photos. I've never felt very comfortable in front of the camera (or behind it, for that matter) and I still find it a constant struggle to look natural while taking outfit photos. These photos, and most of the photos to come, might look a little different than the ones I've posted up to this point and that's because they are. My sister-in-law is an amazing photographer, but it wasn't exactly fair of me to give her the task of taking my outfit photos when she has the most energetic (and cutest) two-year-old I've ever seen to take care of. I'll be forever grateful for her help in getting this blog up and running, but from now on most of my pictures will probably be taken by whoever I can get to do it. And, Mom, since I'm assuming you're reading this: this is not me saying you're a bad photographer. You're great, can you take more pictures of me before I go back to school?

As for the outfit, it's impossible not to feel happy while wearing this. I wore it on Sunday to grab lunch and go shopping with my good friends Alena and Jessica to celebrate all of our birthdays, which are all in the same week. It's always a daunting task getting dressed to go to South Coast Plaza, an extremely upscale mall in Orange County, but I was so happy in these colors that I didn't even care. This shirt has multiple buttons missing, but I'm too lazy to sew on new ones. I usually just safety pin it and call it a day. The skirt is a Modcloth one that I recently won on Ebay and I can already tell it's going to see a lot of wear. Yellow and it has pockets? Consider me infatuated.

Shirt: Thrifted

Skirt: Modcloth Craving Curry skirt, via Ebay

Shoes: UO

Belt: Thrifted

Bag: Thrifted

The perfect dress

Photos, Elyse Katz

When I die, I want to be buried in this dress.

I know that I often use this blog as an excuse to write love letters to my favorite articles of clothing, but this...this is my absolute favorite thing I own at the moment and I don't think I necessarily need to explain why.

I should confess something: I check Modcloth every day. I'm not exaggerating. I look through the new arrivals every. single. day. It's a bit pathetic, especially considering how little I actually purchase anything. However, when this dress was marked down to $24 (from at least $80 or $90, I don't remember), I couldn't resist. I didn't notice that my belt wasn't lined up when these photos were being taken, but I think the beauty of the dress still gets across.

I wore this last week to the Cheesecake Factory for a birthday dinner with my parents and my boyfriend. I ended up slipping on sandals at the last minute and I think it worked out much better than the oxfords. Just imagine I'm all Modcloth-ed out and wearing these. Fun fact about me: my biggest weakness is red velvet cheesecake. The things I would do for that cake...

Also, if anyone is interested, I have a ridiculous amount of clothes in my room that I need to get rid of. I have a bunch of stuff on Ebay, and I'll be adding more throughout the day. I also have this amazing 1950's dress on Etsy to get rid of too. Take a look if you're interested!

Dress: Modcloth Dance Lessons Dress (sold out)

Bag: Melie Bianco

Shoes: random mall store

Belt: Freebie

Ring: Ebay

Bracelet: Thrifted

Two-Faced

Photos, Elyse Katz

If I had a dollar for every time I wear a different combination of a sleeveless button down and high-waisted skirt, I would be a very rich girl. 

It's strange how an article of clothing can be so new to the pages of this blog, yet so familiar to me. I'm a little surprised that this is the first time this skirt is making an appearance here considering how much I wear it. I bought it off of Etsy over a year ago for about $8 and it's just the most comfortable thing. I'm sure I'm wearing it in at least half of my pictures on Facebook. To say it gets a lot of love from me would be an understatement. 

This shirt is definitely one of my favorite purchases of the summer. Like I said, I can't get enough of sleeveless button downs, so it's always a nice find to come across one that just a little unique. I always get lucky finding really amazing H&M items at Buffalo Exchange because they get marked down for incredible prices. I don't remember the exact price, but this was definitely under $10. Score. 

With three weeks of being home left to go, I'm starting to think of all the California things I need to do before I leave. Most of the things on my list are food-related, like visiting food trucks with my friend, Adam, tomorrow, but there are a few other things as well. I'm supposed to go to a showing of The Room with my friend Whitney in L.A. this weekend, which is my all-time favorite bad movie and I can't wait. I'm a sucker for "movies so bad they're good," so if anyone knows any good ones, please feel free to send them my way.

Shirt: H&M, via Buffalo Exchange

Skirt: Vintage

Shoes: Threadsence

Belt: Thrifted

Cuff: Forever 21

Clothes Horse

Photos, Elyse Katz

I can't really explain how much I love this dress. I bought it over a year ago from Buffalo Exchange and it remains one of my favorite items in my closet. It just fits perfectly, it has a peter pan collar, it's in my favorite color, and it features an adorable print; Basically, it's perfect. 

I've spoken before about the ridiculous amount of blogs I read daily, but if I had to choose, The Clothes Horse would be favorite. It's at the top of my bookmark list and it's the very first one I visit every day. It isn't just that Rebecca has lovely style or takes the most stunning photos, I love reading her writing and she's always come across as someone I'd want to be friends with. When she designed this tote bag last year, I think I bought it the day it went on sale. Not only do I love being able to throw things in a tote every so often (especially for class), but the I couldn't help but want to own something designed by someone I admire so much. Well, that, and it was too cute not to get.

I'm starting to count the days until I get to back to Illinois for school. I've definitely gotten a little too comfortable being at home in CA, but I'm ready to get back to work and start being busy again. Besides, all of this free time is doing some major damage to my bank account. I need to stop shopping. Are shopping anonymous groups real? If so, I should probably join one. 

Dress: Buffalo Exchange

Shoes: Ebay

Tote: Clothes Horse

Belt: Thrifted

Ring: Ebay

Bangles: InPink