Love in the Time of Collar-A

You know, I think I'm starting to get the hang of this whole feeling like I'm on eternal summer break thing. From running around Orange County with three best friends to help one of get last-minute things for his engagement party, to talking about Comic-Con with all of them at said engagement party, to meeting Whitney for a late beer at Downtown Disney to catch up, to having dinner with family at my brother and sister-in-law's new house, to late-night Skype "business meetings" with Jenn, to shopping with Kylie with the $0 we have, things have been pretty great lately. Of course, after yesterday, I can't help but just wish it were September more than anything. My friends and I just bought tickets for the Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival  for when it's going to be in Irvine, and the lineup is insane. The day we're going, we'll see Louis CK (I might faint), Sarah Silverman, Chris Hardwick (who I actually heard about this from when I was listening to the Nerdist yesterday), Demetri Martin, Marc Maron, and a bunch of other comedians. We're all really into stand-up, so it's basically a dream come true. We got cheap lawn seats for less than $50, which would be cheap to even see one of those comedians. I'm kind of freaking out. Plus, as if that weren't enough, the show is actually the same week that we're seeing Neutral Milk Hotel, one of my all-time favorite bands, in concert. If I have a heart attack around mid-September, you'll know why.

Moving on, this is what I wore to go over to my brother and sister-in-law's house on Sunday. They just moved into it last weekend, and this was my first time getting to see it. Not only do I love the house (and getting to see my 4-year-old nephew have a backyard to run around in), but it has a million spots that make perfect outfit photo backdrops. I'm grateful that Elyse is not, in fact, too pregnant to take my pictures as I had thought because I'm in love with these ones that she took for me. It helps that I really love this outfit too. This was my other J. Crew Factory top, and I was kind of surprised to find that it's more of a sweatshirt material since I had thought it would be like a cotton T-Shirt. I was kind of worried that it would be too warm to wear in the summer, but it ended up feeling much lighter weight on that it had seemed. I'm also excited to debut these new Ray-Bans that I purchased with birthday gift cards. No more cheap-looking $3 sunglasses for me. Good riddance.

Pop Culture, I Love You No. 2

I definitely meant to have this post written a couple of weeks ago, but with so much to say about the things I'm watching, I'm learning that it takes me much longer to write these than expected. This means that there are some things I watched in between my last pop culture post and this one (I'm looking at you, "Orange is the New Black," which I watched right after I finished the last post), but I'm coming to terms with the fact that I get wrapped up in far too much pop culture for me to ever be able to include everything. So while I may have left out the fact that I finally watched all of "True Detective" (but you've heard enough about that show already) and I'll have to save my love for Marc Maron for the next post, there's still plenty that I've watched and listened to recently that deserve your attention. So, fellow pop culture lovers, read on to see what I spent the past month doing rather than having a real social life. As usual, if you want more information on any of these or if you have recommendations for me, feel free to comment below, email me at room334blog@gmail.com, or tweet me at @elanakatz. As you might have figured, I could talk about pop culture for far longer than you'll ever want to hear.

Green, Green Rocky Road

By now, you're all aware of how awesome Ashley of Southern (California) Belle is, right? I've known this for quite some time at this point, having become good friends with her through Flock Together for the past couple years and even meeting up with her in person in March. Somehow, despite knowing that she's just a fantastic human being in general, I was still surprised when I opened up a package from her on Tuesday. It's not strange for me to get a package from her — in fact, I had just assumed it was a Flock Together swap when I first got it. But no, inside the package was this gorgeous vintage dress. Ashley has put this dress up in her shop recently, and I made mention to her of how much I loved it on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. I kind of forgot about it after I exhibited some self-control (for once) and didn't buy it, so finding this in the package with a happy birthday card was a delightful surprise. Basically, Ashley is even more wonderful than we all already knew she was. It doesn't hurt that the dress fits like a glove, which is always such a pleasant thing when it comes to vintage items. Thanks again, Ashley! 

Much like my J. Crew top that I got on the same day, I also couldn't wait long to put on this dress. I ended up wearing this the next day for a trip to the mall with my friend Kylie, and we stopped by a park on the way back to snap these pictures. The outfit photo gods were not making things easy on us, and standing by the lake in the park as planned did not go well. For starters, it was incredibly windy for a while, and I haven't exactly nailed the whole "taking photos in front of water where the water actually shows up in the photos and isn't just a big white light" thing. So this spot isn't exactly perfect, but it got the job done. Side note: I managed to spend the afternoon in a mall (something I haven't done in forever) and not buy a single thing. Part of it has to do with losing interest in mall stores, but I also like to think it's because I'm getting just a little handle on my shopping addiction. Kind of. Not really.

Why Wait?

All cards on the table, I haven't actually worn this outfit anywhere yet. I may have also just gotten this top in the mail yesterday and then immediately took pictures in it. You see, I realized recently that in my big closet cleanout, I managed to be left with a ton of dresses, a large amount of skirts, and barely any tops. So when I, ahem, " accidentally" clicked on a J. Crew Factory email, you know, just to take a quick peak, I couldn't help but think it was time I spend the money on some well-made basics. There was a 30% off coupon code, and since J. Crew Factory is actually really reasonable, I ended up buying this short sleeved button down and another simple Peter Pan collar top. They both came in the mail yesterday, and when I realized that I had forgotten to take outfit pictures for today's post, I figured "why not?" Might as well take one of the tops for a spin to make sure I'm getting my money's worth, right? The result is a super simple outfit that I really love. I'm thinking I need more short sleeved button downs in my life (especially with Peter Pan collars) because I'm pretty sure I want this to be my summer uniform. Relaxed, easy, but still cute. This is pretty much all I want to wear.

In other news, I saw "Boyhood," the new Richard Linklater movie last night. If you haven't heard of it yet (it's still only being shown in limited release), it was shot over the course of 12 years and shows a boy's (Ellar Coltrane, an unknown actor who has essentially only filmed this his entire career) from when he was 6 until he was 18. I have a pop culture post planned to go up either Friday or Sunday where I'll talk about it more in detail, but I do just want to recommend it right now to everyone. It was completely different than anything I have ever seen, and it was beautiful. It sounds cheesy, but it was honestly more of an experience than a movie. Even though Coltrane plays a character, the audience gets to see him (not to mention the other actors including Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette) actually grow and change over the course of 12 years. I'm having such a difficult time putting my experience watching it into words, but hopefully I'll be able to make sense of this jumble of thoughts and feelings by the time I write that pop culture post. In the meantime, go see it. See it right now.

Back to Classics

And so, just like that, the festivities are over and it's officially time to return to the real world. Fortunately, the "real world" I live in is still pretty laid-back considering I work from home, make my own hours for my internship, and it feels like I'm on summer break. Nonetheless, it's always a little disappointing when a birthday is over and you have to resume paying for yourself when you want food. I know I already talked about my Disneyland in yesterday's post, but I do just want to say again how grateful I am to my friends for always making birthdays so special. Other than Disneyland, they took me out to dinner, took me out for drinks, took me to breakfast, and gave me Amazon gift cards to feed my online shopping addiction. Sometimes it gets a little exhausting being friends with a bunch of dudes who constantly yell at me to make more girl friends and quote Tim & Eric constantly, but then they're really awesome like last week and I remember why I hang out with those losers. Plus, I'm eternally grateful to my best friend Whitney for always doing more for me on my birthday than I ever deserve. Okay, enough gushing about my friends. Don't tell any of them that I said these things, and let's just move on to the outfit.

I would like to give a big warm welcome to my new Swedish Hasbeens, a pair of beautiful shoes that will most likely never leave my feet. I've known all month that my parents were going to give me money for my birthday, so I've had some time to think about what I wanted to put it toward. I contemplated getting multiple things with the money, but I finally decided that I wanted to make one big purchase and get something that I would never buy myself. After much debate, and with the help of my mom, I finally settled on getting a pair of Hasbeens. I've always wanted a pair, and thanks to the Swedish Hasbeens store on Amazon, I was finally able to make these mine. There were more than I few that I wanted, but I decided that the Lacy sandals fit my style the best. but are still different than anything I own. I like that they have a little bit of a heel, and while I went back and forth on color, I figured that I should just stick with black since I'll get the most use out of them. They are by far the most expensive shoes that I own, but they're also by far the best quality and will no doubt be my longest lasting pair. 

Life Snapshots June-July 2014

I'm running behind on taking outfit photos at the moment, so I figured now would be as good a time as any to do a big picture dump of what I've been up to the past month. As mentioned earlier, I went to Disneyland on my 22nd birthday last week, and it could not have been a more perfect day. It's almost difficult to explain to people what kind of role Disneyland plays on the lives of those of us from Anaheim. It's this strange mix of feeling like a second home that I've been to too many times to count, but still exciting and, dare I say, even magical every time. I haven't had an annual pass since I was a kid, but I don't remember the last time I paid to get in since I've always been fortunate to find a friend or a friend of a friend who works there to get me in, and it always feels special. This past time was one of my favorite Disney trips, actually. I went with three of my best friends, and while we made sure to go on the rides that we love (Indiana Jones and Star Tours, just to name a couple), we didn't feel the need to wait in line for too many since we've been on them all a million times. We ended up sitting in Cove Bar in California Adventure for a couple hours just drinking, eating, and people watching, and it was great. The last time I was in Disney, I was 20, and my friend Kylie just turned 21 last week, so it the first time for both of us being able to drink in the park. Considering we've known each other since we were 6 and 7 and are each other's oldest friends, I couldn't imagine drinking overly priced fruity concoctions in the theme park with anyone else. 

Here's what else I've been up to, and as usual, don't forget to follow me on Instagram for more:

22nd Birthday Wish List

(Dear Creatures Waikiki Dress)

Well, I'm 22 today. Of course, this mostly just means that I'll be spending the whole day dodging Taylor Swift references as they're being thrown at me, but I'm excited nonetheless. I've always been a fan of birthdays (both my own and my loved ones'), and I think my love has to do with the fact that it's the one day my overly sarcastic group of friends and family drop the harsh exteriors and make each other feel special. For as much as everyone I know (again, myself included) rely heavily on insulting each other as terms of endearment, we reveal our big softie sides on birthdays. My tradition has always been to go to Disneyland on my birthday, but I haven't been able in the past few years. Fortunately for me, my best friend, Whitney, started working there recently, and she's being kind enough to sign me in today. I'll rant about Disneyland in another post, but I haven't been there in a year and a half, so I'm really excited. When you grew up in Anaheim, going that long between Disney trips is actually a big deal. I have to support my hometown, you know?

While I'm riding the Indiana Jones ride countless times and crossing my fingers for a funny Jungle Cruise skipper, I'm leaving you with my birthday wish list filled with things I can't afford. I ended up buying the Swedish Hasbeens (cheaper from Amazon) with birthday money from my parents, and I can't wait for them to get here tomorrow. Obviously I'm not saying any of you need to buy me anything on this list, but let's just say I'm not opposed to it. 

Flock Together: Cat Call

I recently sent out my beloved cat dress to be borrowed by a few of the Flock Together girls, but I made sure to snap pictures in it one more time before it was out of my possession. I figured I would share the most recent way I styled it right before the other girls share their takes on it, and you can see more of how over on the Flock Together blog today. See you there!

Dress: H&M

Cardigan: TJ Maxx

Necklace: J. Crew Factory

Sandals: Vintage

If the Lace Fits

Well, I'm back to taking photos with my tripod in my backyard for a little while. My sister-in-law is more than seven months pregnant and Alena just moved to Austin, plus with Mary and Jenn halfway across the country in Illinois and Iowa, I'm on the lookout for a new outfit photographer. I have a good camera and a good lens, and I always like how my photos turn out when I take them of other people or places, but I just can't seem to take good ones of myself with my tripod. Does anyone have any tips? You know, other than "make more friends." 

This dress has actually been sitting in my closet for about two months untouched. I got it in a Facebook swap, and even though it's a size too big, I decided I'd swap for it anyway since it was so pretty. Unfortunately, I didn't magically fit into it like I had planned (weird how those things work out), and without the jacket and belt, it's definitely noticeable how ill-fitting it is on me. It also has a great open back, but I still haven't gotten a lace bandeau, and I can't do the whole bra-less thing. Do you see my dilemmas? I finally decided to take it out for a spin though just to see if I could make it work for these pictures, and I'm happy to see that it worked perfectly with a jacket and belt. I'm still not sure if I'm going to keep it though, so if anyone wants a size large lace YA Los Angeles dress with the tags on (I only wore it for these pictures), shoot me an email or let me know in the comments!

Top It Off

I really haven't even meant to wear dresses as tops so often this summer, but you won't see me complaining. I have an abundance of dresses and a pretty decent collection of skirts, but my closet is seriously lacking in the shirt department. Seeing as my cash flow isn't that great at the moment (how great are unpaid internships and cellphone/car bills, am I right?), I have to improvise for the time being. Fortunately, the dresses as tops thing is kind of my specialty. This red Modcloth dress is still one of my favorite pieces that I own, and it's just so versatile. It paired perfectly with this skirt, another thrift find from a couple of weekends ago. I can already tell I'll get a ton of use of this skirt seeing is it's a wonderful silhouette and an easy color to pair with anything. Versatile, easy pieces for summer are my jam.

I wore this the Friday before last to spend time with my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Leaving my family in Illinois (another brother, sister-in-law, two nieces, and a nephew) was seriously tough in May, and while I miss all of them like crazy, it's been really nice to get to spend time with my family here now. We'll all be going out to dinner this weekend for my birthday (which is next Thursday), and I'm pretty pumped to celebrate. I mean, I'm mostly excited to get to go to Disneyland on my actual birthday since I haven't been in a year and a half (despite living in the same city), but I'd say that's pretty understandable. 

Venice

Driving an hour to Venice Beach to meet a complete stranger is kind of a crazy thing to do, but if you've ever read Kelsey's blog, Kelsey Captivating, you might understand why I didn't give it a second thought to do exactly that on Saturday. Kelsey and I have been following (read: stalking, in my case) each other's blogs and social media accounts for quite a while, but we unfortunately missed each other during her short time living in LA last year. So when I saw that she would be visiting SoCal for a few days, I jumped at the chance to meet up with her. I ended up meeting her and her cousin Jesse at my favorite coffee shop in Venice, Le Zinque, and had seriously the best conversation with them for a few hours. It's always a little daunting meeting bloggers in person for the first time, but Kelsey was so easy to talk to, and I felt like I had known her forever. It was kind of amazing how comfortable it was to talk with both her and Jesse about everything from TV shows (obviously) to even politics and religion. It was such a wonderful evening, and I sincerely hope Kelsey is able to move back her like she's talking about so that way we can hang out more. In the meantime, I cannot recommend her blog enough, especially since Kelsey might quite possibly be the cutest person on the planet. I just adore her style, and and she's so genuine and sweet that it's basically impossible not to like her. 

We also made sure to snap some outfit pictures after coffee, and Venice made best backdrop. This skirt is quickly becoming one of my summer staples, and it felt perfect for the area we were in. I also really love how great this dress works as a top. I am just really digging dressing for summer this year, you guys. I kind of went a little photo overboard in this post, but I just loved all of these too much. I can't wait until Kelsey posts her outfit from this day on her blog because I'm just a little bit obsessed with the photos we took of her. It's not creepy, I swear.

Go With the Flow

There are a couple of items that I'm sending out to some of the Flock Together girls for them to borrow that I realized I hadn't worn in a while, so I decided that I should take pictures in them one more time before they're out on loan. This top was one of them, and while I realized later that this is not at the first time I've paired it with a polka dot skirt (ahem), I couldn't help but be reminded of how well they work together. I'm not exactly sure why I haven't busted out this shirt in so long, but I think I need to start giving it some more love soon. Of course, let's just not mention the fact that I've been so busy that I've yet to mail out this top or the other items. Oops. 

It's kind of funny to me how busy I've been, and I'm very happy about it. One of the hardest parts of post-grad life for me has been not having everything planned all the time, so I've been going into each week like I'm traveling into the unknown. I also assume I'll have no plans and tons of relaxing time, but that's barely been the case at all so far. My internship has been taking up a lot of time (I got to spend yesterday in Santa Monica working with my boss at a coffee shop and then exploring some of the shops in the area), and somehow I always find myself with plans with a friends. (Last night was spent watching the seriously fantastic Jenny Slate movie "Obvious Child," which I cannot recommend enough.) Adding my restaurant job to that, and it's been great keeping unexpectedly busy. It's weird not being a walking to-do list, but it's a welcome change of pace. I've never been the "go with the flow" kind of gal, so here's to hoping I get the hang of it.