Early V-Day

I can't say that I really care that much about Valentine's Day, but I also can't pass up the opportunity to dress for the occasion. My anniversary with Jon was last week, so we usually spend more time celebrating that the week before everything gets super crowded. This year, we celebrated a bit early so I could take a day off from work, and we went to Balboa Island, as we do every year. And as it is every year, it was a perfect day. It's crazy to think that we've been together three years, but it's also crazy that it's only been three years. I'm so excited for even more anniversaries and Valentine's Day to come with him. (I usually hate writing anything cheesy, but he's made me soft. Damn him!)

While we aren't doing anything big on V-Day this year, I still had use it as an excuse to break out a little red dress. I got this one off of Amazon before Dapper Day last year, and it has to be one of my most comfortable, stretchiest dresses. A true score in my book. I know that I accidentally over-saturated it while editing, but it's late and I'm too tired to re-do them. So enjoy my overly saturated photos and 10 p.m. ramblings. It's past my bedtime, okay?

In Movie Pass news, we also saw Coco the day we celebrated our anniversary and cried our eyes out (not really, but I did tear up). Last weekend was The Post, and while it wasn't my favorite of all of the movies I've seen lately, I still enjoyed it. 

In non-movie pop culture news, I started watching Altered Carbon with my friend and I hate that I have to wait for him to watch more. I also have been binge watching Psych lately, and my latest podcast obsession is Atlanta Monster, just like everyone else. 

Dress: Amazon (similar and similar)

Cardigan: Thrifted

Clutch: Alice Nightingale (exact)

Shoes: B.A.I.T. (exact)

Remix Friday: Red Modcloth Dress

Red-y to Go // Modcloth Collared Dress + Gingham Skirt // Red Modcloth Dress + Gray Lace Cardigan

Oh, man. Has this dress taken me through the seasons or what? I got this dress a few years back while on summer break, and it stayed with me through my senior year of college in Illinois and back to California. I still have it and wear it regularly, which is usually a good test of a lasting piece. I can't imagine getting rid of this one any time soon, and looking through all of my old posts has truly solidified that for me. Looking through all of my old posts also reminds me that I used to live in a place where it snows, and I also was very excited to start my customer service job that I later couldn't get out of soon enough. Ah, nostalgia. 

I usually cringe when looking through old outfits, but I actually still really love all of the ways I styled this dress. I'm of course partial to my most recent attempt, when I wore it as a top with a gingham skirt. However, I also loved wearing it as a skirt with a sweater over it and just on its own when I first got it. 

Which look is your favorite?

It's Snow Problem // Back to Layers // Red Collared Dress

Red Collared Dress

This is officially my last weekday off, and I could not be happier about that. I start training for my new job on Monday, and I am so ridiculously excited. In all honesty, I'm just pumped to have a routine again. I've been working four days a week at my restaurant job, plus a bunch of freelance work, but I just miss having a set schedule and knowing what I'm doing every day. I get to feel like a real human being again!

In the meantime, I'm settling in quite nicely to my temporary home at my brother's house. I really love their house and the the newly converted guest room that I'm staying in, plus I love getting to see my niece and nephew every day. It's strange living in a different part of Orange County, especially since all of my friends are mostly still in Anaheim Hills, but I'm in a pretty awesome area now with one of my favorite downtown areas. I wore this dress the other day when I went into my new office to fill out paperwork, and I decided that I loved how it looks with the leather jacket later. One things I'm especially grateful for in my new job is that there's no dress code and the office is laid-back, which means that I don't have to buy professional clothes and stick with my wardrobe of A-line skirts and Peter Pan collars.

Fancy Party

Here's another quick post that I'm writing late at night while half asleep. I went to another taping of @Midnight, where I got o see Jermaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords fame (which, if you're a fan of, we're automatically friends). It was only my second time seeing a taping, but I watch the show almost every day, and it was by far one of the funniest episodes I've ever seen. I'm not sure how they're going to edit it into 22 minutes, because we were there for two hours, hence why I got home late.

I'm staying up to write more, though, because I have to tell you about this dress. The kind folks over at Azazie sent it to me, and I'm in love. I wasn't too sure about choosing a dress since Azazie sells bridal and bridesmaids dresses, but the bridesmaid dresses are so cute that I knew I could find one that would work for any sort of dressy occasion. Plus, every dress on the site comes in a giant selection of colors and free custom sizing. Let's get my only two complaints out of the way, as they are minor; I was a little disappointed that this dress ended up looking more red when I ordered burgundy, but it's so vibrant and beautiful that I really can't complain. Even though I did custom sizing, the dress still doesn't fit perfectly, which is probably more on me than Azazie. The biggest issue is that the straps are too large (it's not noticeable in the photos) and would fit someone much taller than me better, but that shouldn't be too difficult to get altered.

Other than those two minor issues, I have nothing but good things to say about this dress and Azazie. The first thing I noticed is that it's incredibly well made. It's the kind of dress that will last me a while, and everything down to the garment bag it came in is amazing quality. Though I won't be wearing this in any weddings, for a $99 bridesmaid dress, it's a great choice. I'm hoping to wear it to a wedding, though, so I'm hoping it still fits relatively well by the time my friend Jeremy's wedding rolls around in July. Did I mention that this dress has pockets? Because it has pockets. I also want to mention how easy to navigate the Azazie website is. It's easy to filter by color, price, hem length, and more, which must be extremely helpful for those planning weddings. All in all, I'm more than impressed. As I inch closer to the middle of my '20s, I'm sure this dress will come in handy for the plethora of weddings I'll be attending.

Madeline

I've been saying this for a while, but September is going to be an exciting month for me. Much to my surprise, however, the excitement started a little earlier than expected. Yesterday, my brother and sister-in-law welcomed their new baby daughter, Madeline Elisabeth, into the world, and I was fortunate enough to get to meet her soon after. I absolutely adore being an aunt (I have two nephews and now three nieces), so I'm overjoyed at her arrival. Both my sister-in-law and the baby are doing wonderfully, and I already can't wait until I get to visit them again this week. Forget everything I've said about feeling weird about moving back home. Obviously it's all totally worth it just for this. And other things, of course, but mostly this.

I got woken up pretty early by my parents (after working three 7 a.m. shifts in a row) and then spent almost all day at the hospital, so I wanted to change into something that I felt good in before I left the house later last night. This dress has been another all star of my summer wardrobe, and it has yet to fail in making me happy and being comfortable. This outfit is simple and very typical of me, but it's one of those ones that I just really enjoy. Feel-good outfits are always important to have, even if they do include cardigans that you talk yourself into wearing when it's 80 degrees. I'm pretty confident in saying that I don't think I've ever regretted wearing a cardigan, even in the middle of summer. Cardigans forever.