Life lately.

Hello blog, I'm so sorry I haven't written in a bit. I feel as though I wrote so much through May that now I'm a little stumped as to what to blog about now. Perhaps I should look for another challenge to do...

Life lately has been busy but good. School is definitely giving me a run for money, but I do enjoy it. It feels great to be learning and doing something else in my schedule, although I'm already stressing about our final project and paper due in 8 weeks. Eep.

After coming off May's shopping ban I have to be careful to not go off the deep end spending in June. I'm trying to reassess my shoe situation (since I seem to only wear a handful of the same pairs) and I'm pretty much in love with this H&M skirt I picked up last weekend and want to live in it. And not gonna lie, I bought both items in the photo below:

Tippi linen sweater in whale and Liberty of London floral popover from J Crew. Whales on a blue sweater? Heck yes!

4th of July weekend might be what is keeping me sane as of late... my husband, parents, and I are off to Vegas and then on to Zion and Bryce National Parks in Utah. I'm really excited for a few reasons: 1) Vegas. 2) I haven't travelled (for fun) with my parents in at least 8 years. 3) this is the first sort of adventure vacation DH and I have had. I know it's going to be hot as all heck but I'm going to enjoy the scenery and prepare myself for lugging my big camera all over the place.

And so this isn't totally boring, some photos as of late...

City Hall on a walk before dinner.

Charles Phillip Shanghai flats I may have bought

It's always a treat to go back to the City Club

Oh, and to all those out there at BW/M.... ;)

Happy almost weekend!

Monarchs and stripes

Hello June! I'm finding it hard to believe that half the year is already over. But.. onward with the rest of the year and so far it's been pretty good so I'm not at all complaining.

With May's shopping ban over I'm officially back in the market and able to spend. But I'm being a lot more selective and thoughtful when it comes to buying items. The one thing I saw in May that I loved was the J Crew tippi in monarch. I finally nabbed it the other day for about 44 after the in store 30% promo and my mom's teachers discount.

You'll have to pardon the hair. I paired this over a white button down and a blue skirt. Also, I have no idea what my collar is doing but I promise it behaved itself for the first 10 hours of the day. I took my normal size Medium in this, and I feel as though it runs a tad larger than the other tippi's but since I tend to wear them over blouses I'm ok with that.

Props to dh for taking this photo and doing laundry last night. Boom.

Monarch tippi: Online, check stores for cheaper prices
White button down: J Crew factory

A vivid memory

Can I just give a huge shout out to everyone for putting up with my lack of outfit/fashion/photo related posts for May because with this post I will successfully finish the blog every day in May challenge. Huzzah!

Our last prompt is to write on a vivid memory. I've been trying to think of a few and one that stands out  would have to be from 8th grade in 1998. It was the night of our cheerleading competition at my future high school - the big one. I'd say about 18 schools competed. Our cheering section was huge. And for our big dance routine, I was in the front row.

Flash forward to the end of the night and they are announcing the winners. For some reason we picked up 2nd place for our cheer and we were thrilled. Amazed and surprised and beyond thrilled. And then.. we're waiting for the cheer announcements. No third. No second. Sitting crosslegged on the gym floor and we are all holding hands - even girls who didn't get along - everyone is sitting there just holding hands and trying to calm ourselves, high ponytails bobbing up and down from bouncing knees and making sure we wouldn't cry too hard in case we lost.

Suddenly the announcer boomed. "And in first place... for cheer... Saint (big long dramatic pause).. VERONICA'S!  All of us were up on our feet, hugging, screaming, cheering, crying - our cheering section went mad. We went to the middle of the floor to grab our trophy and I turned around and Tiffany, my best friend who wasn't even a cheerleader but helped support us so much was out there and we hugged and jumped up and down. Our entire class was there and we just all for one night got along and celebrated and were happy.

And that...was how we won first place. Later in the evening a parade of our cars driven by our parents drove by our principals house honking and we celebrated at a local ice cream parlor until almost 11. Thanks mom & dad for putting up with that.

So that is one of my most vivid and fun memories. Like my outfit? Hello, 1998.

What about you?

Letting go.

Day 30. Two more left!

Our second to last prompt is on letting go. So I'm just going to free write.

I have to learn to let go of a few things. One of the biggest that's hurt me the most are the ones who decide that they no longer want to be friends for whatever reason. There's someone who I'm still struggling with losing because I still don't understand it. But they don't want to be friends with me and I just have to accept that and let it go, let go that while I did what I thought was the best job possible it just wasn't good enough for her.

I have to realize that there will be others in the future. And now there's a few who have drifted away too, perhaps its just a part of life where I get bus with work and now school and trying to be a wife but I have to let go that sometimes its just not enough. And there will be other situations where I have to learn that the best I have to give won't be good enough, either. Mistakes will be made. I'm sure I'll stumble and fall .. but I guess that's where I'll learn the most.

And eventually.... it will be okay.

Letting go... might not be so bad, after all.

If I was a DJ...

Happy Wednesday! To celebrate my last Wednesday night of freedom before it becomes a school night (HR classes start tomorrow) we are off to the battle of the bay A's/Giants game tonight. Go A's!

Today's blogging every day in May prompt is for 5 songs that bring back memories. So if I was a DJ and putting together some of the favorite songs from my life these would be it.

Green Day - Good Riddance. This was senior year on repeat, over and over and over again. Love this song and it always brings me back to 2002. ;)

The Beatles - I'm Looking Through You. A favorite from senior year at UCSC when a group of us took a Beatles discography course and I can remember our goodbye party with everyone sitting around a living room singing along to this at the top of our lungs. Plus who doesn't love the Beatles?

Tricia Yearwood - She's In Love With The Boy. It was definitely the 90's when my cousins brought this song back from Colorado to us in California. My Nonno loved this song and we'd always put it on and sing and dance to it. And this video... holy 90's batman!

Van Morrison - Crazy Love (Done by Michael Buble). The song my husband and I did our first dance to. I love the lyrics .. it's just a gorgeous song.

Toto - Africa. No idea how this started but its become a go to for karaoke, group dances on the dance floor, and good for any number of family members belting this song out at any point in time.

Honorable mentions:
Journey - Don't stop believin'. Played this as our second to last song at the wedding and I think its a San Francisco favorite.
LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem. Guaranteed I'll be out on the dance floor before you can recognize what song is playing. I'll bust a move anywhere I happen to be when I hear this come on.
The Beach Boys - I Get Around. Another childhood favorite.. my sister and I would race around our coffee table for no apparent reason other than this song coming on.
UB40 - Red Wine. What can I say, my dad loves reggae.
Toby Keith - How Do You Like Me Now? - I always mentally dedicate this one to the people who put me down. ;)
Backstreet Boys - Everybody. Can we discuss this music video for a second? Genius. And come on.. it's the BSB.

Do you have a few favorite songs that bring you back to a certain place or time in life?

Photo weekend

Day 28 - photos. Here's some of what we did this weekend...

Ms. Goyard's first voyage

Dual cable cars in our intersection

Goyard Bora trunk..

Backseat ready for our trip to Lagunitas

Crossing the Golden Gate

Beer tasting at Lagunitas

Bottle cap table at Beer Revolution

So how was your long weekend? :)

May budget recap

Another month just about down and it's time for this month's fashion budget recap!

Yup. That's right. A big ole zero. Nada. Niente. Nothing. I spent nothing on clothes - or anything remotely fashion related in the month of May. Am I proud of myself? Heck yeah. Has it been hard? No doubt about that. But ... it's making me realize that I have so many items that I have and don't wear and really, I don't need anything else in my wardrobe.

Of course, this sweater is calling my name. And I'd love to get a plain red cardigan and monogram necklace with my new initials. But that's it, really. So with a suggestion from Lori I've started a google spreadsheet with items I'd like to add to my wardrobe, their link, and approximate cost. This way I can see exactly what I need before I buy it and will hopefully prevent me from owning 10 sweaters in a similar style. I mean, I did buy the bag that I wanted, but that came from a generous gift from my parents that doesn't factor into my budget.

If you have a budget, have you stayed within it for this month? Or are there certain items that you've been lusting after?

And linking up with Fran's fashion bloggers!