Sunday, oh Sunday.

Today’s serenade is more Fitz and the Tantrums. The “More Than Just A Dream” album has been playing on repeat in my car, and we’re going to see them in May so I’ve been loading up. Anyway, this song, Last Raindrop, is beautifully poignant, but has a good beat. “Now that winter’s fallen / all of the color’s gone”. I mean, who hasn’t felt that way at one point or another during the somber winter season?

This Week’s Top 5:

1. Skype:  Commuting 1.5 hours for grad school is tough because I miss out on a lot of study groups. But, thanks to Skype, I’m able to do homework and study with my school partner (who affectionately calls me his MPH mama because I try to keep him organized) and learn the material much easier than if I was studying on my own.

2. New Phones: New things are always exciting. This week I said good bye to my iPhone and said hello to the new Moto X. It syncs with all of my google accounts, which is way more useful for me since I’m NOT an Apple/Mac person (and I loathe iTunes). I’ve only had it a few days but, so far, I’m loving it! “Okay, Google Now… find me a latte!”

3.  Being Organized. It has taken me several weeks to get back into the swing of school after my month-long winter break. But I finally sat down this week and filled in my planner, wrote out to-do lists, and organized my files and folders. I’m still working on the time management aspect of online courses but I think being better organized about the rest of my studies will help!

4. Good Habits: For a while, I turned into the stereotypical student, staying up all night and sleeing in until late morning/afternoon. It was fun for a while but then I started feeling guilty because Nick was up in the mornings being productive while I struggled to stay motivated to get dressed for class. This week I started going to bed earlier, getting up earlier, going to the gym (kind of… baby steps!) and being more productive. And it feels great 🙂

5. Parking Spaces. I don’t know why, but parking causes me so much anxiety. The other night, Nick and I went out to dinner at a restaurant that is usually packed but has terrible parking. After circling the area several times and debating whether we should risk parking acrossthe street (where there are signs literally every few feet about getting towed if you park there and go to one of the restaurants across the street) we were resigned to just going somewhere to else to eat. We drove past one last time and, boom, a parking spot opened up! We snagged it and had a yummy, anxiety-free dinner.

Photo of the Week:

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen this but it’s probably the best photo I’ve ever taken so I wanted to share it again! We were out for brunch again when I snapped it. I’m planning to print and frame this (all of the coffee photos I’ve taken, which is at least 3 at this point) and hang them in the kitchen. How fun is that?

I pulled these pants out from the back of my closet. I think I’ve only worn them twice because the color scares me and I don’t know why. They’re not that much brighter than regular denim pants and yet when I put them on, I feel like they’re screaming. I don’t particularly like wearing “Crayola”  outfits, meaning any one bright color with another bright color. I shy away from wearing primary colors together because then there’s just too much color for  me.

Therefore, I have a hard time figuring out what to wear with these pants and that’s why they ended up in the back of the closet. I do like the look of the black sweater with them but I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone (but not too much) so I added the bright fuchsia scarf. I like the balance of the black between the two brighter colors, so it works.

Weird fact about me: I hate carrying purses so I never change them out from outfit to outfit. I rarely change them out at all. The most I do is throw a few important things in a clutch when I feel like adding a pop of color or don’t feel like carrying the big purse. If I were the type to change out my purse, I would have a bunch of them (I only have, like, 3) and I would be carrying a pink or black one with this outfit. But I’m not so I don’t. I love this purse (all things considered) so I just carry it.

And here’s the fun one! I can stretch in these pants if I need to run from something.

It seems that delivery services are all the rage these days. From CSAs (community supported agriculture) that deliver fresh produce to Bark Boxes that deliver doggie goodies, it seems that there is a delivery service for everything now, including clothes. Nick signed up for Trunk Club, a clothing service for men where a stylist picks out clothing and ships it to you to try on at home and then you send back what you don’t want and only pay for what you keep. He’s received about 4 boxes now and it’s been a lot of fun. The anticipation  of what your stylist has chosen for you is one of the best parts. I decided to give it a try with a similar women’s service called Stitch Fix. I’ve seen several fashion bloggers participate so I figured it would be worth a try.

My box arrived on Friday and contained 5 items: three tops, a cardigan, and a pair of jeans.

I tried on everything and pretty much loved it all! I was very skeptical about the fit of most of the clothes, but I noted in my style profile that I have a short torso and often times it’s difficult to find tops that fit well. Two of the tops fit great and two were only a smidge too big, which is about par for the course for me. It was also interesting that everything they sent was some shade of blue (and, of course, the one gray item). I decided to keep two of the tops and the pair of pants (reviewed below).

Under Skies Claremont Printed Stripe Short Sleeve Top – $58

Cute buttons on the back

I love the stripe and paisley patterns on this top, and the color is great. I’m not sure I would have picked it out if I had been shopping for myself because of the loose fit, but I’m looking forward to trying new things that would normally be out of my comfort zone. Like I said, the fit of this top is loose, which is new for me, but I’m excited to start wearing it.

Collective Concepts Valencia V-Neck 3/4 Sleeve Blouse – $68

This blouse is asymmetrical (shorter in the front, longer in the back) which I find is good for us gals with short torsos.

This blouse is very much my taste. I love the cut, the fit, and the color. I would definitely pick this out if I saw it hanging on the rack. It has a flowy fit, which I’ve been wanting to incorporate more of into my wardrobe.

 Kensie Jeans Mary-Kate High Rise Skinny Jean – $88

These jeans are super dark, rise high, and are super skinny. I wasn’t sure how I would feel when I pulled them out of the box but as soon as I tried them on, I loved them. I’ve tried the Rockstar skinny jeans from Old Navy and, even though I wear their other jeans, theRockstars looked terrible, which I think is because of their low rise. These high-right jeans are actually really slimming, as they seem to flatten my tummy and hide my love handles. And they’re really comfortable. This might be my favorite item from the whole box!

So, there you have it, my first experience with Stitch Fix. Overall, I was really pleased with the items and the prices aren’t terrible. It’s definitely more expensive than picking up a few tops at Target so I’ll have to limit myself on how many times I order a box, but it was fun and I’d recommend it.

Happy shopping!

We went to brunch again! This time we went to one of our other favorite brunch spots, Scratch Bakery, and then took some cute photos downtown.

I’ve worn this dress/cardigan/boot combo before but today I added some fleece-lined tights and a huge comfy scarf. It was a beautiful day with a slight chill in the air so the scarf was necessary.  This is probably one of my favorite dresses. It’s pretty, comfortable, and really versatile since I can wear it in all seasons. And brunch is an occasion that just feels better in a cute dress.

And here’s the fun one:

Also, in case you were wondering, Scratch was featured on Unique Sweets on the Cooking Channel, and for good reason. It’s delicious! Nick and I had coffee, livermush sandwiches and a grapefruit brûlée. Yum.

I’ve been listening to Shakira on repeat again this week, first in English and then in Spanish, but I figured I would give you all a break! This week’s song is ‘Hurricane’ by MS MR. I first heard it on Spotify radio but now I’m hearing it on mainstream radio, which is exciting. Every time I hear it, I’m reminded of my freshman year of college and I can’t figure out why, but there’s something about the way it sounds that takes me back.

This Week’s Top 5:

1. Snow. Snow, snow, snowy snow! This week it snowed while I was at home and classes were cancelled so I didn’t have to worry about driving back and forth for class like I did the week before. I got to stay home and snuggle up with my furbabies and drink coffee and be warm. I also got to wear and photograph a casual snow outfit.

2. Dinner Parties.  A few weeks ago we attended a dinner party. This week we hosted a small dinner party for our neighbors. It’s almost creepy how similar we are to our neighbors. We live on the same street (duh!), we have two dogs that we love and spoil very much, we even have the same wedding anniversary, among many other things. So dinner was a blast!

3. Tiramisu. I don’t normally like tiramisu because I don’t like soggy bread and that’s what it is to me. But Nick decided to make some for our dinner party and, of course, it was delicious. His layering was perfect because the soggiest cookies were on the bottom and easy to eat around. I’ll only eat his tiramisu from now on!

4. Yoga. It always makes me feel better. I don’t go nearly as often as I should. I’m shooting for three times a week and usually only make it once, if I make it at all. I attend the Body Flow class at my gym and it’s never before 9 AM so I really have no excuse. I’m gonna have to get on that.

5. Good News. Good news is always exciting. This week Nick got good news about his job, my friend got good news about her law school applications, and I got good news when class was cancelled because of the snow (see what I did there?!).

Photo (s) of the Week:

This week you get two photos! And to all of you out there that are stuck in a snowy wonderland every winter, I apologize for all of the snowiness you’re about to see. We southerners don’t get snow very often so some of us get really excited when it comes (or, at least, this one does!)

Snowy Sunrise

The morning after the snow, I took this photo in our back yard. I love how you can see the peak of sun coming through the trees, so blissful. These are my favorite types of photos to take and see – the sun shining through trees. It was cold and bright, snowy and quiet. It was just perfect. I’m glad I get to share this moment with you!

Snowy Country Lane

My parents took this photo at their house this week, which is in a more moutainous region than mine, so they get a little more snow. I think this is a beautiful photo, with the falling snow and the pop of red from the poinsettia decorations. I bet my dad didn’t realize how artistic he was being when we took it!