Happy (embarassingly belated) Holidays

Once again, I am tremendously apologetic for the lateness of this post! My SD card was being extremely uncooperative, and I was too in love with this outfit to keep from sharing it.

I hope you all had a very special Christmas and New Years! Santa was a generous man this year; cranberry Doc Martens, an espresso machine, and The Lumineers album on vinyl were among some of my gifts. What did you receive? For the week of New Years, I traveled with my family to Phoenix to cheer on Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl! 

For this Christmas Day look, I aimed for a vintage glam feel. The angelically flowing top was an older find from Vintage Violet, the black pants are my current favorites, and the boots were buried on the bottom of my disastrous closet (probably since they're a size-and-a-half too small, but they worked). I went for a partly-pulled-back curled hair look, a more dramatic eye, and my first public effort at dark lips. 

Love,

Claire

simplydaringblog@gmail.com 

Santa Monica

While in California in November, my family stayed in what has to be the most perfectly placed condo. Located directly across from the Santa Monica pier, all it took was crossing a two-lane street to reach the beach. An easy bike ride would get us to Venice Beach; we took that trip twice. The vivid palm trees and active community was the exact change in scenery I was craving at the time. We were also blocks away from the 3rd Street Promenade, which is home to some exquisite shopping. I shamelessly hit up Brandy Melville, Nordstrom, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, Free People, and many others. Throughout our whole four day adventure, the sky was painted a magnificent pale-blue and the weather was equivalent to that of an ideal day in late May. 

{Forever 21 tee, Brandy Melville cardigan and rings, American Eagle jeans, Steve Madden boots}

It's safe to say that my style aesthetic has been greatly influenced by what I saw in California. I've been loving mixing rocker looks with carefree pieces and also keeping it my own by adding in my classic staples. Lately, the vast majority of my outfits are black and white; it can be so graphic and edgy and simple all at once. For this outfit, I combined my favorite black pants with a graphic tee, then added my black and white speckled cardigan and favorite combat boots.

{at the end of the SM pier}

{classic shot}

{the famed sign}

{so fascinating to actually watch people on these}

{new Brandy knuckle rings}

{gorgeous cappuccino from an Urth Cafe breakfast} 

Quick note: Oh, how filling it feels to be blogging again! It was a tough, but also very needed break from doing what I love. For me, blogging had gotten to the point where it was just a point of worry. I'm a typically anxious person, and honestly I was just stressed about how I looked in pictures, how I was presenting myself through writing, and how my blog compared to others. Now, after that extensive break and having more time for things that I truly enjoy, I am back! Also, I have a post involving my Christmas outfit coming-- there are difficulties with importing the photos, but it should be up soon.

Love,

Claire

simplydaringblog@gmail.com