OOTD: Part of the Skyline

On Saturday, I took a trip to the East River State Park in Williamsburg to see what Smorgasburg was all about. Here are the Cliff notes: it's expensive, crowded, and just as cool as it was in "Master of None".

Since summer's been in New York, I've been struggling a little more to get dressed in the morning. I need to be work-appropriate during the week, which can be difficult in 90 F heat. Yeah, I know that's not actually that bad, but I'm from the Pacific North West! 90 feels like death.

On the weekend, though, I want to take advantage of not having to wear appropriate clothing. I try not to buy a lot of clothes that I can't wear to the office; it doesn't make sense to only own clothing that I can wear 2/7ths of the time. My office has a pretty lax dress code, so all of my week-wear is really cute and totally wearable outside the office. This isn't too dissimilar from my time in college, when I could basically wear anything I wanted to class. Now that I work in a professional environment, the few things I can't wear stick out like a sore thumb, and I often think about how badly I want to wear my ripped jeans or crop tops during the week.

I definitely can't wear this shirt to work, for example, so I wanted to wear it this weekend because I haven't worn it since I bought it. The only problem is that I didn't want to wear it with ANYTHING in my closet. It usually takes me 15 minutes to get dressed and ready in the morning, but I took a full 45 minutes to sort through everything I own trying to figure out how to best take advantage of not having to adhere to a dress code.

So... A little silly, right? I'm working on finding a balance between being happy with what I wear and getting out of the house in a reasonable amount of time. One of my goals is to stop putting pressure on myself to look picture perfect every day. What really matters is the experience I have on my days off, not what I look like on these adventures. Plus, I can definitely put a cute outfit like this together in a couple minutes if I don't push myself for perfection.

How do you dress for the weekend/your days off? Let me know in the comments below!

Fringe DIYs

The fabric store down the street from where I live has a great selection of fun fabrics. I was thrilled to discover that they sell fringe by the yard. Obviously, I had to invest in something with endless DIY possibilities. I was able to make three different crafts with my two yards of fringe.

Fringe sleeve top (inspired by Maje and Missguided)

Materials:

• Long-sleeve shirt
• Two yards of fringe
• Needle and thread

Step 1:

Pin the fringe along the seam of the sleeve. 

Step 2: 

Sew the fringe onto the sleeve. Repeat steps 1 and 2 on the other sleeve.

Fringe choker (inspired by Rosantica and BCBGMAXAZRIA)

Materials:

• 7 inches of fringe
• 20 inches of embroidery thread

This one's easy: all you have to do is thread the embroidery thread through the holes on each edge of the fringe. Voila! You can now tie it around your neck.

Fringe pendant (inspired by Buckle and Lulus)

Materials:

• A necklace of your desired length
• Two inches of fringe
• A button
• Needle and thread

Step 1:

Fold the fringe in on itself as many times as possible. Sew it together.

Step 2:

Sew the fringe onto the button.

Step 3:

Tie the pendant onto the necklace. I used embroidery thread but if I were to do it again, I'd use some really thin jewelry wire.

OOTD: Pretty as a Peach

My little sister graduated from high school! Last weekend was filled with family events, seeing people I hadn't seen since I was in high school, and being asked what's next for me after I graduate in December. Bend weather is notoriously hard to predict, so I was glad it was sunny enough for me to be comfortable in the dress I brought for the occasion. This is one of my favorite recent purchases: it was $12.50 at Crossroads, the color is perfect for the summer (and to go with my hair), and I've always wanted a tulip wrap dress like this. I'm looking forward to wearing it for another, less momentous occasion.

OOTD: Urban Wonderland

I've been waiting to wear this outfit for at least a month, and it's finally warm enough outside for me to go without tights or a jacket! This green dress is one of my favorite layering pieces: I wear it over pants, dresses, and leggings. It's also one of my favorite semi-neutral colors to wear; I have so much olive green in my closet.

City Proof 24 HR Waterproof Eyeshadow

These eyeshadow sticks were one of the goodies in a Her Campus Survival Kit that my team got during Fall Quarter. I took a couple to check them out, and they ended up being so inexpensive and awesome that I picked some more up from Target. I use at least one of these every day (if not two or three), so I decided to review them for those who are looking at trying them out.

Like I said, I use these every day. I've never really liked wearing eyeshadow because I could never quite get the hang of it, but these eyeshadow sticks are so easy to use and look so good. They go on smoothly and quickly and evenly. What more could you ask for?

From left to right: #610 Tribeca Taupe; #605 Brooklyn Mocha; #650 East River Romance; #630 Empire State Building; Eye Primer; #620 Murray Hill Champagne; #635 New York At Night; #655 Madison Square Park; #615 5th Ave Gold Rush

I also got a City Proof 24 Hour Eye Primer to use on my eyes to make the eyeshadows pop.

In all honesty, I didn't notice too big a difference when using the primer. Still, the results are worth sharing.

OOTD: Coordinate Set

After months of looking for the perfect coordinate set, I finally found one on Poshmark. The skirt is the perfect length and it's in one of my favorite colors. I can't wait to wear it together and mixed and matched!