Stripes: Surprises and Sunshine

Alright guys, remember how big of a deal it was when I got my side-swept bangs? Well, I’ve gone and changed things up again…I went for the full on, Zooey Deschanel-esque, whole enchilada straight across bangs. AND I LOVE THEM. Seriously.

This is my favorite hair change I think I’ve ever made (which isn’t super surprising because, as a true child of the 90’s, I rocked similar bangs up until 2000 to the point that I would cut them myself-at age 4-when my mom tried to convince me I should grow them out because I have epic cowlicks along my hairline which left me looking like a crazy Alfalfa for most of that decade). Needless to say, like both of my more recent hairstyle changes, I was shaking in the barber’s chair as I watched my locks fall.

Luckily, my stylist taught me how to blow dry the cowlicks out for the most part (I still get a small gap where one lick lies, and one chunk of hair refuses to sit totally flat no matter how much I try to flatten it…I swear my hair has a mind of it’s own) and I no longer look like a slightly ugly duckling. In fact, I think this cut actually makes me look older than any other haircut I’ve ever had just in time for job interviews and trying to convince people I really am a responsible 20-something.

Shirt:Target//Shorts:A&E

As far as life goes, I’ve been slowly assimilating to my suburban surroundings and soaking up the sunshine that followed me back from the East Coast (yes, I single handedly brought the sun to the Pacific Northwest…maybe I should put that on my resume, who wouldn’t want to hire the person who controls the weather?!). My life has become a series of days spent reading, watching tv (I know I know, I didn’t used to watch much tv at all but there’s a lot less to do out here and I have about 2 friends in a 20 minute drive radius so I’m working really hard to find ways to fill my unemployed time), and hanging out with this pretty lady.

I think she has become my absolute favorite model (sorry Sequins) because she’s free to take pictures whenever I want and she never talks back…but she’s awful at taking direction. You can’t have it all, I suppose.

What’s everyone else up to this summer? How do you entertain yourself in the ‘burbs? (Does anyone even call them “the ‘burbs” or is that me?)

Stripes: The Final Vacation Post

It’s that time, folks, the last vacation post of my epic East Coast adventures. Florida was a long rerun of allergy free pancakes, theme parks, and laughter so I think the best way to sum up this segment of travel is to throw about a million pictures of me and my friend, Blue. The first pictures are of us at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom (*cough cough* seven hundred pictures of giraffe butts because I am really a 6 year old trapped in this big person body) and the final set are from Universal Studios (more specifically, Wizarding World of Harry Potter) and a rainy day photoshoot of us EPICALLY nerding out. Please revel in our nerdiness and let me know in the comments if you’ve ever had a similar photoshoot because I would love to know we weren’t the only ones who were so HP excited!

Our very dorky HP photoshoot came up because of an 8 hour thunder and lightning storm accentuated by a torrential downpour and a Lifetime movie marathon. Needless to say, after being stuck in our hotel room for hours and hours right after buying a TON of HP stuff we *had* to have a photoshoot.

Anyone else having a nerdy summer? I sure hope so! Life’s way(yyyyyyyy) more fun this way!

Stripes: Disney Fashion Time

Ooo boy! We finally made it to the Florida leg of my travels and I have a very Minnie Mouse inspired outfit post for you!

Isn’t the Epcot Ball pretty epic? This was a pretty exciting moment, I’ve been dreaming of this moment, standing infront of the giant golf ball, since I can remember-I mean who thinks of Disney World without thinking about the ball? I was sorely disappointed to realize the tour of the nations wasn’t actually in the ball nor was some sort of epic 70’s-esque model of “The Future”. My dreams, apparently, were a little too farfetched to fit in a giant golfball…who woulda thunk?

As far as my theme park fashion went, I stuck mainly to shorts (better for rides), tank tops (to avoid the dreaded farmers tan), Toms (comfy shoes…though, thanks to the heat/foot sweatage situation, I got blisters on almost all of my toes that I’m still working on getting rid of. Yay! TMI blogger moment! But seriously, shoes that don’t require socks sounded awesome in theory but in execution they tore up my feet), and Minnie ears. Oh yes, I wore these babies every single day at all the Disney parks (seemed like bad form to wear to Universal Studios…though I totally wore my Harry Potter shirt to Disney at which point a guy running one of the rides claimed to be Slytherin and tried to Avada Kedavra us…we Crucio’d back and got away). I certainly was *that* person and I soaked up every themed minute of it.

Tank:A&E//Shorts:Old Navy//Shoes:Toms//Backpack:REI//Ears:Magic Kingdom

Later that day, a phone booth tried to kidnap me! Epcot was an awesome park and it was second only to Magic Kingdom in my mind. There was so much to see and I loved the future theme! Also, I’m going to do a quick plug for my little backpack. This thing saved us and was the perfect bag for this trip! It’s just a little REI day pack I bought a couple years back to hold one of those Camelpack water bladders for a day hike and exploring bat caves (to my NW friends- it was Oyster Dome…that hike always kicks my butt in a way that makes me wanna cry a little but exploring the bat caves is seriously one of my favorite memories from college). This pack held both of our water bottles, snacks, cellphones, and sunglasses without getting the least bit heavy. And, just about every mom was jealously eyeballing it. So, if you’re planning a Disney trip in the near future, I would totally recommend bringing one of these bags since they let you bring in food and drink with no issues. This was the closest I could find to the one I have-I bought my bladder and bag separate and the bag was REI brand (it was discontinued and the last one in the store…and about $30 cheaper than the next best option at the time) but I think this set is actually cheaper than what my total ended up being buying them separately…so awesome for you if you decide you want to invest in one!

And we happened to find Mary Poppins in England(-land?). SO jealous of her getup! Can we please bring back fancy dresses and epic hats like this?! Seriously.

What’s everyone’s favorite Disney park? Anyone else done Oyster Dome? Was your butt handed to you or was that just me (probably just me…walking up hill is just about my least favorite activity)?

Stripes: Quick Florida Update

Hey guys! I’ve been up to a lot of this:

And this:

(Yes, that’s a sugar quill! And yes, you can write with the tip!!! TRUE MAGIC!)

Which hasn’t left very much time to write a well worded description of anything I’ve been up to so I’m going to let you fill in the blanks on these ones today! More Stripey posts with actual substance will be coming your way late next week, but until then let your imagination run wild as to how awesome this trip has been…it’s probably pretty close to what’s been going on down here (especially if you were imagining me fighting evil dragons, riding hippogriffs, pulling swords out of stones, or taming wild, flying elephants)!

Stripes: It’s Day 30! Thank God

It’s finally here!!! DAY 30! Wooooo! I am beyond excited to get back into the rest of my clothes and get back on a 3 a week posting schedule. II thought it would be really fun to do a retrospective look at all my outfits for the last 30 days to celebrate the end of this project.

And now you have my last outfit of the challenge:

Sweater: H&M

Dress: A&E

Leggings: Loft Outlet

Boots: Rocket Dog

Can i just say that I am glad to put this challenge behind me and wear some new clothes?!

Stripes: That Person

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a running joke that in the Pacific Northwest on the first sunny day of spring everyone throws on shorts even though it can’t be more than 60 degrees outside. Well, this year, I fell into the stereotype.

I looked out the window and saw sun so, after I rejoiced and did a happy dance, I threw on some shorts. It wasn’t until I made it to the grocery store and every one there was wearing parkas and long pants that I realized I am *that* person. Though, admittedly, I felt a lot better after seeing Sequin’s post yesterday where she, too, broke out the shorts and have decided it must be a fashion blogger thing. We’re just so excited to widen our outfit potential that we don’t mind being the weirds in shorts in 58 degree weather.

Sweater: H&M (recent), Shorts: Old Navy, Sunglasses: Ray Ban.

Has anyone else been *that* person this week? Are there other kinds of *that* person outside of the Northwest? Anyone else rocking shorts and sweaters? I am kind of in love with this look and I’m pretty sure it will make quite a few reemergences over the next couple seasons.

Sequins: Spring Is In The Air

And I have proof of it, after my trip to Seattle this weekend! It was a glorious weekend, full of wonderful, ever-increasingly-rare time to myself as well as good, solid quality time with my parents. My dad and I had a strange adventure before we ended up at the Moisture festival (never heard of Moisture Festival? Well it’s time you did!)–an adventure that resulted in us spending a little over an hour in the car, where we had some good time to catch up. We’re both super distractable people, so being in the car forced us to talk. My mom and I managed to squeeze in some time as well, including visiting her  with my sister in tow at my mom’s turf (Home Depot’s gardening department) where I managed to talk myself into growing succulents (I’m a plant killer. We’ll see how well this goes).

Sweater Shorts & Flower: H&M, Shoes: Modcloth

The real proof of spring, though (if the Moisture Festival and succulents weren’t enough for you), popped up when my sister and I met up for a lunch date on Sunday. We got together near the local college campus, which has beautiful cherry trees–that were in full blossom. I was wearing shorts (oh trips to the city are never complete without a trip to H&M) with no tights, and we enjoyed the sun, frozen yogurt, and cherry tree blossoms. Proof that Spring is making her debut, even in our corner of the country. Marvelous!

Stripes: Spring Break?

FIRST! It’s announcement time! SURPRISE I GOT BANGS! Thank you all who commented and encouraged me to get them, I adore them and I think they are going to stick around for a while.

Now on to the real post:

As you lovely folks know, I am still a college student and as such I am officially on my last spring break (ok, so I will have one next year I suppose while I am in paralegal school, but it just doesn’t seem the same). “So,” you may be wondering, “How is our lovely Stripes spending her spring break? Beaches? Bikinis? Fun in the sun?” Well my friends, I’m sorry to say that I am having a good old fashioned Pacific Northwest spring break. But seeing as I have no idea where all of our lovely readers hail from, I’ve decided this is my chance to show everyone what a spring break up here is really like.

First off, as you can see, there is no beach just forest (ok, so I live on a bay but it is made completely out of rocks as symbolized by the rocks in the background of this picture).

Secondly, this is how ridiculous you look if you try to wear a bikini in this weather…yeah.

And then this is what this oh so sexy look becomes after 30 seconds.

Thirdly, there is a 95% chance of rain all break so I am doing a lot more of this than frolicking around in a sundress and flip flops.

But at least I still found a way to rock my shorts! Take that gray weather!

Sweatshirt: Aerie, Rain Jacket: The North Face, Shirt: Delias, Tank: Old Navy, Shorts: AE, Leggings: The Loft Outlet, Boots: Rocket Dog via Famous Footwear.

So there you have it-a true Northwest spring break. As far as spring break activities go I’ve just been reading, writing, working on some music stuff, and fighting off an evil cold! No worries, I shall soon be the victor but until then I’ve been slightly crazy (ok, super crazy in just about every way someone can be crazy…FUN FACT: when I get sick I get weird. Like really weird).

Also, a special shout out to our friend Matt who inspired this post from his playful complaints about coming to visit us last week during his spring break. This one is definitely for you!

Happy Wednesday!

PS- Don’t you love the sign off things Sequins whipped up?! She’s awesome!