market day

photos by jordan

shirt: charlotte russe

jeans: aeo

California is a fruit basket. 

No, I'm not talking about people from LA. We just really have a ton of fruit. and vegetables. and bread. and juice. looooots of juice. All of that adds up into some pretty fantastic farmers markets. 

One of my personal favorites is the one on Saturday mornings in Davis. From the still half-drunk college students to the frozen apple juice, it's just really cute. There's tons of dogs, and a woman who makes biriani, and lots of fresh flowers for me to sniff. But this weekend, I had a more important mission: PERSIMMONS. They're my absolute favorite fruit, and I wait for MONTHS for them to show up at the market, at which point I promptly buy them by the pound. There's an art to the whole thing, and I'm not going to divulge any of my secrets because I don't want any competition.

I keep waiting for some sort of sign (other than the presence of PSLs) that it's ~actually autumn~, but it's been 20 years, and California has barely turned a leaf.

x Justina 

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it isn't always better

sweater: thrifted
tote: cuyana
boots: CAT

I'm going to live in this sweater for the rest of my life. Best $3 I've ever spent in a thrift store.

This is winter in California aka early fall everywhere else in the world. Unfortunately, the colourful foliage does not change it from being December, or me having to do Christmas shopping still. I keep making lists, and then sticking them in my bag and forgetting. Mainly because I get distracted buying Christmas presents for myself. Like this bag.

IT'S GOT MY NAME STAMPED ON IT. At least, my initials. Plus it holds absolutely everything, barring a few fantastic beasts. It's from Cuyana, also known as the-cool-brand-everyone-keeps-hush-hush-about-because-none-of-us-want-to-share. (Try whispering that in someone's ear. Go ahead.) As a brand, they're all about small source and handmade, sturdy and stylish, better over bigger. Getting close to Christmas (THREE WEEKS GUYS NOBODY PANIC) they're reminding all of us deal crazed nutters to give better. As someone who is extremely picky about a. who gets presents and b. what they get, I was all over it. To me, it seems like a great philosophy. Give people you love things they'll love, not just things. Do something unforgettable.

This seems like a great time to announce that I'm going to London on Sunday with Sallie. I don't really have anything else to add to that, except that I'm hoping to track down Ellie.

But when am I not amiright

x Justina

ps. shoot me an email at justina {at} abentpieceofwire.com with your address, and favorite color. I'm making Christmas cards and have no one to send to...EXCEPT YOU GUYS. (Perks of the internet: you can't run away.)


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tip toes

flats: thandos
jeans: ami clubwear
tshirt: primark
jacket: element eden

THERE ARE PILES OF LEAVES EVERYWHERE. I'm going to just slip underneath them and pretend my country isn't falling to absolute shambles.

Gonna be real - my TOMs are usually the only flat-flats in my wardrobe, and I only wear them when I'm moving so fast you won't notice that I'm two inches shorter than usual. I like to be tall and intimidating, which is hard because I am short and not very scary at all. (Unless you ask children).

But these ballet flats are something else. They're squishy, came in their own pouch, and fold up into tiny little balls when you're not wearing them so you can toss them in your bag, and not think about them again until you've climbed your twelth flight of stairs for the day and your feet feel like they're gonna fall off. Not that anything like that ever happens to me. Definitely not this morning. 

Thandos are designed in Nigeria by J.G. and Taffi, who are literal ~power couple goals~. They're big on improving their community through smart commerce, which is something I am not only 100% here for, but think everyone should learn more about. They also make really comfy limited edition shoes, which is what's really important here.

Side note:
do not throw leaves at your photographer unless you have made
absolutely unequivocally definity postively sure
 that there are no rocks/squirrel poops in them.

x Justina

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I'm a mouse, duh

jacket: miss selfridges
t-shirt: chance the rapper merch
jeans: forever 21
boots: b.c. footwear
ears: THE MAIN MOUSE HIMSELF


It's officially happened. I'm that lame college student who tried her best and couldn't get a single decent costume together, despite her best efforts + Amazon purchases. In my defense, I tried.

Last night I witnessed Chance the Rapper and I do, in fact, feel blessed. I love seeing people truly engage with their passion, and that's what he's doing. If you've never listened to his music, try this one. Or just listen to The Life of Pablo, because he's one of the few people trusted by Kanye (who I am seeing in 455 hours, or 2,360 minutes) to touch his tracks. Live music is always a good investment, and so is merch.

Here's a thing this lame costume made me think about: It's October and I haven't been to Disneyland all year. This may sound like a first world problem to those of you who have never been to Disneyland, and to those of you who have, but I dont care at all. Disneyland should be a public insitiution, like libraries, or Target.

Now I need to go fill up on my favorite vegetable:
 candy corn. 


x Justina



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baby's got back

shirt: wild blue denim
pants: element eden
shoes: coolway usa

The back on this shirt is a classic case of something looking extremely challenging, and then being extremely challenging. Like how much back is too much back? I still don't know.

I felt like I needed to at least TRY to use it as something other than a glorified dress-topper, and so, in an effort to make the whole thing simpler, decided to combine it with the only harder-to-wear item in my closet: these pants. They're WHITE and FLORAL and CROPPED and CUFFED ON THE BOTTOM. I've had them a solid two years but have always been way too scared of them and the stains I was sure would immediately destroy them if I dared to wear them in public. But as always, the promise of wiggle room and pockets pulled me in.

THIS OUTFIT WAS SO COMFY. I wore it to wander around the market and pretend I could tell the difference between central valley and northern peaches. (psa: central valley are squishier and generally sweeter. I guess.) Unexpected side effect of being fully covered with an open back? Perfect temperature. Even though it was 103 degrees. That's almost...40 degrees celsius for those of you who live in places with seasons.

I'm currently in Humboldt, which is much too far north of the wall for you to worry about locating on a map. It's foggy, and below 70 degrees, which feels faintly unnatural to me. I can already feel myself losing my healthy tan.

Kidding. (a little)

x J


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summer jungle

dress: tobi
jacket: vintage

The most useful thing I've learned as a blogger is how to not visibly sweat. Like I'm actually melting in these photos, but I look fairly upright still. It was 100 degrees. That's two zeros, one too many for mid-May.

Incredibly, amazingly, against so many odds, I survived finals week with my GPA fairly intact. Honestly, towards the end there I was contemplating tossing in the whole thing and moving to Peru with Katie. I felt like my mum would maybe take a very dim view of that though, so for now I'm just enjoying not carrying a backpack. My spine might decompress just in time for the next semester.

My entire MO for summer is to dress as easily as possible, because let's face it, getting dressed in this weather is gross and no one wants to do it. Starting with this outfit, I want breezy dresses and light layers. See example A - this dress. It has a bit of shape that makes it fitting for morning and night, but isn't so tight that I just slide out of it in a puddle.  It's patterned, and dOESN'T WRINKLE. This is so important - avoid summer clothes that wrinkle. Just trust me. I also really like leopard print/matching my grandmother's 80's wardrobe.

Because I live in the desert (aka the entire STATE OF CALIFORNIA) it gets cool at night, and this jacket is necessary for late adventures.

Or, you know, creating a personal sauna, as displayed here.

x Justina

ps. I'm a homie, and I want to let you in on the secret of Tobi: they have all your faves (dresses,  rompers, skirts, sequins, cardigans, bodysuits, midi's, crop tops, etc) and ur first order is 50% off.  have fun with that. 



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we're going way up

backpack: c/o fjallraven
dress: cotton on


The Griffith Observatory isn't even a tradition for me - it's a straight up superstitious good luck happy life ritual. Every time I'm in LA, I make the ridiculously traffic-y ride up to the gleaming white building in the canyon. It's this one touristy thing that doesn't feel touristy at all, even when you're surrounded by more people from far than near. The view makes me feel the way I imagine people who like New York feel when at the top of the Empire State building, like - hey, I'm tiny and this city is massive and amazing but I'm HERE and life is GOOD and WOW this is happening to me. Even the smog looks pretty from that high up. 

Other things that look pretty: MY BACK PACK. Now that I've given up on being a grown up with a grown up purse, and accepted the rucksack life style, I am feeling it. You can fit all of the things in it, and not worry about being too rough or running out of pockets. Plus...pink. 

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT...kind of. You know The Big Secret? The one I've been keeping for months and months, just dropping numbered days? This is the LAST POST BEFORE YOU FIND OUT. It's going to change everything. It'll be BTBS (Before The Big Secret) and ATBS (After The Big Secret) forever more. Thursday, on Instagram, it's all happening.  Don't be that one friend who doesn't know what's going on (aka all of mine)

Are you ready? This is gonna be fun.

x J 



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light it up

shoes: bc footwear*

jeans: gap

top: little mistress*
rucksack: fjallraven*


Here is the cool thing about light: it changes. Not just photos, but moods, looks, even outfits. It can also make me look slightly more like a grown up, which is very strange and uncomfortable. I suppose this is a very grown-up outfit though (look at me go). I am OBSESSED with these boots. They're the perfect shoe for a place with no seasons, and give me a nice bit of height without the teetering effect that is so popular among boot aficionados. Also, this shirt is FLIPPY and I love it. Stripes, a criss cross. It's all going on. This was the perfect outfit for a girls day ramble around Davis with my friends. (Yes, there are multiple, KTA just happened to be the only one who stuck around, by choice or by force, for the photos.)


Remember the big secret I've been talking about for ages now? It's getting really close. But there's still a few things to be done, and this weekend is the kick off.

* S A T U R D A Y - I'm going to #BTSS with Teen Vogue! Check my insta for photos of Adam and I having a ball and pretending school doesn't involve math.

*S U N D A Y - *said all in one breath* I'M GOING TO THE TEEN CHOICE AWARDS AGAIN YES THEY'RE LETTING ME COME BACK. The selfie queen is headed to LA to defend her title, and live tweet the whole thing for @huffpostteen, so be on the internets.

Good thing my shoes are comfy, I'm doing QUITE a bit of running around these days.

x J

ps. 13 days. It's getting closer.

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call me beep me it got ugly

tank: zara
pants:  abercrombie
purse: vintage


I'm baaaack. Bit of another unnecessary hiatus there. I don't know, August is a weird month. It's still technically summer but we all KNOW that school's coming along to end it. Time to test out all the weird outfits before actual people see them. Unless you're me, in which case you plaster them across the internet, because thousands of strangers are less scary than the person you're going to sit next to in English all semester. 

Today's thought train is "ugly" fashion" aka "What made the Man Repeller Repellent" (Until she got married??? To a man?? I have a lot of questions about that still.) Basically, it's all the stuff you wear because you like it/it's comfortable/it has loads of conveniently placed pockets but isn't cargo pants/it reminds you of a favorite childhood cartoon character. It's the stuff that you love but has never and will never be a trend. You will never match this item/outfit with your friends, and you've needed to accept that. (Birkenstocks kinda slid through on that one, but they're a very very extremely rare occurrence that I'm still not entirely convinced on.)

These pants are ugly fashion and I'm not even mad about it. I saw them in Abercrombie (my new habit of spending lots of money there is a post for another day okay) and my first thought was caLL ME BEEP ME BECAUSE I'M ABOUT TO GET KIM POSSIBLE PANTS AT LAST. I'd been waiting for this moment since I was 10. Then I got all up in the many pockets and zippers and rib stitching and it just kept getting better. They're great. They're also the hardest thing to style with anything without looking like you live in a bin somewhere. They're kind of a weird color, and kind of slouchy and have these tight ankles. Just a lot happening.  I went through every top I own (that's a LOT) before settling on this tank top and discovering the real secret to working with ugly fashion: you need to absolutely not care at all. Give up on wanting other people to like your pants, and just enjoy them.

 Kanye has been doing it since he discovered Balmain.

x J

ps. 21 days. That's all I can say here.







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into the bugspray

 Shirt : abercrombie
jeans: gap
backpack: c/o baggu
sunnies: zerouv
shoes: moheda toffeln


Sometimes, for an entire shoot, I get distracted by a chicken coop, and then not a single photo involves my face. It happens to everyone. Right?

This shirt is the only thing I have ever bought from Abercrombie, and it's probably my favorite. That doesn't seem super important until you realize how many striped shirts I have. It's really soft, and slouchy, and has a perfectly measured v-neck. This round to them. I found the jeans at the thrift store for $7, tags and all. I have fully converted to the boyfriend jean train, mainly because it's way too hot for the second skin that is the majority of my jeans. I mean, I'm not Sophia Vergara yet, but those things are tight. These ones have the perfect amount of distressing mixed with actual durability, so they can stand up to my...adventurous lifestyle. (aka extreme clumsiness.) I've also just stopped carrying a purse? I don't know if I'm getting lazier, or more casual, or if I just have too much stuff, but it seems much more practical to carry around a bright poppy backpack. 

I'm off to my seventh year at camp today! (You can read about my sixth year here) I am very excited, but there is approx. -0000 signal out there, so I'm signing out for a week. Hey, I heard you sighing. Don't worry, this does not mean our usual hiatus/technical difficulties, because I have discovered something remarkable: planning ahead. Light your Orange is the New Black prayer candles and hope it works out for us.

Speaking of: Ruby Rose. That's all.

x J





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cardiGAINZ

dress : black swan
cardigan: c.o living doll la
shoes: moheda toffeln
backpack : c.o sunny dushanka
tattoo: tattly


EVERYONE RELAX IT'S NOT A REAL TATTOO.

I am not nearly decisive enough for a real tattoo. I'd be done with it in about ten minutes and by then it's too late. Amen for Tattly.

IT'S STILL COLD. IT. IS. STILL. COLD. I honestly am so confused and not entirely sure how to act, so I've adopted that well known British adage: "Keep calm and carry on wearing your summer dresses as though all is normal." Of course, due to the fact that it is freezing, I have had to adapt, but that's what cardigans are for.

School is almost over. I'm a little bummed out about it, because I actually truly and honestly enjoy it. Alas, it is time to move on to other adventures far, far, far away from a classroom. (How was that for a suspense set-up?) As the classes wind down, so does my will to carry my schoolbooks, so I've just ditched them entirely and kept the backpack. It's worked out much better for my back.

How's everyone's life? Are we making it through finals okay? Are you pumped for the last day of school/graduation/whatever is happening for you right now? Are you snacking regularly?  No matter what's going on, just remember:

the summer is full of glorious sleep.

x J

 ps. idk I thought it was funny because I'm allergic to gyms and it was an easy pun and I'm sorry

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a sweater in the summer

sweater: american eagle
jeans: levis
sandals: c.o. moheda toffeln

Do you know what happened today? It was scarring, emotionally off-putting, and quite frankly, shocking.

 It. was. cold.

It was 55 degrees when I woke up. It doesn't even get that cold in the ACTUAL winter, let alone MAY. I was rather unsure of how to deal with it and so stayed in bed for an extra hour. Once I decided to get up, this is the outfit I decided on. The ripped boyfriend jeans were in defiance to the weather, because it is meant to be summer, and Mother Nature needs to get her life together. The sweater was because there was a breeze straight off the Arctic. 

My fave youngin's, Maia + Aiden, came to visit me from Bermuda and brought me this rad piece of blingy-ness. I'm not entirely sure what it is, but I like it. I also really, really, really like this bun. It is a bun of art. I'm not clear on how I did it, and will never be able to recreate it, so lets just enjoy it now. That sunbeam certainly was. If you're curious: I am not intentionally rocking the Kylie-Jenner-pre-temporary-lip-fillers look, but I am rocking it all the same.

IT'S ALMOST THE END OF THE SEMESTER. 

There is nothing better than that statement so lets just end it here.

x J


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