fits like a glove

jacket: vintage
dress: tobi 'joleen' dress
shoes: converse
backpack: sunny dushanka

The older you get, the more and more "short and tight but also fancy" becomes this bizarre expectation forced upon your wardrobe. I've managed to avoid it thus far mainly by never leaving my house. I'm also fairly tall and have all of the curves of a highway in the desert, so finding a dress that fits is also a v difficult undertaking.  As you can tell, I have a well articulated excuse for every situation. But I decided it needed to happen, because I am only scared of rational things, like deep water and spiders, and will not be intimidated by a dress. At least not one this small.

You know in a sitcom, where the main character does something they were scared of, and the happy music plays, and they say something along the lines of "that wasn't that bad"? That was me, once I got accustomed to the breeze. This dress is super comfy, and not too much of a ~night out~ look for me to rock on my weekly trip to IKEA.

Speaking of IKEA: settle this for me, guys. Is it "I-KEY-UH" or "E-KAY-UH"?

Loser has to buy me another pillow for my fort,
so I'm heavily invested.

xx 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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flip and flow

dress: american eagle
boots: caterpillar
bralette: aerie

It's so HOT. Not just this dress, but the weather. El Nino is a distant memory, and the only proof that it even happened is that our lakes have actual water in them. With that said, the dress is pretty cute too. It's a perfect summer cut - there's not a lot happening, but it easily fits everything you could be doing during the day. Little details like the straps in the back elevate it from a standard school outfit to ~fancy barbeque~ acceptable. I also very much enjoy dancing in it because the skirt is flowy but doesn't do the thing where you have to hold it down so you don't flash someones grandparents. You know what I'm talking about.

 Remember when everyone was obsessed with those Chloé stud boots? It seems like it just happened, but that was basically in my sartorial childhood. Literally every blogger and their mother had a pair, and then they just disappeared. These boots remind me a lot of a southwestern interpretation of those, and I love it. I'm equally impressed that they're from Caterpillar - not a traditional maker of hipster boots, but surprisingly proficient at it. They're also incredibly comfortable, and the buckles make a very satisfying clunking noise when I walk.

Today was my last day of classes. I still have finals, but am effectively done with my first full time semester of college. I'm really unclear on where the last 16 weeks of my life went. I've learned about oxford commas, il imperfetto, delayed ledes, yoga breathing, and the very bizarre history of California. (Fitting.) I've also found a strange little family, and a lot of stress, in my (award-winning) college newspaper, and eaten a prolific amount of really good food. Shoutout to Tim for never letting me starve, Jordan for letting me angry write at midnight, and Hannah for copy-editing my life/being a generally angelic sunfish.

It's time for summer though. Some classics will be making a reappearance: Sallie + our annual road trip, camp, and LA. There's also some new stuff in the works.

Like sleep. 

x J

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you, me, NPR?

prom 2014

Justina rule #46: When NPR calls, you get your butt in a studio and pick up the phone.

Here are some things I thought about while recording for NPR:

•  I should drink more water. my entire life is very dehydrated.

•  I wonder if Ira Glass listens to Weekend Edition?

• Oh my god Ira Glass might hear my voice 

• Thaaaat's going to damage my chances of ever getting on This American Life.

• Prom was fun. Why aren't there adult proms?

• AM I AN ADULT?

• I do listen to NPR.

• OH IT'S RINGING

• The fabric my prom dress is made of is probably illegal now.

x J 

ps. to listen to the entire segment, click here ▾

more stripes and sunshine

SHIRT : MIAMASVIN

JEANS : FOREVER 21

HEELS  c.o. B.C. FOOTWEAR

SUNNIES c.o. ZEROUV

NECKLACES c.o. DOGEARED

BACKPACK c.o. SUNNY DUSHANKA

 
 I have two settings - stripes or sweaters. There's honestly no inbetween at this point. 

It is utterly RIDICULOUS that I can dress like this in December. 

California, you're beginning to upset me with your persistence in the face of proper winter weather. The sun can take a holiday over the holidays, okay?

I've talked about all of this before so just enjoy the fact that I have found yet another way to style a striped shirt. Going for a world record. I will say, however, that these jeans are 500% better than I expected. I bought them in a cranberry-sauce-induced haze around 12:45am on Black Friday, and promptly forgot about them. Then they arrived, and I was fully expecting them to tear the moment they touched air, but surprise surprise. Of course, they don't fit in the waist, but you can only have it all in one pair at a time. 

Who's ready for Sunday? 

It's the first Sunday of December, and that means two things:

1. My mum will light the advent wreath and we will all hold our breath and hope it doesn't completely go up in flames.

2. FIRST SUNDAY OF DECEMBER GIVEAWAY.

 You know you've been waiting for it. Or you haven't and now you've been pleasantly surprised.

See you on Sunday.

x Justina

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