gimme all the shoulder tie tops.

HOWDY! ‘write blog post’ has been on my to-do list for a while now. since the last post, life was coming back to normal with work but i ended up visiting Japan! recovering from jet lag took longer than expected and finding life’s normal rhythm again took some time but it now finally felt like a good day to sit down and put something together that i’ve been meaning to put out there! and it FEELS SO GOOD. this is my happy place right here.

usually before summer hits, i take a couple of outfit photos to get me through the summer months. thank goodness because summer this year has been BRUTAL 🥵 it’s so hot to even be outside for more than 5 mins! scary what August will feel like. hopefully all the backlogged & Japan content will get me through to fall (my favorite season of fashion) 💯

i am pretty much a sucker for all shoulder tie tops and dresses. why? the bow/tie adds a fun-flirty-feminine detail to the outfit and this particular one, the Sézane doll blouse in cara red was the perfect shade of bold red (also avail in a matching skirt!!). the material (100% silk) made this an elevated top, so i styled it with some tailored shorts. while i love chino and denim shorts, they lean on the casual side and sometimes you need a pair of shorts that are good enough to wear to date night with tops such as this one that pulls the whole outfit together.

taken at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in the Theme Garden which is easily my favorite area. i love the arches, the vines, walkway, greenery. @janeyunphoto did an amazing job!

side ramblings: i’ve been back from Japan for a little over a month and every week i find myself missing it! if i could put Japan in one word, i’d say orderly. people actually follow the rules there, it’s so clean, people are nice/respectful. i LOVED Japan and plan on going back sometime in my future. dedicated Japan posts coming soon! on another note, i saw Past Lives and it had been forever since i went to a movie theatre — the movie itself was very good and thought provoking. the more spiritual/woo-woo side of me does believe in past lives and an afterlife in the sense that sometimes we meet people that we feel we’ve known forever, some sort of connection you can’t quite put your finger on/identify. it also made me think about people who have also touched my life for a season and didn’t really stay around for other reasons — maybe i’ll see them in a different life with different lessons. either way, it’s all comforting to me at the end of the day.

currently on my playlist: monster by Shawn Mendes & Justin Bieber

currently reading: 8 rules of love: how to find it, keep it, and let it go by Jay Shetty sometimes i spend time scrolling, before bed… and i’ve come across a lot of Jay Shetty clips. he always says things that resonate, that make me grab a pen and write it down. so i ended up picking up his latest book to read. it’s very interesting with exercises to practice on. much to unpack here and i’m only halfway through! it’s a great book for everyone at any stage — single, in a relationship, or married. it makes you ponder past experiences, how you could’ve approached it better and the future in terms of what you plan to do differently by working on yourself. it’s always about learning & improving, amirite?! 💗