Chambray + Leather + Polka Dots | North Market

H&M chambray denim shirt // H&M polka dot shirt //

H&M faux leather pants // Forever 21 cat eye glasses //

Target suede black ankle booties // Black leather purse (gifted) //

Photography: JJ

Throwing back some more to last fall (9/22/12), when JJ and I explored one of my local Columbus favourites: North Market. It's an indoors farmers market that features diverse eats from around the world like Vietnamese pho noodles, Belgian waffles, a hot sauce corner, and Ohio based Jeni's gourmet ice cream. Cut sunflowers next to farm fresh veggies and next to things as eccentric as bison and pheasant give the place a rustic feel. I knotted my chambray top over a bold polka dot top for contrast, and threw on my chilly weather staple: leather pants. These babies keep my legs toasty for sunny-yet-frigid days and post-exam night festivities. Lastly, donned these huge cat eye frames for extra hipster effect. JJ and I unintentionally coordinated with an inverse outfit of leather jacket and denim jeans.

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NYFW SS 2014: Wine Red Tulle + Leather Accents

Eshakti (borrowed from Elle) burgundy tulle midi skirt // Urban Outfitters faux leather panel top //

Kristin Perry gold rose cat eye sunglasses // Express T-strap nude captoe stilettos //

Melie Bianco camel satchel bag // Wet n Wild lipstick in Wine Room

Photography: Mangue Banzima (1), Pierre Doumenjou (2,3)

DAY 2 MBFW. Still coming off my New York high - daydreaming about textures, colours, fit. These two handsome gents are my friends Rashad (@thestyleguyy) and Amechi (@bowtiemeach), stylist and tie-craftsman, respectively. Aren't they dapper in their fit-like-a-glove suits? We hung out together on our first experience inside NYFW, checking out shows that came our way, exploring the sponsor booths, and meeting fellow fashion influencers. Even a couple of weeks after, we're still keeping in touch and looking forward to bumping into each other at future events. It felt flattering and unreal to be snapped by streetstyle photographers and I tried chatting with each person afterwards to get a glimpse of his/her life story. For example, Pierre moved from France to NYC recently and used the festivities outside Lincoln Center as a springboard to launch his blog.

Dotted Dalmatian Pants + Sheer Top + Leather

Forever 21 woven detail sheer top // H&M spotted Dalmatian print pants //

Thrifted Ann Taylor stripy sandal wedges // Claire's black and white polka dot ball earrings (old) //

BCBG metallic silver foldover clutch // 

Photography: JJ

Usually on planes, I'm out cold before we clear the runway, but today I felt excited and productive in-flight. This was an outfit I wore when visiting JJ in Pitt (5/24/13). My Dalmatian "party pants" are still a lively favourite and get good wear for dancing and those weekdays that need a good pick-me-up. My quirky detail of the day was my black & white polka dot earrings to mirror the pants. Sheer is a cool look, but requires extra layers and steps to prevent the unclassy - in my case I always reach for a nude tank top to maximize the sheer effect. Finish off with strappy sandal wedges and a metallic clutch.

The past month has flown by in a giant blur of med school, research, getting swole at the gym, hanging out and catching meals with friends new and old, going "home-home" to Toledo and visiting Ann Arbor. Looking forward to a crazy weekend in NYC and updating you via Instagram and street style posts!

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Hollywood, CA

H&M faux leather biker jacket // H&M chambray shirt // H&M silver metallic sweater //

Faded Glory red tee (underneath) // H&M olive A-line flare skirt // H&M faux leather leggings //

Forever 21 grey knee high socks // Xhilaration black and white oxfords //

Photography: JJ & me

Last weekend JJ and his family and I explored Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara on a spontaneous end-of-year trip (I survived on 1.25 outfits: proud). First stop: Hollywood, home of a bajillion people staring at the ground and snapping photos (aliens must be so amused at the human race). Bundling up in as many layers as possible, with assorted textures and fabrics, we meandered around streets, shops, and eateries like proper tourists. Some of my favourite moments: eating piping hot samosas at Bollywood Cafe, pleased to find the longgg boardwalk in Santa Barbara to be consistent with Psych, wandering around the little Dutch town in the mountains.

I made it home via pimped-out-with-wifi train in time for watching the crystal ball make its flamboyant descent down the pole on TV with my family while sipping champagne. Yesterday was mall day, catching some deals after all the holiday-crazed shoppers are still resting from the battle of 2012 ($1.80 for a big string of white Christmas lights, hollaaa). Today's adventure will be around downtown San Diego with a med school classmate and dinner at Fish Market for my brother's birthday. I hope your new year has kicked off ambitiously and adventurously!

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O Christmas Tree | Meetup with SydneysFashion

BB Dakota chevron tweed cape (c/o Jupe Boutique) // H&M faux leather pants // 

Mossimo black suede ankle booties //

Photography: JJ, taken on Sydney's Nikon camera

LES PETITES MEET. One of the funnest things about blogging is meeting your friends in real life. After all morning in anatomy lab, I was excited to jump out of scrubs and spend my Saturday afternoon catching up with Sydney again. It was nice to slow down and do a little shopping, latte-sipping, and holiday-spirit enjoying at the mall amongst hoards of shoppers on a mission.

Thanks so much JJ for snapping these! Sydney was kind to send me photos from her camera and I edited a few different ones. You can read more about our fun and see other pics on Sydney's post. The bokeh made all the holiday lights twinkle and turn into big sparkly dots. The GIANT Christmas tree makes us petite gals look even more minuscule, doesn't it? :D

JJ and I had many adventures out on the town as well. We watched Wreck it Ralph and played the online versions of the games too - Disney never fails to disappoint, chatted Neuroscience at the cozy and hip Northstar Cafe on High Street (their food is so fresh and delicious and healthy!), enjoyed macarons and eclairs with eggnog latte at Pistacia Vera.

JADED + Armour Mag Launch

H&M mesh lattice sweetheart bodycon dress (tucked in as top) ($5!) // 

Pitaya/Ezra jade green open kimono top // H&M faux leather pants // H&M black bow ballet flats //

Photography: JJ

GREEN SHEEN. I wore this outfit to the Armour streetstyle magazine launch (4/12) at Happy Hour a few weeks ago. Crazy for anything leather and it is my uniform from daybreak to night. I met a new friend who makes balloon animals. Yeah, wicked balloon animals. His name is Sanders and he has a blonde mohawk. He made us an alien hat, sabre, and pregnant balloon poodle whattt. Check out his site because he does wicked parties and is all around one of the most interesting people I've met in a while. I got to meet Chantal, Jacob, and Felicia and they are soooo sweet. When I cracked open the magazine I was beyond-impressed at how professional and visually pretty everything was. You can see my feature and the rest of the magazine here :)

Live blogging from Meshoggah Cafe on the Delmar Loop, gosh I love the hipster vibe of this place. The coffee's pretty bitter but the dark mood lighting with the angsty can't-decide-what-to-do-wtf-st.louis weather makes a tasty combination. I just enjoy the idea of this whole place, the mismatching hodgepodge tables and chairs, the upstairs tiny space that can't fit all the hipsters comfortably. I'm going to come here every day until I leave this city. Actually hipsters can be quite saucy. It feels like a place where I can write my Kafka-esque novel. They even have a bigass dictionary on a music stand for no reason. At 7 there was a reading by local writers/poets.

Just earlier today, the sky turned black at 3 PM and it started storming. Good ole St. Louis. Of course I was sweating my pits off at the research symposium, trying to avoid my PTSD of the days of organic chem and effed up experiments in that building. Packed 10 leftover chicken caesar salad wraps and cookies because I'm a starving almost-graduated senior and biked to the Loop to explore stores I've never given a second glance at. Now the sky turned green and it started hailing golf balls outside and I was nearly hit craning my neck out the fire escape behind the cafe. And it's flooding just this second.

Started reading Buy-ology (haha realized the pun a little late for a self-proclaimed punmeister) by Martin Lindstrom today and watched Thor and The Incredible Hulk last night after having fits of anger at losing my purse and all my IDs and cards in it. AND my new fave spike bracelets :( I think I'm more upset about that than anything else. Add onto it a metro fine for not having my pass, ID, let alone anything, then being almost-late to my ridiculous cardiology/physics exam (462 points in 1 hr, really!?) and we had ourselves a really shitty Friday aka last day of college classes ever. See this gif for a more concise way of how I felt. Blogging/reading for catharsis. And YES to Flickr's new upload system and "searching for more Vespene gas" and "YAY! You uploaded 23 photos" a la Picnik (r.i.p.). Maybe pretty soon my photo hosting service can replace real human interaction, okay okay < /snarky ranting >

Cut nails feel soooo good. I can type without feeling like a provoked cat.

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$2000 Lens: 85 mm f/1.2

Photography and editing: Thomas Roach (the handsome feller above)

Preview of more photos to come: My photog friend Thomas Roach rented this $2000 lens (85 mm f/1.2 prime) for much, much less than that. It was for a special event but we pranced around campus Thursday afternoon test-shooting each other and our other friend-photog, Vince. It had just stopped raining and there was a decent golden hour, and these photos made me want to pee my pants hot pink skirt. Shooting full-body outfit pics means backing away the length of a small schoolbus, so the benefit of having sexy bokeh may not be practical for personal style photography. Not sure camera remotes even sense that far - imagine running that distance every time you self-timer hahaha. 

Aren't these boys so sharply dressed too? Thomas and I practically live in our brown leather oxfords. Funny thing too, we're all science majors xD

I just took a long swim in nostalgic tears last night at the St. Louis Symphony Final Fantasy concert (Distant Worlds). Going again tonight and ready to see me some more Nobuo Uematsu, the composer himself! He's soooo shy and cute in person. In other news, this week JJ and I watched Kiki's Delivery Service and X-Men: First Class (sooo good!). Hunger Games movie this Sunday if I behave and get my study on. The beautiful 70-80 degree weather makes it impossible to focus anyway ... oh, and second semester senioritis. Have an exciting weekend!

Readers - do you like the ultra-blurry background or prefer more detail?

Biker Ballerina

Forever 21 leather panel strapless mini dress (S) // Forever 21 light pink tulle skirt (S) //

Aldo nude pumps (35) // Poshlocket Celeste Silver Roped Bracelet (c/o) //

Rings: real pearl silver from Epcot Japan (4), green topaz from medieval fair //

Forever 21 birds double gold chain necklace //

Photography: JJ

TOUGH LOVE, BABY. It was freakishly warm for a St. Louis January day yesterday (1/16) so I took the opportunity to style an outfit that was meant for frolicking around in SoCal sunshine: LEATHER MINIDRESS + TULLE SKIRT. With a strong breeze, it was too chilly to run around in this all day so it was a play-dress-up-and-change kind of outfit. Good thing too because it started hailing soccer balls at my windows at 2 AM - geez, Mother Nature's mood swings are scary as *@$! sometimes. I love paradoxes in life, and pairing leather and girly tutu skirts makes for the perfect oddity. This dainty pearl ring is actually a real pearl I got out of an oyster at Epcot Center Japanworld. I had the 7 mm yellow beauty set in a sterling silver band, size 4. Pretty costly, but for the experience and magic, right?

Today was the first day of my last semester in college, but I didn't go to class (bad kid, iknowright?) Nah, I was at an interview. It's weird being at two different stages of your life at once - it's like being two places at one time. Awkward moment: when you realize that the doctor sitting across from you actually knows more about fashion than you do. Karl Lagerfeld what what?

I have Selena Gomez's "Love You Like a Love Song" stuck in my head on re-peat-peat-peat-peat

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