Sweet Patisserie | Pistacia Vera

H&M mint green skater dress (buy) // Goodwill thrifted gold tip white belt //

Forever 21 black wool beret with stud detail // Predictions for Payless white low heel pump //

F21 gold spike bracelet and pearl bracelets // Revlon Lip Butter in Lollipop //
Black faux leather purse (gift) //

Photography: Cassandra Morecroft King

Catching my breath after hours inside anatomy lab to bring you an outfit inspired by my favourite things: pastel mint green & kitschy French things (10/21). This beret my Mom gifted me two Christmases ago as part of a French-inspired outfit, my college graduation dress in my favourite shade mint green, white and gold accents. Committing "me time" is important to enjoy every day even if it's hectic, feel excited about discovery like watching my first DIY crystals grow in elementary school, be thankful for my supportive friends for propelling me forward after setbacks. The best revenge for the baseball cannons pelting you with lemons is to get up, add sugar to the wounds, and live a really good life. There will always be someone who you wish you could trade with because of their success, intellect, birthright, material wealth. But you will get to where you need to be by not forgetting who you already are.

I am grateful for spontaneous giggling fits about wishing our arms were 6 feet longer to avoid smelling eau de formaldehyde, childhood best friends still being here for each other even as we traverse into the daunting new chapters of our lives, JJ coming to visit this weekend and share more adventures, catching up with an inspirational old friend with hovering mustaches and laughter, late night reliving the 90s kid experience of Power Rangers/Ultraman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shenanigans with the best faux-bro I could hope for (conspiracy theory blood relation pending). Cassandra's selflessness and good company, taking the time to drive up and put up with me and my fanciful ideas that usually involve pointing a camera in front of every half-decent tree, house, fire hydrant, younameit. I had been wanting to check out a French pastry shop in German Village called Pistacia Vera to try out their macaron selection, and boy were they tasty! My favourite flavour was their namesake pistachio, sweet but savory. My goal by the end of this first year of med school is to make my rounds in the coffeeshops around town, portals to my happy place.

Laughter, singing, writing are powerful healers.

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Princess Peach

Thrifted at Scholarshop mint green sheer blouse // Forever 21 peach hi lo skirt //

Thrifted J. Crew light blue strappy sandal heels (size 6, for sale) // Thrifted at Goodwill vintage style nude belt //

Photography: JJ (it's so nice to have your help again ♥)

IF ONLY LUIGI WORE MINT GREEN. Wearin' my "Drama Skirt" as I call it. Can you believe that most of this outfit was thrifted? In fact, everything except the hi lo skirt is. When I stumbled upon this mint green sheer blouse at Scholarshop in St. Louis, the fit looked floppy but when I tried it on we were MFEO (made for each other). The fit is perfectly loose and the right length. Yay for smaller small sizes back then. These J.Crew light blue strappy sandals looked like they were barely worn and I deliberated over this and a pair of strappy Ann Taylor wedges and came home with both, in addition to two vintage-y belts, one of which is in this outfit. Yay for Goodwill! I will be selling these J. Crew heels so email me if interested!

This was for my last day in Norcal (6/11) - it was sizzling hot in the 90s so I wanted to look good at the airport for once but not dehydrate myself from washing my clothes with eau de sweat. This was maybe a little too dramatic of a getup for lunch at a Korean Tofu house (YES doboki!) and testing out Philz Coffee downtown (get the Mint Mojito and stir - it is SOOO good) and waiting for my delayed plane but YOLO, right?

Easy, breezy, beautiful ... HI LO SKIRTS. Watch out, Covergirl.

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Refresh-mint

Pitaya bunny print peter pan collar mint top (S) // Ralph Lauren ivory cable knit sweater (S) (gift from Aunt) //

Lush mint green scallop hem shorts (S) // DIY/Converse All-Stars checkered sneakers (5) //

Forever 21 mini dot sheer black tights // Wet n Wild lipstick in Wine Room //

Photography: JJ

MINT-CREME-MINT OREO. Blogging as fast as I can so y'all can enjoy this outfit while I'm stuffing my face with pizza at the ARMOUR launch party/Happy Hour. MINT ON WHITE ON MINT. Wore this spring pastel-perfect ensemble for the Craft Alliance x STL Bloggers meetup and tour (4/5). Pictures and a tale to tell about the art workshops and awesome tea set exhibit going on at a much-understated gem on the Delmar Loop. It had just rained the night before and I dragged myself the 25 minutes there at 8:30 AM in my fave pair of DIY checkered Converse - man I work harder for fashion than school sometimes. Do what you love, every single day.

It was a little chilly so I threw on a cable knit sweater and tights instead of going in a lightweight top and bare legs. These funky teal and red nails are from my first ever manicure at the Saks Fifth event with Styleta. Pics and deets from that too! So much to blog, so little time! Meanwhile this week has been filled with poetry and art contests and of course, more thesis-ing. Almost ... there!

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Pepper{MINT} St.{PATTY}

Pitaya bunny print mint peter pan collar top (S) // Lush mint green scallop hem shorts (S) //
Faded Glory white tank top (underneath) (S) //

From Taiwan mint green Longchamp Le Pliage dupe tote bag (gift) //

Predictions by Payless white low heel pumps (5) // From Taiwan grey and white striped socks (gift) //
Nordstrom BP ombre brown and mint green wayfarer sunglasses //

Bracelets: pearls from Forever 21, white bead from H&M // Forever 21 white plastic bow ring //

Lips: Clinique chubby stick lip color balm in Super Strawberry //

Photography: JJ

FRESHLY MINTED. Haha, clever title, no? This was the all-mint green outfit I was aiming for this St. Patrick's Day but it rained the entire day in San Diego, so yesterday (3/19) was the perfect opportunity to wear it back in St. Louis: 84 degrees and sunny (someone needs to fire that meteorologist, because we all felt like losers in our rain gear) and SPRING SPRING SPRING! There's nothing more mood-lifting than the blossoming pastels of flowering trees on campus and spontaneous trips to Starbucks and the Loop. In fact I think the Midwest skipped spring and went ahead and did summer on the Spring Equinox. Warning: this post may lead to visual overdosing on mint green. This exceeds your recommended daily amount by 10^9. Proceed with caution and open-mindedness towards my pastel obsession problems.

Can you believe this mini Longchamp Le Pliage look-alike was a free gift from a contacts store in Taiwan? At first I had no idea what I would use such a tiny thing for but it surprisingly holds a lot: my EKG manual, sunglasses, keys, cards, notes, etc. It also folds up and buttons shut and is quite sturdy. The socks were free gift along with a cute plastic popsicle container when I got my Tarepanda mini-scale too. My white pumping disappearing into the lush grass, almost feeling their cool soft spikiness between my toes, add a few pearls to balance the mint with cream. This big tree with all the gorgeous white flowers finally woke from its slumber and gave off such a wondrous aroma. It felt like playing under a giant mushroom and then the bumblebees scared me off. Ha.

Here's a funny story: since I've had this outfit planned for a week now, I wasn't taking no for an answer - rain or shine. But alas, after pulling both mint items out of my suitcase, they were and have been wrinkled (the most frustrating fabric) and unsightly. So I dripped some water on them and hung them on my window, hoping the sun would dry them before class, but they remained sopping wet. Then I threw them in the laundry. Then I aired them out during racquetball practice. Then I went to the locker room and held them under the hand dryer machine for 20 minutes. Yay finally dry and unwrinkly! Then I put them on and they immediately wrinkled FML lol.

I really need to go to bed earlier - self, at 3 AM.

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Pastel Peplum

[[WORN AS PEPLUM DRESS:]]

H&M pastel floral flared top (S) // H&M pastel floral pencil skirt w/ faux croc belt (4) // 

Aldo blue floral print rucksack backpack //

Predictions for Payless white low heel pumps (5) // Nordstrom BP ombre brown and mint wayfarer sunglasses //

Urban Outfitters double face watch // Forever 21 white plastic bow ring //

Photography: JJ

MORE FLORALS THAN MORALS. Happy Pi Day! This might as well be my Easter Sunday outfit, for all the light pastels and floral print and white heels (3/6). What's missing is my big white sunhat and some pearls and ... chocolate bunnies :3 I did feel self-conscious walking around campus in this BAM of a print x colour combo. Power walking in baby steps was difficult, because this supposedly knee-length pencil skirt runs so small and rode up my thighs like a salon-permed prince upon his noble steed (speaking of, check out this random tractor I found). Luckily this outfit behaved in the crazy windy yet nice weather we had. I swear, the wind gods were hurling branches like javvies at me, the easy target.

Did you know this peplum dress is actually faked with a two piece? It's just a flared top and pencil skirt with the same print (from this fitting room review) and I took out the belt that came looped with the skirt and cinched it higher up to define my waistline. With my new $12 ombre brown and mint wayfarers and my new floral print vintagey backpack (see, I told you I've been floral-obsessed), this was probably a bit much for school/life. My Neuro professor remarked, "Wow, you're very dressed up today ... what's the occasion?" and I shrugged and smiled, "It's Tuesday."

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Pastel Ice Cream

United Colors of Benetton Paris lilac tshirt (Euro M) //
Threadsence/Lush mint scallop hem shorts (S) (worn in paperbag style) //
Pitaya yellow patent skinny belt (S) // Predictions by Payless low heel white pumps (5) //
Forever 21 pastel hearts necklace // Claire's ruffle white handbag //

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP AND LILAC BLOSSOMS. My coworker described my outfit as a "pastel ice cream cone" when I walked into the lab (7/1). There's something about pastels that transcends seasonal boundaries - heck, I will mix lilacs and mint greens with my earthen tone chunky knits in the winter, and start layering burgundies, mustard, forest green and taupe over these fresh spring/summer shades. Psst - you can get my mint green scallop shorts also styled with pastels here in my shopping guide. Since Lush's smalls are too loose to sit on my natural waist, I cinched it up with my favourite skinny belt for a paperbag shorts look.

Later that evening, my friends and I went to see Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (copyright fight for the title with Pink Floyd, anyone?) and surprisingly I was appeased with the flashy action scenes and obligatory hot-girl-running-in-5-inch-heels scenes laced with explosions. Sorry about the blurriness - mall lighting isn't that great at night for last-minute photos. Fast forward about 2 months and we're here, sitting with me way past bedtime (CST) home in St. Louis, ready for an action-packed Sunday after some shut-eye. JJ and I just watched Source Code and it was all sorts of crazy (splosions, ya ken?) and somewhat confusing (but nowhere near the level of Primer). Good to be back, and super excited for senior year to start!

Readers - do you dare to wear pastels in fall/winter?

Brittany S. Pierced

Wet Seal light pink sequin bow back tank (XS) (gift from JJ's sister) // Threadsence/Lush mint scallop hem shorts (S) //
Xhilaration mustard yellow strappy wedges (5.5) // Forever 21 turquoise beaded bib necklace //
Urban Outfitters double face watch // Icing ear cuff chain earring //

Photography: JJ

SCALLOPED & PIERCED. I finally manned up and got my cartilage piercing (7/9)! And no, I didn't go through with the DIY at-home disaster or Claire's shatter-prone guns - I went to a professional (Scotti) at Iron Age, a tattoo parlour. It was super quick and surprisingly painless and I love the results! Badass? Check. More unnatural holes in my body? Check.

It's funny that I wore soft pastels and my Threadsence/Lush mint scallop hem shorts to get a hardcore little steel hoop threaded through my cartilage. Contrast is for more than photo editing. I know a lot of you have been waiting to see these shorts styled - apologies for the wait and backlog of posts! It's really easy to throw them on with anything and go - pockets are nice and deep, the length is on the conservative end, but overall the fit is poor. The waist is too loose for an S and when I put anything heavy in the pockets, the shorts are dragged down. The butt area is unflattering, but maybe I need a little Booty Pop action too. They also wrinkle very easily, if you can't tell (Tencel). If you're still interested in these, check out my Scallop Shorts Shopping Guide to find this pair!

This was the day I hit the mall post-piercing and got my double-faced Urban Outfitters watch. It's just too unique of a quirky timepiece to pass and I must say it's been getting its wear! I've retired the pink panda watch from the Taipei zoo for now - that's how much I like this watch. Currently black face is set to San Diego time and white to STL (not that I can't +/- 2 hours in my head). Also, I went Skittles-happy at UO with the nail polish. The ear cuff/earring chain is something I've been seeking forever and I finally found one at Icing. The wrapping-leaf ear cuff I also picked up unfortunately is made for the right ear exactly where I got my piercing, so I'll be selling it in my blog sale soon. It's super pretty and gives off a boho/elvish vibe.

Things to address: Yay I am getting more patient with making easy collages in Photoshop. Apricot cheese from Trader Joe's - goes well with white wine and crackers, but actually not that great alone. Still, fruity cheese is pretty awesome. I threw on my Ann Taylor white blazer for a fancy schmancy secret bar party and changed into my white chunky low pumps for a "smart casual-ish" look. Housemates made yummy rice balls with furikake yummm. Okay, time to stop writing an unnaturally long post with an unnaturally large compilation of photos. Have a great week! This is my last before I start my senior year in college ... time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.

Readers - how many piercings do you have?