pretty little things.

with summer's heat and humidity upon us, i'm keeping things light and airy these days. denim cut-offs + converse keep it beachy and casual while sheer blouses + pretty peek-a-boo lace bralettes keep it feminine.

you can find lots of great summery deals at nordstrom's anniversary sale. if you are a nordstrom cardholder, get early access and first dibs on sale items now. not a cardholder? it's ok! take a sneak peek now and shop from july 22nd.

what are you wearing to stay cool this summer?

are you a nordstrom cardholder?

if so, what do you pick up during the sale?

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experimenting with extremes. denim.

thanks to everyone for the kind words about my haircut.

i'm so behind on my posts that maybe by the time i get thru the older posts, my new haircut will have grown out a bit.

i kid, i kid.

this is the new cut.

it was just a trim, and it's not that bad.

four inches off the bottom and way-too-short-bangs later,

she basically cleaned it up...got rid of all the stragglies and evened out the layers. guess that's what i liked about my hair before, the stragglies and imperfect shape.

continuing on with extremes, this edition is all out denim.

the trick here is getting the right balance. since my denims were similar in color, the torn, rolled-up jeans were less overwhelming by allowing some skin to peek thru. contrasting denims would give a similar visual break.

this extreme stuff has been a fun challenge. in fact, if anyone cares to give it a try, i have extreme stripes coming up next. email me if you dare.

charlize theron in extreme denim.

(shirt, victoria's secret; jeans, abercrombie & fitch; shoes, nine west; bag, mulberry for target)

in case you missed it:

experimenting with extremes . animal prints

too cool for school.

it doesn't matter how cool you are...

you're not as cool as their friends.

as we gathered in front of the water park entrance for mini-she's field trip, six of her friends wanted to be in my group because i was "the coolest mom".

i was the parent to be with.

we talked about all the rides we would ride and

how much fun we would have together.

we headed to our designated home base area, put our bags down, and i hear the teacher say to the kids, "you may go in groups of four without a chaperone."

the kids ran off so fast...before i even had a chance to say, "wait for me!"

so there i stood. alone.

these pants go against the grain of my usual

flares and floor dragging lengths.

and, to be honest, i felt uncomfortably short and wide in them.

i tried to "fix" them by throwing on a basic white tee and super high heels. can't say i'll be wearing these again,

but at least i tried them.

(pants & satchel, urban outfitters; tee, miley cyrus x max azria; shoes, victoria's secret)

some of you have been asking for feedback on

the e.l.f. products i recently purchased.

i finally had a chance to try out

this e.l.f. waterproof eyeliner pen.

eyeliner is key for my single asian eyelids.

while i've never had any luck with liquid liners before,

i was pleasantly surprised with this one.

the tip was slightly dry (possibly because it was the first use), making the application really easy and mess-free. the best part about it, compared to my usual pencil liners, is that it looks just as fabulous now, at 5pm, as it did at 7am this morning when i first applied it. no touch-ups needed.

and for one dollar, i'm sold.

e.l.f. waterproof eyeliner pen in black, #7303

see thru you.

this is the post that blogger deleted. sorry to have lost all your wonderful comments.

 had an unexpected morning off,

so i did a little drug store shopping.

love coming home with random things i don't really need. if you read my 'about me' to the right, you'll know that i love red vines. surprisingly, i've never bought grape vines. the smell and taste reminded me of grape flavored bubble yum bubble gum...which i used to love. brain was a little confused swallowing something that smelled and tasted like gum.

strange, i know.

i bought this skirt a few months ago, but have never worn it. i love it, but just wish the entire skirt was lined. the fact that it only has mini shorts underneath kind of takes it out of the usual rotation, as i could never wear this to work.

my hope is to eventually line it.

i know denim + leopard is sort of a fashion cliche,

but they just work so well together. 

(denim shirt, victoria's secret; skirt, f21)

the flower pin.

we've been hit with thunderstorms this week.

it started with lightning and the loudest rolling thunder

i've ever heard.

the next day, the rains came.

on this particular day, it was hot and cold, rain and shine.

as you can tell from the pictures, one minute the sun was blazing, the next it was raining.

after carrie first sported her flower pin on sex and the city, i bought this pin and wore it for many months straight.
maybe even a year. or two.
i finally passed it on to my mom several years ago,
and she's been wearing it ever since.
i kind of miss it and ended up borrowing it this week...
because every denim shirt needs a flower pin.
anyways, day three of the white blazer.

(check out shannan from merci blah blah in her white blazer.)

(denim shirt, victoria's secret; zip pant, express; shoes, jessica simpson)

higher power.

i've always loved the look of red + white + black.

alone, red commands attention.

together, these three colors make for a

bold combination that is always striking.

i took it up a notch and added one of my favorites...leopard.

definite power house.

what is your power house combination?

thanks to all the lovelies who left sweet comments on yesterday's guest post.

(denim & jacket, f21; shoes, victoria's secret)