Figuring Out My Fashion Style

 I've been trying to figure out my personal style for a while now. 

Like, even before I got pregnant. And truthfully, I couldn't figure anything out. Not a specific thing, anyway. I think I was just too young really. I was in a weird phase of trying to figure out how to transition from college kid to working professional.

I have never been super girly or good at keeping up with trends. 

The idea of keeping up with constantly changing styles has always seemed really tiring and, to be honest, too damn expensive.

Along with all the other things that have changed in the past year since having my little one, I think I have finally come to a few conclusions. I know I have talked a lot about how hard becoming a mom has been, but truthfully this might be one area where having a baby has actually made me focus! I don't have time to try on 5 outfits every morning anymore, and I don't have the mental energy to dislike the way I'm looking all day. But I do feel the need to look put together and at least try to avoid the messy mom trope.

Somehow, this has narrowed my focus and given me clarity about what I actually like. I don't think it has an official name...but it's what I've got.

When it comes to style, here is what I like:

• Pencil skirts. Fuckin' love a good pencil skirt. I have 3, and they rock. 
• Flowy shirts or shirts that have an elastic band at the bottom. Mama pouch y'all. 
• Cardigans. All day ever day- yes even in the summer. AC in the South is not a joke. 
• Geometric patterns. All about stripes, polka dots, arrows, etc. 
• If I am going to do florals, they have to be bright and big. Not the tiny or pale kind that make me think of wallpaper. I hate wallpaper.
• When it comes to bottoms:
• For work: khaki & black bottoms, always. Unless it's leggings, but even then mostly black.
• For not-work: jeans/navy.
•  When it comes to color, I just like red. But if I force myself to not get red or navy, then it should be coral & teal. Because otherwise...I'm not gonna wear it. Just accepting my box, y'all.
• Wedges or flats. Who was I kidding with this "Maybe I could do heels" thing. I don't want to do them. 

So that's where I am. It's just what works for me. It took a while, and it's probably not the best. But it's what works for me and makes me feel put-together. Which is really all I ask for from my closet.

Do you have a specific style or rule that works for you? 

How did you figure out your style?

Putting Effort in Physical Appearance

Trying to title this was difficult. I'm not sure how to sum up what I want to talk about in one snazzy little line, so I'm just going to jump right in. 

For many years, I did not like make-up. 

It felt like a waste of time, and I never felt like I was doing it right.

I had a very minimal make-up routine...and still felt like it sucked. I even went without make-up for a little while as kind of an experiment to see if anyone noticed or how I felt.

I tried using just BB cream. I tried using just powder. I never really gave up on mascara though- I feel as though I look sleepy if my lashes are in their natural state.

My feelings have changed lately. 

Rather than feeling like make-up is something I have to do, I've actually wanted to put forth an effort.

I've been trying to pinpoint what prompted this change...and I can't really put my finger on it.

Maybe it's something to do with having a baby...but "because of the baby" feels like a cop-out. Lots of people use that "excuse" for everything (because you can...seriously, such a good excuse).

All I know is- I've wanted to put some effort into my appearance lately.

And I'm enjoying it. 

Game-changer: using BB cream and then foundation.

It actually lasts all day when I do this, y'all.

Also, making sure to wash my face morning and night. SOMETIMES I GET TIRED AND DON'T WANNA. But I'm doing it anyway. Before I always thought my face broke out due to make-up...turns out you just need to take care of your skin in general. Who knew?

I'm also using whitening mouthwash. And wearing earrings on a regular basis.*

For years, it hurt to wear earrings. They would get red and irritated starting around hour 4. Thanks to Pinterest, I now clean with rubbing alcohol and use Vaseline and I can wear them ALL DAY. 

I think it has something to do with the need to practice self-care.*

Ugh, what an annoying Millennial statement. 

There's been a lot of...not good stuff going on lately- both personally and as a nation.

Well that's not accurate- personally it's not so much that there's a lot of bad stuff, just more that we've been super busy. I don't have the time to fold my laundry or make a great dinner...so taking a minute to do my mouthwash or 10 minutes to do my make-up gives me some semblance of control and being cared for.

However insignificant or shallow it may seem to be, I'm making myself and my appearance a priority for 15 minutes a day. 

That can make a world of difference in my personal mindset.

And maybe it's not important to really figure out why. 

Maybe all that matters is that I'm having fun and doing what I want and feeling good about myself.

What are your thoughts when it comes to make-up/jewelry/physical appearance? 

Have they changed over the years?

Cruise Packing List: For Non-Fashion Bloggers

packing notes from our May 2015 cruise to the Bahamas!

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Before my cruise, I did a ton of research. Both on the Carnival site (FAQ & forums) and on blogs, mostly found through Pinterest. I wasn’t sure what I needed to take, as far as items or clothing.

I found lots of cruise packing lists. When it came to the items, people were pretty consistent.

There were some things I never would have thought of that ended up being really helpful. For instance, the over the door hanger– it was really nice to have all our sunscreens, aloe vera lotion, sunglasses, gum, chapsticks, hairbows, etc all in one convenient location. While the room was bigger than I expected, it would been easy to lose small items without this. We also took a clock and a small fan for the room. I took some magnetic hooks– not super strong ones, but they held our lanyards with our Sail & Sign cards. Also a mesh laundry bag, just because it was nice to have dirty clothes corralled instead of all over the floor. And an empty duffel bag for souvenirs– we didn’t actually buy a lot of souvenirs, but somehow still filled this (we actually put all our dirty clothes in it to make washing clothes easier when we got home- but our original suitcases still felt really full somehow).

The Sail & Sign card is something every Carnival passenger gets before you even get on the ship: it’s a combination of ID and charge card. You swipe it each time you get on and off the ship, and also anytime you buy anything on the ship *coughboozecough* You can buy Carnival lanyards on the ship, for a price, or you could take your own. I took one from my work, and we used the ones that came from the holders we took for our passports & camera phones.


I purchased this waterproof passport holder as well as this waterproof iPhone case from Amazon.com. I don’t actually remember if we used the passport holder in the water- pretty sure we did and it was fine. Either way, it was super handy to carry our IDs and boarding passes for getting on & off the ship. And the iPhone case did GREAT! Our friend who bought the same one had some issues with her’s being a little blurry- I think it depends on how tight of a seal you get, and possibly getting sunscreen on it (I got sunscreen on my camera lens in Nassau & had similar problems). But it took great pictures and videos, even under the water! And the sound was good too. My husband had a Windows phone that’s pretty large (way bigger than my iPhone 5) and it fit fine. This is also what I used in Nassau to carry my passport (and the thing someone tried to steal-story here in my Carnival cruise review).

Besides the stuff, there were a few posts about what to wear on the cruise. I read so many fashionable cruise packing lists.

The problem? Pretty sure they were all written by fashion bloggers, or at least very fashionable people. And I am not a very fashionable person.

So, I’m giving you the advice I wish someone had given me regarding what to wear on a tropical cruise.

Casual wear 

Here is what I took for my casual outfits- to be worn around the boat, on the beach, and in port cities: 

• 2 bathing suits (one not pictured)
•  1 matching cover-up (the blue thing under the striped bathing suit top)
•  2 pairs of shorts
• 2 tank tops
• 2 shorts
• 1 maxi dress
• 1 floppy hat
• Also not pictured- sunglasses, of course

I ended up wearing the blue jean shorts twice with each of the tank tops (one the first day on the boat & one in Nassau), the cover-up something like 3 times (at Half Moon Cay, and on both sea days), and the maxi dress (which I actually wore to dinner, not in port as planned). I wore one of the tees and the brown shorts to get off the boat, but they were too small (I bought them a few years ago & almost never wear shorts, so I hadn’t really spent much time in them lately).  I changed into jeans as soon as we got back to our car (I wore jeans & a hoodie for the trip down to Jacksonville, but left them in the car).  The floppy hat was helpful to keep the sun off my face in Nassau- but made my face really dark for photos. Just something to consider- maybe that’s why so many of the nice fashion-blogger people recommend fedoras instead.

 

Dinner Wear:

 

 

please ignore the mess, I was in packing mode!

 Carnival has “cruise casual” dress code for most nights in the formal dining rooms, and one “elegant” night (on my 5 day cruise). The dress on the right is what I wore to elegant night (from Kohl’s, but I do not see it on their website), and I feel like it was perfect. I was comfortable and felt dressy without being overly dressed. Some people wore gowns or prom dresses- some wore everyday jeans (supposedly they can choose to turn you away for not following the dress code, but I didn’t see this happen). I wore the other dresses to dinner on the other nights (except the blue dress, I ended up not wearing it at all).

The black pashmina (which is a fancy word sometimes used for “really big scarf”) was a great purchase- went with all my dresses (my friend wore the same one with jeans & a tee a few nights and also looked nice) and helped in the chilly A/C rooms. Oh, and I took one bracelet+one watch+two silver necklaces (one long & one short).

Not gonna lie, even though cruise packing is supposed to be all about mixing & matching and reusing items, I took 5 pairs of shoes on a five day cruise- including two pairs of black sandals. I’m not even sorry. Not pictured are my Rainbow flip flops, which I wore all around the ship & in Nassau, and my cheap-o rubber flip flops which I wore to the pool and the beach at Half Moon Cay. I wore the black sandals to dinner, and the tan wedges for the elegant night. Looking back, if anything I would have not taken the wedges just because they’re bigger & I only wore them once, but they did look great with the dress. Although I wore only sandals, I did take lots of socks to wear around the hotel room & at night.

What I didn’t pack but wish I did:

Another cover-up, one pair each of jeans, leggings, & yoga pants along with a hoodie or cardigan. I took two suits and only one cover-up, it worked but it would have been nice to not be in the same thing all the time, or worry that it would be dry the next day (it always was, but a back-up would have been better).

After two days of being outside in the Bahamas, the A/C on the ship started feeling cold. The night after Nassau and our last day on the ship, I saw way more long pants & shirts than in the beginning when it was all tank tops & shorts. Also, the morning we got off the ship we were waiting in the theater and it was so freakin’ cold!

The leggings could have went under any of my dresses & still looked nice, and the jeans/yoga pants would have been good to have during the late night shows or inside activities- they could have been paired with one of the tee-shirts and the sweater/hoodie.
This is a pretty woman-centric list, because that’s what I am.

 

For the dudes:

My husband took one pair of dress khakis, a black dress shirt, a tie, & black dress shoes for elegant night. For casual wear he took two bathing suits, three pairs of shorts (two cargo- one not), two or three button up short sleeved shirts, something like 5 tee-shirts, a pair of Rainbow flip-flops, & tennis shoes (which he wore onto the ship because his feet are huge & they would have been tough to pack). That’s all I remember- where I packed over the course of a week, he did it mostly in a day or two. Drove me batty, but worked.

 

I hope this helps! If you’ve taken a cruise, is there anything you wish you had packed but didn’t- or did pack but didn’t use?