Hello autumn

I know.  It's been forever.  Sorry.  That's all. :)

Shirt: Forever XXI // Belt: borrowed from another dress // Skirt: Old Navy

Fall leaves are here.  I love the crunch of fall leaves underfoot.  But, I also love bare legs.  Et volià: perfect fall weather.  The sky is super blue, the sun is shining an autumn sort of shine, I'm wearing a long skirt with bare legs.  Happiness.

Shirt: Forever XXI // Belt: borrowed from another dress // Skirt: Old Navy // Boots: Burlington Coat Factory //

I think this is blurry because it was so sunny. . . C'est la vie.

Skirt: Old Navy // Boots: Burlington Coat Factory //

I'm continuing my love affair with lace from the summer right into fall.  It makes everything feel a little prettier.

Shirt: Forever XXI // Belt: borrowed from another dress // Skirt: Old Navy // Boots: Burlington Coat Factory // 

My shirt in this outfit is actually a really short dress that I tucked into a skirt.  I rode the skirt really high (above my waist)  and added a big belt.  Also, I thought that adding scrunched down knee socks could only add to this outfit.  :)

Boots: Burlington Coat Factory // 

Breathe in the fall air.  Crunch into a crispy apple.  Dance around in a lacy skirt and bare legs. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Bridges and fields

Pumpkin Spice everything has hit stores and the internet.  In my part of the world, though, summer and summer dresses are both going strong. Today it was 40C (around 100F), in the shade.

Dress: Topshop // Boots: Burlington Coat Factory //

I wore this outfit last week to celebrate the end of summer.  Little did I know that the hot, hot summer would be continuing on into September. I know, my laces are untied and my hair is crazy.  This outfit sums up my summer :) I bought this dress in Chicago, along with a few others with the sides cut out.  It appears that my love of exposed midriff in my beloved bikinis has seeped over into the rest of my summer style.

Boots: Burlington Coat Factory //

My tough black boots made my white sun dress seem even more girly, in my opinion.  I like contrasting different styles in one outfit.  You can't see it because of my book, but I am also wearing a gold chain headband as a crown on top of my wild waves.

Dress: Topshop // Boots: Burlington Coat Factory //

I traipsed through this field to get to the bridge for my pictures.  I decided on the way back that the field would've been just as nice a location... so I snapped some more pics.  I love the feel of the summer breeze floating through the lace cut outs in my dress and in my boots.

Dress: Topshop // Boots: Burlington Coat Factory //

So long wild summer outfits.  That is, until the weekend ;)

♥ Meg xoxo

Cum Laude

by Cecily von Ziegesar

"For the first week of school you cling to the people you met on orientation, not because you have anything in common, but because you don't know who else to talk to..."

This novel follows the lives of a group of freshmen students through their first year at Dexter College, in the 1990s.  The narratives include those of Shipley, a beautiful blonde who the boys love and the girls hate.  She focuses her early weeks at college on trying new things, in order to shed her good girl persona.  Her roommate is Eliza, a loudmouthed, "edgy" sort of girl.  Then there's Tom, athlete turned artist, and his roommate Nick, a hippie who appreciates marijuana - a lot.  These four navigate the waters of living away from home together in residence.  Alongside their stories, is that of Adam and his younger sister Tragedy.  Adam is a day student who lives in the countryside near Dexter.  With the help of his outgoing high-school aged sister, Adam becomes involved in school and with the other students.  

This story is told in a strange sort of style.  At times the author addresses the reader, as if he or she is coming to college and experiencing its drama.  Other times, the author uses free indirect discourse to describe what is going on in the minds of her characters.  I usually love this style of narration, but found it to be "just okay" in this novel.  It's gets a bit confusing when the perspective jumps around in the same paragraph.  

The themes in this novel are very adult, especially coming from the author of the YA Gossip Girl series.  There is a lot of sex, drugs, and alcohol at Dexter College.  The events in the novel are super extreme.  It seemed like a bad soap opera to me for a while when I was reading it.  All at once, though, I stopped looking at it as a Sweet Valley University book on acid, and saw it for what it really was: a satire.  Once you figure that out, the book proves to be more enjoyable.  

Overall, I thought it was an alright book... nothing too challenging or thought-provoking.  And no real definitive ending for these characters. Read it and let me know what you think. 

♥ Meg xoxo

Purples overalls

So, September's here... and the madness of back to school has left me a few post behind.  This is an end-of-summer outfit if I ever saw one ;) 

Shirt: Forever XXI // Overalls: thrifted and diy // Sunnies: Target // 

When I bought these overalls at the thrift shop, they were beige.  I bought a box of purple Rit dye from the dollar store, and dyed these bad boys in my kitchen sink. They turned out even more beautifully than I ever imagined. They are well worth the $2.99 spent at the thrift store, and the $1.25 spent at the dollar store.  I'm in love.

Sandals: Target // Overalls: thrifted and diy // 

Take a look at the beige thread.  I love when the thread stays the original colour when you dye something.

Shirt: Forever XXI // Overalls: thrifted and diy // Sandals: Target //

I'll tell you a secret.  This shirt is actually a crop top.  I know, I know - I fully reverted to the 90s with this outfit.  It fit so well under these overalls because there was no bulky fabric to tuck in.  Genius, right? 

Get yourself some overalls before summer is over.  They are comfy, and come with a bunch of pockets.  What's not to love?

♥ Meg xoxo

PS. Please note how bizarre the face on the book looks on my face in the first pic. I only noticed right now.

Eleanor and Park

by Rainbow Rowell

"He knows I'll like a song before I've heard it. He laughs before I even get to the punch line. There's only one of him."

Rewind to high school in 1986.  Mixed taped and comic books are the important things in life.  At least they are to Park.  Half-Korean, and small in stature, Park tries to lie low on his bus to avoid being bullied, on his way to and from school.  He has a seat to himself and likes it that way.  One day, an eclectically dressed, new girl with curly red hair is forced to sit beside Park.  Eleanor sits down next to Park, and changes his life forever.  

This teenage romance is much more complicated than it seems.  Park and Eleanor are so unlikely.  They don't talk at first; they simply share Park's comic books and avoid the obnoxious popular kids on the bus.  The reader is treated to perspective switches every few pages or paragraphs, so we are able to read what is going on in both Park and Eleanor's minds. Park struggles with making his father proud, learning to drive standard, taking on Eleanor's tormentors, and trying to focus on what Eleanor is saying instead of just looking at her beautiful mouth.  Eleanor struggles with keeping her guard up around Park, and wanting to tell him about her family situation and abusive stepfather. Although they both know that their all-consuming first-love can't last forever, they try courageously to make it last. 

I loved Park - he's a comic book loving, mixed tape making, sweetheart, who stands up for his girlfriend to everyone who's always picked on him.  And I loved Eleanor too - she's got a love for strange outfits, and doesn't seem to fit in anywhere.  She valiantly tries to protect all of her younger siblings, and herself, while falling in love with Park and his family. 

Although this is technically a YA novel, I think that it deals with themes that can be appreciated by older audiences.  I laughed and cried with Park and Eleanor when I read this. Their story is familiar, yet complicated.  It's fresh and new.  I recommend this read to those of you who can remember high school, the 1980s, or that giddy feeling of falling in love.  

♥ Meg xoxo