WIWW: chevrons & {scriptures}

So, I simply cannot NOT share my favorite new piece of Summer attire with y'all. 

I have to confess I've worn this skirt three times now since I got it 10 days ago. 

I love this chevron print, the fabric is totally breezy and comfortable for these 100*+ days we've been having in California this last week. 

{blue tank - from last season - & grey chevron maxi skirt both Old Navy}

I really love chevron print anything right now in a serious, serious way. 

It matches with everything, and it is just flat out slimming. 

{yeah, yeah, I didn't get a booty shot, but let me just say that it will make your bum look good, which is nice cause there's that ol' rule about stripes making you wider.  Not so, just not the case with this skirt I tell ya!}

I even did Old Navy a solid and wrote them the first review on it {here}.

Really, at under $25 and then with a few coupon codes, I think this new fave was under $20 and free shipping too.  I love it!

{playing in new wine barrel planter, teal feather earrings from Charlotte Russe}

Outside of that, my long standing favorite trend for the last few years, is feather bling. 

I just think they're cool & funky, total dress up or dress down. 

{spotted feather necklace from Charlotte Russe}

Outside of jabbering about my new duds & feathers, I am still working on finding that balance between being in the moment and present in the day and finding a way to keep writing, taking pictures, and blogging.  Capturing words and images to share with the world has been a passion of mine for years now, but blogging for the last 4 years was really just for me as a therapy.

This blog now is a new chapter in my crazy life, My {beautiful} Mess. 

Since I've been branching out, linking up, and sharing my thoughts and daily inspirations, I've made some great new friends:

(Melissa @ Life of A Not So Ordinary Wife) & (Sharon @ MamasteNYC),

and come to find out all this writing has inspired

my IRL (In Real Life) friends to start or get back to writing again too. 

{pin}

Lynn (who just gets me)

Mellissa (my "Sisterwife")

Stefanie (who knows my dramas and always makes me smile)

&

Gail  (busy mama/good friend who was going to give up on writing until I started sharing)

I had been thinking about staring a new blog for a few months now, but a series of personal dramas, disappointments, and well, just life's daily challenges really prompted me to get back into it {and praying!!} sooner rather than later.

In perusing all the great blogs that I've found lately, I started seeing side bar links to

I wanted to get in on the next Daily Devo and well, just today they've started a new one,
{I Will Hear You}
This is exactly what I've been doing on my own and needing lately, so it's so much greater to have a group of other's to do this with and help keep me on track.

So now on top of doing the #julyphotoaday challenge I'm going to do my best to keep up with all the ladies @SheReadsTruth

Looking forward to keep on keeping up with everyone. 

Stay cool, stay classy, stay connected.

~ Lauren

WIWW: {Americana}

Wednesday is my favorite day, because Wednesday is my Friday and my short day, which means that it's an 8-hour day (yes, that's like a regular day in a regular 9-5) instead of a 12-hour day, and it doesn't actually start until 10pm which makes 6am come a lot faster which ushers in my official weekend that actually starts on Thursday and lasts through Sunday which is actually my Monday.

Confused? Yes.
It's a little hairy to keep track of it all, but nonetheless, I really like Wednesdays even when it's not the FOURTH OF JULY!! {hello!?}

{an afternoon hike through the hills before the 4th of July BBQ feast}

After a myriad of computer work, picture editing, gardening, and dog walking I finally made it out of the house declaring on Facebook "Gurl done left the house looking like Old Glory, you betta believe!"

{Old Glory, Red Tahoe, all-America}

I packed up my new yellow bag (Nine West find from Ross for $26.99, score!!) and set out for a couple of BBQ pit stops before I went in to handle business on the front end of a long night under my headset. 

{friend Mel: homegrown, red/white chevron dress: Old Navy, blue shirt: Charlotte Russe}

I am 5'5" and in a long standing love affair with maxi dresses.
I suspect my 40-hours a week in a uniform and boots has fueled my like for these free & easy dresses "off-duty" even more.
I hate pants..it's a running joke, the friends know about it…Lauren hates pants.
Cue: Lauren loves dresses. :)

When I'm out at any clothing store, they draw me in like a moth to a flame…

like Spock to the Starship Enterprise.
I am futile to resist their long, flowy charms.

{Confession: my name is Lauren, I bought 4 dresses and 1 maxi skirt last week}

{purse charm: gift, bangles: Forever 21,  Nine West purse: Ross, necklace: Mark.}

{I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller'...}

I eyed this dress at Old Navy a few weeks ago, sent a few of my BFFS and my sister a picture from the dressing room
"Red chevrons? Yay or nay?"
Yay, they sent unaimously..and so my new dress went home with me and hung from the closet for the last few weeks staring me down, waving at me {hello, like a flag!!} just waiting to be worn.
I cannot lie. I put it on last week one night and danced around my house in it to break it in.

It swooshes. It's sashays. It sweeps.

It pools (?)…yes in a small fabric puddle around my feet.

Tell me I'm not the only one who has this problem, #shortgirls where you at?!
Back a sista up here!

It causes me to think that there should be some kind of dress clip, similar to a purse clip that you put on the table edge to keep your bags from sitting on the floor, but this clip would be to free up your second hand from holding your dress so you don't trip to your death or end up face first in the lawn while your plate full of food floats in the swimming pool and everyone puts downt their hot-dogs to stop and stare at you
{THAT didn't happen but it's riiiight there one wrong step away}.
{note to self: invent & patent the dress clip}

{Ode to Pinterest: flag cake, fruit kabobs, shrimp and roasted corn salsa, and American rice cripie treats}

This day is one of my favorite holidays ever - a midsummer holiday, full of: fireworks, warm weather, good food, red dye, blue dye, good music, friends, family, &sparklers! Oh my!

(Yeah, yeah, even if in my line of work, that translates to drunken arguments, traffic jams, fires, explosions, injuries, pursuuuuuuits, shots fired…)

Still…this is a GREAT holiday.
Celebrate America.
Celebrate Freedom.
Thank those who keep us safe and secure, here and abroad.

I ended up Downtown at a friend's house and then walked over to Main St to visit another,

 as I wandered through the crowd, {this song} was playing by Lee Greenwood:

And I proudly {STAND UP} next to you and defend her still today, cause there ain't no doubt, I love this land, God bless the USA.

I smiled, I whispered the song in a hum along with the lyrics, I felt the breeze, as I sashayed through the crowd in my flag patterned duds, and as the sky lit up I said a thank you to the Heavens for all that I have in my life - the people, the things, the awareness.

A final reminder, as it always has been, as it always should be, as it was founded:

God Bless America

Land of the Free, because of the Brave.

I hope you all had a HAPPY {and safe} FOURTH OF JULY!!!

~ Lauren

WIWW & a cup full of {Aloha}

So, will you all forgive me and let me play along today?  

It's actually Thursday and although I did have a floaty, flowly, flirty outfit picked out for Wednesday (which is actually the start of my weekend, I know it's very confusing this shift work business), the entire day got eaten up by catching up on sleep, housework, and an improptu dinner.

 Today stared off in uniform for a couple of hours, but when I got to work, I had this awesome belated birthday cup of Aloha! from my BFF who just got back from Hawaii.  

Score one for staring off the day right!

Aloha, it means love you know!

This just set the tone for the day.

Sometime in the middle of my Aloha, I stumbled across this blog by this sassy lady and let's just say for time's sake that there's this thing going on with me, it's like an onion, it's full of layers that just make you cry and cry and cry the more you cut into it, but somewhere in her blog and her stories, I found some likeness and when I shot her an email to tell her that, she emailed me back like 30 minutes later with a few words of advice.  Words.  They heal me.  I needed to see the ones that she had written in her blogs months ago and then to get a few personal ones from her today...oh, just a little more Aloha. 

P.S. she's funny, sassy, smart, AND she just got published!  

I bought her book I Made All the Mistakes: So You Don't Have To for Kindle and if it's anything like her blog, it's gonna be a great seller.  

Before I made it out of the house for lunch with my Aunt & Uncle, I read the latest from RagstoStitches about Sole Hope and I cannot lie, I cried at the video of the things that are happening a world away from me.  I cried for helplessness, for misfortune, for poverty, for innocence. 

So I did what I could do and I gave what I could at that very minute, a donation of $10 for a new pair of shoes. Oh the things that we take advantage of.

Maybe you'll take a peek and see if you can help too.  

Let's be part of a ripple tide of kindness. 

Cowl neck cream colored shirt from Wet Seal, clearance last year for $8, a steal!
Beaded necklace from some little jewelry shop in London's Heathrow Airport years ago.

Today's outfit: 

cream colored, cowl neck, cap sleeved blouse (say that 3 times fast!) 

brown floor length maxi ruffled maxi skirt (oh maxis, how I love you, let me count the ways)

 flip flops, and some fun, funky, tealish kinda bling. 

It was flowly.

It was floaty.

It was flirty.

Old Navy maxi skirt circa 2008, love this thing, it just moves well. 

Teal colored feather earrings and braclet from Charlotte Russe, tattoos - all mine.
p.s.  do it real quick...just breathe!  In (allll the way)....(hold it).....let it out...
There, don't you feel better? 

After a quick lunch with my aunt and uncle I headed off for yet another little trip down the road to get one of my oldest friends (yeah, we go waaaay back, like-met-when-we-were-single-digit-ages-back) at the closest BART train station so we could start off our girls weekend of good food, old friends, family time at Christian camp, hot yoga, catching up, sleeping in, hanging out, and just plain ol' fun.  

We're having a sleepover.  We're going way back. 

Except this time, there's less fruit-by-the-foot and more fruit-in-our-cocktails.

So that's my Thursday, what I wore, who I read, what I watched, where I went, and what I hope to continue for the rest of the weekend.  Hope you all have a great one too!

Aloha!

~ Lauren 

WIWW & the {Wallflowers}

  It's Wednesday & this is what I wore…

(well, really, this is more about where I wore it, why I wore it, and who I wore it to go see)

This is picture heavy, because that's just what I do.

the evening's dress code was "smart-casual"

for s&g, I put on my old glasses for the smart part... 

smart might look cute, but LASIK is just more convenient

I do miss those frames though...maybe next week's dress code will be "faux-smart-casual"

{oh bracelets, you will now always be the secondary bling on my wrist
I just love this new tattoo so much, it's my forever accessory}

On the way to our "smart-casual" event, we made a couple of stops.



1) the Berkeley Bare Essentuals store, where I scored a great deal and had a nice chat with a new acquaintance. Seriously, I should own stock in BE by now.

2) Philz Coffee, for a Mojito Mocha, yes you heard right, mint IN the coffee…and it was waaay worth the long-short detour.

{score for frequent buyer cards!  & a coffee shop where you can leave your favorite mug behind for when you come back and visit again}

What I Wore Wednesday:

army green shirt and black leggings from Target (old)

coral blousy tank (Ross)

Carlos Santana boots (Ross from last year and a steal at $50!, I get more compliments on these boots than any other shoes I own)

{love the Bay Bridge}

Our route down Embarcadero to Bay St was s-l-o-w as m-o-l-a-s-s-e-s, but the music was good, the weather was beautiful, and the company was great. Nevermind that pesky fire that burned down Pier 29 and shut down the street (that explains it!), we eventually found a new route and just made the show as the doors opened.



Last week my friend, and fellow blogger, Lynn, announced on Facebook that she had won tickets to see a private taping of the Wallflowers by Live! from (((the Artists Den)))

Remember them? They're still around and they have a new album coming out.

I admit, I don't really follow the band, but I am a huge music lover and so I volunteered (and had to beg, borrow, and practically steal for a couple of hours of time off to be able to go) to take the extra ticket and run off to the city for the night.

{the Wallflowers and front man Jakob Dylan, oh what a voice}

Bimbos on Columbus St, despite the name, is beautifully aged and very classy.

Even classier, the Ladies room attendant was name Millie Jean and she was just the sweetest thing.

Who needs Cinderalla's Mirror when you have Millie Jean to call you "babygirl", tell you how pretty you look, and remind you to untuck your shirt from your panties before you walk out into the crowd.

Every girl should have a Millie Jean.

{this is Lynn...framed by the Bimbo sign}

The show was great, the crowd was definitely smart, totally casual, and very, very San Francisco.

Here's to Wednesdays and to the Wallflowers!!!