what i wore: pastels please

When I saw that pastels were "in" for spring, I wasn't too excited.

I like brighter, bolder jewel tone-like colors.

Pastels make me think washed-out, faded-- like a floral bedspread from 1987.

But what do I know? So I bit my tongue, dug in my closet, and paired the most pastel thing I could find.

 lace tank: Nordstrom // cardigan: Nordstrom // jeans: Gap  bracelets: handmade by me, thrifted

And it turns out (gasp) I liked it!


But not enough to dig out my old bedspread.

xo, erika

[how to] wear those colored pants, girl!

When I bought green pants, I hadn't worn bright pants since my leggings of the mid '90s. (Bright purple with matching lavender scrunchie socks, of course.)


So, feeling a little intimidated I paired them first with white. A plain white shirt. Anything else felt too intense. (especially for work.)

But I knew that if I was going to keep them, I needed to find more than one way to wear them so I could fully justify my purchase. (My number one rule for buying any piece of clothing is asking myself if can I wear it more than one way.)

And a few months later I'm happy to say I've decided that my green jeans are a wardrobe staple, and not as scary to style as I thought.

 blouse: F21  // tank: Old Navy //  Jeans: Urban Outfitters // flats: Target

(I feel like I match the grass in this photo)

 jean blouse: thrifted // jeans: Urban  // booties: Wanted

Rocking the denim-on-denim trend in a safe way. :)

 cardigan: Target  // tee: h&m  // jeans: you know...

striped tee: Gap  // denim jacket: ??

 this is my go to outfit-- stripes with colored denim.

Do you wear colored denim? How do you style them? My next challenge is to wear them with a bright color-- like coral or even pink!

xo, erika

finding my voice

[oops. apparently I'm a little rusty on the bike.]

[the husband calls this outfit my 1970s outfit.]

 blouse: Nordstrom // belt: thrifted // jeans: Gap // shoes: Wanted

I learned something recently.

No, it wasn't how to ride a bike. I know how to do that, even though I randomly fell off it while the husband was taking cute outfit photos.

But I was reading back through my blog (I don't recommend you do this) and was cringing at the slight differences I portrayed myself.



What I realized was that previously I was trying too hard. I wanted so badly to be liked that I wasn't being true to myself. And that's the number one thing I would tell anyone who asked for advice when blogging-- be yourself. (Apparently I'm terrible at following my own guidance.)

What I now understand is that my blog needs to reflect all of me: a little silly and random, someone who laughs easily at myself and tends to be a little absent-minded.  And I blog to be creative, to share what I'm loving, to engage with others and because I like it.



And if we want to go big-picture advice here-- the lesson is that I need to be myself and share my voice in all circumstances. Not just here.

Are you learning anything recently?

xo, erika

p.s. if you're in a reader/email/mobile phone, click on through to my blog! I redesigned it and I'm kind of excited that I did it without anyone's help. (humble brag, I know. Couldn't help it.)

p.p.s. it's my birthday in 6 days and I decided (late notice) that I'm going to do a fabulous giveaway. I have a few people lined up, but if you'd like to join in, give me a shout! :)

linking up here:

friday finds and favorites: corgi edition

 A few of my favorite things were not on the Internet this week. First off, props to the Seattle sunshine -- way to go getting your spring on.

Also, I'm feeling like I've learning to be true to myself and like me for me. And as Disney-movie as that sounds, it's so true. More on that I'm sure.

And usually I fill my Friday finds with lovely, thoughtful, inspiring finds from around the internet but this week I have to share some humor-related ones too because everyone deserves a good laugh and these things definitely made me giggle. (And turn bright red as I hold in my laughter because I'm at work and not supposed to be randomly giggling.)

(most of these links are from my dear brother who is younger and finds Internet-humor before the rest of the world does.)

viaparentsshouldnttext.com

(this was found on the interwebs, not something that happened in my fam.)

40 things that make corgis happy via buzzfeed

(disclaimer: I own a corgi and am supremely biased toward them. I also think they're hilarious.)

via sometimesiswirl on etsy

(see above disclaimer)

love these! via rowhouse14 on etsy

via hello it's valentine

this french style blog kills me. like literally. i want to move to Paris and be a fashion blogger. and eat pain au chocolat every day.

also, read this post on design sponge if you tend to compare yourself to others like I do.

and if you haven't seen enough corgis, this at once horrible (how did people not know the Titanic was real?!) and adorable. 

happy weekend! I'm planning to blast oldies and garden on Saturday. 

What are you doing?

xo, erika

help for my not-so-favorite room

I am slowly but surely but making my room a home.

And my next room on the list is not my most favorite room... not because it's a bad room but because it's been sorely neglected. It was kind of an office, and then my brother lived there for a bit while he worked in Seattle and now it's just a mishmash of things that don't have a place elsewhere in the house.

We may have someone else staying in the house this summer and I want to finish this room up before then.

Here's the before-- the not so pretty pictures:

 yeah... see what I mean?

Now, the thing is while I could very easily decorate this room in swaths of bright orange and yellow and all my favorite colors and design choices, I want to still feature some of the husband's things. I want it to be a comfortable guest room that speaks a little to both of us.

Here are some of the things I'm thinking:

option 1: gray walls with neutral accents

one of my mom's staged rooms

option 2: bold stripes and white bedding

source unknown-- anyone know?

option 3: aqua with touches of brown

via houseofturquoise.com

option 4: mustard yellow

via aesheticoiseau.com

but honestly I'm so torn. All I know is that I don't want it too girly or too orderly. Any of your suggestions are most welcome!

xo, erika