Beckoning Spring

{dress: Forever 21; cardigan: Target; belt: H&M; tights: Target; scarf: Whoops! I forgot the name of the little store in Santa Barbara; boots: Matiko via Ideeli}

Today I rang in what I thought to be the first day of Spring (only later to realize that it was in fact the second) with a very Spring-like outfit complete with florals and lace. But indeed, Spring weather did not answer to my beckoning outfit. Instead it was rain rain rain all day. Spring? Where are you? I am so ready for you now! One thing my outfit did however get me a lovely and unusual compliment from an older lady being pushed in a wheelchair by her husband in the grocery store who had her husband stop wheeling her for her to tell me she loved my outfit and that it looked like I belonged in the early 1900's. Hey, a compliment is a compliment and I responded saying I always wished I lived in the olden days, which is true.

Tonight was the bi-weekly book study I've been doing with a lovely group of girls. We've been going through Captivating and I have to say, if you're a female and haven't read it get your hands on a copy now! It is changing my life. Well I wish I could write more but my eyelids are now fighting to stay open so I'm off to slumberland. Here's hoping I'll get a little real Spring weather tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the last day before I change my URL my friends! Don't forget!

Blog Makeover and New URL!

{top: H&M; necklace: Forever 21; shorts: Zenana Outfitters via resale store; shoes: Wet Seal}

Hello friends! I'm assuming you've noticed my blog's new look and new name. I've been planning on updating my blog and devoting more of myself to it so I'm really excited to get it all started! "La belle vie" means "beautiful life" in French which is essentially the heart of my blog. In a society that bombards us with daily what they tell us is beautiful, I want my blog to be about rediscovering true beauty and all the little beautiful things we see in everyday life. The two kinds of blogs I've found the most inspiring since I started blogging are personal fashion blogs and healthy living blogs. My ultimate plan is to fuse the two together to form my own personal journey toward health and and self discovery with little stories of my daily adventures and some outfit and food photos along the way. I like the idea of making it more simple and personal just as if I were talking to a friend at the end of the day. So with that said, this coming Wednesday I will officially be changing my URL to labellevie29.blogspot.com and I want all my faithful followers to mark their calenders! I'm still learning the ropes with all the blogger gadgets and gismos so please bear with me as I work toward perfecting the look and feel of La Belle Vie.

One thing that made me smile this week? After a perfectly wretched morning waking up to see that my alarm clock never went off and that I had in fact woken up an hour and a half later than I needed to for work, shattering a wine glass and letting a cat in that is not allowed in my room in my flurry out the door and not having time to tend to either, I was incredibly happy to have a fun filled mid afternoon photo shoot with Jess and Grace on our break. It was St. Patrick's Day and notice that I am the only one decked out in green. You gotta protect yourself, ladies! Also, my sister Chelsea came home for Spring break on Friday and we've been having lots of fun fulfilling her shopping and movie deprivation. Every night we've been doing a double feature which as many of you know is A-okay with me! I can't believe I actually made it through 127 Hours last night and liked it! Of course afterwards we were in need of some comic relief (and eye candy) in the form of Robert Downey Jr. in Due Date. Now that my friends, is a perfect note to end the day on ;)

For Japan with Love

Fashion Crush

{jeans: Makers of True Originals; tunic: H&M; scarf via resale store; belt via Fred Meyer and part of a 3-pack little girl belt set; booties: Kelsie Dagger via TJ Maxx; jacket: H&M}

First off, I have been having way to much fun with my friends lately as you can see by a couple of these pics. A spontaneous photoshoot after a Starbucks run on our lunch break? Yes please. Secondly, I have developed a sizeable fashion crush on the lovely Malin Akerman. I don't know why I am just now noticing how much I love her style but I am officially smitten. So much so that I am now considering experimenting the long whimsical skirt. How does she make it look so polished and chic? Here are just some of my favorite looks she has been rocking as of late.

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Thinking Too Much

{vest: Converse All Star via Target; shorts: Abercrombie & Fitch via resale store; undershirt: Target; shoes: Tahari via TJ Maxx}

I can't believe this is the first time I've busted out these shorts this winter. I love them by themselves in the summer but for some reason I haven't thought to pair them with tights yet. I think I must have thought they'd be a weird length or something. I don't know what I was thinking because I love them with tights even more! This will not be the last time they appear in this chilly weather.

Ok, now I bet you're wondering about the title of this post. Well, today I was realizing that in almost every area of my life that I end up thinking into too much I am always disappointed with the result. If only I could shut out those voices or turn that switch off that gets me trying too hard to make everything perfect. This applies to primping and choosing outfits in the morning, creating book covers at work, painting, eating, and even blogging. For instance, when I'm getting ready in the morning and I'm trying to put together the perfect outfit for the day, the more I go through my closet and try on different combinations and the more I fuss with my hair the less I like the result. Likewise, the more I think work and rework an area of my painting that's bugging me or the longer I scour the internet for inspiration for a book cover, the more unsatisfied I am with the project. And the more focused I am on what I eat and when and how much, the more I eat and overindulge and end up with a stomach ache out of rebellion. And I've noticed that my over-thinking problem transfers into my blog too. Sometimes I feel like my next post has to be so epic and inspired that I hold off on posting till I have that creative burst of inspiration or great idea that I oftentimes never get. For me, thinking too much can sometimes lead to disappointment and dissatisfaction. Thinking too much about what other people think about me also gets me into trouble too and leaves me feeling insecure and extra shy. Anyone else notice this about yourselves or is it just me? In fact, the times that I throw something together or go with the first thing that pops into my head are the times I am happiest and most confident about the result. I know that sometimes it depends on my mood and creativity level that day, but this outfit is an example of this fact. Yesterday I probably spent half an hour longer on my hair and my outfit and ended up feeling unhappy with my look all day, whereas today after throwing this look together and not messing with my hair I felt ten times more confident. Another example? I feel like I spent all day Monday creating (or trying to create) a book cover at work, scouring the internet for inspiration on how to make it better, trying different effects in photoshop, looking up different photos and graphics to add to it, and the longer I spent reworking and fussing over it, the more frustrated I grew and the worse it looked. The next day I started again from scratch and went with the original image I found and simply added text over it and a swirly border around the image and voila! It looked perfect! Oftentimes, simple is better. One more example: When I went down to LA last December to be in a friend's wedding, we were so busy with the wedding preparations and having fun girl time that I only thought about food when it came time to eat. I ate good healthy full meals, felt satisfied, and didn't think twice about it. It was so refreshing not to obsess over it for the first time in a long time and I felt better health wise than I had in a long time. The lesson I've learned is when you're not trying too hard to make something perfect but instead just go with your gut and believe in yourself, that is when you will be most satisfied. So my friends, sometimes it's better not to think too much. Am I right?

I couldn't end this post without a couple pictures I took in Ashland recently for my sweet tooth friends. Don't these caramel apples look incredible? And the top picture is of the biggest donut I have ever seen. It was the size of a cake! I might need that instead of a birthday cake this year...

Why I Love Oscar

It gives me an excuse to go crazy with my friends like a bunch of sports fanatics on Superbowl Sunday and yell at the TV screen, applaud, play fashion police by harshly judging every gown, and of course eating junk food while doing all of the above.

I get to drink in glorious dresses like these and fantasize myself in them saying, "Oh why yes I am wearing Monique Lhullier" or "Vera Wang designed this exclusively for me."

But perhaps the whole reason my love affair with Oscar started was because my very first Oscar experience was the year Gwyneth won for Shakespeare in Love and gave that tearful speech in that pink princess dress and there and then I became smitten both with Gwyneth and Oscar. And that my friends, was how it all began. What was your favorite Oscar moment/dress/winner this year?

My lovely Oscar party co-host Jessica posted more on our Oscar party. Sorry I stole a couple of your pics Jess! They were just too good to pass up. Check out her post here!