Lilly Loving: Spring 2014

Atlanta is currently experiencing a snowpocalypse (2" of snow, iced-over roads, highways completely shut down, etc), so while I'm loving looking at the winter wonderland outside my window, I'm also totally ready for spring.

THANKFULLY, the peeps over at Lilly released their new spring collection yesterday. If I can't be wearing spring clothes, at least I can be shopping for them, right?

A few favorites...

Briella Fit and Flare Dress, Southern Charm print: ob-sessed with this print. So delicate and springy...perfect for bridal showers, Easter or baby showers!

Delia Shift Dress, Fountain Hopping print: I have a dress like this that I've worn almost to death...I'm thinking it's time I replace it with this little number. I love how unusual and different the print is!

Yvette Wrap Dress, Iris Blue Chablis print: what could possibly be more perfect for spring than a lily-printed dress in the prettiest shades of blue and aqua? The pink print is cute too...

Iona Shell, Fountain Hopping print: the same fabulous print as the dress a bit higher up the page, only cut in a more versatile shell. I swear by silk shells/tops for everything, so this one is definitely a Must.

Colby Pintuck Top: Pastel shades of silk with gold metallic "dots"? Yes please!

Are you ready for spring yet??

Style Steal: Field Jacket

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For a few fall seasons now, I've been looking for a good mid-weight jacket that's casual enough to throw on with jeans but still a bit polished. I kept seeing the J. Crew field jacket below on blogs and Pinterest, but $150 is a bit steep for a jacket that I wasn't sure really fit with my style and I was hesitant to pull the trigger.

Then the other day, I found a jacket that could be the twin (or a very close relative) of the J. Crew one at Target for only a fraction of the cost. It's definitely been a great purchase. We had a few fall-weather days a week or so ago, which was the perfect opportunity to test it out. Perfectly lightweight and kept me warm without being so heavy I was sweating. I think I'll get tons of wear out of it this spring and next fall!

PS: this Old Navy version is cute too!

Classy.

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I read this article the other night around 2am, and it's really stuck with me. I find that "classy" is SO overused in today's culture that it's pretty much lost its actual meaning. Call me a snob, but every time someone tells me that whatever I'm doing/wearing/reading/eating/whatevering is classy, I cringe and immediately dislike/stop whatever it is. Maybe it's because I truly do use the word classy in an ironic way, maybe it's because I'm just snobby, but I don't think "being classy" is a compliment.

I really only use the word classy when I mean it's really, really not. A drunk girl throwing herself at a guy in a relationship? Classy. Skirt so short you can see cheek? Classy.

I would much rather be described as sophisticated, elegant, refined, cultured, in good taste, classic, edited, curated, put-together...

As the article states, there are so many better adjectives you can use to describe things that you really like and that you consider high-class...let's use them :)

Hiatus

You may have noticed that things have been very, very quiet over here. There's a few reasons, but the main one is that I'd been growing steadily more disenchanted with the blog world and just needed to take a break.

I feel like the blog world in general has gotten out of control. Everyone is a "fashion blogger" now, everyone is finding that perfect bar cart to put in their living room, every post is sponsored by a different brand...it's just become too much.

I feel like I don't fit into any of the "traditional" blog categories. I don't post a million pictures of myself wearing the latest trends or my daily outfits. I don't post amazing, mouthwatering recipes on a daily basis. I don't post endless sentences about my fairly boring weekends. I don't post stunningly well-lit pictures of my perfectly decorated apartment. I post about each of these things a teeny bit, but in general my posts are about...whatever. Except I promise to never be one of those people who writes in excruciating detail about their very ordinary weekends and then follows it up with a million bad pictures...because I promise you, my weekends of work, Netflix and cat snuggles are already documented enough on Instagram.

I love having that freedom, and it's what I wanted when I originally started my blog, but for a while I just felt very directionless and blah. It's hard to write happy-sounding things here when I'm not particularly happy with my life outside the blog. I don't like reading those blogs where everything seems sparkly-perfect all the time and no sort of realism is touched on, but on the other hand, blogs where people address every single part of their life annoy me too. I didn't want to become either of those people...so I just stopped.

However, I feel like lately other bloggers have been feeling the same sorts of things I was and have started a mini-movement to make things more realistic...which I'm feeling better about. I've missed my little blog and connecting with people, but I also want to maintain a good blog-life-work balance too. I think I'm going to scale back posts to every few days or every other day. Quality over quantity, you know?

I don't even know if this whole post makes a lot of sense, I just have a lot of thoughts that are floating around in my head...thanks for reading if you've stuck with it this far :)

xo