Massive Hats on Mass Street
Monday, September 21st, 2015
we speak softly like the first sip of coffee on a Sunday morning
and we live harder than those tequila shots Saturday night —
No warning.
scattered steps lead me in whichever direction I choose
and your love leaves me freer than before —
my muse.
our dreams and legs intertwine —
but you are still yours
and I am still mine.
Jumpsuit: Triple Thread hat: similar here booties: similar here
Bored if I Don’t
Wednesday, September 16th, 2015
September makes me feel as if I’m living in August’s ghost. I’m already envisioning everything that next summer holds in it’s veins. The daydreams, they haunt me. The leaves are falling to their death around me while my dreams fill my lungs with a flora so wild, the vines twist blindly around my bronchi. The life growing inside my lungs is so beautiful — so pure, but I can’t fucking breathe.
How do I surrender myself to the happiness of this moment when I’m continuously looking for the next adventure? Watering the garden of my being while my now’s are stuck in this drought.
Thankfully, my lungs aren’t the only organs in my body about to burst. This heavy heart of mine, so full of love, never fails to bring me right back to where I belong: in the now, weeding my lungs of unnecessary growth in order to make room in my crowded being for its own expansion.
I still dream of gardens and libraries, sometimes… until I remember that this silly mass inside my chest holds gardens greater than Eden and words so vast, the Bible would be jealous. I still dream of one set of fingerprints running all over every crevice of my heart, and then I’m planning my next escapade and imagining my own set of fingerprints all over the globe, and the future doesn’t feel so lonely anymore.
I don’t know if how vastly and wildly I love could ever make up for my inconsistent heart, but I do know that the places I travel love me in the exact same way I love everything that surrounds me: blindly, and I could never trade these seemingly endless fervent moments for a single comfortable lifetime.
Dress: thrifted similar here, here, and here
heels: old, similar here and here
Electric Blues
Wednesday, September 9th, 2015
I’m sick in bed today and I don’t even mind it. Why? Well, I’m doing sick Chantel activities all day, of course! These include drinking green smoothies, online shopping, catching up on laundry, and I’m even finally reading the sequel to one of my favorite books, The Shining, by Stephen King, which is called Doctor Sleep, and I’m already in love. Also, since I’ve hoarded so many blog posts over the summer (seriously these pictures are from the beginning) I’ve decided to start binge posting until I’m all caught up. So be prepared. And maybe a little afraid.
While this look was from the beginning of summer, I was so confused as to why I was wearing pants in 100 degree weather, so it even fits a bit better into this September post as a transition outfit. I love the jewel toned color of this flouncy little top; it’s a nice change from all of the soft summer colors and incoming neutral autumn tones. I think the bold hue really adds a bit of edge to a femininely structured blouse. After nearly three months, this top is still a staple in my wardrobe — probably because I have the shoes to match, ha! I am SO excited to be working with http://hotkiss.com/ again this month though! They have just sent me the sweetest package and I’m beyond ready to style and post some new looks! Have a beautiful Wednesday, darling.
Top c/o Hot Kiss Jeggings: American Eagle heels: Tobi
Heavily Meditated
Sunday, August 16th, 2015
Coming to you live from my new home in Lawrence! I am beyond happy to finally be here and (mostly) moved into this huge, beautiful house with seven of my best friends. What even is this life?
In my hometown, where I stayed for most of the summer, I was suffering massive writer’s block, lack of inspiration, and frankly motivation. Now that I’m back in my true hometown for the year, these waves of inspiration have just been hitting me in the face. This wondrous shirt from Qtee accurately portrays how I’m feeling right now as I attempt to ride out this life high for as long as I can. Seriously, thanks, Qtee I’m obsessed with customizing your shirts to my liking. YOU GUYS, they have shirts on all my favorite topics — cats, pizza, coffee, yoga, travel, mermaids, you name it. I literally customized 3958743920 shirts before I came to the final decision of this one. I love how all the prints come on nearly every shirt shape, color, and how fun it is to customize the colors. So entertaining. Ultimately, I picked this relaxed slouchy style in my favorite color scheme because that’s who I am as a human being.
Anyways, I’d really like this new time in my life to be cleansing to my being and spirituality in every way. I want to raise my frequency with each step I take, and I thought I’d share with you the little ways I’m going to stay focused, together, motivated, and most importantly, happy this year.
First of all, I’m going to meditate everyday. It always seems so easy to devote ten minutes of your life to doing absolutely nothing, but it’s not. I always start off strong, and then one day it’s a, “I’m too tired today, I’ll make up for it tomorrow” kind of thing, and then the next day I’m too busy, and my routine falls apart slowly, until I become my formal spiritually frazzled self. As horrifying as routine is to me, it’s vital to my mental survival. So I’m going to meditate once when I wake up for ten minutes, and once before I go to sleep for ten minutes. Is two times a day really necessary? Probably not for most people, but this is what I know in terms of ridding myself of my own personal daily anxieties.
I know to most of you, meditation sounds cliché, cheesy, and/or useless. It’s not. I like to think of meditation as a prayer to myself. Whatever religion you hold, and whatever god you believe in, of course I support your prayers and rituals, but sometimes we forget to simply be. Sitting and existing exclusively by myself, doesn’t only decrease my long term anxieties and betters me as a human, but it humbles me and is a daily reminder that I, my consciousness, exist and that, is an amazing, divine thing to begin with. I am operating the most complex thing I know: the human brain, and sometimes I have to remember that sitting on a floor and just breathing is a miraculous thing in itself.
I’m also going to journal every dream that I remember right when I wake up.
I love dreams. I love manipulating my sleeping subconscious, I love lucid dreams, I am intrigued by the connection of REM to memory, and I am fascinated by what my dreaming mind mean to my awake life. I’ve always thought dreams were important — from the age I was able to communicate them. The older I became, the more I realized that writing down and remembering my dreams, causes to to dream, or at least remember my dreams better, making them more vivid, and easily manipulated. I couldn’t pinpoint and tell you why I think this is such an important thing for me, but it is. Yes, of course I still have nonsensical dreams about attending Paris Hilton’s party while her mom threatens to kill us all unless I sell Paris’s new line of shoes to everyone, but that’s the beauty of it all — the chaos and unpredictability. I’m going through a journey and so is my sleeping mind.
Does anyone else remember that really long period of time in my life where I only consumed raw foods mostly in smoothie form? That was the height of my mental awareness. Eating raw, simple food, in turn makes me feel more pure, and less chaotic and processed. You are what you eat, and I’m only eating smoothies for breakfast. Everyday. Easy peasy.
Also, WATER. My favorite liquid ever is coffee, and it is so easy for me to forget to drink water, it’s ridiculous, but I definitely feel noticeably better from the inside-out when I’m drinking the required amount for my body and beyond.
In the first psychology class I ever took, on Valentine’s Day, my professor was talking about social psychology and the basics of it; one thing really stuck with me. The five people we spend the most time with? We become like them — developing similar demeanor as well as mentalities. It terrified me. That was the year I started cutting people out of my life who weren’t vibrating at same frequency as me — the ones who only created static. Since then, I’ve made it a priority to stay mindful of those I’m sharing my energy with. This year is no different… maybe even a bit more harsh. This year, for me, is definitely about surrounding myself with inspiring, positive people. Starting with my roommates, and ending with my friends and potential love interests. In order to grow, we have to leave certain things behind, and as scary as it is to let go, even scarier is plateauing.
Also, you know that weird voice inside your head that kind of narrates your life almost? Okay, maybe nobody knows what I’m talking about and I’m just completely crazy, but when I’m reading a massive novel that I’ve really invested myself in, the voice of the book will almost start to seep into my subconscious and affect the way that voice sees things and reacts to them. That being said, I do read a lot of lighthearted, enlightening literature, but I’ve also been known to enjoy all of the Stephen King books in the land, as well as accidentally binge read the entire 50 Shades of Grey trilogy. You can only imagine how this reading material affects that voice in my head… so I’ve kind of made a goal to read some good-for-my-soul-bettering-myself literature more often; however, I’m not replacing my favorite Stephen King novels — just adding to my reading palette.
Yoga and stretching are also important to me physically as well as mentally. When I get out of my stretching for at least fifteen minutes a day everyday, and getting through at least one yoga session a day, I falter. I have rheumatoid arthritis, which doesn’t help the fact, but keeping that routine in there gives me a sort of physical clarity as compared to my sore, stiff, old person feelings when I stray from my mat for too long.
Oh my gosh, I’ve covered dreams, but have I even mentioned sleep yet?! This is so important, to me specifically, because of how much I suffer from insomnia. From sixth grade I have been this awful creature of the night who could not sleep for the life of me. Meditation helps with this for me immensely, and I’m prescribed a number of scary medicines as well, but seriously, I am trying so incredibly hard to develop a healthy sleep pattern that involves more than five hours of sleep a night. It’s awful how noticeably sleep affects my life.
I will sleep seven hours a night.
I will have a routine.
Last, but not least in the slightest, I will write daily. Whether it’s through the use of writing prompts, deadlines, or simply journaling about my strange daily life, I will write. As writers, it’s hard to start writing. Picking up a pen and putting it to paper is vulnerability, because once you do that simple task, you face all your demons. Will I fail? Is this going to be better than my last piece or worse? Probably worse, right? Is anybody going to like this? Is anybody going to even read it? Will my clients be happy? Why am I getting paid to do this? How did I ever get paid for this? Why do I suck? Why did I choose this path? Who encouraged this?
But the feeling at the end, when you’ve finished a piece, and might even be proud of it, it’s all worth it for that deep breath you feel like you finally deserve to take.
So yeah, that’s how I’m holding onto my sanity this year. I am in no way telling you this is what is absolutely right, or what you should be doing daily too. Basically this is just a list of things I want to improve on, and if you want to improve on these topics as well, cool, tell me. Let’s have a conversation. What do you do to keep your own sanity?
Shades of Blue
Thursday, July 23rd, 2015
Another day, another floral dress. Seriously, my favorite summer dresses are backless — I love showing off my little, otherwise unnoticed tattoo, honestly, and this dress from Fashion Nova just completely killed it! Lace, florals, a low-cut back — this might as well be the dress of my dreams! The colors, the pleats, the flow… I can’t get enough. Fashion Nova literally has something for everyone. I have so many pieces on my wishlist! And lucky for you, if you use my code XOCM during checkout, you’ll receive 15% off your entire order!
Another thing I love about this summer dress, is how many shades of blue it has in the print. It went perfectly with the necklace and earrings that both came in my Rocksbox. Have you all heard about Rocksbox yet?! I know you’re aware of my love for subscription boxes, but this brand is unique in the sense that you receive three pieces of designer jewelry (worth like $300) and can send it back WHENEVER instead of only once a month, and your personal stylist will send back another set of three pieces of jewelry as often as you like. Yes, I did just say PERSONAL STYLIST. It all starts with a fun little quiz, then you start adding must have pieces onto your wishlist, and finally your stylist will put together a box based on your wishlist items and preferences. All for only $19 a month. Shipping BOTH ways is even free! But, GET THIS: when you use my code vanitylacedxoxo you’ll receive a FREE month of Rocksbox with no obligation to continue your subscription! How perfect is that?! You might as well try it out!
Can you tell that I am just beyond obsessed with the companies I’m writing about today?! I love when companies that I truly believe in offer discounts and promotions for my readers!
Now that I’ve given all the discounts I can for the day, I’m off to binge on endless Netflix (If you haven’t seen Lost, you should totally check it out, ugh) Have an absolutely beautiful evening, dolls.
dress c/o Fashion Nova Jewelry c/o Rocksbox heels from Paris, similar here and here
Pink Gravestones
Friday, July 17th, 2015
What an eventful week! At that summer job I told you about, I had the most random encounter with a fellow travel blogger. It was an extremely enlightening experience, to say the least, but don’t worry, I have an entire post on that coming soon! It just reminded me how easy it is to find inspiration in the most unlikely places, even when you’re not looking for it. For today I’ll just focus on this stunning dress from Evadette Boutique though! The texture of this dress is so unique, I can’t stop touching it, seriously — it’s like 3D fabric. I’m also a sucker for a nice clean, almost origami-like cut. Evadette Boutique is quickly becoming one of my favorite online shops for everything fun and girly.
Can we also take a minute to admire this beautiful jewelry set?! Bezel Box sent me one of their “mini” boxes to review, and I was delighted when I opened the cute polka dotted box to reveal a fun statement necklace and matching mint earrings! I am indeed one of those subscription box lovers. Bezel has a few options for monthly subscriptions — the mini, which is what I’m wearing is around $20 a month and comes with two pieces, whereas any of the other styles, boho, cosmopolitan, etc, are around $35 a month and come with 4-5 pieces of jewelry. Let’s be honest, jewelry shopping is a pain (at least for me) when there are so many different trends coming and going at any given moment; this is why I love the idea of receiving a package of in-season jewelry each month. The best part, however, was that the set matched my favorite new dress absolutely flawlessly! Such a statement! I can’t wait to share my crazy blogging encounter with you, but for now, I’ll wish you the happiest of Thursdays.
Dress c/o Evadette Boutique jewelry set c/o Bezel Box heels: Windsor coffee mug: Lilly Pulitzer
Some Green Hippie Chick
Tuesday, July 7th, 2015
Iced coffee: a sign of a summer well-lived. Vanilla iced coffee is my summertime favorite, because, unlike my usual hot black coffee, I can chug it when I’m sleepy and coax myself into a natural, overly-caffeinated state of well being. Just one of the many things that makes summer my season of choice. GUYS I GOT A JOB AS A WAITRESS. I’m not really sure why. My parents have always told me that everyone should work as a server at least once. It’s a far cry from my jobs as a dance teacher, phlebotomist, and writer. It’s just a bit lonely in this town, I suppose. I’m not one to be on the lonely side, but I don’t do much here besides read and attend to my blog, writing, and business. If I don’t stay busy, I lose my mind and think of how much I want to be cuddled and spoon-fed ice cream. It just made sense. I’ve isolated myself from the world so well lately that I actually really love working with people. I love waitressing, honestly. It’s nice to do things and talk to those traveling through my small town, but I am beyond excited to get back to wearing monogrammed scrubs, drawing blood and selling retail in Lawrence. Writing as well, obviously.
I really am happy in my hometown for now, though. It’s great to spend a bit of time with my family and cats. It’s nice to have the time to rescue birds and kittens. It’s nice to have dates to look forward to — going to warped tour, visiting my friends, and finally moving in with them. I like these moments and the ones I have to look forward to. I am in love with this and the world around me. I get to know myself a tiny bit more everyday, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted.
Nothing says “love” quite like iced coffee and bright color schemes. I was so excited to work with Hippie Chick Boutique! Don’t you just love the name of Ariele’s Boutique? I came across the name and KNEW I had to work with her. I am obsessed with the flowiness of the pieces the boutique carries. I am slowly starting to enjoy the aesthetics of pants again. Achingly, painfully slowly. I really like the whole flowy on top, tight on bottom, and chunky heel combination. It’s such an easy way to get a 70’s feel in a super modern way and start incorporating pants back into my life after a year of only feeling like myself in skirts and dresses. The texture of this top just makes my heart happy, as well. Something about it just feels so clean and complete.
Top c/o Hippie Chick Boutique Jeggings: American Eagle Heels: old — similar here
Are you in the Barton County area? Or even near Lawrence/Kansas City? Are you going to Warped Tour? Let’s meet up for coffee or waffles and chat!
Office Time to Adventure Time
Monday, June 29th, 2015
Yes, yes, yes, I suppose this is one of those “one top, two ways” posts, but not in a “from day to night” kind of way. I’m more of an “office time to adventure time” type of girl. I love a fun, professional look for meetings, interviews, and coffee dates, but let’s be honest, I need adventure in my life as well. I need fresh air, friends, and explorations.
I was so excited to receive this top from Sweetest Stitch in the mail! It is beyond what I expected. The cut and design is so unique, and obviously, can be dressed up or down. In my “business” attire look, I paired this flowy striped top with a black pair of jeggings, and this asymmetrical blazer, also from Sweetest Stitch for a bit of structure. When I popped on my pair of favorite heels, I was SOLD. To add to this monochromatic look, I added my favorite statement necklace for a bit of shine, and a nude lip for once instead of my usual red. The different cuts of each piece of this outfit really modernizes this sophisticated look, and makes it perfect for day and night.
I also took this fun top on a bit of an adventure with my beautiful friend, Jordan. We took a couple of my film cameras and explored some bike trails, losing a bracelet, getting lost, and eaten alive by mosquitos in the process — but we ended up with some lovely images and memories! Seriously though, how gorgeous are my friends?!
I love film photography, and I desperately wish my family still had a room converted into a blackroom so I wouldn’t have to wait weeks to get my film back. I really love getting one shot to capture something beautiful and never knowing how it’s going to turn out until it’s developed and in an envelope in my hands. This time, I paired the striped top with some stretchy jean jeggings for a more casual, easy look, piled on the gold jewelry, popped on some adventuring booties, and threw my hair into the messiest of fishtail braids for the ultimate nature experience, obviously.
We totally had the most strange adventure ever — as in, everything that could have gone wrong, probably did. But, hello, we’re still alive, we have a couple of pretty pictures, and not to mention, my top survived the test of the outdoors! ha! Here’s to coffee dates and adventures. Happy Monday! Cheers!
First look: Top c/o Sweetest Stitch blazer c/o Sweetest Stitch necklace – similar here heels – similar here
Second look: Top c/o Sweetest Stitch necklace – similar here jeans American Eagle booties similar here
How to Date Dead Guys
Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015
Welcome to my very first book review! I’ve been meaning to post this for actual ages, but I’ve been sick this entire summer with a stubborn sinus infection and I’m just now starting to recover. I’ve been hoarding blog content for weeks! I wanted this to be my first blog post back, because I wanted you all to know how much I love reading as well as writing. Growing up naturally independent and drawn away from most social situations, reading is what gave me any bit of social awareness I may have (but probably don’t have!) Yes, okay, I am used to physical, tangible books, (hence the photoshopped images to my ipad for the sake of quality and clarity,) but when the author of this captivating book directly sent me the ebook, I knew I was going to love it.
How to Date Dead Guys: Okay, I’ll admit, at first glance this book sounded like another cliché vampire-werewolf love saga to me too, but to be perfectly honest, I related to nearly every word of this book and its characters in some way or another. When it really comes down to it, that’s what I really look for in books — something to relate to. Admittedly, I’ve related to wizards, murderers, sailors, survivors, princesses, paupers, villains, victims, and yes — even ghosts. I am so easily attached to fictional characters. I’ve cried over pages filled with words more times than I have over boys.
In How to Date Dead Guys, I felt like I was actually the main character, Emma. In the beginning, she’s filled to the brim with self-doubt and socially awkward tendencies. As she progresses through the college year, she’s faced with situation after situation that forces her to come face-to-face with her fears, her dreams, and herself — a quarter-life-crises if you will.
This book touches on so many subjects so quickly, from love, to college, to addiction. It reminded me that feelings aren’t rational and there isn’t simply one single version of love; sometimes it comes in waves — magical, sacred moments, and once in awhile, love collides. I read How to Date Dead Guys twice in a three day period and I was just so in love with Emma, watching her transform from this inexperienced young adult to condensing years of life into a very short period of time and maturing as a human being in such a nontraditional way.
I don’t even want to explain the plot details of this book to you at this point, because I didn’t even go over that before I picked it up and dove straight in, and every time I thought I knew what was going to happen, I didn’t. Plot twist after plot twist! I adore Ann M. Noser (how cute is she?!) and her writing style; I cannot even fathom how amazing the second book is going to be!
Anyways, what I’m saying, is that anyone from middle school through to college aged and beyond should take a dive straight into this book as well, if you want to feel something.
You can purchase this book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble!
and you can follow the lovely Ann M. Noser for more updates on Twitter and Facebook!
Old Money
Monday, June 8th, 2015
Monday has quickly become my favorite day. I’m not sure that will last, but I’m so happy when I see the emails flooding in on Monday mornings! I don’t know why, but emailing is fun for me. I’m really taking advantage of my time in my hometown, and the thought of leaving my cats (and family) in the fall is already making my stomach churn. I’ve exhausted lately, which is part of the reason I’ve been living in Triple Thread lately. All of their pieces have been effortless and natural. These shorts are so fun, and were perfect paired with this crop top they sent me as well. I love a good tight to flowy combination! Naturally I’m wearing my faux leather bomber jacket with this look, because, hello, leather is always in style. (even in 90 degree weather, okay, I’m not weird.) Hope you all have had the most beautiful start to your week!
[top: c/o Triple Thread shorts: c/o Triple Thread jacket: London shoes: Steve Madden]
Wondering & Wandering