Day five of my South Padre Island Spring Break Adventure, and let me tell you, it has definitely been an adventure of sorts. I’m thankful to have been on this gorgeous island all week with two of my best friends. Growing up in landlocked central Kansas, going to the beach is always refreshing; standing next to the seemingly endless ocean always puts my life in perspective – even during the craziness of Spring Break shenanigans. I can’t wait to live on the coast someday and eat fruit on the beach with a book to my heart’s content! As fun as Spring Break has been this year, I’m really missing my cats, my parents, and my cats. I took this simple little Piko dress with me because it’s just so versatile! For this shoot, I paired the breezy dress with my Jeffrey Campbell booties, some matching sunnies, and a necklace I stole from a friend (thanks Paige)! I’m really loving easy dresses and shirts for the spring — the soft kind I can just throw on and go. I also love, love, love shopping locally. This cute little boutique on Mass called Envy has about 93851309458032 of these dresses in 593480 different colors and I just want them all! Here in SPI I used it as a cute little swimsuit cover on the beach. What has your Spring Break been like? I hope it’s been full of saltwater, sunshine, and over-the-top good vibes. I love this dress, I love this boutique, I love Lawrence, I love YOU, and I can’t wait to be on my way back home tomorrow!

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dress: envy (Lawrence, KS)

booties: Jeffrey Campbell

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“what you are about to experience is something words can’t describe

teachers can’t teach

and money can’t buy.

This is art.

There’s no formula to true art.

There’s only feeling.

This is history.

Let the moment dictate your seconds

and swiftly allow your life to transform

from this moment on.”

rewriting history

quit reliving that rerun
Hitchhiked to Venice

became an apprentice

of a guru who used to serve Dalai Lama at breakfast

and he taught me relativity to orchestrate a symphony

of positivity, empathy, synergy, and divinity

Health, success, and happiness will always be my mantra

Possessions don’t own me, man

I learned that shit from my rasta

You got the whole world on a string

Learned that from Frank Sinatra

Long live the lizard king, forever

I’ma be the change that I want to see

People gon remember me,

I swear it’s 1970

Money’s cool and everything but I’d rather make a memory
I swear it’s 1970

Current music obsession? Mod Sun. When I heard his song ‘1970’ I knew instantly that he was going to be widely featured on my sixteen hour Spring Break trip playlist. Everything about my life in 2015 has been based around positive energy. I’ve learned to be picky with who I share my energy with. I’ve learned to reserve my time for those who reflect nothing but sincerity and kindness. I’ve learned that the kind of energy I exude is the kind that I attract. Listening to music that oozes that same kind of vibe is only natural at this point. Okay, so I don’t normally wear t-shirts on the daily, but I am obsessed with this long-sleeved tee. It’s my favorite right now. I’m a sucker for a positive quote and a comfy sleeping tee!

I’ve always lived with a sunny disposition and a curious mind, but last semester took a massive emotional toll on me in ways that I can’t exactly put into words; I had never felt less like myself for no reason whatsoever. I should have been more excited by all of the opportunities that were presented to me during my first semester in Lawrence, but coming back to Kansas after living the biggest summertime-fairytale-adventure of my existence completely drained my mind and spirit. I let my guard slip and allowed people into my world who exhausted my emotions and made me feel like it wasn’t okay to be exactly who I am as a human. After heading home for break to get some perspective from my cats (and my parents) I came back and instantly knew that I had to get back to myself. But who was that? I’ve never understood labels — I despise them actually, so I decided I should just be the most me that I could ever possibly be. I wanted to radiate the most Chantel-esque energy that I could. Does that make sense? Probably not. It doesn’t make sense to me either. All I know is that from the moment I made the decision to embrace everything that I am, my world started changing. Slowly at first, and then all at once. I was once again surrounded only by people who inspire me. I was again waking up completely ecstatic just to exist at all. I was beginning to remember why I loved the things I had lost interest in only months previously. Positive-energy exchange was taking place in my life. Sometimes you have to forget what you’ve been taught to remember what you’ve always known, and this book that Mod Sun wrote really reflects that idea. Okay, enough about me, this is getting increasingly mundane; onto the book I’m holding!

“The human body is single-handedly the most complicated thing ever
created. Simply being born makes you incredibly smart. You breathe in
and out anywhere from 15 to 25 times per minute without even thinking
about it. Everyday your heart beats more than 100,000 times. We run
marathons and create entire languages. You’re effortlessly operating the
most complex machine in existence and, if you can do that, everything
else is simple. There’s no such thing as hard.”

-My favorite excerpt from Did I Ever Wake Up?

It’s not the copy of Bhagavad Gita that I was given by a monk three summers ago, but this simple little book resonates with me on such a deep, comparable level. If you’re looking for a way to ease into a conscious, positive lifestyle, looking for a refresher in simple philosophies, or even just needing a bit of inspiration, please read this. Actually, everyone could do with 79 pages of pure positivity.

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Valentine’s Day coming up really has me thinking about all of these near fairytales I’ve lived: the countless letters I’ve received, the beautiful poems and songs that have been inspired by relationships I’ve been a part of, the stars I’ve counted in the beds of trucks, the notes that have been left in the margins of my favorite books, the Dutch canals I’ve held so close to my heart… The relationships so effortless and natural that they never needed a label — the company I surrounded myself with that was so sacred to me that I selfishly kept it hidden even from those closest to me in attempts to fully grasp and understand the experiences and energy being shared and exchanged.

There have been moments so ethereal and perfect that I to this day refuse to write about because not even words can do my feelings justice. I’m almost scared to write about these things sometimes — as if the universe might take offense to how I’ve tried to capture these transcendent moments in time with a few simple scribbles of ink.

I’ve tried to convince myself that I didn’t love these people. That I somehow created the butterflies I felt in my stomach at 3am or the sad goodbyes in Paris metros in my mind, but I’m just now realizing that this isn’t the case at all.

It turns out that magic lies in sacred places to me and I lie to myself about the people I’ve loved.

I don’t really know what the point of this extensive post is, except maybe to apologize to those who have fully committed to the idea of wanting me, but never truly having me — to those who feel like I’ve nonchalantly touched their hearts without even knowing it. I thought it would be easy to leave. To forget. But you have been stuck
in my cowardly heart for far too long. I keep waiting for the memories
to fade but they simply refuse, because while you were unhappily in love with your love for me, the truth is, your love for me was in love with you the entire time.

dress: Chic Wish

heels: ModCloth

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It’s the end of my first week back at classes! I love my schedule this semester an awful lot. Plans are coming together, books are being read, and opportunities are knocking. When I was shooting this ten dollar dress I found at Charming Charlie on Black Friday (yes I said ten dollars) my dad was just getting home from the shooting range and handed me a rifle, so naturally I took it, and continued to make him pose with me because he happens to be one of my favorite people as well as models. Ha! Anyways, I am obsessed with this maxi. I don’t normally buy maxi dresses because I’m short and they’re, well, maxi length, but I couldn’t resist this nautical number. I adore pleats, stripes, and open backs, obviously, because that’s when I get to show off my favorite word. So, yeah, I have to wear heels with this charming dress, but that makes it even more appealing to a girl like me. This is an amazing transition piece for this heat wave that hit Kansas recently (meaning it’s above freezing temps) but I’m mostly ready to show this bright piece off during spring time! Bring on the sunshine.

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My favorite part about blogging is that it allows me to combine all of my favorite things: photography, fashion, and writing. Sometimes a look inspires me to write, but most of the time what I write inspires a look, even if it’s just a silly little poem I made out of my fascination with color blindness. With this post, I wanted to get two completely different looks, but with almost the same feel. Now that I’ve written it out, I realize that it doesn’t make much sense, but I wanted to make the first look as playful as possible, so I went with this fun floral print dress with a flirty open back, but I took it a step further and paired it with the brightest pink skater skirt I could find. I added the red chunky belt to mesh it a bi t– to make the pieces look like they actually belong together, and of course I had to finish the outfit off with my favorite Parisian powder blue bowed heels and a fun gold chain necklace. I thought curls would up the playful factor of the look as well! For the second look, I knew I wanted black and white photographs, which I don’t get to use as often as I’d like because I usually want to show off the colors, but with this look, I wanted the focus to be on the textures, patterns, silhouettes, and shapes of the pieces, so I opted for a longer polka dotted midi skirt, a striped scoop back bodysuit, and to tie it to the first look a bit I drew the look together with a white bow around my waist. I finished it off with a huge elegant ballerina bun, more of a uniquely cut heel to add shape, and pearls to get even more of that pattern contrast. I absolutely adore both of these looks! Which one is your fav?!

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First look:

floral dress- lulus

textured skater skirt- Forever21

necklace- Charlotte Russe

heels- Paris

Second look:

sheer polka dot midi skirt: Forever21

striped scoop neck bodysuit: American Apparel

heels: Tobi

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Hi I’m Chantel and I don’t know how to winter. I need to be in the west coast sun like yesterday. Oh the extents I will go to so I do not have to wear pants. Ever since I was in Kindergarten I’ve just had this absolute grudge against pants and refused to wear anything but dresses, even to gym class, for like three years. Not much has changed. GUYS I CAN’T FREAKING ADVENTURE IN PANTS. It’s not practical. Restrictive clothing terrifies me. I just can’t do it. I was feeling rather music festivaly today because I just got approved for a media pass to cover a small music festival on my blog this summer and it got me all excited, but you’ll hear more on that later. I didn’t take everything with me back from college, so I improvised with today’s look. I grabbed a giant vintage denim shirt from my dad’s closet, paired it with a hat which I also found in his closet, added an edgy gold necklace, my mom’s favorite purse, and obviously a staple pair of Jeffrey Campbell’s; the rings were actually my great grandmother’s — I’m obsessed. Last but certainly not least, my favorite accessory ever: a cup of black coffee to combat the winter chill that is Kansas these days. So next time you’re like “wow I just can’t wear pants today,” improvise and then go get coffee because that’s important.

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Oh, wow. I’m a week late posting this because to be quite honest, I’ve been a bit terrified to go through my disposable camera film. But this was my new years eve. Of course I had to go back to Lawrence to celebrate, because frankly, that’s the only place I know how to do things. That last picture? My rather scandalous New Year’s kiss caught on film! Oh my word! I loved my random little night. I think we ended up going to around four places and meeting more people at once than I have in awhile.

To most people, the new year is about resolutions and new beginnings, but to me, at least this year, it’s about champagne, sequins, photos, and friends. At this point, you may be asking, “Chantel, what was your new year’s resolution?” but… I don’t really have one. Unless you count the ones Taylor and I discussed; if I told you those, we’d have to kill you. Anyways, I guess if I had to choose a resolution to share, it would be the same as it is every year, or rather, everyday. I’m constantly challenging myself to be more conscious — more aware; to live life at a higher degree. I’ve been especially challenged by these concepts and ideals throughout the semester. The high of traveling, experiencing, and frankly feeling so much in such a short amount of time this summer and then going back to a life of routine and simplicity has truly left me restless– depressed even. To know that there is so much more out there in the world and to be stuck in one single place (a place that I really do love) absolutely exhausts my heart.

It’s time for me to get back to my center and take care of myself again; to not focus on the “dull” but rather the vivid wonders of what my life truly is. What are your new dreams and goals? How do you plan to achieve them? Please, please, please share with me in the comments! I love hearing from you guys!

dress: Nasty Gal

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Okay, so no. This post is not actually about New Year’s resolutions or anything like that, because the concept of New Year resolutions kind of freaks me out, I don’t know. I’ve just spent the last semester completely treating my body as a hotel rather than a home. So, of course, I’m back to as much raw fruit and veggies as I can handle. To give your body a bit of its kick back after all of the holiday food, wine, and champagne I know you all consumed, I’m going to give you four of my all time favorite detox drinks. I took these pictures right when I woke up and had to use the self-timer because nobody was around this morning, hence the more awkward than normal pictures and spilled water everywhere hahah! I already feel better about life after drinking two of these + some nice cream and an avocado salad.

Mint, cucumber, and lime soaking in water overnight

half a pomegranate and a few lemon slices soaked in water overnight

mint, cucumber, and lemon soaked in water overnight

juice of a lemon, water, a tiny pinch of cayenne, and agave syrup to taste served right away

Healthy, fun, SIMPLE ways to drink more water, and even more importantly, they’re so pretty! 

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bralette: fortuity

pajama pants: JCP

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