Venturing Out

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." ~Neale Donald Walsch

I have learned that I am inconsistent with two things: taking pictures with or without my glasses and what style of clothing I'm going to wear. I have begin to notice that I don't have a certain style. Most people will tell you I am girly and preppy, but sometimes I like to venture out.

Today, I am wearing my first ever pair of boyfriend jeans. I have never been the one to be crazy about them because I think they are unflattering on me since I am so short. I did thrift one a while back that I absolutely fell in love with. However, I have not dared put them on since I got them. Today, I decided to change it up and put them on! Deciding what to wear with them wasn't as hard as I thought either!

UGH, my sweater would be messed up. I can never get all my pictures to be perfect. Life is just so hard.

Let's all just take a moment and gasp because Christine didn't wear her Fossil watch nor did she wear a necklace. One, two, three... GASP. ;) I told y'all I was venturing out, didn't I? Also, this is my 20th post! Woo hoo! :)

Sweater: Plato's Closet $6.00 - originally from Forever 21 (similar)

Pants: Goodwill $2.99 - originally from Abercrombie and Fitch (similar)

Booties: Plato's Closet $8.00 - originally from Forever 21 (similar)

Exciting News

"I sometimes find that in interviews you learn more about yourself than the person learned about you." ~William Shatner

Whenever I have to dress more "professional," my whole closet just looks so bland. Therefore, I end up having to go shopping for a totally new look. (Hi, I'm Christine and I'm a shopaholic.) I actually got rid of most of my dresses at the end of August so I didn't have anything appropriate to wear to my meeting today. (Want to know what my meeting was about? Read to the end:) I wanted to wear something office appropriate but still screamed "Christine."

You can never go wrong with black. Therefore, I resorted to a black blazer and black booties. The Christine part in this outfit? A dress with statement accessories, duh! 

 

I have only been blogging for a couple months and have already repeated items, oops. I have blogged about this blazer before, but it is such a great go-to item when you need to add a little structure to your outfit. Although, I was freaking out about what to wear today, I am very happy about how my outfit turned out! :)

Dress: Kohl's $14.49

Blazer: Goodwill $1.99

Necklace: Charlotte Russe somewhere around $4 (similar one)

Booties: Avon my mom's closet

 AH! I am so excited to share with you guys my amazing news! I get to blog and photograph at Knoxville Fashion Week! I am super stoked about this awesome opportunity! Guess what I'm going to have to do before Knoxville Fashion Week? That's right! Go shopping! ;)

Scalloped Shorts {In The Winter}

"People will stare. Make it worth their while." -Harry Winston

I definitely got weird looks from people today as I boldly rocked the shorts with tights trend. Not exactly sure if it is a trend but you catch my drift! I thrifted a pair of scalloped shorts a few weeks back and have been dying to wear them. So, what better way then throw on a pair of tights underneath and call it winter appropriate? 

I wanted to write a post on my outfit today but I had to work. Therefore, I had to take pictures in the parking lot at work so enjoy this beautiful view ;) P.S. I look awkward and cold because it was very windy and cold.

 

Excuse my shirt and belt being messed up. When I say this was a quick photo shoot, I mean I had about a good three minutes to get these pictures!

I would have a hole in my tights, oh well. Life goes on! Also, I will forever love this pink sweater. I have done a previous post wearing it differently but this item has definitely been a must-have in my winter wardrobe. It is so bright and colorful. I absolutely adore it. I got it from Forever 21 and surprisingly, it has lasted several years and still going strong!

Shirt: Forever 21 (similar one)

Shorts: Goodwill $1.99 - originally from Lucca Couture (similar one)

Shoes: Target $13.48

Necklace: eBay

Dear Diary | Day in the Mountains

Hey, y'all! I hope y'all have been having a great week! I'm sorry I have posted an actual blog in a week. It has been quite hectic and nonstop for me recently, but hopefully I'll have great news to share with you soon!

I don't usually put myself out there, but I think it's helpful to sometimes - helpful to me and hopefully helpful to others. Although I am an extravert, I struggle to talk about my feelings. It's actually really hard for me to talk about what's bothering me, as much as I talk.

For a while now, I have been struggling with my faith. Not doubting the existence of God, but doubting if He cares about me or hears my cry of help. After I made the decision that God doesn't care about me, I stopped caring. If He doesn't care, why should I?

I have built up a wall of envy, hate, and fury separating me and everyone around me. I complained about everything. I hated everything. I hated everyone. I made myself the person no one wants to be around. When I finally wanted to tear that wall down, I have already pushed everyone out of my life. I didn't have anyone but myyself to blame.

That just made me build my wall back up. Church, which was once my escape, started being a drag to go to. I didn't get anything out of it like I used to. I went because it was the normal thing for me to do. I lost passion in worshipping and learning about God.

In the past month or so, I decided to slowly stop going to church. First Wednesday nights, then Sunday School, then finally Sundays all together. It was something that I have been pondering for a while. It was not a sudden, out-of-the-blue decision.

I said that my youth group was the problem, but now I realized that it was me who had the problem.

Prayer was foreign to me. I couldn't remember the last time I said a real prayer to God. A prayer where I just let my mind breathe. I believed that God didn't care about me so why would I waste my breath to talk to him?

I want to say I lost my way and sight of who I was, but in all honesty, I didn't know who I was.

When I found myself spending the last few hours of 2013 in bed, alone, I knew I wanted to make a change. When I woke up at 1 in the morning realizing I fell asleep at 8, I knew I had to make a change.

It's cliche to make changes a New Year's Resolution, but it was what I needed to do. I devoted myself to follow my passion and put myself out there (hence this blog). I devoted myself to rebuilding my relationship with God. I devoted myself to knock the wall down for good. I devoted myself to just be happy.

Fortunately, I have been doing well with all of those things. I have bad days but who doesn't? I have been blessed with opportunities I would have never believed would happen to me. I have been blessed with an amazing God-loving mentor who supports me.

Throughout my struggle with my faith and God, I still talked to him every now and then, whenever I wanted. That was the problem. I picked and chose when I wanted to converse with God. To rebuild my relationship with God fully, I had to just shut up and listen to Him. And I did. 

 I made myself believe that God wasn't listening to my cries or my prayers. But I wasn't listening to what He had to say. What He wanted for me was different than what I wanted for myself. I knocked down doors that He had closed and locked up for a reason. I learned that the hard way.

You can never stop growing your faith. Your walk with God never ends. It's ongoing. Although, we will all stray - we are human after all. 

I'm glad I made the decision to come to my youth group's winter retreat. I took all my youth leaders for granted. They have been there with me through everything and I neglected them. Yet, when I walked in the door today, I was welcomed with open arms.

I have already learned a lot in the several hours since I arrived - about me and about God.

I'm sorry this wasn't a fashion post, but I'm glad and thankful you read it to the end anyways. 

 I'm also sorry if this blog post was all scattered as well.

It's okay to just wake up, throw on your favorite sweatshirt, and enjoy your day. No make up required, just a vulnerable heart and an open mind.

xoxo, Christine

Quick Post: Peplum + Leather

Leather Jacket: Thrifted $7.99

Shirt: Marshall's $5.00

Jeans: PacSun $19.99

Shoes: Charlotte Russe $9.99

Necklace: Plato's Closet $4.00

Bracelets: Old Navy $2.99, Thirfted $1.99

Black & Teal

"Don't start living tomorrow, tomorrow never arrives. Start working on your dreams and ambitions today." ~Anonymous

This week has been a not-so-productive week for me. I have not been to school since Tuesday thanks to this snow (no sarcasm there). However, since I have not been at school or at work due to this weather, I have been laying in bed having movie marathons in my pajamas. As much fun as lazy day is every once in a while, I like to stay busy or at least be out of the house.

 On Thursday, my sister and I went thrifting (apparently "thrifting" is not actually a verb according to spell check, who knew) and it was a successful one to say the least. When I go thrifting, I like to wear casual clothes that is easy to get in and out of because I like to try on everything before I buy it. (Should I do a post on everything that I got?)

That now leads me up to today (Saturday). Although I had work all day, I finally was out of the house and took the advantage to dress up. Okay, I really just wanted an excuse to wear these cut-out boots. ;)

 

 

 

My tights look really dark in the first three pictures but I promise they are more vibrant in person. I love my colorful tights this winter. It was definitely a staple in my wardrobe. However, I was ready for spring and pastels! I hope y'all have a great night :) 

xoxo, Christine

Shirt: Old Navy $4.97 (I can't find it online, but I purchased mine in stores on Wednesday!)

Skirt: Target $11.98 - similar one $6.78

Tights: Forever 21 $5.80

Shoes: PacSun $9.99 - similar one

Necklace: Plato's Closet $4.00

Bracelet: Old Navy $2.99 (I can't find it online, but I purchased mine in stores on Wednesday!)

Snow Much Fun

It's not really a snow day unless there are snow selfies all over Instagram or everyone tweeting "Do you want to build a snowman?" For me, it's not really a snow day unless I get to take pictures in it. Of course who do I ask? Ding, ding, ding. You got it - Lauren. She is so great in front of the camera. When I become a famous fashion photographer, I'll have her to thank because half of my portfolio is of her right now. ;)

I had such great feedback from the pictures I posted on Sunday so I decided that I would share with y'all the pictures that I took today! I really just wanted to do a photo shoot in the snow because I have never done one in the snow before. I actually really liked how the pictures turned out so I might add them to my portfolio as well. 

We pretended we were in New York City at Central Park. We'll be there one day.

I know Lauren has been featured in the last couple of posts, but I know y'all love her just as much as I do! Huge thank you to her for letting me use her as my model yet again!

Maybe I'll be able to use my camera more this year (it is a new year's resolution anyways) and get to share more of my "artwork!" :)