If I've got to describe my style, I wouldn't be able to put a finger on it, but it's definitely influenced by British fashion with Alexa Chung being one of my biggest style icons. The cool LA city chic and 90s grunge fashion doesn't quite click with me the way British/European fashion does. I'm drawn to the casual chic, which looks classy and put together. Can be dressed up or dressed down while still retaining that touch of class I adore. While I consider this particular outfit casual chic, compared to the people around me, I'm definitely overdressed. And sometimes it sucks because I hate to be the one constantly overdressed all the time. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. I mean, I've dressed this way for how many years now? And I'm still trapped in that limbo of worrying whether I stand out too much and battling it in my head and wondering what others must be thinking about this silly girl all dolled up. Some days, I don't care and some days, I get those stares that just obliterate my confidence. It's really not supposed to matter what others think but when the anxiety gets you, you just can't help it! But on this day, I didn't care and I was a happy girl because I got to wear this super cute blouse with embroidered kitties playing all over it.

 This cheerful, mustard cardigan has been with me for as long as I can remember. It's definitely seen its fair share of sunlight. You can't really see it, but it's piling and getting that all-too-familiar fuzziness indicative of wear (I really hate that!). One of my life goals at the moment is to knit a similar cardigan for myself to replace it. Still, I'll keep it in my closet for years to come. It's just so comforting to me. It's like a ray of sunshine blasting away those dreary days and instantly lifting my mood. I recall eyeing it on the Urban Outfitters website for months, but never could justify paying full price for it. I'd close the window and force myself to forget about it for a while. Every so often, I'd come back and check just to see if it'd ever go on sale. And eventually it did and in my cart it went! It's meant to be an oversize fit, which you can see here that it's quite loose. One of my favorite ways to wear it is over a simple T-shirt and jeans for those lazy rainy days where you just want to curl up in the corner of a chair with a novel in hand and a hot cup of tea steeping nearby. But of course, I'm sure no one is interested in seeing that so I threw it on over this dress for some adventure time in the park!

 It's strange to see this particular area - or much of my city in fact - covered in lush green meadows. A summer ago, I would never have considered climbing over train tracks and dirt paths to take photos in this very spot. This green meadow you see here is normally very dry with cracked parched earth and hardly any sign of green. The only plants you manage to see have the water and life sucked out of them from the numerous years of drought that this region has suffered. And the ones that still manage to retain their vibrant green have been knowingly and continuously watered. I'm so grateful for the last few weeks of on and off rain. I believe it was finally enough to fill the lakes and reservoirs up north, which had been almost depleted this past summer. The mountains have been blessed with snow and have remained white in all this time. And as soon as the weather warms up again, the snow will melt and trickle down even more water for our thirsty state. I hope we continue on in this fashion for a little while longer. I really do like this sort of gloomy, cloudy weather. Cloudy days really do make for the best photoshoots, IMO!

 In a desperate attempt to bring more moisture into the dry winter air, I bought a few indoor plants - particularly English ivy, pothos, and aloe vera - this past weekend at a local orchard. My skin and scalp gets so dry during this time of the year. Turning on the heater doesn't help either. I have to immediately slather copious amounts of lotion after showering or my skin gets super dry/flaky/itchy. I thought cowashing would be moisturizing enough for my scalp but apparently it's not. So, I have recently resorted to oiling my scalp with an olive/castor oil blend the night before I wash just to get relief from the dryness. I did try spreading a couple of drops after while my scalp/hair were still damp but that made my hair kind of greasy looking so I stopped doing that.

 I never thought it was strange to wear florals during the winter season as I wear them whenever I feel like. Interestingly enough, I recently came across a few articles (here and here) stating that winter florals were now a fashion trend and examples of how to style this trend. I guess it didn't have as big of an impact on me because I've always had a thing for florals (and I don't really follow fashion trends too closely, I think?).  All the more reason to wear it, I suppose! Now, it does make sense to pair floral prints against darker fabrics. One tends to gravitate towards darker colors during the colder seasons. I do like a pop of color here and there, however. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of wearing a wholly dark attire. I also find it rather interesting that these darker hues are suggestive as being "gothic", "Victorian" or  even "vampy", which I can understand. You don't see vampires in movies wearing bright pinks and corals, do you?

After a week long break from blogging, I've returned with fresh ideas and am determined to improve in all aspects of my photography. I've still got my sights on a full frame camera but that won't be any time soon. I'm hoping by the end of this year I'll have saved enough but that's being really optimistic. As part of my New Year's resolution, I've made it one of my top priorities to spend more time with my friends this year. I was going through some rough, dark times and had forsaken their friendship. I couldn't talk to anyone about it, not even my boyfriend of 9 years. It took some time - I was apprehensive, fearful even - but I reached out to my friends one sunny day and was so grateful that they accepted me back into their lives with open arms. It felt so good just to be with them. Enjoying their presence. Talking of mundane, nonsensical things in loud, raucous voices. Hours passing sleepily, peacefully with great bouts of laughter shaking us awake from the afternoon lull. Doing nothing but feeling everything. I had forgotten how precious these moments were. And I felt so at ease. I'm happy to say 2017 has been off to a good start!