Nectar Clothing and BFFs

^^^Can't even tell you how long it took to get this shot :P

My outfit: Shirt: Nectar Clothing here; Flannel: Hurley, similar here; Shorts: Forever 21; similar here; Birks: Urban Og here; Sunnies: Silvano Apparel here  Gemma's Outfit: Flannel: Her Hubby's, similar here; Shorts: Forever 21,similar here Birks: Thrifted, similar cheap version here, other here; Sunnies: Urban Outfitters, similar here

So, obviously we had a ton of fun with this shoot. My bff and roomie of five years, Gemma, just recently started a blog Following Arrows, and we decided to do a shoot together! I went to a VIP launch party for Nectar Clothing (Seriously check out their cute stuff! I got the cutest jumpsuit and a dress so be on the lookout for some fun posts featuring their items!), and Gemma got to be my plus one. It was seriously the best party. Food. Drinks. Music. And some seriously good girl time with Gemma and a couple other girls. We also got these cute tees. I love that they say "Giving back is the new black". Because that's exactly what I want to be about in my life. Being selfless and giving back whenever I can. So we obviously decided that we should do a fun shoot in them. We used the self timer and took a million photos to try to get it just right because we couldn't see what we were doing. And then we snapped a few photos of each other too. We had so much fun we might do a shoot together maybe once a month! It's so fun to have a friend that lives nearby and blogs because we can do fun stuff like this together!

Also, quick recap on my Social Media Fast. OMG. I go on my Insta SO much. I can't even tell you. Fasting from it made me realize how much I go on. Like I was even out on a run and stopped at a light, and I went to pull out my phone to look. Or just anytime my phone was in my hand, I would just swipe over to Instagram. I definitely need to be more purposeful with my time. Luckily for me, I worked the whole day and then went straight to a birthday party so I didn't have a ton of time to just sit on it but I do know that I paid more attention to my clients, and I didn't have my phone to distract me at the party so I just hung out. Then my cousin came over for a sleepover because Ben was gone and we had to do hair for a wedding the next day, and I'm sure if I had been able to go on my Instagram, I would have been less present hanging out with her. And we had the best girly time just chatting and painting our nails. So all in all, it was a really good experience, and now I'm working on how much I go on and let it take up my time. I may even try it again soon on a day I'm home so I can learn how to avoid it even when I'm not busy. 

Hope you all are having the best week! 

xoxoxo,

Christine

All Black and A Little on Loving Yourself

Sooo I had something on my heart this past weekend, and I'm not even sure where to start or how to say everything I'm thinking so I hope it all makes sense! I went to a play this weekend on the book "Cold Tangerines:Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Life" (you can buy it here), and several times it talks about women and their struggles with insecurities and body issues, and it really got me thinking about all that this weekend. I am thankful to say that by the grace of God, while I still have my bad days, I have come to embrace and love the body that God gave me and take pride in my care and presentation of it. And it literally breaks my heart when I hear girls who say they feel fat or ugly or make comments like who would love me. I can't even describe it. It just makes me want to fix it all, and I try to be encouraging, but at the end of the day I know, while my words may help, it's something much deeper. We spend our days comparing ourselves to people in photographs and walking down the street and wishing we had a better ____ (fill in the blank). There's a God who literally MADE you EXACTLY who you are. He looks at you and says, "It is GOOD." And with the way we treat ourselves, we are basically telling him that it's not. Would you ever say that the mountains or the oceans or flowers aren't GOOD? I could literally stare at the ocean forever. It leaves me in awe every time whether it's the beach in Hawaii or Cancun or near my home in Newport. If I can look at the ocean and know that what God made is good, how much more is that true of YOU?! I want every girl everywhere to truly feel deep down in their very soul that they are beautiful. We have to stop looking to people and things to tell us who we are and if we are beautiful. Maybe we've been criticized a lot or haven't had a loving family to help us to believe the truth about ourselves. That sucks. But guess what? God still says you're beautiful. He still calls you good. And if I'm going to believe anyone, it's going to be Him. It's not easy to learn to believe it but I promise that if you just start by praying every time you find yourself start comparing yourself to someone, I promise that it will start to change. Stop saying mean things to yourself and your body, and start loving it. You deserve it. 

Sorry for the rant! Just had to share! Now on to the outfit. An all black look can still be done in the summer! Just keep it light with your fabrics. I paired a flowy tank with my distressed black jeans and my birks. I added a red lip and my camel bag for some color! Hope you have the best week!

xoxoxo, Christine

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Top: Marshall's; similar here and here

Denim: H and M (distressed by moi!); similar here and here

Purse: H and M; similar here

Necklace: Forever 21 here

Shoes: Target here

DIY Distressed and Sunflowers

So I've been dying for a good pair of distressed denim, but I'm always looking for good deals AND I just feel like every time I try them on they just don't fit quite right. If I get them so they have that boyfriend fit they don't work because the waist is huge! Sooo I had these jeans on the other night (pre-distressing) and was thinking that they would make the perfect distressed jeans. I decided to check Pinterest for a tutorial, and I found one here. So I decided to do it! They turned out better than I planned! I even did a pair of black jeans and shorts as well. Sunflowers are my FAVE so this tee was the perfect match to my distressed denim. And OHHH, these birks. Um, can you say Target does it AGAIN!!! I couldn't believe when I found them. I've been wanting birks but the price is much higher than I like to spend for shoes. When I snagged these on sale at Target, they were only $23.99! #dealsandthrills

Thank you all for following along! 

xoxoxo, Christine

Top: O'Neill (old); similar here

Denim: American Eagle (distressed by yours truly); similar here

Birks: Target here (ON SALE!)

Necklace: Forever 21 (old); similar here

Lipstick: Wet N Wild