It was purely by coincidence that I was wearing a “California Dreamer” shirt and stumbled upon this dreamlike setting for blog photos! Maybe it was the positioning of the trees, but it looked like a hidden wonderland as H and I passed this little grove on our way to lunch. It’s always nice to appreciate the little things in life, don’t you think? So often, we are caught up in our own life and technology (by that, I mean constantly staring at our phones) that we develop a sort of tunnel vision and forget to look around and fully take in the beauty of our surroundings.
Anyhow, on this day, I decided to channel a relaxed-but-chic feel, and pairing a boxy cropped tee (last seen here) with a floral skater skirt did the trick. I’ve always viewed crop tops as intimidating, mainly because I’m just not that comfortable baring my tummy (that’s one downside to living in Southern California so close to the beach; so many girls have that enviable toned, tan tummy that the pressure is huge!), but after one enlightening trip to the Forever 21 fitting room, I discovered that I can actually pull off the crop top look comfortably. For me, the trick is to combine a boxy crop top (go one size larger than your usual size for a better fit) with one of my favorite bottom pieces – the high-waisted skater skirt! The boxy top balances out the girliness of the bottom all while keeping the right proportions, and a sliver of skin looks much more ladylike than a whole bared tummy.
In other news, I did a mini-revamp of my online store – www.joelle.storenvy.com! For those who don’t know the backstory of it – two and a half years ago, while I was cleaning out my closet and tossing certain things into the “Donate/Throw Away” pile, H encouraged me to try selling my clothes on eBay. Long story short, I was gobsmacked not only by how fun and easy the process was but also that people actually bought my things, and eventually, H and I expanded the eBay store onto the Storenvy platform for a more user-friendly and eye-appealing storefront. These days, we still maintain the eBay store daily, but I keep forgetting to update the jo-elle store (jo-elle is a play on my full name). BUT that’s all changed because I finally updated the inventory today and even slashed some prices! As a mini-celebration for this mini-revamp, I’m gifting you readers a promo code for 10% off anything! Just enter the code “jayeeaych” at checkout and watch the magic unfold. I will admit that the shipping function is still a tad wonky at times, but I refuse to take advantage by overcharging on shipping, so if the site does accidentally overcharge you (this would only happen if you order multiple items), I will refund the difference!
Thank you for reading!
Top: Forever 21 | Skirt: Forever 21 | Flats: Restricted | Bag: 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target
Photos by Herman
