Working Girl Closet.

I'm obsessed with clothes, but not necessarily fashion. I haaaate high fashion magazines. I just don't understand them. Half the stuff I see on the runway, normal women like myself (well, I'm mostly normal...right?) would never, ever actually wear. No, I'm not going to pair a bold, pink-based floral blouse with some form of yellow and green patterned pants. I don't care how 'different' it is - ya look dumb.

I'm pretty simple when it comes to my fashion choices, whether it's for a work event, going out to dinner with my boyfriend or going bar hopping with my friends. Recently I've been trying to up my outfits for work, which is no small feat. Professional clothes are EXPENSIVE, so I try to mix and match a lot of what I already have to create new looks. This way, I'm [slightly] less tempted to go buck wild on a J. Crew Factory sale. 

I've needed a little more inspiration than usual lately, so I've been actively updating my Working Girl Closet Pinterest board (check it out here). Going through it, a lot of these are a variety of the same thing: full, high-waisted skirts with a simple blouse, a fun-colored blazer with a pencil skirt, etc. Having only been in the workforce for a little over six months, I can only hope my Working Girl Closet will someday be a variation of my own closet. 'Hope' being the operative word here.

These are some of my favorites:

Can you tell I like skirts or...? XO

Monday Shmonday.

Goodbye weekend in the sun...hellloooo sunburn. Florida decided to skip spring and jump straight to August heat, but I'm not complaining. 

Saturday I went to the beach for the first time in a hot minute. The Gulf was clear enough that I could see my toe nail polish while I was hip-deep...Indian Rocks Beach felt more like a tropical island. The sun was hot but the breeze was incredible. Definitely the best beach day of the year thus far. Combined with a cookout at my boyfriend's pool day, it's really no surprise the sun got the best of me. I also suck at applying sunscreen, so there's that. 

Alas, another weekend has come and gone and it's Monday once again. Womp womp. Time to "make it better." 

1. I'm starting the work week with a positive attitude. Trying out a few new tricks and a fresh perspective. Kind of excited to see where it takes me. 

2. I get paid on Wednesday, AYYO. It's funny, I'm really just excited to put more money into my savings account. The more houses I look at on Pinterest, the more money I want to save for the future. To each their own motivation, I guess?

3. This sunburn will turn into a nice tan, which I'll let myself enjoy before I turn into a wrinkled mess when I'm old. Damn you, Florida. 

Hope everyone had a splendid weekend! Only 4 days until Friday :) XO

Home Sweet Home.

So. Moving out.

Even though I did it for the first time almost five years ago now, the idea of doing it again surfaces a mix of emotions for me. Excitement, nostalgia, anxiety, a sense of freedom.

To be honest, I'm rarely ever home. Wednesday night is my weeknight sleepover night with Ryan, and then I spend the majority of the weekend at his place, which is about 45 minutes from my parents' house. When I'm not spending time with him, I make dinner dates with friends and I go to at least one after hours event for work per week. Getting home at 8 p.m., in bed by 11 and up by 7:30 a.m. doesn't really leave much time for me to spend at home. Because of that, I have less time to get annoyed by my mom and dad's antics and more time to wonder why I so desperately want to start paying rent.

Then I remember my dorm, my first apartment, my second apartment. I remember living with the best roommates, cooking my own food, retreating to my bedroom without an explanation as to why I'm being antisocial. I remember how good it feels to have my own space and then I start actively searching for the perfect 2/2 apartment, at the perfect price, in the perfect location.

Don't get me wrong - my parents are extreeeeeemely laid back. I have the kind of parents who, if I called at 3 a.m. and said 'AYYO I'm drunk and I don't want to drive,' they wouldn't ask questions, they would just come get me. I could stay at Ryan's for a week straight and they wouldn't say a word - they'd just miss me. They're super flexible and accommodating and, you know, my parents, so I don't really have much room to complain.

But anyway. The point I'm getting at is that while I'm in no rush (tentatively planning on moving out in June, but not too worried about it), I'm also getting super freaking pumped to a) be living with my best friend Kaylee and b) to decorate a new apartment.

Ahhhh. Change is coming. Good change, but change. And I'm weird with change.

XO
 

8 Things Every Happy Woman Should Have.

Okay, so I was creeping on Cupcakes and Cashmere's personal posts the other day, trying to get a little inspiration when it comes to my own blog, and I came across a post called 8 Things Every Happy Woman Should have (check out the original post here). I loved this idea so I decided to fill in the blanks for myself!

1. A go-to drink: ooooh, I have several. Vodka or tequila tonic with lime, a glass of pinot grigio, a glass of sangria (I'm particular where I order one of these), or a classic marg. Can't go wrong.
2. A go-to karaoke song: anything Taylor Swift. I'm boring. And I don't do karaoke too often...unless it's my 22nd birthday.
3. A uniform: a solid sundress with a cardigan, sandals and my long gold necklace.
4. A hair stylist they love: Marissa Moran for dayyys.
5. An exercise routine: Zumba on Mondays, Yoga on Tuesdays.
6. A hobby: I feel like I need to make more time for hobbies! But I love baking, Pinterest (I hate that this is a hobby but lately, I've been addicted), and when I'm inspired, painting.
7. A best friend: I'm lucky enough to have roughly seven or eight girlfriends I could go to for anything...and of course my boyfriend.
8. A healthy sense of self: I think this one is developing more rapidly than I realize. I used to be so quick to get angry or snarky, and now I'm learning to relax and be more understanding, more compassionate. It's a work in progress obviously, but I've got some pretty incredible people in my life to help me along the way.

Happy Monday, guys! Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. XO

When life gives you lemons...well, you know.

If you asked me in April 2013 where I thought I would be one year later, I probably would've told you "I have no idea." Which would've been entirely accurate. I was two weeks away from graduating college, three months away from traveling to Europe, four months away from saying goodbye to my at-the-time boyfriend of almost two years as he embarked on his journey to law school. I was lost, but I wasn't unhappy. I was just accepting the fact that everything was about to change, because what choice did I have?

At the time, I didn't know that in six months, I'd accept a full-time job opportunity at the company I was interning with. I didn't know I'd come back from Europe to have my boyfriend tell me he had no interest in having a long distance relationship. I didn't know that two months after saying goodbye to him in Tennessee that I would meet the man who has ultimately changed my life for the better; someone that I truly believe I was meant to meet; someone that I would fall hopelessly in love with.

I guess I'm just trying to state the obvious: life throws you curve balls. More than half the time, you won't be expecting them, and you won't be ready for them. I think the most bold and beautiful thing you can do is not only roll with the punches, but embrace them. If, in your heart, something feels right, it probably is, and vice versa.

If you asked me in April 2013 where I thought I would be one year later, I wouldn't have had any idea that I could be this happy, this sure, this confident. I'm thrilled to be where I am, and I hope this feeling never goes away.

Monday, how did you get here so quickly?!

AHHHH I knew coming back to work this Monday would be bad, but this is just so depressing. Leaving the beach and coming back to a cubicle...thanks for the slap in the face, reality! 

I had the most amazing weekend with Ryan and his family celebrating his cousin Marissa's wedding. Seriously THE most beautiful venue and the most beautiful bride I've ever seen! It was so great spending time with his parents and meeting his sister (finally!). We've only been dating six months, but I feel like I've known them all forever. Such a great feeling :)

Well, to "make it better" this Monday, I'm going to reminisce over the beautiful views and memories I made this weekend. I had been looking forward to this wedding for awhile and I must say, I was blown away. 

View from the hotel room!

View during the cocktail reception!

Sunset during the cocktail reception. 

View from the beach house his family rented for the week. STUNNING. 

Naples Beach, just before I went paddle boarding with dolphins :)

Hanging out at the wedding with Ryan's sister, Jamie!

Ryan & I matching in purple. Isn't he so handsome?!

Goofin around before the ceremony. 

Marissa and Penn right after being announced husband and wife!

Needless to say, it was an unforgettable weekend. But for now...it's back to the grind! XOXO

Grateful for Friday!

I'm on my mini vacay, so I'll make this short and sweet. I woke up this morning feeling refreshed, grateful, and happy to be alive. Sometimes I get so caught up with work and the every day stress of the work week that I forget how to really enjoy myself. A three day weekend is exactly what I need to refresh my mind and my heart. Today, I'm grateful for what I have, what I've had, and what I will have. 

A List of Happy.

Wearing my boyfriend's jacket as a throw blanket.

Pouring my soy chai tea latte from Starbucks from its original cup into a fancy mug.

Crawling underneath freshly washed bedsheets after a lawwwng day.

That feeling of excitement the night before leaving for vacation.

Coming home to a clean room after vacation.

Lighting my sea salt & sand candle as soon as I come home from work.

Splurging my calories on a margarita after eating healthily all week.

That warm feeling in my heart when I steal a glance at Ryan and I know with 100% certainty that I am crazy, crazy in love with him.

Beach Vacay Necessities

I'm so happy it's Wednesday because today is technically my Thursday! Ryan and I are leaving for Cape Coral/Naples Beach tomorrow night after work, and we both took Friday off so we have ourselves a three day wedding weekend on the beach. Even though I grew up on the beach and I've lived close to the beach my whole life, there's nothing I love more than a beach vacation. Sun, sand, and sangria is really all I need to be a happy camper. These are some of my go-to items for a couple o' days away under dee sun.

• Essie nail polish in Tart Deco - I'm kind of a nail polish addict, but this is my favorite so far. I'd describe it as a neon coral, but it's a little more orange than pink. It looks great on tan toes, so it's definitely a spring/summer color.
• Eos lip balm in Summerfruit - I wasn't a huge fan of these when they first came out. I tried the strawberry flavor and I just thought it made my lips feel waxy and gross. Then I tried my friend's summerfruit flavor and my opinion completely changed! My lips get sunburnt realllllly easily, and chapped lips are my biggest pet peeve, so I plan on keeping this bad boy handy at all times. At. All. Times.
• Almay color + care liquid lip balm in Apricot Pucker - Because who doesn't love a little lip color to go with a fresh tan? Or in my case a sunburn. But really, this liquid lip balm goes on so smoothly and the color is really fresh and pretty.
• Covergirl CG Smoothers BB Cream - Did I mention I sunburn easily? Make up and moisturizers without SPF is not an option for me, especially since I'm pretty much guaranteed skin cancer (thanks for those genes, mom and dad). I've tried several different BB creams, but I always come back to this one. If I'm having a good skin day, I can wear it by itself since it's tinted, but I usually layer it underneath my Bare Minerals loose powder foundation. It adds a little bit of a dewy glow, but if that's not your thing, just keep some oil absorbing sheets on hand and you'll be good to go.
• Ray Ban polarized aviators - a little pricey, but these guys are my go-to beach glasses. First of all, they look great in photos. I know that sounds weird, but I have some sunglasses that I just don't like on my face in pictures. I'm a fruit loop. Anyway, when buying designer sunglasses, I always say "go big or go home" - GET POLARIZED. It makes such a difference, especially on the beach.
• PINK Body Spray - I actually don't have this one in particular, but the one I do have wasn't listed on Polyvore. If there's one thing I love more than going to the beach, it's smelling like the beach (or at least smelling good, period). Any kind of scent with a hint of coconut, sign me up! 

Beach Necessities by sammellaaa featuring Topshop

Topshop lip treatment
$12 - topshop.com

Almay lip treatment
cvs.com

Victoria s Secret beauty product
victoriassecret.com

Ray Ban ray ban aviator
macys.com

COVERGIRL tinted moisturizer
target.com

Ocean photography nautical decor vintage inspired 8x10 8x12 coastal...
etsy.com

essie nail color, tart deco
macys.com

Living room inspiration!

If all goes according to plan, I'm moving out of my parents house in June. Or June-ish. I'm adding the 'ish' only because, as much as I can't wait to have my own space, I really don't mind living at my parents'. For one, I'm saving SO much money per month. I'm not charged for any kind of rent, food, utilities, zip. Two, I'm hardly home anyway. Three, my parents don't really ask questions. I can come and go as I please, if I need some "me" time to hide away in my bedroom, they don't pester me. And did I mention I live there for free?

ANYWAY. Having said all of that, I am looking forward to having my own place again. After all, I lived on my own during all four years of college. As much as I love living with my parents, I'm pumped to decorate a new place with my soon-to-be roommate (and one of my best friends) Kaylee. Obviously Pinterest has been my BFF during my planning process. Right now, I'm obsessively pinning living room decor. Below are a couple of my favorites. A part of me feels like these are two pictures of the same apartment but hey, at least I'm consistent. I love the look of a rustic wooden coffee table and candles on top of a fancy silver plate. Top it off with an array of comfy throw pillows and fluffy blankets and I may never leave my nonexistent living room. But seriously, how cozy are these rooms? Whenever I move out, these will be my immediate references. Meeep, so excited. Gimme gimme gimme.

XO

Making it Better Monday.

Mondays kill me. This particular Monday is killing me because I had to be up at 5:30 a.m. To those of you who have to wake up that early (or earlier) on the reg, I salute you. 7:30 is only relatively comfortable for me, and that's pushing it. 

Anyway, to make Monday seem a little more bearable, I try to think of all of the positive things Monday brings. This tends to be a difficult feat, so I'll keep it at three today:

1) In three days, Ryan and I will be en route to Cape Coral, and then down to Naples Beach, for his cousin Marissa's wedding. I've been looking forward to this for months now. I'm so ready for an extra day off work, champagne toasts and dancing the night away in my new lilac dress. And to spend time with Ryan's family, of course. They're all so welcoming and wonderful. And I get to meet his sister for the first time. I can't wait!

2) My car is so fresh, so clean. Finally gave that bad boy a good wash. Well....Ryan did. We'll see how long it takes before a blanket of yellow pollen presents itself over my navy blue car. I give it 18 hours. 

3) I get to have dinner with one of my very best friends Anna tomorrow night! She lives about an hour away from me, and works nights as an RN, so coordinating our schedule can be a pain. But every time we get together, it's like no time has passed! I'm pretty pumped to have a drink or two with my fellow blonde bombshell. 

Here's hoping this Monday is a good one, because I know post-wedding Monday next week will be rough. XOXO

TGIF!

TGIF is a relatively new phrase for me. Working in the hospitality industry for the past five years, Friday's rarely screamed "WEEKEND!" For me, it sounded a lot more like "I put my name on the waiting list over an hour ago and a couple that walked in after us is being seated before us and I don't care if I have a party of 16 plus three high chairs because we are the customer and we are always right so we should get a free dessert." Okay, maybe I'm kidding...actually, no, I'm not kidding.

Now that I work anywhere from eight to ten hours a day five days a week, Friday's are my saving grace. There's no better feeling than hopping into the driver's seat of my car at five(ish) on Friday afternoon. Most of said afternoons, I hop on the crosstown and head over to Ryan's place where I spend the majority of the weekend. He lives about 45 minutes away from my house now, so I always look forward to spending some extra days with him! 

I'm super pumped because this weekend, Ryan and I are going to the zoo! I've been wanting to go for such a long time, so we finally picked a day. He's making up for the fact that I couldn't go to Ginnie Springs with him this past weekend ;) But really, I haven't been to our local zoo in about four years. I'm hoping for a sunny day filled with feeding giraffes, watching elephants feed themselves (my fave), and observing a monkey or ten. Needless to say, my inner child will be making an appearance tomorrow and I hope Ryan is ready for it. Who am I kidding? He's dating me. He tolerates me on the regular, so I'm sure he'll be well prepared.

Happy weekend, friends! XOXO

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Even the darkest night will end & the sun will rise.

A wise man once said, "life's tough, get a helmet." Okay, that man was Eric Matthews from Boy Meets World. But let's get real, life gets rough sometimes. I'll be boppin' along, head in the clouds, rocking second-day curls and ready to take on the world...and then all of the sudden I get a setback. I'll take a wrong turn on the way to a networking event, taking me 20 minutes in the wrong direction. I'll have an argument with my parents over driving on the grass. Someone might make a snarky remark to me about something trivial that (probably due to my hormonal rage) really hits my heart. Days like these, I want to gauge my eyes out with a spoon.

What I need to remember on these days is that this, too, shall pass. No matter how upset I am by 11 a.m. on a Monday morning, 5 o'clock will eventually roll around, and I will end up at home, and I will end up in the box of Ikea goodness that is my bed. No matter how stressed out I am about hitting my numbers throughout the week, the weekend will eventually come, and I'll find temporary relief. These things probably seem elementary, but my point is that more often than not, life will go on despite the major or minor setbacks we all experience. The stress will pass. The darkest night (or in my case for March, month) will end, and the sun will rise, and there will be a possibility for a better tomorrow. While said tomorrow is never guaranteed, it's all we can hope for.

It's hump DAY!

Wednesdays are my favorite day of the week (well...Saturdays are actually my favorite day, let's get real). Not only is the week halfway over, but Wednesday nights are my week day sleepover nights with this handsome fella.

We both work pretty stressful (and awesome) full time jobs, so it's so great to be able to have a night together in the middle of the week as a little pick-me-up. Sometimes we go to the gym together (...sometimes) but most nights I'll find us a recipe on Pinterest and we'll whip up dinner together and give into our current guilty pleasure, aka Real World. And that ends tomorrow, so our Wednesday night slot is up for grabs! Maybe I'll finally get him hooked on Orange is the New Black...

He's my hump day treat every day of the week, but Wednesdays are extra awesome because of him.

20 things you probably don't care about.

1. I'm a candle fiend. Coconut and sea salt scents in the summer, pumpkin goodness in the fall, and Christmas tree in the winter. 
2. I've been a blonde my entire life, but I lost my mind for a six month period about four years ago and went brunette. Never again.
3. My boyfriend, Ryan, has had my whole heart for about six months now and I'm the luckiest girl in the world to be able to call him mine.
4. A soy chai tea latte is the key to my heart. So is a hot dog. And chocolate covered raisins. And sour patch kids. There is a whole key ring to my heart.
5. "I like my money where I can see it...hanging in my closet." Yep, pretty much sums me up.
6. I don't think Anchorman is funny.
7. I'm always down for frozen yogurt. Always. Ryan hates it. I think he's just trying to be fiesty.
8. I listen to all kinds of music, which is why Spotify is my BFF. I'm currently on a heavy country rotation, but three days ago I was listening to Icona Pop and Slightly Stoopid like it was nobody's business. And Mandy Moore. Yeah, whatever.
9. I graduated from the University of South Florida last spring, landing a sales job where I interned about five months post graduation. Some days I want to gauge my eyes out with a spoon from the stress, but most days I have a blast with my coworkers and all days I'm so thankful to have a job.
10. I'm moving out of my parents' house (again) in June. I'm terrified but so excited.
11. Guilty of heavily using Instagram filters. Shoot me.
12. I own all four season of The O.C. on DVD and when I'm craving comfort, I'll put in any of the DVDs and catch up with my BFF's Seth, Summer, Ryan and Marissa.
13. My other BFF's include McSteamy and McDreamy. If you watch Grey's Anatomy, you'll get that reference. If you don't watch it...well, you should probably start.
14. Pretty Little Liars is a guilty pleasure. Sorry not sorry.
15. Four years ago, I started a weight loss journey. In eight months, I managed to drop about 20 pounds. After fluctuating on and off for the next two years, I got down to my lowest weight and dropped an extra five. My weight goes up and down all the time, but I'm happier with my body than I have been in awhile.
16. I'm a pretty bright and bubbly person, but I own more black, navy and gray clothing than anything else.
17. Anticipated crowds give me anxiety.
18. Racism, sexism and bigotry is a huge turnoff for me; for friends, for colleagues, for significant others. 
19. You'll never catch me with unpainted toenails.
20. I spend just as much money as I make. I can't tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing.