A Cropped Sweater on the Weekend

Here are a few photos from one of my weekend looks-- a cropped sweater and high-waist jeans.  My go-to these days.  Oh, and there's little Almond too.  He loves being a part of anything that takes place outdoors.

I got more than $20 worth out of this cream-colored cropped sweater from Express.  This sweater is one of those things I mentioned in my last post that I loved so much that I bought two of.  The other one doesn't get as much wear, but it has a similar affect.  The sweater is paired with American Apparel's "Easy Jean," definitely my go-to black jeans.  They fit my curves perfectly and are high-waisted.  Enough said.  Boots are Ugg clog books, pretty comfortable and cute enough.  

I am loving a high bun these days!  Now that it is no longer a struggle to fit my thick locs into a bun, this is one of my go-to looks. 

Rocking my A Gypsy's Junk pieces again.

<3
M

Thanks again to my little brother for taking this photo, and others.

Quilted Sweatshirt with a Pencil Skirt

Better late than never!  Continuing with the sweatshirt series, or rather outfits with the sweatshirts that I have worn numerous times this winter in numerous ways.

Here I'm wearing a cropped, quilted sweatshirt from the GAP.  I got it super cheap at a Gap that was closing while in Jersey, and the lady was right: I can wear it with everything and yes, I should have gotten two!  But, I'm trying not to have too many multiples in my closet, as I want to have less things, even if that means clothing.

I paired the heather oatmeal colored top with my current favorite wool pencil skirt from J.Crew, blue tights from Hue and my leather/suede mix Ugg clog boots.  Hunter green paired with blue, why not!

Assorted rings from Bauble Bar, A Gypsy's Junk, Nordstrom and J.Crew.  Can you tell which is which?  Giraffe necklace from J.Crew Factory and Guess watch.

I'm also rocking my Gypsy's Junk earrings.  Love, love this pair!

Oh, and I can't forget my go-to Warby Parker glasses.  I've had them for three years and I still love 'em.

Until next time,
<3
M

Photo credits go to my little brother.  Thanks, little-big bro!

A Floral Sweatshirt

Happy Friday!

I mentioned in my last post that I am loving sweatshirts lately.  Here I am in one of my favorites, my only patterned sweatshirt, that I've styled in many different ways for work and for play.  Here I am before work one morning.

Gray is probably my favorite neutral color, and I absolutely love the vibrant flowers against the warm gray.

 I paired this J.Crew sweatshirt with my go-to Old Navy chambray shirt underneath, buttoned all the way up of course, with Gap 1969 cords and my gold wedge sneakers.

I've been digging into my rings boxes lately-- reminding me of the time I wore a silver ring on each finger in college and my mom thought it was a phase.  The rings are from a few places including Bauble Bar, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters and the bead rings are A Gypsy's Junk.

The back of my hair.  Living out loud for real! And the decal coming across the shoulders makes me think of wings.

<3
M

Extra Purple

This has truly been the year of sweatshirts.  Seriously I added five sweatshirts to my wardrobe since fall.  Cropped sweatshirts, patterned sweatshirts, dressed-up sweatshirts-- all kinds of sweatshirts have been my go-to for work and play lately.

 For this look I paired my warm grey, cropped sweatshirt with a deep purple flounce skirt and purple tights as well.  (Another thing Ive been experimenting lately with is colored tights in bold ways!)  I layered a white button down shirt underneath and kept my jewelry simple with my staple gold nameplate and glasses.  Yup, I consider glasses to be an accessory, as well as lipstick.

Sweatshirt and skirt by J.Crew, Old Navy button down, Hue tights and Fyre boots

I am loving these African bracelets that I got from the woman I buy raw shea butter from-- I believe they're imported from Nigeria.  The purple-bead ring is by A Gypsy's Junk, the initial ring is Urban Outfitters and the large purple ring is from Forever 21.

Warby Parker frames and purple lip stain by Stilla.

Until next time,
<3
M

Meditation Club

As much as I've been thinking of revamping and revealing a new blog look in a big way, I realize that this is as good as any topic to revive my blog after a several month hiatus.

I started posting this picture on my Instagram with what was turning out to be a long caption that felt more like a blog post, so here goes. 

My meditation club-- I usually say "the meditation group I facilitate" but I'm owning this right now!-- is growing and evolving. For the past few months, I've been meeting with a group of students and some faculty on Wednesdays during lunch to meditate and share a calm, grounded space with like or aspiring like minds. Even our physical space has evolved from a simple room with chairs to the addition of a large rug and several floor pillows to compliment our dim lamp. Similarly, as a group we've gone from 1-2 regulars to several more and truly filling up our space. After last week's meditation meeting I realized that the club was also evolving to include social emotional learning and mindfulness discussions as we talked about how to maintain our joy and stay grounded even in trying situations.

So, after meditation today, I taught the students about affirmations and we wrote some to post in the hallway. We are also now meeting one day after school in addition to one day at lunch. This was all student requested. I continue to be humbled and inspired by the students' openness and the effects felt from our time together-- a student shared today that someone asked through her "ask.fm" site how she stays so happy and she talked about meditation. Speak! I'm realizing this is a little bit of a deja vu in that the meditation club came about after I mentioned to one of my classes earlier this year that the reason I was so calm in a slightly jarring situation Is because I meditated that morning. This same student inquired about it, and I told her more and she said she would love to try it. The rest is history.

I am also learning and growing in this process and am excited to see where this all goes. An educational setting that includes mindfulness practices is the dream I didn't always have the language to express, though it clearly aligns with the teaching philosophy I've always held.  More on this to come.

Love and light.

<3 M