First 2016 High Five for Friday
Hello my amigos and amigas. I cannot believe that 2015 has come to a close. For me, 2015 was a year of many ups and downs. On one hand, I had several amazing opportunities to travel and connect with friends. On the other hand, I experienced some really heavy things. Life hit me hard. Out of the heavy in some ways came A World of Dresses. I plan to take this project all sorts of places in 2016. I’m excited to see where it will go.
But first, I’m going to reflect on five great things about the past several weeks. High Five for Friday is a weekly link up hosted by Della from Della Devoted, Tif from Bright on a Budget, Katie from Cup of Tea and Caitlin from Coffee with Caitlin. Be sure to check out their H54F posts too!
1. My girls
Last night was New Years Eve and I spent it at a house party in the middle of nowhere. I’m a member of an improv comedy troupe called Highly Improvable. One of our troupe members hosted a lovely NYE shindig out at her lovely, rustic house. It was just what I wanted for a New Years Eve celebration. Nothing too crazy. Two of my best friends Cindy and Grace came along with me.
We ended up crashing there and stopped at IHop on the way home today. I’m so very thankful for them. We can all just be ourselves around each other.
2. Family
Some of you may have already seen some of these pictures in my Christmas Re-cap post. With Christmas and my cousin’s baby shower, I’ve spent a lot of time with them recently. They have been there through everything my immediate family has gone through this fall. We are so very thankful.
3. My 2016 New Year’s dress
I found this for $9.99 at Love Culture. Can you believe that? I randomly decided to stop in there when I had some time to kill and found this. I got so many compliments on it last night. I cannot wait for an excuse to wear it again!
4. My best friend was in town
Kayleigh is my best friend ever. She lives 9 hours away from me in South Carolina, though. So when she is in town, we’re just together all the time. We had so many fun adventures while she was in town: exploring the local establishments of the suburb we grew up in, eating lots of meat/cheese with our friend Kim in Columbus, going to a bar way too packed with Bengals fans and watching videos/drinking beer as she packed to go back home. The only good photos we took together were on Snapchat. However this one is a gem. She’s a middle school Spanish teacher. She’s totally not being stereotypical here, right?
5. My new logo!
As mentioned above, Cindy is one of my closest friends. She’s also a graphic designer and designed me this sweet logo. I also found a matching layout. When I started this blog, I envisioned dark purple as my theme. It just all seems to go together and it makes me happy! It’s good to start 2016 feeling excited about my blog design.
Thanks for reading along! High Fives!
My Closet: Taylor’s world of dresses
I met Taylor on a sunny day in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati last Sunday. While the leaves had mostly all turned to fall colors and left the trees, the weather was quite puzzling. Yet when you had planned a photoshoot with dresses as your main focal point, you’re not complaining! So last Sunday I headed to Taylor’s house in a nice, quiet College Hill neighborhood for a little chat about her favorite dresses. I really had a great time. This is what she picked for her five favorites.
Taylor’s best friend dress
This is the dress Taylor wears most often. Some days she wears it with a cute pair of sneakers like we see here and other times she dresses it up with some heels. She’s worn it both for an evening out and for just a more casual day. A true little black dress if there ever was one
“If a dress could be your best friend, it would be this one because I wear it so often,” she said.
I dig how simple and also comfortable this dress seems. I also am a fan of pairing sneakers with dresses. People should do that more often. With this dress, it just seems to work.
The sexy dress
One of the many reasons why I love writing about women is learning about the common struggles we share and giving voice to them. Taylor admitted that this dress is a bit sexier than she usually goes for with the low neckline and exposed back. She said for a long time, she struggled to see herself as sexy or beautiful. I know I and many other women can relate. After all, we are our own worst critic. Furthermore, we compare ourselves to others constantly and we just need to stop.
This dress is a bit sexier than her other dresses, and for that reason, she loves this it. I love what this dress symbolizes for her. She said in the past few years, she’s really been coming around to simply loving herself. I know many of us can relate to the struggle. All I have to say is that this just looks amazing on her!
The bold dress
This dress was found at Kilimanjaro African Heritage on Ludlow Ave. in Clifton. In the past, Taylor would shy away from more bold and vibrant prints. These were things she always wanted to wear, so now she’s branching out and embracing it. She said she loves this store and that she can celebrate her African heritage through her style. Also, if you have not had the chance, you should definitely check out Kilimanjaro African Heritage. They have all kinds of neat jewelry and pieces.
The Birthday dress
Birthdays are one of Taylor’s absolute favorite things. In fact, she’s adamant about gathering her friends together to celebrate. She loves them so much that she even celebrates half birthdays, which she celebrated recently. This dark blue dress, however, was from her last birthday birthday, which she spent in Chicago with some friends.
The formal dress
When Taylor began studying at NKU, she wanted to be a music major, focusing on voice. I have seen a video of her singing, and it is amazing. However life took a different turn, and she ended up with a music minor. All majors are required to give a senior recital. While she was not required to do so as a minor, she wanted to. This is the dress she wore for the performance. Now she has a formal dress on hand if she ever needs it.
Overall, Taylor’s style is about what she likes and what she’s comfortable in. I love how she just wears what she wants. Thanks Taylor, for letting us take a peek at your style!