One of my favorite trends for fall 2020 has to be jewel tones. I love the classic white, cream, brown, and black colors that traditionally accompany fall and winter fashion, but jewel tones are making a statement this year and I’m super excited to be able to mix things up. Right now, my favorite jewel tone is ruby red (this might be because I’m an OU student and it’s incredibly close to crimson.)
I knew I wanted to pair my ruby shirt with my pleated skirt because the plaid pattern also has red in it. A match made in heaven! Since the pleated skirt already has a preppy vibe, I decided to really lean into it and accessorize with a pearl headband and matching white booties.
This is one of my favorite outfits I’ve styled lately! I plan to share another post later in the season about how preppy fashion is making a comeback, so be on the lookout for that. I’m definitely a prepster at heart so all these trends are making my heart sing!
It’s been a long time since I shared a day-in-the-life post! The pandemic and hybrid in-person/online school has made it really hard to set a routine for myself, but every week I get closer to finding a schedule that works for me. I’m going to show you what a typical day looks like for me on a day where I have plans with friends, get some work done solo, and have a class to attend in the evening. I hope this helps you get an idea for what life is like as a graduate student!
Even though I knew I was heading to brunch soon, the first thing I had to do when I woke up in the morning was make myself some iced coffee. I live for my caramel iced coffee that I make with a Keurig. Some days I take my iced coffee and a book out to read in our courtyard, but today I had plans and needed to start getting ready sooner. I drank this cup while sitting at my desk while checking my agenda/email and making sure I was caught up and ready for the day.
Because we’re in the midst of a global pandemic, I don’t get to see my friends as often anymore. The safest thing we know how to do is outdoor dining, and today the plan was brunch at a Norman favorite (Neighborhood JAM!) It was supposed to be a little chilly when we arrived but warm up as the morning went on, so I chose to layer a black turtleneck under a silk slip dress.
As always, brunch was *chef’s kiss*. I was the only one who treated myself to a mimosa (the others opted for coffee) and we all ordered “The Heap”, which is essentially just loaded hashbrowns. It kept me full through about 4:00 PM, which I was not mad about. Loved seeing my friends, it had been a while since I saw them since our schedules got a lot harder to plan around with school in full swing!
I checked the mail when I got home and realized that I had two surprises waiting for me! One was some CASETiFY phone cases I had ordered the week before, and the other was a postcard from my friend Erica who recently moved to go to graduate school in Indiana.
I had been wanting a new phone case for a while and immediately swapped out my old one for the black and pink one. It’s too cute, I’m obsessed!
After the high from opening my packages wore off, I decided I should try to get some work done. I was working to get ahead so I could relax when I went out of town in the coming days.
Once the weather warmed up even more, I took my studying outdoors and did some of my work from the comfort of my apartment complex’s rooftop deck. I love this area for relaxing, socializing, and studying, and I’m almost always alone up there! It really is a hidden gem of the complex and I can’t wait to watch football up here later in the season.
After a successful few hours of work, it was time for me to head to my evening class. I snapped this selfie right before heading out to campus. It’s weird having a class that only partially meets in person, but this was one of those days and I did feel a little relief of being able to get out of the house again.
When class ended, it was time to go home and start my evening routine. I had planned to get more work done after class, but I was feeling pretty drained and decided to call it an evening pretty early on. Overall, I had a good day and loved the combo of seeing friends, getting work done, and going to class!
What do your days typically look like? Everyone’s lives are turned upside down right now and we are all looking to add some normalcy to our daily and weekly routines. Let me know how you set a schedule for yourself!
Fall is in full swing here in Norman, Oklahoma and that means it’s time for one of my favorite times of year: layering szn! Being able to transition summer outfits to fall is so fun and easy because sometimes all you needs is a comfy jacket of your choice. That’s what I opted for in today’s #OOTD- I got to break my favorite corduroy jacket out of the closet and use it to warm up my summery outfit.
Corduroy is one of my favorite fabrics for fall, and I’m so glad I have this jacket as a closet staple. I found it while thrifting on my 2019 spring break trip and I’ve been relying on it in the spring and summer months ever since. It’s a little oversized, which makes it perfect for layering.
By the way, can we talk about how cute this white baguette bag from SHEIN is? I found this beauty while thrifting and it was still in perfect condition. Can’t wait to add similar styles to my collection, they’re the perfect size and are so trendy right now!
I need to be honest with you all- I wasn’t a fan of booties until this summer. For some reason, I always felt like whatever bootie I put on made my legs look shorter, and for someone with legs that are already on the shorter side, that was less than ideal. But then over the summer I purchased these white booties, and that was it- I knew I was going to need to get my hands on some black booties ASAP to round out my shoe collection.
These black booties from Steve Madden were floating around my TikTok “For You Page” a lot over the summer, and eventually (once my final paycheck hit my bank account) I knew it was time to take the plunge. They are almost exact dupes of these Gucci booties, but without the $1100 price tag. As a college student, I love saving money wherever I can and being able to get the look for $1000 less was absolutely amazing!
I have several friends that have purchased these booties as well, so I know they’re going to be a really popular shoe choice for fall 2020. I chose to style them with a white button-up, black skirt, and gold chain belt to coordinate with the gold encasing the jewels on the boots. I think it’s so chic and the booties definitely add a little bit of an edge to this feminine outfit!
A word of warning about the Steve Madden booties- they hurt like a b!tch until you finally have them broken in. They literally wore holes into my calves the first time I wore them. I’m actually not sure if I’m breaking in the shoes or if the shoes are breaking in me- either way, I’m excited to finally have them worn in enough to wear without needing bandaids!
I’ve been moved into my new apartment for just over a week now and I’m so glad to be back in Norman. I’m already loving my bedroom and had such a good time planning it out in the weeks before my move. If you’ve been following along since my Austin room tour last summer, some things might look familiar, but I tried to incorporate a lot of new pieces as well! If I can find the new pieces online, I’ll have them linked down below.
My bed was super important to me when planning out my space because I knew it was going to be the focal point of the room. I had a mostly white comforter before, but decided to upgrade to full white for my new room. I tried to phase out navy as one of my colors and decided to shift more to light blue instead. It was a little hard to imagine the finished product without an actual bed to put things on, but I’m super happy with the final product!
My étagère is by far my favorite part of my whole room. This room is super limited on closet space (something I’m still getting used to) and I knew I would need something extra to help hold all my accessories. This TikTok was my inspiration, but obviously I knew my space was tight so I needed to scale it down a little bit. I decided it would be the perfect place to display my handbags and my favorite pairs of shoes, along with my jewelry organizers and my Burberry perfume! If I acquire more shoes and/or bags I may start rotating them out, but for now everything I wanted to display fits perfectly.
This little wall was perfect for my minimalistic portraits! I picked up this hobby in quarantine and have been loving it ever since. (Want one of your own? Visit Kayla Creative Co.) I usually frame actual photographs of my friends and I, but wanted to take a slightly different route this year. I got the frames from Michael’s for super cheap and printed the portraits myself, and I just feel like this wall adds so much personality to the space!
As a full-time graduate student with many side hustles, I knew my desk area had to be perfect. I love that it comes with a built-in light- no lamp necessary- and is a lot bigger compared to my last apartment desk. I was able to fill the upper shelves with more accessories, decor, and office supplies.
This photo board was the last thing to arrive (it was actually delivered to my apartment several days after I moved in) and I knew I wanted to turn it into a vision board. I work at my desk every day and wanted to have this in prominent view so I could always be reminded of what I’m working towards.
It’s crazy to me that the start of the school year is almost here! So excited to take on my final year of college (!!!) as a graduate student. It may look different, but overall I’m feeling optimistic. How does school look for your university this year?
It’s getting hot in Texas, so I’m always looking for easy-breezy outfits to choose on days I need to be out and about running errands. This is one of my new favs! The silky top is super lightweight and keeps me super cool, and the shorts are stretchy and comfortable. Paired with my wedge sandals that are meant to provide a comfortable walking experience, this outfit is perfect for the days that I’m on the go!
I always struggled with wearing tie-front shirts because I felt like my bra was always showing, but recently I saw a TikTok that showed how to tie the front around your bra to completely stop that from happening. A game-changer for sure!
Happy (almost) Fourth of July! I have been looking for an outfit to pair my new white booties with for a long time, and today’s red, white, and blue look made them the perfect addition! I’ve never really been a booties person (I feel like they usually make my short legs look even shorter) but I loved that these came with a tall, chunky heel. The perfect stepping stone into the world of les bottines!
I purchased these boots secondhand at Uptown Frisco– can you believe that the exact style of bootie I had been wanting to get my hands on just happened to come in my size? I’ve had great luck lately; a perk of working there is that you can get your hands on the new items as soon as they come in!
I think my next step in styling booties will be to figure out how to pair these with jeans. I want to make sure I can continue to wear these when fall rolls around (even though right now it feels so far away!)
Selfies & OOTDs 