saguaro style

I didn't want to be too dressed up for entertaining with friends, since I knew I would be cooking/prepping/chopping and also making most of the dessert (churro donuts, yum)! Here's what I put together. I've been really loving my fanny pack this year. I've been wearing it a lot. It's so easy and comfy and has a bit of pizazz and a cute tiny dino happy face design.  I'm wearing : anthro hat, anthro sweatshirt, coach x yeti bag from eBay, frame jeans from nord rack, gifted sven clog boots We got a donut maker for a good price at HomeGoods about a month ago and it really made the best churro donuts without having to fry with oils! The cinnamon sugar really popped. It was fabulous, highly recommend! Keeping it in my dessert rotation for sure. xx  

I got this dress at Plato's Closet recently and this was my first time wearing it! It still had the tags on and it really gave me that Wizard of Oz Dorothy vibe (but more modern).  I styled it with my heart back tights from my actual wedding and my Swedish clog boots by Calou.  I'm wearing: superdry jacket, vintage shirt, uo dress, amazon tights, calou stockholm boots  I also took a closeup shot of my upcycled necklace, the charm broke and I ended up tying it up with some cord and some scrap denim to have a new life. xx  

I'm wearing : a new day anorak from poshmark, philosophy dress from poshmark, coach bag, old pacsun sunglasses, tights from target, c/o sven clogs I've worn this outfit together a bunch over the years, this dress was in my closet rotation for years (even in the super early days of my blog)! I love having cozy warm feet and nothing beats shearling on a winter day! It's been in the 30s and 40s lately, which is very cold for my part of the country! xx  

As a woman over 30, I am used to be being told my magazines and media that I should have a 'mom haircut' or 'wear sensible' and 'classic' outfits like basic jeans and t-shirt with maybe some loafers or driving moccs. That's just not my style. I don't see myself with a bob haircut anytime soon or a capsule closet. I don't see myself ever saying goodbye to pattern clashing, a closetful of colorful shoes, hats, and all the plaids my heart dreams of. This 'dopamine dressing' spike has given me a lot of joy and inspiration. It has encouraged me to be bold when I feel like it. I have the agency to dress how I see fit and how I am given joy, as do all women (and men, and nonbinary/folx). It feels liberating to pick something rainbow out of my closet and instead of picking one 'focus color' trying two or three within the rainbow piece. This has been a more recent joyful-dressing-formula that I have really found a lot of happiness with followi

After a couple years, Sven Clogs offered to send me some clog boots again, so I was of course positively THRILLED! They sent me some absolutely stunning pairs, including these bright green ones that photos don't do justice to. I'm obsessed. (On a related note, I am selling several non-sven clogs that I'm not longer wearing on my poshmark, mercari, and depop if you're interested and a sz 8 to 8.5!) I'm wearing: shirt from France, beret and dress from poshmark, old tights layered under amazon fishnets from christmas, gifted green sven boots I've been watching a lot of videos on trend forecasting, even in the slow-fashion community and I can't help but start to wonder where it all ends. I know that I personally feel like I've bought too many shoes last year (2022), more than I needed, and fell for the lure of the eBay bid a few times too many. This year, I'm really trying to bring more awareness to the things I decided to welcome both into my own perso

I had a really nice lunch at a fave Vietnamese spot with an former coworker. Here is what I picked out...it was so cold this morning, mid 30s! (F) I'm wearing: uo sweater from my sister, universal thread thrifted skirt, coach bag, amazon tights, thrifted sunglasses, Justin Boots from eBay I know I have a lot of denim skirts but I couldn't resist this one because of the a line cut and sailor-esque pockets in front. xx  

I'm also including some 'basic' day-to-day outfits because I like representing my styles realistically!  I made my go-to chocolate mousse pie as a birthday dessert for my cousin visiting from out of town recently. It was my first time grating chocolate for the top, I would do it again! This was my biggest styled look this week and I did a full shoot (with Axel, of course). I've worn versions of this same look for years now and I come back to it as a classic Melissa-look! I'm wearing: vintage sweater from savers, vintage skirt from eBay, red tights (old), minnetonka hat (old), sven clogs from poshmark, denim vest from ebay with heart patch customized by me (amazon).  Here's another look at my newest gym sneakers, my reeboks valentine editions! I loved them with the red tights. Very monochrome! Above was a recent grocery run/dog walking outfit and below is a rainy day outfit from the park that my husband took on a rainy day earlier in the week. xx