sunrise session // a white dress

Sometimes your sister let's you wake her up at 4:45am on her one day of the week that she can actually sleep in to go trekking out into a park to take some photos at sunrise.  I'd say she's a keeper!

So I (Kelsey), drive past this park every single day on my way to work (at 5:30 in the morning!), and I'm always astonished at how gorgeous it is all the time.  There's always plenty of mist, and the sun is usually just peeking out from behind the mountains to bathe everything in a soft pink glow.  Every day is a little different, but it's always breathtaking.  

Of course on the one day that we're there to take photos it happened to be the thickest pea soup fog you've ever seen.  And the sun didn't even make an appearance until 6!  Not exactly the scenario we were expecting, but it was gorgeous all the same.

Thank you Jordyn for being my partner in crime and my beautiful model!

(Keep an eye out for part two coming soon!)

p.s. 

♥

 kelsey & jordyn

outfit post: the hampton dress

It feels like Summer here, and I couldn't be happier.  Bright, sunny days and long, warm, relaxing evenings.   It's perfection!

Moving on....we are so so excited to have collaborated with Bootlegger for this post!  We love their new Free Spirited Summer collection, which is full of charm, whimsy, and a wonderfully effortless boho feel.

I'm totally in love with their hampton dress.  It's simple and sweet, and yet full of delicate details.  The tiny buttons running up the back of the dress are my favorite!  And I so appreciate the high-low skirt, and the fact that it has a longer length overall.  I feel completely comfortable to run, jump, and frolic around fields without any fear of my dressing flying up.  It's the best.

I never want to overthink my outfits in Summer, and have a weakness for no fuss dresses.  

I kept things simple here by adding a lace vest, a skinny brown belt, and my favorite brown booties.  Nice and easy!

dress:hampton-bootlegger

// vest: garage // belt: my closet // boots: hand-me-downs // bracelet: hand-made by me // arrow necklace: forever21

The only unfortunate thing about the constant sunshine is the state of my tan lines.  Let's just say that my farmer tan game is strong.  As in, disgustingly strong.  Not to mention the wicked neck tan I got last weekend in Kamloops (where Clara and I shot a wedding together!  More on that soon!).  Seriously, it is horrid.  And I will admit I totally smoothed it out in photoshop.  No shame.  

It honestly looked like I had painted my neck ten shades darker than the rest of my body.  

Gross.  Sorry for the visual.  

#sorrynotsorry

- kelsey

p.p.s. This is the sequel to "Kelsey takes her own photos"!  Ten points to whoever can spot the remote.  Ha!

outfit post: a floral skirt among the flowers

I love shopping.  I mean I reeeeeally love shopping.  However, my this can be a bit tough on my wallet.  A couple months ago, one of my best friends

Ashley

, was moving to a smaller place, and decided to get rid of lots of her clothes.  She invited some friends over to go through what she wanted give away, and we ended up having a big clothing swap!  It was so awesome, I ended up with some really cute clothes, and didn't have to pay a penny! I also had a chance to declutter my own closet as well, and get rid of some clothes that no longer fit my style.

This vintage skirt was my favourite find of the night.  It is flowy and comfortable, and I love the length. Here I paired it with a $5 top I found at Garage, and a simple pair of black flats, for the most affordable outfit ever!

p.s. 

♥

 jordyn

outfit post: mint and cherry

So, what happens when you're having a good hair day, you're wearing your Easter dress (with purple tights), and there's nobody around to take photos?

Well, you dig out the tripod and just do it yourself!

It was quite the adventure figuring out how to position myself in the frame, how the heck I was supposed to get the focus right, and pretend like the neighbours weren't silently judging me.  I mostly figured it out (although there were 

a lot of 

hilarious outtakes), and these are the results! 

dress: uo // tights: h&m // shoes: charlotte russe

p.s. 

♥

 kelsey

hair tutorial: double braided half updo

Now I've been asked by several people to start doing hair tutorials here on the old blog, so I thought I'd

finally

 give it a shot!  Honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing, and it turns out that taking photos as you do your hair (as well as thinking about how you're going to explain what you're doing) is actually quite difficult.  Kudos goes to Jordyn for being my human tripod!

So, here's my first hair tutorial, and hopefully not my last.  If I'm feeling extremely brave in the next few weeks I might even try filming a proper video for a more difficult hairstyle.  We'll see!

Anyway.....this is a super simple and feminine hairstyle that I love dressing up or down.  I wore this hairstyle in

this

 outfit post, with my hair straight (and one of the braids falling out. ha!).

Also, my hair is naturally curly, very fine, and on the thinner side.  So, future tutorials may work a bit better for girls with that hair type, but I'll try and be inclusive!  Hopefully Clara and I will get our act together next time we see each other, and get some tutorials going for you lucky thick haired girls out there.

For this tutorial I curled my hair beforehand, and I also used a small section of clip-in extensions to help give me a bit more thickness.  I love the look of a thick braid, although small braids can be nice and delicate as well.

1)   Whether you're going to wear your hair straight or curly, make sure it's brushed through and ready to go.  Gather up two small elastics, and several bobby pins. 

2)  Separate a section of hair near your face.  The thickness of this section will determine how thick or thin your braid is.

3)  I like to start with a bit of French braiding, and then I move into a normal braid, but starting with a normal braid here works just fine as well!  Braid all the way down your hair, and secure with a small, preferably clear elastic (unlike my glaringly white ones).

4)  Repeat steps 2 & 3 on the other side.

5)  I like to gently tug on my braid strands to loosen up the braid and add a bit of volume.  If you have super thick hair, then you may want to skip this step.

6)  Bring the end of one of your braids across the back of your head, and pin just above and behind your ear.

7)  I then twist up the rest of the braid into a loop, and pin it in place.  

If your hair isn't long enough to reach to the other side, just pin it in place wherever it ends.  

If your hair is much longer than mine, then you might have trouble hiding the end.  I suggest pinning very securely, and then doubling the end back over to the other side!

8)  Finally, bring the other braid over the end (and loop) of your first braid to hide it, and then repeat steps 6 & 7, making sure to hide your second loop under the first braid.  

You'll probably need to check it all over in a mirror to make sure no ends are sticking out.  Bobby pins are your friends!

9)  Hairspray your masterpiece, and you're good to go.

If you have any hairstyles that you'd like me to attempt, please leave a comment below.

I'm thinking that Elsa's epic braid from Frozen is next on my to-do list!

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

outfit post: red high-low and too much snow

Funny story.  It snowed way back in December....and I begged Jordyn to help me do a few outfits posts to hoard and post throughout winter so that they actually looked wintery.  Although we do live in Canada, we live just south of Vancouver in the Pacific Northwest, which means a lot of rain and almost no snow ever (unless you're in the mountains of course).

And then mother nature was apparently feeling patriotic with the gold medal win in men and women's hockey in the past few days....and decided to dump a crapload of white stuff down on us.  Not impressed.  I like my snow on Christmas or up in the mountains.  The rest of the time it can just buzz off.

So, while these photos are actually from December, this is what it really does look like outside.

Beautiful, but causing problems everywhere.

lace top: garage // high-low: garage // tights: american eagle // boots: steve madden

I love going shopping with Jordyn, and encouraging her to buy things she might not normally choose herself.  Sometimes she complains that her style is slowly becoming my style...but deep down she loves it. hehe.

And we're still totally into the whole high-low skirt thing.  It shows off your legs and you don't have to worry about flashing your butt when you bend over.  Win win.

Thanks goes to Jordyn for letting me drag her out into the snow to take pictures of her!

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

outfit post: pink and red

As you might have guessed from the title of this post...I decided to do a Valentine's Day inspired outfit.  Cheesy?  Yes.  Do I care?  Nope.

The thing is...no matter what you think about Valentine's Day, it always results in sales on chocolates.  And that counts for a huge win in my book.

Anyway, I chose to go with maroon tights, a pink lace shift dress, and a navy blazer to help give the outfit some structure.  I love a good shift dress, but sometimes your shape can get a bit lost in it.  Since it's also Winter here....that's another good reason to add layers!

blazer: gap // shift dress: plenty // tights: h&m // shoes: charlotte russe

Also, I've fallen in love with Revlon's Black Cherry lipstick.  It's a lovely dark, vampy red that I think is perfect for Winter!

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey

outfit post: cat tights

An important step you must complete on your way to becoming a crazy cat lady is purchasing a pair of cat tights.  I can now check that off my to-do list!

I have absolutely no shame, and am so so in love with these.  I first wore them in Edmonton when I was out visiting Clara, and to say she was a bit horrified would be an understatement. Ha!  She's not really a cat person, and I got quite a bit of enjoyment over her revulsion.

(She does like kittens though....so all hope is not lost yet).

Anyway, moving on....This dress is the newest in my quite large collection of lace dresses.  It's mint lace, has a sweetheart neckline, short sleeves, and the length actually hits my knees instead of mid-thigh like every other dress out there.  I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that I can wear it without tights!

I got it on a wicked sale at urban outfitters, so it was dirt cheap.  Man, do I love sales!

dress: urban outfitters // cardigan: front and co (consignment) // tights: ebay // shoes: charlotte russe

These photos were taken in Edmonton by Clara (thank you again!), as you maybe guessed by all the snow!  Did I mention that it was a balmy 12 degrees and beautifully sunny in Abbotsford today?  (For those of you who live in California/southern U.S.,/southern hemisphere this

is

 something to brag about!)

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend!

p.s.

 ♥ kelsey