@WGSN blog puts out a color of the month and currently it is Lilac. Couldn't agree more, the calming pastel for sure speaks to me and has started to take over my closet in multiple facets. Lilac was forecasted in 2016 and has made a solid comeback - maybe this means it is my spirit color if that's a thing. If not, i'll make it a thing.

There are two kinds of tops that are my go-to's because I have the longest torso ever. Long line tops which are basically dresses on other people, but fit me perfect, and crop tops. Luckily for me, both are in style right now. Since I had my son i've been feeling very meh about wearing crop tops because I feel like it says i'm a delinquent Mom. Determined to get over this "i'm old and a Mom" phase of my life, I went straight to my favorite activewear sites to get some inspiration to spruce up my wardrobe a bit. Everything changes when you are a mom - wardrobe included, but i'm convincing myself still that it doesn't have to be for the worse. Also, side note that still feels very dramatic to talk about, we had a house fire - on my birthday- and lost almost everything on the main floor of our house. My original wardrobe didn't quite make it. Have you ever been like, "I just want to throw my whole closet out and start over!" Well, that happened. Except I didn't throw it out, it was badly damaged by smoke. But, all crappy things pass and this shall too. I made a list in my notes in my iphone of some pieces I knew I wanted to replace right away, and crops (appropriate mom ones) were on it.
Nike and LuLuLemon did a super suave job at making the crop top look good on any one. I may have accidentally bought 2 today while I was looking at some styles to add here. It's fine. Wear these cute crops working out, dress them up, or down in your favorite high waisted bottom. Your choice - that's what makes them so much fun.

Well, here I am, a new Mom to a beautiful baby boy who my husband made it back from deployment just in time to see born!! Phew! We had 3 solid months together as a family of 3 (+1 fur baby) and it was the absolute best. I am currently back to work after my maternity leave and just had to say "sea you later" to my husband who had to deploy once again. It was very hard this time to see him go, especially with the new addition to our family. Because of the nature of this deployment, we had to have tough conversations that made me thankful that our son is too young to understand where Daddy is going and what he is doing. This will be his last deployment, so positive is the vibe I will be carrying until his boots touch the ground where I can see them.
It is best not to dwell so instead I turn my attention to linear art. I find Linear art to be very calming. The simplicity it holds especially when paired with a fresh splash of color could entice me to stare at it all day if I had the choice. Last night, during the 30 minutes of free time I had to myself (haha!) I doodled a little. and added a thought. Just something simple to calm and refocus my mind. "Guerrier de la mer" is French for Warrior of the Sea. May my husband have fair winds and following seas. (and come home ASAP!).

I took a hiatus from broadcasting my personal and professional thoughts because the last 8 months have been a bit of a blur personally. My husband and I are expecting our first child, a baby boy, in early December. HOLY CRAP. It feels weirdly real when I actually say it out loud.
Back in March, my husband and I galavanted off the grid for a long weekend in Old Montreal to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary, and also hit as many champagneries as possible. We had talked about having children before, but this time, I took a look at his new deployment schedule for the upcoming year, and saw that I would only actually be seeing my husband for less than 3 months out of the 2017 year. I remember telling him, "I don't think I can do this without you. We have to wait." So we cheersed with our 24 carot gold flaked champagne that a good friend gave us as a wedding gift, and said, we can wait. Two weeks later I took a pregnancy test just to make sure there was no chance I was pregnant. My husband was about to deploy and I did not want to find out I was pregnant while he was gone. I got up in the morning and peed on the stick. I left it in the bathroom in a fit giggles (because it was weird) and jumped back into bed and told my husband, "you go look." I was sure as shit that nothing would happen. When he came back into the room, his face was not what I was expecting. He was literally beaming ear to ear and I could tell he was not messing with me. I screamed, "MATT WHAT!?" in literal sheer terror. And he said, "we are pregnant." My heart sank and I immediately started balling my eyes out. I was in complete shock and terrified because my husband was about to deploy in a matter of days and I all of a sudden felt like I was on an island and completely alone. A flood of thoughts went through my head - how was I going to do this without my husband? This is just like the movies. What about my career? I can't have wine? What am I supposed to do now? How am I going to be a Mom? What's going to happen to my body? I have to go through this without my other half? We are going to be parents? Why is he crying tears of joy and I am devastated? Am I a horrible person? Women are always told, pregnancy is a beautiful thing, it is the happiest time of your life. Well, honestly, it wasn't for me in the beginning but I eventually got there. When the doctor confirmed our pregnancy, I was scared and felt alone. I was sick 24 hours a day for 5 months straight and lost weight. I ended up in the ER with hives head to toe and had concerns of placenta previa. All while my only communication with my husband was spotty emails and shitty phonecalls from Oceans away. Once I got past the sickness, my clothes started to not fit. I hate the word "maternity" and didn't want to buy maternity clothes. I cried when my favorite pair of skinny jeans made me feel like an encased sausage and left my legs swollen after I took them off after work. I couldn't work out or run because of previa concerns so I felt like I had no outlet. I had also started a new job very early on in my pregnancy and wasn't ready to tell them I was pregnant so I had to hide it. My husband missed hearing the heartbeat and the first ultrasounds early on, my Mom and Dad came with me to my appointments but it wasn't the same. Everyone kept telling me, "you make it look so easy" ... but it was not one bit easy. Just like everything else, these feelings did pass and I pulled myself out of my rut, embraced my baby bump and focused on my new job., I'm sharing my personal thoughts in an effort to be transparent because no one talks about the negative side of being pregnant, and I felt negative for months - that's a long time for someone who is usually optimistic. Transparency can be weird, offensive and/or helpful depending on who you are. Pregnancy related things aside, Transparency is totally in style right now and I think it's weirdly awesome and it totally makes me happy. And that's what we're all here for, am I right?

If you grew up in New England like I did, you are used to this rollar coaster ride of weather and emotions as it becomes 65 and sunny and then rudely dumps a foot of wet snow on your doorstep the next day. I thought we were done, Winter? I personally start to get weird this time of year because I want to skip Spring (after my birthday obvi) and go right to Summer. Also, my husband is about to deploy again, he usually gets to miss out on the feet of snow we get, spring snow showers, and May flowers. Instead of let all of these things bring me down, I have to stay up, and embrace Spring the only way I know how - through my wardrobe. If there is one thing I have learned in celebrating our first year of marriage, and my first year surviving as a Military Spouse, is that I am VERY lucky that my career parallels my passion for fashion, I literally feel a tingle in my heart when I see a good French Terry Knit or a Nep flecked Pima. And, I get to focus everyday on what I love, especially since my first love is gone for more than half of the year. Speaking of textile tingles, there are a few fabrics/styles that i've added to my Spring Wardrobe Need list:

1.Adorable graphic tee. 2.Distressed jean shorts, a must. 3.Twist back sweater: I love it. 4.Bell sleeve top, not sure how I initially felt about it, but now I need it. 5.Heavy Gauge grey sweater, for basically all New England seasons. 6.Comfy romper just because. I'll be over here online stalking all of the above. 

Bomber Jackets are a cool classic that have made their way back from uniform must haves for WW2 Fighter Pilots, protecting them from a chilly cockpit, to this seasons hottest item. I've seen them in leather, satin, athletic-style, varsity-style, and in an array of lightweight fabrics. I hadn't found one that I absolutely love yet, and was trying not to buy myself anything this close to Christmas. But earlier this week, I fell in love with this high pile fleece bomber with yarn dye rib cuffs hem, and collar by Hem & Thread. 

It was a purchase-upon-seeing situation at a little boutique in Downtown Portsmouth called Juliette Lovely's. The inside of the jacket and pockets are cotton lined with a super cute and dainty flower print. I admittedly wore it twice this week, since I worked out of two different offices, and no part of me is ashamed. Plus, back to back compliments. I paired it with light skinny jeans, an off white blouse, tassel necklace, and heels the first time, and dark skinny jeans, knee high boots, and a longline plaid button down the second time. Dress it up or down, it is soft and warm AF, and is the perfect winter white. Now for real, curbing my spending for a bit. 

I've said it before and I will say it again, when it comes to buying myself things, I can be super impulsive. This year, Burgandy is the IT color, so I of course bought everything possible in the color and repeatedly have had the same Burgandy color manicure. I can't stop, I just get obsessed and I have a one track mind when it comes to color and prints. I need them all, it's just who I am.
Marble is one of those prints that has really been on my mind lately. There is just something about the natural crispness of a marble print that is beautiful to me no matter how it is used. The print has permeated the fashion world, tech market, and has even made its way to athletic wear. This is the right time of season to be flaunting those winter whites. Love love love.

Summer is flying by, I woke up this morning and realized August is literally next week. I am not ready for Summer to be over by any means and all I want to talk about is my obsession with round towels. So humor me. I pretty much never want to use a normal french terry beach towel ever again, because I am THAT committed to my ever-so-chic bohemian accessory. It's really very simple, I was void of inspiration one day so I went where anyone would go when feeling uninspired: Instagram. I was scrolling through my feed and saw a photo of a girl on a tropical beach sitting on a pretty round printed tapestry. I googled it and came across a company called Epoch Collective. Worth it all day, every day, all Summer if you ask me. 

Amazon also has some really great options that are a little more affordable. I have brought my round towel to the Dominican Republic and to Costa Rica for our Honeymoon, so I can attest to it making a good blanket on the plane as well. Definitely one of my most favorite accessories for Summer of twenty sixteen by far. I suggest to invest.

Lately I have been obsessed with the Pineapple trend...yes, a fruit can be trendy! The Pineapple actually has more meaning than just being a trend right and delicious fruit, which could possibly be why I want to decorate our entire sweet little home with them, not excluding my wardrobe. The Pineapple became a symbol of hospitality in early America when Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue and landed on the Caribbean islands. He found that the natives there would hang Pineapples in front of their doors to show that they welcomed strangers into their homes. The trend sailed back to America and thus the Pineapple was dubbed a universal sign of hospitality, amongst other meanings. More importantly to me, it became tradition that when Sea Captains came home from being away at sea, a Pineapple would be placed infront of their home to symbolize their safe return. Now three years into my husbands deployments to God only knows what seas, the wait for him to come home sometimes gets shorter, but feels like it never gets easier. So why not surround myself with things that make me happy, like Pineapples? Says everyone always. These are just a few of my favorites:

​I love pineapples as a home decor trend, I love them as an apparel and swimwear trend, and I love them tattooed on my husbands arm as part of his beautifully illustrated sleeve piece. They are meaningful to me in more than one way, and I love the exotic vibe they give, and if you know me, I am a sucker for all things exotic. ​​I dare you to not want to surround yourself with this adorable and meaningful prickly fruit that has become a staple in our newly wedded lives. 

I have always been a big advocate of empowering women through sport and it's awesome to see this same support trending in the apparel industry as of late. Nike being one of the most noteable brands in my humble opinion. For those of you who knew me way back in my high school years, I started my own apparel company called "Girls Rip Too." At the age of 18, I was super in to graphic design and competitive terrain park skiing and obviously thought I knew everything. I bought blank tees, hoodies, and hats from local suppliers, drew the graphics I wanted on them, and had them screen printed and embroidered locally. My first media attention with my brand was on a ski forum where I was literally torn limb from limb by a bunch of tweens in the comment section about my choice of company name, "Girls Rip Too." I got everything from "Girls Fart Too" to "Girls Rip Their Pants too" and on and on as you can imagine. Now I know how Justin Bieber feels. So much hate! I ended up changing the name of my brand because I grew up a little and realized it wasn't so marketable. I eventually let my company die a few years later because I had landed a full time position designing lingerie, and the conflict of interest was not appreciated. The brand may have fizzled out but my affinity for recognizing women in sports has not.
Females can be just as in to sports as men, infact I know some ladies that could rattle off stats faster then some men can say their own name, and win their fantasy leagues just as easy as any man could. Just because we are female, doesn't mean our fanwear and athletic representation has to be all pink and sparkly all the time, but it's nice to rep some femininity.
I have been working as an apparel designer in the sports licensing industry for 3 years now. I am responsible for designing and developing Old Time Sport's branded women's line, as well as our line of knit hats for men, women, and children. Each year as we try to integrate the color pink into the women's line, it either gets dropped down to the youth line, or gets dropped from the line altogether because we base a percentage of our designing and development decisions off of previous years sales. We rolled out an allover baby pink hoodie for women a few years ago and it completely tanked. When it's too pink, it doesn't sell. For 2016, we dropped the only pink colored active top we had down to youth girls because it looked too young for our women's line. When it's the wrong color, it looks too junior. We were stuck in the middle of wanting to use pink, and needing it to be the right shade of pink in order to appeal to our female consumer. While working on 2017 development (we develop a year in advance) I fell in love (along with the rest of the fashion world) with the current blush trend splashing the runways this Spring. Like, give me all blush everything is basically what i'm saying. Disclaimer: I only bought shoes, a scarf, a hat, and a purse in blush. That's it though I swear.