That One Time I Randomly Went To Chicago

This time last week, I was in Chicago. It was honestly one of the best weekends that I've had in a while & I barely have any photographic evidence. I think that it's important to leave the camera at home & just focus on living sometimes. We're all so consumed by technology that there's an underlying fear that if we don't document whatever we're doing, it didn't really happen.

That weekend was just what I needed though. I've gotten into such a routine in New York. Sometimes you just need to do something out of the ordinary. Do you know how random my plan was? I was invited to Chicago so I just said yes & booked a ticket & showed up. That's it. As much as I want to pretend that this is a common occurrence in my life, it's not. I can be really hesitant and tend to over think everything because I'm a natural planner with a side of pessimist. But this time I didn't think too much, I just did it. 

To be honest, it was hard to want to take my camera out with me because Mario kept calling me Peter Parker from "Spider-Man". But while we were out on a walk, I managed to snap some shots of my favorite buildings & houses. I couldn't stop saying how cute everything was because it was so different from New York. The street that we were shopping on reminded me of Main Street at Disney & everything had such a vintage feel.

Even though I'm still bitter that we didn't make it to the bean, I got to do a lot of stuff. I finally ate deep dish pizza, got Mario to go into an Urban Outfitters AND buy something, took the train to Elmhurst, went with the Orwells to Milwaukee for Summerfest, watched the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", rode bikes to a liquor store and a lot of other random stuff. 

Next time life throws random adventures at you, do it. I'm glad that I did.

Love,

A

Say Yes More Than No

I feel like positivity is everything. It's tiring to be around negative people & I genuinely feel like if you put good vibes out into the world that good things tend to happen. 

I'm feeling awfully adventurous this summer. While I'm a generally outgoing person, I feel like it's very tempting for me to take the backseat on things sometimes. I want to start saying yes more than no more often. I mean, if someone asks me to kill someone then of course the answer will have to be no, but you get the point. Sometimes it's necessary to take risks & have adventures, especially while we're young. Feel comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. I think it's something that we're all going to have to deal with for the rest of time, so we might as well embrace it. 

Love,

A

Details: slip dress: Forever 21 // top: American Apparel //  

sunnies: BCBG // shoes: Deena & Ozzy // 

wallet: Anthropologie // photos: Kali Concepcion

Little China Girl

Now that I've made it through my first week in the city, I'm convinced that I can do anything. It was a crazy first week. I got off the plane, into a cab & moved into my NYU dorm on Monday. It's quaint but has high ceilings & wooden floors. I live next to Chinatown off of Lafayette Street, which I love because of the dumplings that are right around the corner. I can really go crazy on some dumplings, let me tell you. It's a two second walk to Soho, which is my favorite place in the city. It's right next to the subway and an actual Subway, in case you're curious. It's perfect.

My internships have been insane. Figuring out the subway has been insane (thank god for Hopstop & Embark). Walking everywhere has been insane. I started at Marie Claire the day after I arrived & CollegeFashionista yesterday. On the first day at Marie Claire, I got there at 8 am & didn't leave until midnight. The rest of the week was just as crazy. Packing & unpacking for shoots, checking things in & out of the closet and going on runs is pretty intense at first. It makes such a difference to do something that you love, though. It's honestly a dream. I get to handle designer clothes, bags & shoes all day, like what more could a girl ask for? 

Here's a few snaps from my new neck of the woods & a few of me, too. 

NYC, I love you,

A

Details: top: Cotton On // bag: Anthropologie

// jeans & sandals: Zara //  hat: Urban Outfitters
// sunnies: BCBG // jewelry: Madewell 

lips: NARS Satin Lip Pencil in Luxembourg //

// photos: Anne Kothari

The Final Countdown

I feel like I've been running around like a crazy person for the past couple of weeks, working on projects, trying to have a life and getting ready for New York. It really hit me today that I am graduating from college in two weeks & moving to NYC only a few weeks later. The thought of that is honestly mind-blowing. How has it already been four years since I graduated from high school? How am I not still 17? I feel ready but not ready, excited, nervous, terrified, happy & sad all at once. Growing up is scary, people.

This might be a little bit ambitious, but my goal is to not have to come back to Tampa. I mean, I love it here, so much actually. It's been my home for most of my life, but I'm ready for something bigger. I want to be immersed in a new city that I love. I want to learn it & hate it & adore it. I want to struggle a little bit. I want to push myself & figure out what my limits are. I'm so thankful for my family & all of the other people who are giving me the chance to get on my feet. Their faith in me is everything. 

I can't wait to document all of my NYC adventures on Stellar Piece. I just want to meet everyone, eat everything & go everywhere. Here's hoping that I make it through the next two weeks to graduation. Here's to the future. Here's to the adventure of it all. Here's to life.

Love,

A

Details: Top: Cotton On // Skirt: H&M // Jacket: Levi's // 

Boots: Aldo // Necklace: Leviticus

The Big Easy

 2013 was one of the best years of our lives & it was our first full year as a couple. J & I traveled to so many new places, ate more than two people should ever consume and grew so much as individuals. We saw so many bands that we love, J started No Waves Radio & I began writing for CollegeFashionista. Heck, this was even the year that we re-launched our baby, Stellar Piece. It was one for the books.

If you're ever wondering where I developed my lust for planning, meet my mom. She's constantly planning events & trips for the family. As my brother & I were going to be in the States for Christmas, my mom decided that we should all drive up to New Orleans in the family RV, which she lovingly named Darvee. As soon as she uttered the words "New Orleans", the city began popping up everywhere in my & J's lives. We randomly started reading a novel called Hotel based in New Orleans & Jake's brother was accepted to Loyola University (Go Max!). On December 26, we packed up the RV and headed north. 

Along the way, we stopped overnight in Pensacola at Blackwater River State Park and again in Mobile, Alabama where we saw Christmas lights at Bellingrath. These stops reminded us of the fun adventures that we've had at Fort De Soto & Hillsborough River State Park. On the 28th, we rolled into New Orleans & we were ready to explore. Although it was wet and freezing when we arrived, we braved the cold (literally) by getting onto the Hop On Hop Off open air bus. This is not a recommended activity if it happens to be rainy and 45° when you visit, especially if you have rice paper-thin skin like J. If you've ever even heard of New Orleans, you know that the first thing that you should do upon arrival is visit Cafe Du Monde, so we did just that. We waited for a cozy table for 8 of us & feverishly tore into some beignets and hot chocolate.

Over the next couple of days, we did everything that you could do in New Orleans. We went on a walking tour of the French Quarter & the Garden District, went on a (LAME) ghost tour and ate Po Boys. We also met John Goodman's dog, heard one too many stories about Nicolas Cage, met Phillip (the most soft-spoken tour guide alive), visited the WWII Museum & ate the yummiest hot dogs ever at a little dive on Magazine St. called Dat Dog (THOSE BUNS OMG). 

One of the highlights of the trip for me was when J & I walked two miles in the cold to get to a sweet little record store called Euclid Records on New Years Eve. On our walk we talked about how scary growing up can be, our life goals & how happy we are that we get share so many experiences together. It's nice to have such a cool best friend // lover // partner in everything. When we got to Euclid, we browsed through records for over an hour. J & I were in heaven. Our final choices consisted of No Age, Descendents, No Doubt, Mean Jeans & Vampire Weekend. We were getting ready to head back when it started to pour. Rain + freezing cold temperatures = :( We popped into a little restaurant called Elizabeth's next door & got hot coffee then hitched a cab ride back to Jackson Square where we rung in 2014 with some fireworks, kisses & the dropping of the Fleur-de-lis. 

We're also pretty proud of the fact that this trip led to the crossing off of two major items from our joint bucket list: "spend the holiday season together" & "be each others New Year's Kiss". I can't wait to knock some more of those out in 2014 (I'm looking at you, ride camels in Egypt.)

Traveling is always fun with J but this trip was even more special because we got to spend time adventuring with my family too. J & I absolutely cannot wait to fill the pages of Stellar Piece with more photos, words & memories this year. We're going to see new places, learn new things, eat more yummy food & grow together. Let's make 2014 the new "best one yet."

Love,

A & J