The Saints-Inspired Outfit

A few weeks ago I reviewed The Saints by Lex Thomas, a crazy, unexpected, even disgusting dystopian book about a group of teens stuck inside a school.  And I loved it!  So today's outfit is completely inspired by one group of students who distinguish themselves by the color blue (I featured another group in this post from the first book in this series, The Loners).

I had a lot of fun designing this outfit--I LOVE the color blue (I have a bright blue velvet sofa in our living room!) and love that I can wear so much of it with jeans.  The blue clique, the Freaks, are artsy and ok with being weird, so I knew I could layer on blue for this look.

Here's the look I designed:

 

Here's what I love about this look--blue is the obvious inspiration for the outfit, but it's not overwhelming.

Let me break it down:

• I LOVE wearing chambray/denim shirts with dark jeans.  Half of my outfits right now do this.  You can add whatever you want on top and it looks like a whole new outfit.  Love.
• I really love this fun striped heart sweater.  Your eye immediately goes to the blue heart, so the gray stripes remind me of a blank canvas that I could totally see the characters in the book drawing on.
• Sky blue shoes and blue stud earrings give that extra blue pop and show off the various degrees of blue that you can have.

I totally love this outfit!  I would rock it as a casual or even a date night look.  Would you wear it?

Want to see all the details of this outfit?  Check it out here!

REVIEW: The Saints

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I'm so used to starting off all my posts with "It's so cold in Indiana!" that I'm so excited to say that it hit over 60 degrees yesterday!  You can just feel the excitement in the neighborhood yesterday as everyone went outside!

A while ago I reviewed the book The Loners, a very CRAZY dystopian book by co-authors Lex Thomas about teens getting stuck together in a school.  I recently read the sequel, The Saints, and oh my goodness.  One of the craziest books I've ever read.

• Dystopian
• #2 in the Quarantine series

The Gist:
It's been 18 months since a virus outbreak hit McKinley High School.  Will and Lucy think that they will soon be leaving the school, but a surprise accident leaves them trapped inside with even more teens.  New alliances form, a new gang--The Saints--starts up, former leaders lose power, and a group of parents appear to offer help.  But who can really be trusted?  And did Will's brother David make it to safety?

What I Loved:

• Just like with The Loners, this book is full of nonstop action and surprises.  I just couldn't predict ANYTHING that happened.
• There is one scene in this book that is literally the grossest scene I've ever read in my life.  So why is this in the love category?  Because I didn't see it coming and it added a lot of depth to a character.  But oh my goodness.  I still cringe when I think about it.
• I liked the addition of the new characters--The Saints, the parents.  And I liked that The Loners disintegrated, because it shows that you just can't trust everyone in your gang.

What I Didn't Love:

•  I wasn't very surprised by David popping up at the end of the book.  No one would believe he is dead.

Such a crazy but a fun read!  I can't wait to finish the series!

An outfit coming up, inspired by one of the gangs!

Panic-Inspired Outfit

Happy Monday, all!  Anyone else as tired as I am with Daylight Savings Time?  Man, this morning wore. me. out.  But after a super fun day with my students (we made paper cranes today to celebrate peace and diversity!) I'm bringing you an outfit inspired by Panic by Lauren Oliver--loved that book!

In Panic, teens have to face some pretty major challenges--the terrifying, daring, and unusual.  Most of their challenges are physical, so having an outfit fit for movement is key.  For one of our main characters, Heather, I designed this outfit:

Here's how I chose this look:

• We have the basics for any kind of exercise/working out.  The workout cropped pants, t-shirt, and jacket.  I chose black and gray in case a challenge caused the teen to need to be as "invisible" as possible.
• I love this graphic gray tee.  The finger point gives off the message of "Hey, I'm coming for you and going to win this game!"  And in the game of Panic, the teens need every amount of courage they can muster.
• The pink shoes and watch are again staples for a fitness challenge.  I chose deep pink in case the teen would want to be seen in some way, as a safety precaution.

So what do you think?  I would TOTALLY wear this outfit when working out or doing a physical challenge.  Would you?

Another review coming soon in one of the most disgusting, surprising series I have ever read!

Want to see more of this outfit?  Check out the details here!  

REVIEW: Panic

Happy Monday, everyone!  We got COVERED in snow this weekend in Indiana, but that gave my family a chance to watch movies, eat chicken soup, and just nap around...it was perfect!

Today's review is on Lauren Oliver's book Panic.  I listened to this book on my way home from YALLFEST and was able to listen to it all within that setting.  And what an experience that was--I was gripping the steering wheel so tightly during a tiger scene (yes, there are tigers!)!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let's jump into the review:

 

• Standalone novel
• Realistic

The Gist:
In the town of Carp, graduating seniors join in a thrilling game of Panic.  The game started since there's nothing else to do in Carp, but has grown to be a much-anticipated and even deadly part of summer.  Here's how it works: graduating seniors who join the game complete very dangerous, terrifying tasks.  If they finish the task, they move on to the next round.  If they refuse to compete or fail, they are out of the game (if they aren't killed in the process).  The winner receives $50,000.
Heather wasn't expecting to play the game...but when she sees her recent ex-boyfriend pawing his new girlfriend, she impulsively joins the game.  She joins Dodge, a player who is out for revenge, and other friends in a game that will prove to be completely life-changing...and life-threatening.

What I Loved:

• I love reading about games and challenges and reality show-like dares (my favorite childhood book is The Westing Game).  And that's completely what this book is about.  The challenges are fun to read (and thrilling and terrifying as well!) and are unpredictable.
• Even though this is a book about a death-defying game, it's also all about relationships.  I loved getting into the deep stories of Heather and Dodge.  With this being a 400+ page book, it was nice to have a mix of the nail-biting with the relationships.
• The ending!  Everything wrapped up in a very surprising way for me.  This was the part that got me so impressed with Oliver's writing.
• There are some big issues (especially teen issues) in the book that made me feel like the read was worth my time.  Issues like family troubles, revenge, a secret crush, and secrets in general.  And like I said, they all wrapped up so well for as much as what was going on.

What I Didn't Love:

• Ok, so it was a little unbelievable.  This game could not be pulled off year after year with teenagers, at least not the teenagers that I'm used to working with everyday.  Teens can't keep secrets and this game is a complete secret every summer.  It was fun to think it could happen, though!
• The cover--I think it's a cool cover but I really don't think it fits the book that well. 

Such a fun read and so fun to read with my friend Emily on the way home from South Carolina!

Yep, 5 stars!  I know, that doesn't happen very often.  But so so good!

Unravel Me-Inspired Outfit

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Wow, it is COLD in Indiana.  Absolutely frigid.  The perfect weather for eating soup, drinking coffee, or cuddling up under a blanket!

Today's post is an outfit inspired by Juliette from Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi.  Juliette is an interesting character--she can't touch anyone without the risk of them getting hurt, or worse, killed, so she needs to cover herself from head to toe. 

In the book she has a pretty kick-butt body suit designed for her.  It serves multiple purposes and helps ensure that no one around her gets hurt.  Because a bodysuit like this isn't very suitable for everyday clothing, I decided to design an outfit for Juliette as she goes out on the town.  Something that she can wear that is body appealing (she has a killer body!) but keeps everyone safe.  And on the off chance that she and character Adam ever got to go out on a fun date, this would be a great outfit for her to wear!

Pretty chic, right?  Let me explain each piece:

• The jumpsuit is a one-of-a-kind piece.  And it's a more wearable version of a bodysuit.  I love the bright, bold color.  I think blue makes everything look more sophisticated.
• The black gloves and head scarf obviously keep Juliette covered but also give a sophisticated, vintage vibe to the look.  Can't you just picture her and Adam driving around?  If only they had such freedom...
• The black boots hold the outfit together and of course keep Juliette's feet covered.  Gotta keep that girl covered up, right?!

A lovely outfit for a girl that is probably more concerned about her threat to the world than her beauty.  But she deserves to be beautiful, too!

Interested in any of these pieces?  Check them out here!

Let's Be Real...and Relaxed

Hey, readers and fashionistas!  Ok, I rarely get "deep" on this blog, but let's take things just a little deeper than my typical book/fashion posts.

Let's backtrack a minute to New Year's Eve...the night that everyone posts photos of themselves with their loved ones.  And I always join in, too.  Even if we're staying at home (and let's be real here...with two little ones at home we are staying home a lot!), I dress myself up and take some selfies with the family to post.  This year, around 6 pm I said to Luke, "Well, I guess I better go get dressed for our New Year's Eve photos."  And you know what he said?  "Why do that?  Just stay comfortable." 

So I did. 

I stayed in my gym sweats and my youth group volunteer sweatshirt and I. was. so. comfortable.  I mean it felt so nice to put my hair up in a messy bun and just relax with my family.

Now let's fast forward to the present.  In my last post, I closed by saying that a Valentine's Day outfit was coming up...and that was my every intention.  I knew the date outfit I was wearing for my lunch out with Luke and was excited to share it.  So when the time came to get all "dolled up" for the photos, I found myself kind of tired and just wishing instead that I could just play with my boys and take it easy.

And that's what I did. 

I stayed in comfy clothes and felt so relaxed and at home with the family.  And none of us minded.

So, no Valentine's Day outfit to post.  And you better believe I didn't post any comfy selfies of myself (ha!).  But it was so nice to stay relaxed all night.

What does this mean?  Not too much.  I'll show outfit posts down the road, especially for holidays, and I'll dress up for holidays in the future.  But in the meantime, it just felt SO GOOD being me, at home, with my boys, no obligations.

So who else dressed down this past weekend?  Or who wish they had?

REVIEW: Unravel Me

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  Man, this weekend we had BEAUTIFUL weather in Indiana!  I took my boys to the park (the park? in February?!) and they LOVED crawling and running and sliding all over the place.  I so needed that for my soul, and I feel completely refreshed in starting off a new week!

Today I'm reviewing Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi.  But before I jump into it, can we just talk about Mafi and her husband Ransom Riggs for a minute?  I mean, talk about a dynamic duo!  Those two would be a BLAST to have over for dinner.

I read Shatter Me, the first in the Shatter Me series, which follows Juliette and her "gift" of being able to kill with her touch.  Unravel Me is the second in the series and picks up when Juliette finds safety with others like her.  So let's jump right in!

 

• Dystopian
• Second book in the Shatter Me series

The Gist:
Juliette is now at Omega Point, an underground sanctuary for people like her, people with gifts that set them apart.  It's also the headquarters for the rebel resistance, and Juliette finds herself in the smack dab of the plans to take down Warner and his father.  Juliette isn't comfortable with the new population and desperately wants to be with Adam alone, but this is a new environment that she won't be able to escape.

What I Loved:

• There was so much character development in this second installment.  I felt like we moved past just Juliette and Adam and got to see so much more into Kenji, Castle, Warner, and even Warner's dad.  I loved digging deeper.
• I love Mafi's writing style.  Although not as many strike outs in this book, it is nevertheless filled with such beautiful writing.  Mafi's words just flow together like they were meant to be.

What I Didn't Love:

• This book is L-O-N-G...I think it's like 465 pages.  And there just wasn't much action involved.  A lot of internal thinking...like A LOT of internal thinking, and that just wasn't enough to keep me turning pages quickly.  Took me awhile to read the book.
• I just didn't like Juliette very much.  She was moody, antisocial, and a loner.  I wanted to scream "You can't put everything into Adam and give nothing to anyone else!"  A tragic case of girl who falls in love and drops everyone else.  So Juliette's storyline just dragged on to me.
• In other words, I just needed this book to move faster.  I needed the characters to get out of Omega Point earlier and move on toward the action.

I will definitely finish this series, but this book was a little too stagnant for me.  Ready for an exciting end to the trilogy!

Juliette wears this awesome spandex suit for most of the book...can't wait to show you my inspiration for it!  And a Valentines Day outfit coming, too!