But the tough thing about fast-paced positive energy and forward motion is, sometimes, you can’t find time to blog about it.

I promise I will soon.

Until then, I recommend sleeping, dancing, and socializing outdoors. ♪ ♫

xx

One of my recent posts at Denim Therapy re-links a great editorial-esque styling guide that Topshop posted on ways to style their pink denim Moto hotpants, and then I rounded up some of my favorite colors in their denim hotpants selection for readers to browse/buy. Fresssh, aren’t they?

Click for 5 Ways To Wear Topshop’s pink denim Moto hotpants, and check out my favorites below.

1. Moto high-waisted denim hotpants in purple

2. Moto hotpants in neon peach

3. Moto petit hotpants in washed out cerulean

4. Moto high-waisted denim hotpants in blush stripe

5. Moto high-waisted denim hotpants in flamingo tie-dye

6. Moto hotpants in neon mint green

7.  Moto high-waisted denim hotpants in peach acid wash

8. Moto mid-rise denim hotpants in floral

9. Moto high-waisted denim hotpants in grape acid wash

xx

Today I’m launching a new “series” on the blog wherein I tie festivity and fashion together in a more direct way. Festive Fashion 101 will showcase lookbooks, street style, and products that give direct visual guidance re: dressing festively. I’m starting with this ridiculously beautiful lookbook from Planet Blue.

Festive dressing points:

☆ Pink/Purple/Pastel hair (desaturated hues are happening, but pick a color you love)

☆ Bracelets, and lots of them. Mix every color in the rainbow or go tonal!

☆ High-waisted hot pants are a must-wear if you want to show off your legs and wear a cute bandeau or crop top without looking too Kelly Bundy.

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Planet Blue is notoriously amazing in the lookbook department. See more here.

Some ideas in the Festive Fashion 101 series will be immediately applicable from blog to street, while others will require some editing (like the not-something-you-wear-to-work looks above). Your questions and ideas on these looks are always welcome in the comments section! Or, if you need styling/shopping/outfit guidance, you can always email me direct.

Finally, I want to invite you guys to check out my bohemian blog, Shangri-NEON, which is starting to pick up a big more steam. I’m looking forward to sharing a ton of gorgeous boho style sensibility there this summer.

Have an amazing weekend!

xx

It won some attention at press appointments this morning too. Hint: when ooh’s and aah’s are directed at your shirt before they’re crooned over a table full of macaroons, you’ve got yourself a winner!

Yep, these are the outtakes. But I like them! Especially that last one. Looks like I just took a soccer ball to the stomach.

As always, props to my favorite shoe brand in the world, 80%20! And to Raffa, my photog and better half.

Hope everyone’s having a stellar day…

xx

1. Hudson Collin skinny jeans

2. Splendid Ruched-back cotton-jersey T-shirt

3. ASOS Half Frame Metal Keyhole Sunglasses

4. Kate Spade New York Talia In Sand Neutral Python Print

1. Hudson Collin skinny jeans

2. Rag & Bone Nightingale silk-chiffon shirt

3. Banana Republic Island Chandelier Earring

4. ASOS HERON Leather Lace Up Wedges

1. Hudson Collin skinny jeans

2. Etoile Isabel Marant Joseph cotton-jersey racer-back tank

3. Levi’s Made & Crafted Cotton and linen-blend worker blazer

4. MIA Women’s Papparazzi Wedge Sandal

See the original post here.

xx

Get off the computer during your lunch break, resist catching up on crap TV shows, and forget about playing Diner Dash or Farmville or whatever time-wasting pleasures you let seduce you normally.

The outdoors are inspiring, mind-clearing, and highly spiritual if you allow yourself to forget the perils of your day momentarily and meditate on being in the midst of nature. I live in the concrete jungle, but a trip on the 2 train to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden = all I need to escape to a bonafide green paradise. Any of the local parks have a similar impact.

5 Good Reasons To Go Outside Today

1. Sunlight is physically good for you in moderation! Over the past ten years or so, the sunblock slathering youth-obsessed generation made some of us forget how good—even essential—it is for your body to get some rays each day (early morning and late afternoon are the least damaging times to accomplish this). For expert advice, check this out.

2. A slue of scientific studies have shown substantial evidence that the mere act of relocating from the indoors to the outdoors can be a mood and optimism booster. Feeling like crap? Mother nature can help!

3. Need to lower your blood pressure or boost your immune system? We may be trained to default to expensive pills, but what if we could help ourselves heal naturally? True, going outside is just a small part of the natural healing process, but it’s definitely a credible and beautiful part of the formula.

4. Need to catch up on reading, writing, or book keeping? Invest in a laptop or tablet sans-outdoor reflective surface, or bring hard copies of your work to edit/review. Imagine the difference in feeling calm and centered: crowded cubicle vs. lush green park.

5. If you’re a creative soul, you’ll likely find some inspiration outdoors, whether it’s from a sunset hue or the shape of a plant. Why not go outside to try the first festive living tip?

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How does going outside lend itself to “Festive Living”?

As you guys know from my definition of festivity, it’s not about birthday parties and plastic blow-up snowmen in the lawn. Festivity is about appreciation and heightening your awareness of all the things worth celebrating that are around you every day. And you never know, you might get a killer idea for a garden party. ;}

Need some more motivation? I took my own advice last weekend and spent almost the entire thing outside. Below are my photos from the BBG.

Seriously, how gorgeous are these views? And you don’t have to go to a botanical garden to find a soothing landscape. Even your fire escape (AKA, the Brooklyn balcony) with your potted herb garden and some sunshine will do.

Ok! That’s enough reading… go outside!

xx

P.S. A huge happy birthday to my big brother today! ♡

If you haven’t already, read this: What exactly is festivity?

This is an ongoing real-time experiment, which is in its own way completely amazing and awe-inspiring to engage in. But I don’t want you to wait for answers while I’m running festivity field tests.

I’ve rounded up 10 of my favorite blogs (5 for festivity and 5 for fashion, with some overlapping) that will provide you some festivity soul food and style inspiration. –

5 Blogs For Festivity

1. Goddess Guidebook.

“Goddess” Leonie is a life coach who has declared herself and all other women goddesses. She preaches self-love, self-awareness, self-acceptance, and is probably the most festive person I have ever digitally encountered. While she runs a great business, every inch of it is colored in brilliant creativity. Literally. By hand. She infuses festivity into the home, the office, being a mother, creating art, staying motivated, etc. She’s a total loon and I adore her zany website.

2. Gala Darling.

Gala was one of the first “style” blogs to creep over into lifestyle blog territory, essential becoming the first independent lifestyle blog for a new generation of internet addicted young female consumers desperate to experience self-appreciation and celebrate the little things in life. I think her ideas are valid and her personality is stellar. I don’t always feel her aesthetics, but my idea of living festively is parallel in its own way to her cupcake glitter fests and self-love tangents.

3. Stratejoy.

This is a straight up self-help blog, and some of those are cringe-worthy in their oozing positivity and optimism and self-love… but Molly is a cool, down-to-earth version of said life coach genre (which isn’t to say she’s not extremely bubbly). I like her videos and her email newsletters. Her deal is that she wants to empower women and help them re-discover joy and stay motivated. If those aren’t building blocks to living festively, I don’t know what are.

4. aauumm.

aauumm is owned by a Ukranian dancer who specializes in Bollywood style dance, and she hasn’t updated in  a while… but you need only scroll a few seconds to realize why this blog is an inspiration re: lifestyle. She’s dancing, painting her walls and furniture free hand, crocheting rainbow hats… there are plants, lights, a hammock for lounging, her pets, videos of her dancing, et al. I won’t blather on and on, just click and fall in love.

5. Every Day Is A Holiday

I debated listing this one  because aesthetically, it’s not exactly where I am right now (it used to be!). But the title “every day is a holiday” and Jenny’s festive take on life are definitely in tune with the song I am trying to sing here. Celebrating daily, not just holidays—and not just with pastries and decor, but with color, joy, enthusiasm, and a great hair style—is key to living festively. Have at it.

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5 Blogs For (Festive) Fashion

1. The Glamourai.

Kelly Framel never ceases to amaze me with her distinguished, colorful, vibrant sense of style. She works textures and prints and shapes into outfits that are both versatile and inspiring. I’ll risk saying she is one of the only bloggers who achieve a bold, unique style without looking like they’re wearing a “blogger costume”.

2. Spell & The Gypsy Collective.

Non-stop bohemian bliss. They’re a jewelry company who blog their inspiration and their incredible tropical Australian lifestyle. A visual vacation if ever one existed on the internet.

** Note: This is one of my favorite blogs, but their use of the word “Gypsy” should be addressed. You can read some thoughts on the word “Gypsy” used as fashion-oriented adjective and decide for yourself whether you feel comfortable using it.

3. Late Afternoon.

Liz of Late Afternoon captures a chic, uber-feminine image while employing lots of color, print, texture, and sweet details. Her photos are gorgeous and her outfits are refreshingly creative. This is a great example of a blog that exemplifies “festive fashion” without going the boho route.

4. Oracle Fox.

Here’s a West Coast take on bohemian festive fashion (does that go without saying?), with irresistible multi-cultural, rich sand-glam elements in place. You’ll find flowers, leather jackets, ball gowns, and dream catchers coexisting peacefully from scroll to scroll. My personal opinion is that this blog used to be a bit more free spirited, and has scooted over into too-cool-for-school territory, but I’m still obsessed.

5. MAFFASHION.

Julietta is a Polish fashion blogger who’s straight up stunner beauty could win her followers for wearing the same t-shirt every day. Thankfully she also has an eccentric, amazing eye for styling and is constantly orchestrating and contributing to fashion shoots and sharing her tastes with the world. She also doesn’t take herself too seriously, and responded to a vicious blog comment by printing t-shirts of it and wearing them for a blog photo shoot. You’ll love her.

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Bonus: Shangri-Neon. Shangri-Neon is my own boho fashion blog/side project that’s slowly but steadily becoming a regular part of my e-schedule. I created it years ago to catalogue and share ways to infuse bohemian sensibilities into the metropolitan lifestyle. I’m hoping to work on it more in the 2nd half of 2012! -

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If you have some others to share, drop them in the comments! I will definitely check them out. And stay tuned, because my aforementioned field notes are shaping up nicely…

xx

Top image via LF.

Besides… neon and pastel hues are some of the easiest ways to bring a dose of festivity into your closet right now, because colored denim is freaking everywhere. Get on it! Below, a few recent posts I wrote for Denim Therapy in that vein:

1. Neon & Printed Denim At The American Eagle FW12 Preview

2. Spring Denim Round-Up: Pretty In Pink (And Purple) Skinny Jeans

3. MC (that’s me!) Reviews Joe’s Jeans 55 Color Skinnies In Lily Pad

4. DT Loves: Topshop’s Neon Denim Biker Jackets

5. Killer Cut-Off Shorts To Buy Now

That’s your denim overload for the time being. If you need some tips on wearing colored denim or aren’t sure where to start shopping for it, check out Denim Therapy’s blog! You can always email me questions directly too, and I might even use your question to create a DT blog post. ;}

Stay stylish and festive, violets!

xx

P.S. Because I love reminding you guys… If you haven’t read my definition of festivity, read it!

As a sort-of side note, I set up my new work space in the gin room.

The balance of festivity and order that’s necessary for me to be the most inspired and productive is never an easy one to find, but when I find it, results are tangible and rampant.

Here’s to a productive, creative, beautiful week!

xx

“The pastel and neon train is in full force for spring/summer, and trust us, we’re riding it! This amazing outfit is comprised of a few simple elements that have real punch, and the result is an electric ensemble that will turn heads.”

1. American Apparel Colored High Waist Jeans

2. Le Steel round-frame metal sunglasses

3. Clara embellished silk and jersey T-shirt

4. Cambridge Satchel Company Green 14″ Satchel

5. The Linzy Yellow Neon Pat

Image via Lookbook.nu.

See the original post here.

xx