You Matter.

Today's post is a bit of an anomaly for me. Rather than my usual vintage-inspired outfit/meandering narrative fare, I've decided it's time for a brief PSA. The topic: you, your mental health, and your importance to the people in your life.

So as to not bury the lede, let me start with my key point: no matter who you are, you are vitally important and deserve to feel ok. I don't know who's reading these words right now, but I'm as certain about this as I've ever been about anything in my entire life. No matter what your circumstances in life at this moment, you matter to somebody.

It's ok to not be ok.

I spend a LOT of time trying to maintain a positive attitude. Usually, this is great: I've found that focusing on happy thoughts helps to keep anxiety at bay, and helps me to dwell on what I have rather than what I've lost or wish I had.

Lately, though, I've found that it's much harder to maintain my usual equilibrium. This year has brought some truly difficult times, which have made even the happiest moments bittersweet. While I haven't lost hope for improvements on one front, I'm still mourning for the days when my family was still more whole than it currently is, and still coming to terms with losing my grandma.

I'm Back

Hey, remember when I updated this blog like three times a week? Yeah, me too. I certainly didn't plan on taking a two-month hiatus from blogging, but 2017 hasn't exactly been kind to my family. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have some idea of what I'm talking about. Some of it isn't my story to tell, and truth be told, I'm not ready to get into the details that are mine to share. Suffice it to say that since my last post, I've either been sad, worried, or sick (or sometimes all three!), and just haven't felt up to photoshoots and upbeat posts.

Hot Hot Hot!

Just in case you missed all of my recent complaints about the unbearable summer weather, let me alert you to an important fact: it is hot in Chicago. Disgustingly, humidly, sweat-through-your-clothes-immediately HOT. For reasons that now seem incredibly silly, I decided to tough it out this summer and go without air-conditioning. Those reasons included the following:

1) We don't own an A/C;
2) It would cost a fortune;
3) We'd have to call our building manager to install an A/C
4) We have lots of fans!
5) We survived unbearable heat last summer.

This is clearly not how next summer will go. When it's this hot, I don't want to do anything, even things I typically love. Cook dinner? You've got to be kidding me! Take a walk? Um, maybe in October. Wear my favorite dresses? Absolutely not -- I don't want them to get sweaty, and I don't want to be uncomfortable, either. This last one has led me to finally embrace a major trend in the retro-style world: wearing my dresses as skirts!

Thoughts on UCLA

I had a lovely review of a cute gingham dress all written and ready to go, but then yesterday's shooting at UCLA changed my mind.

Royce Hall, 2007