summer fashion – The Big Hair Diaries

A Walk on the Wild Side

Published on July 2, 2019July 2, 2019 by hellosamanthadear21 Comments

Hey hey!! 😀

Welcome back to another episode of……my very quiet existence. How are you all? Hopefully good???

Outside of my freelance work, the week consisted of:

Reading until my eyeballs nearly rolled out of my head (I finished Band of Brothers, and began Lions of Kandahar.
Doing copious amounts of Swedish lessons.
Going to my usual coffee spots each day and also eating Indian food!!
Walking a bit at the park.
Watching a short documentary on the 82nd Airborne.
Made the bad decision of watching a scary movie late at night. I watched The Lost Boys (1987), which I had never seen before, but I’m currently obsessed with the theme song Cry Little Sister (the original track and also Marilyn Manson’s recent cover of it!). So I watched the movie, even though I was scared to!!! And I appreciated the 1980’s aura and the comedy but I just can’t do the whole vampires and blood thing… 😓

And now, we have an outfit:

Leopard print isn’t a pattern I typically wear, but when I saw this top hanging on a shelf at H&M, it was love at first sight. Glad I bought it, because it’s cute and super comfortable! ❤️

Because sometimes, you just have to take a risk. Even if the risk is wearing a pattern you don’t typically wear. I live on the edge like that.

You know, this is exactly why I’m fascinated with reading about military operations and soldiers jumping out of airplanes. Because they take some seriously major risks in life, unlike meeeee…

Well, the risks I took this week were wearing a leopard-print top and watching The Lost Boys. But dang it, I did it!!!!!!!!

If you like the shirt (and the shoes!), you can find them both at your nearest H&M, I’m sure! 😀 I bought them only a week ago. What is a risk-taking pattern you’ve worn that you ended up really liking? I kinda want to try a tropical-pattern blouse next, like with pineapples on it or something…

See ya!

Summer Days, Summer Nights

Published on June 24, 2019 by hellosamanthadear14 Comments

Hi! Happy summer to you all, dear readers. 😃

Orange is a color that I’ve grown to really appreciate. Not only is it a nice color in general, but it really pops against my skin tone, I’ve learned. That, and hot pink is a nice addition to it!

I’ve definitely been leaning towards oranges/hot pinks/corals, which really look nice against a summer tan. ❤️

On a hot summer evening, I feel especially drawn to meander out somewhere for either an iced beverage or something to eat, with a good book for company. Some mac n’ cheese at Panera was something I hadn’t had in a long time, so I went for that!

I firmly believe a book can be your best friend. For instance, the above book is one that, no matter how many times I read it, I always come back to and have ever since I first read it when I was 15. It’s one of those books that’ll stay with me throughout life.

My highly anticipated book line-up, after I finish reading Band of Brothers for the 5,000th time of course! Sunday evening, I went to Barnes & Noble not just to peruse the aisles this time, but to intentionally go and pick out these two books I really wanted.

Have I mentioned how much I love reading? 😉

Here’s a shot of my car, Jude, that I took the other night after a walk. It was the most gorgeous sunset I’ve seen in a while!

I love this time of year, and all-around, I’m feeling really good right now; my career life has changed and I’m now working as a freelance graphic designer. I lucked out and through a connection, I’m designing logos, graphics, etc. for a bay area business and rather than being in an office, I work remotely and do everything from my very own laptop! Like, I’VE BEEN DOING MY WORK AT STARBUCKS. Could I ask for anything better than that!!!!!!?

It’s the most ideal job I could possibly ask for, so I really hope this can be my new thing. One day at a time, as I always say!

Here’s to more beautiful summer sunsets. See ya!! ❤️

Strawberry Love

Published on June 19, 2019 by hellosamanthadear12 Comments

Welcome! 🍓

Tuesdays are always farmers market day for me, as my friend has a booth she sells handmade goodies at. So I always stop by in the evening to hang out with her. This Tuesday though, they called it the Strawberry Festival, so many strawberries were to be expected, including me wearing them. Behold!!!!!!!!

The festival was a lot of fun, and there were some yummy strawberry items to choose from. I feel like my outfit went super perfect with the theme! 😉

I ended up choosing an angel food cake slice with frosting and strawberries. Yummmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!

It was a very fun thing to do as summer approaches. What do you all enjoy doing in the summer?? I like anything outdoors that involves fruit, haha!

See you next time! ❤️

In the Summertime

Published on June 23, 2018 by hellosamanthadear12 Comments

Hey hey hey!!!

I hope you’ve all enjoyed your week – it’s been a good one with plenty to share, so let’s get started! 😉

First off, I have two new outfits I’ve been happily wearing…one is this red polka-dot romper from Forever 21 (brand new, so they should still have it in the store!):

I love rompers soooooo, this is a dream!

GOOD OL’ ROMPERS…

Oh, and happy summer!!! I really do love this time of year. ♥

There were a LOT of vintage-esque clothes at Forever 21 when I went this past weekend. I hadn’t been there in a long time! Here’s another very retro dress I ended up buying:

The dress was originally much longer…and as always, I typically have my dresses hemmed up. That’s what happens when you’re short and want to wear short dresses!

Because even the “short” dresses end up being long…

That ring on the left is literally a ring I’ve had since elementary school. I got it out of a quarter machine. I’M SERIOUS!!!

In more humorous news, I had a section of hair the other day that refused to lay down flat, despite my futile attempts to hairspray it down. I decided to just let it be and I’m glad I have the above photo to prove it!

On a closing note, this was what I was looking forward to this week on Thursday. ♥

A group from my church and I went to the Ronald McDonald House at Valley Children’s Hospital to host a dinner, and I brought some coloring supplies for the kids. [The Ronald McDonald House is a place that provides families with sick children a place to live at the hospital during their stay.]

It was a really great experience! All of us in our group enjoyed it, and it was a nice sense of teamwork. It felt really good to dedicate time to a good cause and the families were really kind and appreciative. 🙂

I hope you all are enjoying the beginning of summer. It feels like a magical time of year.

Enjoy your weekend! See ya!

Ending Summer…

Published on August 30, 2017August 30, 2017 by hellosamanthadear4 Comments

Look at those clouds! 🙂

What a beautiful morning it was here today. Okay, it was muggy. BUT!!! The pretty clouds made for an exceptionally gorgeous day start-off.

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Another simple but cute outfit to stay cool. 🙂 There’s something so sweet about pink and white, isn’t there? I love the colors together. Reminds me of candy. ❤

Bada bing bada boom…or is it bada boom bada bing?

Who else is ready for pumpkin spice everything?! 😛 I am really looking forward to being able to order a Pumpkin Spice Frappucino at Starbucks. SO GOOD, and a fall must-have!

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Mmmmmmm.

Well folks, I hope you are enjoying your week! I sure am and I have two cute new pairs of shoes I plan to show in my next blog post! ❤

Garden Party

Published on August 2, 2017 by hellosamanthadear1 Comment

I had time to kill this evening and I figured – what better way to spend it than by frolicking around my backyard, taking pictures of brightly-colored pinwheels and a few outfit shots?

The dress is very old; I bought it years and years ago. The black bow is handmade by me.

This was just a whimsical, last-minute, amateur photography idea. Enjoy!

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Here Comes the Sun

Published on July 31, 2017 by hellosamanthadear2 Comments

Happy Monday, world! ❤

On Saturday night, I perused through my local Claire’s and found a sale going on for hair accessories, so needless to say, I couldn’t pass through without buying something. I’ve always wanted a black-and-red-checkered hair bow, because it has such a rockabilly vibe to it. Finally found one, and I’m in love with it! I have a feeling it’s going to become one of my go-to hair bows now. 😛

I got my nails re-done. FINALLY. I have a bad habit of thinking, I’ll get them re-done tomorrow…okay the next day…wait, I’ll go next week! They were super grown out and it didn’t look so good, lol! I love these; they’re a nice neutral color, which I typically prefer for my nail shape and length.

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I usually take my blog photos in the morning, but I ended up taking photos in the evening, right before I went for a walk. The late evening sun made for some interesting lighting concepts! I like it.

The green skirt I’ve had for awhile and bought at Forever 21, and the blouse is a hand-me-down from my mom.

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So I stopped by this new place called Rita’s. They serve all kinds of things: Italian shaved ice, frozen custard, etc! It was reeeeally good, and I bought the Juicy Pear flavored Italian shaved ice. It reminded me of Honeydew, which is a favorite flavor of mine.

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And then, for a nice walk. It might look like I live out in the middle of nowhere, and in a way, I kind of do; there’s about half-a-million people here, but it’s right in the middle of California. So it’s like a big city in the middle of nowhere, with the coast about 2 or 3 hours away. 🙂 I like walking at this park because it gets me away from the cityscape for a short while.

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I love the pink and purple shades of the clouds over the Sierra Nevada mountains last night. There’s a chance of rain this week and I really hope it rains, because I miss it! It’s almost always sunny here.

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Capture the beauty that’s all around you. ❤

Red Bows, Unicorns, & Arts in Corrections

Published on July 29, 2017 by hellosamanthadear2 Comments

Hello! 🙂

The weekend is upon us, and another week is done! I was super busy this week, but got a lot accomplished and some cool things occurred; I bought my ticket to go see Marilyn Manson in Oakland in October! ❤ This will be my second time seeing him. I discovered something else really cool, but I’ll save the best for last. 😉

For today’s outfit, I aimed to just be comfortable! It’s hot. 😛 I added a red bow for the cute factor, and to jazz it up a bit.

For additional cuteness, why not bring in a unicorn?! This is one of my favorite rings! I just love cute things, as you can see. ❤

So! This past week, I was researching what I can do to utilize my BFA degree. I’ve worked as a freelance graphic designer before, while also working in a legal environment, but I wanted to see what else is out there. I found out that being an art instructor is one of the things you can do with such a degree.

I discovered the Arts Council in the city I live in, which hosts the Art Hops and such which are always fun to go to. However, one of their programs caught my attention immediately: Arts in Corrections.

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to work with inmates. I think it’s because of my naturally caring, empathetic nature and the strong desire to help others. What would be better for me than to be able to merge my passion for art with my desire to work with inmates?! I didn’t realize such a job existed, and by the end of the video, I was in tears. This is a job I would be passionate about, and they work primarily with inmates at Valley State Prison here in Central California.

To see inmates be able to express themselves in a healthy way that inspires self-enrichment and growth is a beautiful thing. I’ve always enjoyed seeing artwork done by inmates, and I notice that a common theme in their art (at least one’s I’ve seen) are birds in cages. I find it fascinating to see the imagery they use in their art to express themselves.

I’ve reached out to the Arts Council, so we’ll see how it goes! Either way, even if I’m unable to work for Arts in Corrections, I’d still love to find a way to support the program in any capacity.

That’s about all, folks! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. 🙂 Take care, smile, be happy, and I’ll see you next time! ❤

Italia

Published on July 26, 2017 by hellosamanthadear8 Comments

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Wanderlust: a strong desire to travel.

I guess lately, I’ve been bitten by the bug of dreaming about lands afar. Maybe it’s because I tend to do the same routine every day–although, I never seem to get bored. I’m always going for walks, writing, doing art in some kind of form, discovering new and old music alike, and otherwise keeping my mind fresh! Road trips do happen at random, from time-to-time. Growing up in a sort-of small city in central California, where there’s a sense of sameness in a way, contributed in the journey of discovering my own fashion sense and being a dreamer in general. 🙂

I’ve been looking at photos and reading about other cultures, so I’ve had my head in the clouds, apart from doing my daily necessities, like working and what not. Today’s outfit has an Italian vibe in my opinion, and I didn’t plan for it, it just happened! Haha! 😉

It must be the red and white colors, or the style of the blouse. It makes me want to watch old Italian movies from the 1960’s, or wander aimlessly through a lush, green vineyard in the Italian countryside.

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Love this little notebook! I’ve been working on a new fiction story (something I enjoy as a hobby, and I’ve written two previously in paperback), so this is great for scribbling down ideas, which I’m notorious for doing at random.

Lastly, last night I had the pleasure of visiting the Mormon temple in my city, and I went inside for a short while, but decided to go outside and take pictures instead. It was truly gorgeous! ❤

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I hope everyone is enjoying their mid-week!

Happy Wednesday! ❤

Periwinkle

Published on July 21, 2017 by hellosamanthadearLeave a comment

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Happy Friday, everyone! How was your week? Hopefully it was good. 🙂

So, I tried my hand at Spanish cuisine as I mentioned in my last post, and my patatas bravas turned out GREAT! It really wasn’t difficult at all, and I made minimal error (I added grated garlic and it burned, so I just removed the garlic altogether and replaced it with garlic pepper seasoning instead 😛 ). I also baked it, rather than frying it as it’s traditionally done. This is a staple appetizer in Spain from what I researched, and it’s something I’ll make again in the future, probably for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner as a new tradition and as my own contributing dish.

Heyyyy…

Periwinkle is one of those colors I just NEVER SEE. By never seeing it, I mean in regards to clothing. It’s one of those unusual, atypical colors that is really just so beautiful! I literally found this simple cotton shirt buried in one of my dresser drawers, and I don’t even know where I got it at.

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My lavender skirt paired exceptionally well with it, fittingly enough! I love when that happens. Also, I topped it off with a flower headband – handmade, by me. Overall, it’s a very feminine, romantic-like outfit, in my opinion. ❤

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Yesterday evening, I had the pleasure of taking a walk because the temperature was much cooler than it’s been in awhile. The wildfires are still going strong, especially north of the valley, as you can see from the photo. It made for a rather alluring sunset, though!

I love going for walks. I typically always go alone, which I prefer, honestly. I’m highly introverted and just need that time to myself to soak in nature and enjoy a nice sunset. I love spending time with friends, don’t get me wrong, but as an introvert, I just need solitude at times. ❤

I remember a few weeks ago while I was walking, a gentleman stopped and asked me, “Why are you alone?” Well…why not??? 😛 I actually do a lot of things alone, and I love it. I’m almost always going to coffee shops alone, going for walks alone, occasionally I go to dinner alone, and I go to the movies from time to time alone. I legitimately enjoy it! Everyone’s different though, right? 😉

Tag: summer fashion