Finally FALLin' into Season

Congratulations to seniors who have put in their early applications--a definite hoorah moment! Waiting is scarier than writing the essays, but I'm excited for the future and so should you. I'm also excited that the weather is cooling! Fall, is it you?! I love California, but it took way too long to get here. Can you believe it's November? Where did 2015 even go? Well, I won't get into that now. I'll have to compile more thoughts and save them for another post. But to get back to the point, wasn't it supposed to begin to cool in September? Oh, California. 

Today's post is about transitioning from summer to fall. Basically perfect timing because there are supposed to be showers today, and it's supposed to be in the 60s and 70s all week! Fall, tied with winter, is my favorite season for several reasons (they're practically the same thing in CA). Firstly, colors. The immediate fall palette that comes to mind is mustard, teal, pumpkin, and brown. I've tried to incorporate that palette into my 3 outfits. Secondly, fall fashion is essentially a mix-match of summer and winter clothes. If you're wondering about how you can work your summer closet into your fall/winter closet, it truly depends on what your summer closet is made up of. In general, plain clothing can be worked into anytime of the year, which explains why the majority of my clothes are so. 

I know that these outfits aren't representative of what you could wear in most places around the world right now. I apologize! However, I hope there is some inspiration that can be incorporated into your style. Good luck! 

 Peter Pan Collared Top: Abercrombie//Blazer: Nordstrom//Mustard Skirt: Nectar//Shoes: Sperry's

I particularly enjoy color-blocking my outfits, and I gravitate towards clothes that have color-blocking on them. The white, royal blue, and mustard complemented each other nicely. I wear the white blazer all year-round, and it's probably the most shown article of clothing on this blog. If anything, that goes to show how valuable it is to have versatile clothing like a white blazer. It's wearable in any season as long as you pair it with the right type of clothes. As of now, I can remember wearing this white blazer in the Valentine's Day post, the Summer Moda post, and the Back to School post. Wow! But what did the trick for this outfit are the royal blue and mustard because those colors are what gives this outfit its fall flair.

Short Trenchcoat: Forever 21//Pumpkin Top: IDK//Pleated Skirt: Abercrombie

Style is made up of an array of colors. Here, I put navy blue, pumpkin, and white together. The pleats in the skirt top off the fun and happy look.

Top: Nordstrom//Skirt: Anne Klein//Cardigan: Ralph Lauren//Boots: Franco Sarto

Brown + Black work well. This outfit screams fall because of the plaid action and the long boots. The blank tank I'm wearing is my most-worn piece of clothing because I wear it with everything, every month of the year. Easy transition from summer to fall!

Feel free to contact us at letrendary@gmail.com or comment below to tell us what styles you'd like to see on the blog! Thank you to one of our readers who gave us the idea for this post. Also, shoutout to our readers in Ukraine!!! We love you. Make sure to check back next Monday for a very special and cultural post. You won't want to miss it.

HC 2015: Last Time Coming Home?

Last week was a high-intensive week of school, so homecoming was a huge relief. I'm stuck between two thoughts when it comes to school dances. Let's be honest...I don't particularly love being in a gym full of teenagers high on hormones and adrenaline, but I really do enjoy these opportunities to dress up, go out, and dance, since it isn't something I do often. I thought it would be nice to share what my friends and I wore to Homecoming for today's post. I say it again later in the post, but this was actually NOT the dress I was planning on wearing.

I researched a little bit about the history of Homecoming, and I was surprised that it's historically more about the football game and the parade than the dance itself. It's totally the other way around now (Dance>HC Game). The Homecoming tradition officially began in 1910, so this is its 105th anniversary!

I bought this dress THREE hours before the dance!! I had ordered 2 dresses a week before and they were expected to come Saturday morning, but of course...they didn't. Thanks to my mom, we ran out the door and were able to find this in less than an hour.

Although I am upset that the dresses I had planned to choose from did not arrive, I'm still very happy with this dress that I found. It looks purple in the pictures, but it's actually navy blue fabric with purple flowers. It was a basically tea length dress on me (because I'm short), which made it look even more elegant.

DRESS: Eliza J Floral Metallic Jacquard Fit & Flare (Nordstrom)

SHOES: Bally

I chose to wear these black pointed heels that I normally wear for Mock Trial competitions (They're actually my mom's). They matched perfectly with the chic/classy look that I was going for. 

Tabitha wore gold accents to go with her purple metallic bodycon. I really liked how she wore dainty, delicate jewelry rather than putting on something chunky. I know I can't pull off a bodycon, but she can!!

How cute is Diana?! Props to Tabitha for doing the cool knot hairstyle on the back (all those YouTube vids are paying off for her). Diana wore a pink strapless floral dress and wore a bejeweled strawberry necklace to complement the dress.

(Note: The following pictures were taken with an iPhone   -Diana)

If you went to Homecoming, I hope you had lots of fun!! I will say that the music was significantly better than the music from the dances I'd gone to (shoutout to Rachel, most fab ASB Secretary and pictured above)! Thanks to DChao and Tabitha for making this post possible! Have a wonderful week, everyone.

Celebrating 17 Years

Last Sunday, I turned 17 and I spent the day with my friends, which was very exciting because I still can't remember the last time I had celebrated my birthday with friends. Maybe my 10th birthday? I knew I wanted to do something this year since I'll be in college when I turn 18 (wow...). Also, I'm sorry that we haven't been posting every week! Diana and I have been especially busy since it is first semester of senior year. I thought it would be nice to do a little reflecting about friendship for today's post, along with posting some pictures from last Sunday. Having my closest friends all in one place together was so warming and I can't imagine how boring and lonely life would be without them. I know around now is an especially stressful time, but remember that your friends are the ones who will support you.

It's probably not common, but I don't fight with my friends. I honestly don't remember the last time I had drama with a friend. I think it really is that I have really understanding, patient friends who are slow to anger and frustration. Below are 17 things that I've learned about friendship from the past 17 years of my life.

17 THINGS I'VE LEARNED FROM FRIENDSHIP:

1. Not only a friend, but a role-model
Often times, my friends are the ones pushing me to a better person--more than my parents or teachers. I think it's extremely important to have friends who aren't just your best friends, but also your role-model. My friends and I have similar goals in the characteristics we want to become better at--diligence, kindness, and passion.

2. Talk it out 
This is an obvious, but friends are truly the best listeners. Whether you're emotionally hurt or mentally weary, your friends are the ones who will listen and give you advice. We all need words of comfort every now and then.

3. Starts from within
Friendship starts with you. Ask yourself what characteristic you want in your friends. Ask yourself how you want to grow from friendship. Friendship is a deep relationship that grows and cultivates overtime. It is neither shallow nor superficial.

4. Time and Effort
I know this is one that I am especially continuing to learn. It's important to make time for your friends. It's also important to make an effort to talk to the friends you don't see often. The people you make an effort to talk to regardless of distance are probably the closest. I know that when I go to college, I'll probably keep in contact with several of my closest friends, but not all of them. This leads me to my next one.

5. Not all friendships are meant to last a lifetime
I like to believe that the people in my life are there for a reason. Coincidence? Fate? I don't know. But I do know that the people in my life are absolutely amazing and are one of the largest reasons why I am who I am. Like I said in #4, I probably won't stay in contact with all my friends. It's okay to become distanced from friends. Most relationships don't last a lifetime.

6. Quality over Quantity
It doesn't matter how many friends you have if none of the relationships you have make you a better person. Not all friends will bring the best out of you.

7. Who you are should be enough
While friends should inspire you to become a better person, they shouldn't change who you are. There definitely is a difference. Regardless, your friends will love you for you.

8. Go with your Intuition
When you're deciding whether to trust someone as a friend, go with your intuition. What's your gut feeling of this person?

9. Listen More
Speak, but listen more.

10. Friends > First Loves
The typical teenager will abruptly leave their friends for their significant other. I think it's a great challenge to be mature in those situations and learn to balance both.

11. Learn about Yourself
If I've learned anything from my friendships, I've learned about myself. My friends tell me the type of person I am. My friends tell me about my best characteristics. My friends tell me how I've grown. There's so much to learn about yourself through others.

12. Be Selfless, Be Patient, Be Generous
3 very, very difficult virtues that we should keep challenging ourselves to become better at.

13. Not Limited to Humans
One of the closest friendships I have are with my dogs. I know this is a bit odd, but there is nothing quite like having a companion who is never angry with you. Animal-lovers would understand where I am coming from.

14. Consciousness
"If you realize how vital to your whole spirit--and being and character and mind and health--friendship actually is, you will take time for it. But for so many of us, we have to be in trouble before we remember what's essential. It's one of the lonelinesses of humans that you hold on desperately to things that make you miserable and you only realize what you have when you're almost about to lose it." -John O'Donohue

15. Friendship=Opportunity
A lot of things that I love are because of my friends. This blog is the simplest example. This blog really blossomed out of my friendship with Diana. And because of this blog, we've had opportunities to learn and be recognized.

16. Happiness
Friendships are healthy for the soul.

17. Friendship Expands 
I think it's really, really awesome that as we continue to live, we'll keep cultivating friendships. We may also lose some on the way, but we'll keep meeting amazing people throughout our lives who will continue to mold and shape us to become better people. There are no boundaries to friendship.

Outfit details:
Dorothy:
Alice+Olivia floral chiffon dress
Cole Haan red heels

(Diana: Mine was not as fabulous of an outfit--the spotlight should always be on the birthday gal/guy/person--but shirt from Bear House and skirt from Francesca's)

Celebrate, laugh, and eat cake. That's important.