Buttons, buttons, and more buttons! I recently did a wish list post with Zaful, and I cannot wait to share my outfits here as a result of our post collaboration. One of my favorite trends this summer has been the linen button up dress/skirt/everything. As soon as it began to fill up my Instagram feed, I knew I had to jump in on it. I looked everywhere, from in stores to online, and found quite a few options. When Zaful reached out about their promotions and continuing collaborating, I knew exactly what I wanted to order from there, as they had not only the best prices around but also the trendiest styles!

This Button Up Gingham Short Dress and Button Up Striped Belted Skirt are my favorite items to wear during the remainder of the summer. The styling potential in both of these pieces, along with the Slit Button Up Shirt Dress that I ordered too and will be on a separate post soon, is endless, and I can't wait to transition them into fall as well.

I hope this post inspires you to go out and try new trends, especially the linen buttons!





If I'm going to be completely honest with y'all on here, I have to say... I should have had this post up weeks ago. But, I allowed "busy" to get in the way and cloud my mind so much that I began to put everything off. Soon enough only one thing on my to-do list each day was being crossed off, with all of the remaining checkpoints left undone.

And I think most all of it has to do with priorities becoming skewed. Rather than waking up, thanking God for this new day and placing Him above and in the center of anything that I would be walking through, I woke up thinking about who I have to reply to or where I need to go or what I need to do. Stressed became a mindset, and eventually nothing was taken care of as it should have been, including my own self-care.

But today, rather than jumping right into things, I felt God telling me to take a step back. A good friend sent a message from her church service for me to listen to. So instead of dismissing it and going about my day as I might have a week or so ago, I clicked play and let myself take time to sit and listen. It's as if the words of God that I had been needing to hear were filling my heart and soul directly from this online message.

You see, oftentimes the more we put God on the back burner and try to take things on ourselves, the more burnt out we will end up feeling - not to mention, the less we will actually get done. It's only when we give it all up, quit trying to do it on our own, and make Him the center of it all, allowing Him to lead the way for us to go throughout the day...only then will the weight of daily life chores lift and the things we need to do suddenly seem manageable again.

If you're feeling burnt out and overwhelmed, take a few moments to step back and listen to the words that He is trying to speak to you, whether it be from an online sermon, podcast, worship music, or straight from the Bible. Because the truth is, you do have time. And you will have more of a doable time frame if you give Him the reins to guide you through, today and every day. ♡

Back to the outfit posts! I've taken a step back from the blog for a bit this summer - traveling, work, and trying to keep up with a social life has made for quite the fast-paced summer. But I'm refreshed and looking forward to getting back in the swing of things.

The striped set that I'm wearing here is from Chickaberry Boutique, an online shop based in Australia - but don't worry, they ship internationally! This boutique has the most stylish selection of clothing to vamp up your summer wardrobe. Everything is on my wish list, from jumpsuits to swimwear to trendy sunglasses.




The trip to the mountains in the middle of summer could not have been better planned. I didn't know how much I needed a break from the heat until we were up there, staying in a cabin that had no air conditioning but no need for it. The 60/70 degree temps called for wearing a jacket or long sleeve most of the time - which, if you know me, you know I love a good layered outfit.

Everything, from taking a break for the trip to personal life things, has begun to re-open the doors to writing again. I had been so focused on work and people and keeping up with what looked like a perfect life on the outside, that now I see how I blocked off feeling any real emotions or rather dismissed whatever came up in attempt to not have to feel it. And because I haven't been really taking control of emotions or situations, there were no words inside of me waiting to be released into something meaningful enough to write.

But now that I've taken some time to reflect and in a way hit a low in life/relationships, it has led to learning the hard lessons that I needed to go through. And it has unlocked the part of myself that has been pent up for a while, allowing for words to spill from the pit in my stomach, articulating things differently because it's real and it's raw and that's just how I want it to be. It may not always look perfect. My sentences might run into each other, but it's just the way that my thoughts are moving. And I can't slow down to worry about making my writing look pristine or else I might lose what is pressing on my mind in the moment.

So bear with me as I string together the real pieces of what's circulating in my head and write it out as genuine as I can in the posts to come. If you go back and read posts from the beginning, about two years ago, you can see how I used to write what was pressing on my heart at the time. And now I'm just hoping to get back to that. I've come full circle it seems, getting back to the heart of things, right where I started with this blog. ♡