those golden winter days

//tunic, button-down, belt, purse: thrifted / leggings, ring: forever 21 / boots: ross / necklace: ebay//

The weather in Seattle has been unnaturally warm and sunny over the past week. After months of cold and gray, we've been graced with a series of golden winter days--mild and sunshine-y, with beautiful sunsets. It almost seems unfair in comparison to the crazy snow on the other side of the U.S. And while I like the cold and rainy and I love the mystery of a gloriously foggy day, I must admit that it's nice to see the sun for a change. 

I wound up taking a weekend trip with my boyfriend and his family down to Great Wolf Lodge, a popular resort with a big indoor waterpark this past week. The drive down was beautiful and I think the high of the day was somewhere around 60 degrees (!!!). I studied in the car so that I would be able to enjoy myself at the waterpark without having to worry about school, and I had a blast. It'd been so long since I'd been on a waterslide, and the two big ones were pretty epic. After we'd thoroughly exhausted ourselves at the waterpark and the resort's arcade, I was able to curl up on the couch with Josh to watch Supernatural (I recently introduced him to that show, and he's pretty hooked!). We also joined all the little kids in running around the hotel playing Magi-Quest...it's an interactive game where you have a wand and run around doing different quests to find magical things throughout the hotel. It's really fun...and crazy good exercise. I was sore for the next couple days from running up and down flights of stairs. It didn't help I was wearing a huge sweater...haha. :) 

Anyway, it was a fun little getaway. It was great to be able to spend more time getting to know Josh's family and not have to think about school for a while (though I'm still working on getting caught up!). 

Talk soon. 

-xo, Vicki Grace

new year's day outfit

//dress: cotton on / sweater: thrifted / tights: fred meyer / shoes: thrifted / earrings: my grandma's//

By the time New Year's Day rolled around, I was pretty tired of coming up with dressy outfits for the church services, after having to do so four times already, and so I reverted back to an old favorite. I picked up this dress from Cotton On on clearance for $5. Although I usually shy away from form-fitting dresses because of my pear-shaped figure, I could hardly pass up the price and the beautiful shimmery fabric. I love wearing it with this boxy, cropped sweater over the top, which I think adds a nice bit of contrast to the style of the dress, and neatly covers up the somewhat immodest (and unflattering) top of the dress. Then, to add another touch of fanciness, I topped it off with the crystal earrings I inherited from my grandmother.

My New Year's Day was amazing. I spent New Year's Eve, after church, with my boyfriend, and we rang in the New Year (and our first anniversary!) by watching Die Hard. One of my sillier dreams ever since I was a little girl was to be able to welcome the New Year with a kiss, and that dream was wonderfully fulfilled this year. On New Year's Day, after the church service, Josh and I went to see the final Hobbit movie (so good!). We took a walk to see the Ivar's Clam Lights, a holiday light display at a nearby beach, which is something that has always been a holiday tradition in my family. I had tried to show them to Josh last New Year, but we were too late, and they'd been taken down...he was fairly certain I'd made them up so we would go on a moonlit walk, so I had to prove their existence to him this year. And I was finally able to give Josh the gift I'd been working feverishly on throughout the month, an art nouveau-inspired portrait of the two of us. He wasn't expecting it at all and seeing his reaction was pretty wonderful. :)

How was the start to your 2015?

back to school

//top, skirt, necklace, ring: forever21 / shoes: charlotte russe / tights: target / ring necklace: gift / backpack: thrifted//

This skirt has quickly become one of my closet staples. I don't typically like to wear pencil skirts, because I don't think they quite flatter my figure, but I'd been looking for a new denim skirt for quite some time when I found this one online at Forever21, and since I had a 30% discount code, I snapped it up. When it arrived, I was so excited to try it on, after which I realized it probably would have been a better idea to size up. Still, I was determined to make it work, and so I've been wearing it with layers or untucked tops/sweaters. And I'm pretty happy with it. It's great for more casual outfits, though its fittted nature doesn't make it the most practical of skirts. For a day of lounging around, a lunch date, or for going out to see a movie (which is what I wore this for), this is the perfect outfit. 

Well, school is starting up again, and I'm still waiting to see how much of my time these classes--intternational relations and research methods--are going to consume. After these classes, though, I've only got three more to go before graduation...how crazy is that? I can't quite believe it myself, though it really does seem like I've been in college forever. In some ways, I'm fearful for the time after graduation, when I'll have to enter the real world and get myself a job, but in other ways, I'm excited to be reaching another milestone and beginning yet another chapter of life, to see what God has in store for me. 

I'll talk to ya'll soon. :)