Hey guys! This time of the year is crazy busy for me. I have 2 more weeks to get 4 essays and a portfolio finished, so I’m a little out of my mind with stress. However, in the middle of my academic meltdown, I got a sweet little package in the mail and knew exactly which dress I wanted to wear today.

I got this belted beige dress from Torrid a couple of weeks ago, but I had been waiting for the right colorful accessory to wear with it. Enter in this red Forever21 necklace, and I was smitten.

I really love the two together, but I know I need one more pop of color, so I’m definitely on the lookout for a cute clutch to finish this outfit. I’m thinking of this one from Aldo.

(Image via Aldoshoes.com)

This dress has cute sleeves that will work perfectly from spring to summer, but it did have its annoying qualities. When I tried on and purchased the dress, it was very wrinkled. I spent a good twenty minutes ironing the dress, but then by the time I went to put it back on, it was wrinkled again. I’m hoping that once I wash and dry the dress, the wrinkle issue will go away, but who knows if that will happen.

I also got these shoes from Forever21, which I wasn’t sure about because I do have wide feet. They have buckles at both the toes and the ankle, so they fit fine. I know there’s a rule out there that says not to wear ankle straps if you’re short, but this season all I’ve seen are ankle straps, so I decided to try it out. What do you all think?

(Lola says hi :))

I’m sorry for the lame pictures, my normal photographer (aka my mom) is out of town, so it’s just me and the tripod.

(Shop: Dress, Shoes, Necklace)

Part of me wonders how this dress will look when I’m not as white as snow. I’m definitely looking forward to my skin not matching this dress, but I’m trying to embrace my paleness.

On a serious and totally topic switching note, this week I received an e-mail from a reader and we discussed self-acceptance a bit (Hi Alice!!). It really made me reflect over the last couple months to see where I was and where I am. I still have a long road before me. Believe me, I know. But I also feel very different about myself, my physical body, and my life. This week three different guys flirted with me (this has a point I promise), and for a few days I thought, “Wow, that was weird, because that never happens to me”. And then it kind of dawned on me that it has happened before, but I’ve never let myself believe or see that it was happening because my automatic instinct was that they were either not interested or that something was wrong with them. For the first time in a long time, I truly believed that other people could be attracted to me, and as vain as that kind of sounds, it’s a huge deal. It’s a huge change from the way I perceived others’ thoughts of me. And I’m happy, really happy, that I’ve gotten to like myself enough that I think other people could like me too. I really hope that anyone who is reading this has either realized this or is on their way there. But anyways.. back to the clothes!

How do you like to dress up a plain clothing item?

How do you feel about ankle strapped heels? What do you think of the outfit?