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MadisonChurch

Styling fuzzy slides into fall

Posted in Fashion
on 09/13/2018

HELLLER MY GALS!

Happy September 13. Hope all of y’all are having a great week/month/year so far. It’s that weird time of year, especially down here in South Louisiana where it’s still 90 degrees outside and raining everyday? Yeah, our weather is extremely bi-polar which does not lend itself easily to dressing for “fall.” My favorite way to get into the fall spirit is to incorporate transition pieces into my summer basics for a fall vibe.

FUZZY SLIDES. NEED I SAY MORE?

What I used to honestly DESPISE as a trend has finally won me over in the form of this embellished slide from Target. Yes y’all, you heard me right. Target with alll the deals (y’all know I am a HUGE fan). But back to the slides. I’ve been living in them the past week. Dresses, jeans, skirts – you name it and it’ll probably look amaze with these! This is the only way for this southern Louisiana girl to get her fur fix while it’s still so warm out. Here’s all my favorite fuzzy slides for the fall linked for y’all below!

hat (sold out) // bracelets // dress // fuzzy slides // purse (sold out)

We have to chat about this dress. It’s from one of my all-time fave brands and it’s under $55! Lately I’ve been all about the faux-leopard print and I love how it’s incorporated into the flowers on this shift. Orange, green, black and cream are such great colors to take into fall with you. I would so rock this dress in the summer with more white-toned accessories to lighten it up. Since I was going for a darker vibe, I opted for black to make everything pop.

SHOP MY LOOK BELOW

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Dressing for gameday with the neutrals in your closet

Posted in Fashion
on 09/06/2018

GAMEDAY GAMEDAY GAMEDAY! Only the best time of year for us southern gals. I’ve teamed up with one of my blogger pals, Caroline for today’s post (yay)! We work together so we chat lots about clothes (no really we chat too much about clothes). The two of us aren’t huge purple and gold fans which prompted us to do this post with some fun gameday looks you can create with the neutrals you already own!

This look is so effortless and cool – I love it. A simple tee (whatever color you have will work), cutoffs, sneakers and a denim jacket for that cool factor. I’ve also been super into belts lately so I added a lighter toned belt that pops against my favorite black cut offs. My gold platform converse, which quickly became my favorite shoes this summer, are the best for walking all day. The key here is comfort!

SIMPLE TEE + CUTOFFS + BELT + SNEAKERS = CASUAL COOL

Let’s talk clear. Bags that is. They’re required for pretty much any sporting event and if you’re anything like me you pretty much hate them. I struggled to find one that I liked that wouldn’t break the bank. Amazon ended up being my savior! My bag is linked here. It’s under $25, super stylish, and it’s got lots of room for all my gameday essentials! Beaded coin purses are my favorite way to jazz these babies up. There are so many made in cool colors and funny sayings now so you can find one that fits your mood.

MY ESSENTIALS FOR GAMEDAY

Life’s a marathon, not a sprint. I would like to think the same applies for gameday too. You’re out all day in the sun, trying to look like a 10 when ya actually look like a 2. It’s rough! There are a few things I always be sure to carry around with me to avoid looking like plague.

OIL WIPES | MY FAVORITE LIPSTICK |GUM | PORTABLE PHONE CHARGER |  KOOZIE

Y’all head over to Caroline’s blog for more gameday inspo. She’s styling a funky little yellow striped set over on Frill Seeker. GO GO GO!

Here’s the link to my favorite gameday playlist here. XOXO
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Dealing with self-doubt

Posted in Lifestyle
on 08/30/2018

There’s something I’ve been struggling with lately: self-doubt. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m expected to be a real adult in less than 10 months, or maybe it’s the fact that I haven’t had much time to think about anything these past few weeks (thanks, recruitment)? Possibly it’s the combination of both, but all I know for sure is that I have felt off. 

Self-doubt is definitely a huge player in the game that is my life. I’m a type A personality, so I constantly have an internal battle going on. As my biggest critic, there’s always thoughts running through my mind of self-doubt.

Here’s a few things I’ve been doing to help curb this feeling!

JOURNALING

My FAVORITE thing I’ve taken from my #selfishsummer was journaling. I *tried* to make it a daily thing, but when things got busy it was more like one-two times a week thing. BUT STILL. I cannot explain how much better I feel after putting it allll out there on the pages of my journal. It’s extremely therapeutic especially if you’ve got a mind that runs a million miles a minute like mine. Get yourself a journal, decorate it and make it your own, and use it!

 POSITIVE THOUGHTS

When I’m down on myself, I like to flip back through my social media/camera roll to see how far I’ve come. Even since the beginning of this year I’ve grown so much! In January of 2018, I wouldn’t have been able to move 10 hours away from home for the summer. But hey! I did it and it made me a much stronger, more independent person. So when I’m feeling doubtful, I remind myself of everything I’ve already accomplished.

KEEP ON MOVING

Sometimes I think the best way to kick those ugly feelings to the curb is just to keep pushing. To keep moving and have faith you know where you’re headed. This might not work for everyone, but I know that for me it’s one of the best ways to do things. If I keep my mind occupied on other tasks then I have less time to doubt myself.

Life is definitely a journey and not a destination. By helping yourself along the way, it’ll make things a lot more fun! I’ll promise you that. So the next time you’re feeling a bit of self-doubt, take a step back. You’re a lot stronger than you think.

Cheers to getting back into the swing of things and a new school year!

xoxo

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LGIP turns 3!

Posted in Lifestyle
on 07/18/2018

UM OK? HOW DID WE GET HERE? It’s been a long time coming, y’all. Dang I cannot believe I started this little blog three years ago. I was in a place where I just wanted something that I could control, something that was mine. The summer before I jetted off to LSU, I made a leap of faith and created this corner of the internet. What originally was a blog for the preppy gal has evolved into something I couldn’t have ever dreamed of.

dress | shoes

Blogging has truly been such a humbling experience. I honestly don’t think I would be the person I am today if I hadn’t started this blog. It’s brought me out of shell more than I’d like to admit. Putting yourself out there in real life is scary. But on the internet? Even more scary. That stuff is there to stay. Even after I am gone, LGIP will still be in the archives of the internet. Crazy stuff.

Growing up on the internet is such a unique experience. When I look back at some of my first blog posts, I can’t help but laugh. I’ve changed SO MUCH, y’all. I’ve grown up. AHHH it’s insane to think that I started all of this to chronicle my college experience and now it’s almost over. As I enter my senior year, I am so thankful I have an online scrapbook (of sorts) that I can go back and relieve my college years through.

Blogging has taught me so many things: discipline, self-confidence, the value of hard work. The list goes on and on. But mainly I think the one thing I have taken away from this entire crazy journey so far is that the internet does not define me. I know I talked about this a bit in one of my recent girl talk posts, but I’ll mention it again because I see so much value in it. The number of likes, comments, page views, and Instagram followers does not belittle me as a person. AT ALL. That’s something I know I have struggled with. To be honest, I still struggle with it to this day. It’s so hard to not define yourself based off what others think, especially in the digital age. But I think I’ve learned I’ve got to stay true to myself and the rest will follow.

As I stay true to myself: who I am and who I am working to be, things will fall into place. LGIP in the past year has become a place where girls can come and just be. We don’t have to pretend like we have it all together, because we sure as hell don’t. This summer I wrote one of my deepest (and honestly most favorite posts) and the feedback I got was AMAZING. It was unlike any other post I had written before. I got deep. Real deep. And y’all enjoyed it. It was relatable. It’s posts like those, where I can get real and y’all will understand/relate me to that make this entire thing worth it.

SO to sum up this entire heart-to-heart I want to say: THANK YOU. The past three years have been challenging mentally. That’s something that I never expected to get out of this experience, but I am appreciative that I did. Thanks to y’all, Louisiana Girl in Pearls has honestly made me a better person.

If you’re still with me, I would love to talk a quick lil trip down memory lane and share some of my FAVORITE LGIP posts from the last year.

Mid Summer recap + reflection

What’s in my Forever 21 shopping cart

Why you need a pair of cropped jeans + how to style them

NYC recap (October) and NYC recap (July)

5 NYE outfit ideas you have to try

21 things I learned by 21

Everything you need to know about accutane + my skin care routine

Fake + bake | Summer self tanning routine

I MOVED! | How to move minimalistically + room tour

LGIP revamp revealed!

CHEERS TO THREE! HERE’S TO MANY, MANY MORE!

Madison

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A weekend in NYC

Posted in Lifestyle
on 07/13/2018

NYC, oh how I love you. This past weekend I was able to: walk over 20 miles, spend some quality time with my favorite people, and become a local on the subway. Man, was it so nice to get out of my routine and see some new sights! I’ve done New York twice before (read my other recap here), so I wanted to make sure to hit more of the local-ish scene this time around (not sure I succeeded). I’ll share some pictures and links to all of my outfits I wore on the trip so stayed tuned!

friday

I flew into Newark (it’s pure insanity) so I had to take an AirTrain, real train and two subways to get to Gavin’s apartment in Brooklyn. It was probably hilarious watching me lug around my duffle to all of these different trains, but nonetheless I made it with almost no trouble (shocking I know). We ended up having at children’s night at home with dinner and some wine. Ugh, it’s the simple things like a night in with one of my best friends (for 8 years) that made this trip so well worth it!

I also did a post of how I packed for the weekend LIGHTLY. So if you’re interested in that, click here!

saturday

I trucked to the city to meet up with Maria (my best friend from LSU) and Elise (who was also visiting). The commute from where Gavin lives in Brooklyn is around 35 minutes — so I was happy to have some headphones in my purse so I could jam to my tunes while on the subway lol.

We walked the Highline to Chelsea Market. I was dying over all of the aesthetically pleasing shops in there, omg. In Chelsea, we also went to Story which is a concept store (meaning they redo it every so often with a new look and feel). If you get the chance, go check it out! At this point, it was so windy my skirt blew up way too many times to count and I also almost lost my hat a few times too. Sorry to the people on the streets of New York because I’m pretty sure I flashed them multiple times (ugh lol). Since we knew our  eventual goal was to eat lunch in Brooklyn’s Dumbo area, we ended up getting bagels for a snack. Man do I LOVE a New York Bagel.
Once our stomachs were full, we headed to the Flatiron building. It’s one of my favorite picture-taking spots in the city! I love all of the greenery around the building. While we were in the area, Maria suggested we go to Eatly. Oh my goodness, I don’t think I’ve ever seen something so beautiful. The cheese, the meat, the pizza books! It’s safe to say I found a slice of heaven in that store.

We then headed down to the Financial District to stop by Ground Zero since Elise had never seen it before. It’s such a sight to see. If you’ve never been, I would totally recommend. We found a little sandwich shop via Trip Advisor that supposedly had THE BEST Italians in New York. I can totally vouch: they were ICONIC. Because of their huge size, we got two and split them between the three of us. Us and the Italians trekked to Brooklyn for a nice little picnic underneath the Brooklyn bridge. Dumbo’s park is def one of my favorite views in the city. We also rode the carousel at Dumbo, just for kicks. Carousels always remind me of New Orleans for some reason? Haha, idk but I’ll take any piece of home when it comes.We were DYING to walk to Brooklyn bridge and snap some shots. It took us a solid 10 minutes to figure out how the heck to get to the walking portion, haha. But once we got up, we snapped the day away. The pictures came out so darn cute!

At this point, we were EXHAUSTED so we headed back to Maria’s place to get ready for dinner. Elise, our resident Trip Advisor woman, found us another amazing restaurant. Crispo, in Chelsea, was PERFECT. We devoured all of our pasta dishes and our Prosecco. It was so nice for Gavin to meet some of my friends from college!

We ended up hitting a few clubs before calling it a night. One of which was a speak easy, The Back Room,  that served their drinks in coffee cups! The vibe in there was so cool. You had to walk down a flight of stairs into almost like a backdoor kinda thing to get inside. Our next stop was another fun bar that was hidden inside of an empty office building almost. The secretive vibe was the coolest part of all of these places! We don’t have bars like that back in New Orleans!

My set is Free People from last season, but I’m linking all of my accessories for y’all below!

sunday

Sunday got off to a bit of a later start. I met Maria and Elise at the Eugene ONiell theatre so we could get tickets to the Book of Mormon. We wanted to get standing room for the 7:00pm show, but once we had waited in line (around an hour) and got to the box office we were informed that we could only buy tickets for the 2:30pm show. Since we had already kinda wasted some time waiting, we decided to just go ahead and get those tickets and stay in the Times Square area for another hour or so. If you’re trying to see a Broadway show, I would recommend standing room. Our tickets were only $27! For a quick lunch, we grabbed some New York pizza (one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE FOODS) and took a quick peek into Times Square.

Book of Mormon was so so fun! I loved the music so much that I may need to start listening to the soundtrack. As a theatre nerd (I did theatre growing up, all throughout high school, and into college, where I now minor in theatre), seeing a show is a must-do for me in the city!

Since our original plan was to go to the Upper East Side prior to the show, we ended up just heading uptown after the show. Of course, a snack was in order to go along with our walk in Central Park. Milk was absolutely adorable (I was in love with their neon sign) and the ice cream was great! I got a mix of their famous cereal milk and chocolate pretzel with rainbow sprinkles. Pretty sure I ate it in under three minutes, I was so in need of something refreshing after a long day!Central Park is always a must see for me as well when I’m in town. We walked around for a bit, sat for a while too, considering we had been standing since around noon and it was now 6pm. A quick photo session was needed (are you surprised) and we stumbled upon this cute little area with this perfect background. I think this picture of Maria and I may be my favorite we’ve ever taken!

The window displays at Bergdorf”s off 5th avenue were INSANE. I swear I took like twenty-something pictures. The whimsical theme was so fun with the sequined jackets and statement pieces.
The Met was next on our checklist, but since it was Sunday their hours are a bit different. We sat on the steps, Gossip Girl style, and snapped some more pictures while we figured out our dinner game plan. The tapas bar we ended up at was FABULOUS. I think we ended up with about 5 tapas, a pitcher of Sangria and churros for dessert all under $50 a person! I headed back to Brooklyn to spend some QT with Gavin since my days were numbered in NYC!!

monday

Monday was my day to myself since Elise had an early flight home and both Maria and Gavin had work. I hit a few sites I hadn’t yet seen! 

HEAVENLY BODIES WAS NOTHING SHORT OF HEAVENLY. Y’all oh my gosh, I got a little teary eyed when I walked into the exhibit. It was absolutely stunning. If you’re in the city, you have to go see it! The gowns were beautiful, the music was beautiful, everything was beautiful. Most of my favorite pieces were Versace or Rodarte. Just all around a HAVE TO SEE.

After I walked around the Met for a bit, I headed to the gift shop to charge my phone (lol) and take a quick break. There was sooo many fashion books I wanted to buy them all for my coffee table that I don’t currently own, but hey I’ll have one eventually right?! I had to snap this lil shot since it was too pretty a view not to take advantage.

Before leaving the Upper East Side, I walked all way the across Central Park for some pizza. I got two slices y’all. What did I tell ya? It’s seriously my guilty pleasure.
I made my way downtown, to the Soho area, for a bit of window shopping. Help me I’m poor. My favorite Bloomingdales is the Soho location so I stopped in there. The neon signs were out to PLAY Y’ALL. I prob have around three or four pictures of them in my phone with all of the funny sayings. I especially loved the simplicity of the goals x3.

In Soho, I stopped by some of my favorites including: Zara, H&M, Brandy Melville, and Krewe Soho. I was dead after all of my walking so I headed back to Brooklyn for my flight that night. OH THE DRAMA THAT ENSUED. I won’t even bother to recap it but I’ll let y’all in on a few clues: I was sobbing on the streets of Brooklyn, my phone was on 5% and I barely made my flight!

Overall this weekend: 10/10. I made it one of my new year’s goals to go to NYC as much as possible and if one time is all I get, I’ll be happy that it was this one! My travel bug was itching so badly. I needed this little mildly spontaneous trip to NYC to get me through the summer!

I can really see myself living in a city out of college. As someone who LOVES to stay busy, the hustle and bustle would be amazing for me. NYC, hopefully I’ll see ya soon!

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What’s in my carry on bag | How to travel LIGHTLY!

Posted in Lifestyle
on 07/09/2018

I am a chronic over-packer. I never fail to bring 4 more outfits than I need, way too many pairs of shoes and the lipstick that I haven’t worn in the past 7 months but might be feeling it when I get on vacay. IT’S NOT HEALTHY. With absolutely HORRIBLE experiences I’ve had while checking my bags, I now always vow to CARRY ON EVERYTHING. If you’re an over-packer like me, stick around and I’ll share a few tips for ya on how I manage to fit alll of my shiz in a carry on bag and personal item (aka purse). Let’s gooooo!

carry on the essentials

OK so I know this is easier said than done. Especially if you’ve got a longer trip. As far as skincare goes: simplify your routine. If you normally do 5 steps, make it 3. Maybe you don’t need to bring that face mask or crazy 3 step under eye regimen. Stick to the basics: cleanser (make sure it’s under 3oz!), moisturizer and maybe a toner or eye cream. I love bringing products that are double duty to save room. This serum is amazing to multi task with. Use it for your hair, face and body moisturizer and even as a cuticle oil!

pack pieces that you can mix and match

I looooove two piece sets because they’re basically like three outfits in one. Wear the top with another pair of bottoms, the bottoms with another top or the matching top and bottoms together! They are the best and really a savior for saving space while traveling. I recently brought this set on my trip home to NOLA and it was PERFECT. I always like to bring a good basic jean jacket too for the plane and as a layering piece. I’ll link a few of my summer basics I brought on my recent trip for y’all below!

compartmentalize everything

The easiest way to stay organized is by compartmentalizing everything. Keep all of your cosmetics in one bag, your face and body products in another, your electronics, shoes, jewelry and what ever else your heart desires in separate bags too. I find this is truly the most simple way to pack! It keeps things organized and easier to keep track of. If you’re like me, your suitcase can EASILY become a black hole so bags of all sorts are super duper helpful.

With all of this being said, I’m linking a bunch of things I brought on my trip this weekend! Including this duffel and my favorite purse to travel with.

 

my travel must haves

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I’m obsessed with these shoes and you should be too

Posted in Fashion
on 07/05/2018

Howdy y’all. Hope everyone has had a great week so far! I know for me, today seriously felt like the most Monday Thursday ever. I think it’s that Wednesday off for the fourth is what threw me off! Nonetheless, I am so looking forward to this weekend as I’ll be headed up to the Big Apple. Eeekkkk! A get away for a bit to catch up with two of my closest friends is just what I need.

Last time I posted about these shoes on Instagram, I got an OVERLOAD of messages asking for details. So I figured I may as well do a blog post about em and show y’all how I style them!

Black, white, and snakeskin. Can’t get much better than that, right? I’m a sucker for a neutral outfit because I feel like I don’t have to think… I can just grab and go. Please lmk when there will be a time where black and white won’t be in style? Never. I wanted to keep everything simple and light considering it’s hot as Hades up here in Fayetteville. On a side note: I wear these shorts at LEAST twice a week. They’re a great buy if you’re a jean-shorts-to-everything kinda gal like me.

the best shoes ever

I had been lusting after these for months and they were honestly the first thing I bought while working at RiffRaff because I was so dang excited about them. I loooove how comfortable they are! With the ankle strap and 1.5″ platform — ya get the best of both worlds (style AND comfort). I couldn’t pass up getting them in both colors lol #extraaf

I think my favorite part about these shoes is how versatile they are. I’ve done them with jeans, dresses, skirts and they honestly look good with EVERYTHING. I’m even taking them with me to NYC this weekend to go with all my day and night outfits. Did I mention that they’re ON SALE? Bottom line: you NEED A PAIR. Not kidding. 

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Mid summer recap + reflection

Posted in Lifestyle
on 07/01/2018

HELLLERRRR my friends. Feels like it’s been AWHILE. Since the summer is about halfway through for most of you *cue the sobs* I wanted to check in and give y’all a lil life update. Most of you voted for some more girl talk kind of posts via my Insta stories a few weeks ago (thank you if you voted ILY A MILLI) so here I am delivering!

If you are new to LGIP, let me fill ya in. I moved to Fayetteville, AR this summer for an internship at RiffRaff. I moved here not knowing A SINGLE SOUL. Man, was it intimidating. I mean, I guess I would consider myself a pretty friendly person and I honestly believe I could talk to anyone (if you know me IRL you know I am a talker). I was scared, but I knew that I would be able to make friends if I put myself out there. Well I am happy to report, I have friends! Good friends, no, GREAT FRIENDS up here in Arkansas. Friendships don’t come easy and I will say opening up right away with all of these girls it has paid off.

Coming up here and being 10 hours away from home (I miss you NOLA) has been hard. I’m not gonna lie to y’all I have a had a mental breakdown or two up here. Nothing a fountain coke, bath, and drive around town at night can’t fix right? Wrong. I’m not here to complain about being away from home because it was all my decision to take this leap of faith but I don’t want y’all to think it’s been all sunshine and rainbows. I mean, hey, I miss home ALL THE TIME but I am trying to make the most of this amazing opportunity being up here by myself for the whole summer.

I’ve taken up journaling this summer too and it’s made HUGE difference. Keeping all of my thoughts caged up inside is not healthy. I enjoy getting them all out onto paper each night. Not only is it extremely therapeutic, but I really crack myself up and I love going back and reading my old journal entries.

Being up here has sparked a period of extreme growth for me. I mean, not having my family and friends to rely on 24/7 is really challenging. I am sooo used to living in the sorority house where you’re never alone, so being alone like this was a bit of a culture shock for me. My mom has always told me I was independent and I’ve seen that quality in myself this summer. I LOVE doing things alone.  My solo Target trips, drives around town, and dinners are truly some of my favorite things to do. Being alone isn’t something to be ashamed of so why should I stay cooped up at home? I guess this segways great into my next topic: boys.

Oh god, I hate em, I love em, and feel everything between for em. Y’all have heard me talk about boys before on LGIP and this is a subject I’m not ashamed to speak on. Yes, I am still single as a pringle. Yes, it’s hard seeing all of my friends and EVERY SINGLE PERSON on my Insta timeline in relationships when I am far from that. But I think at this point in my life, as much as I may resent it, being single is what I need. I needed this time to take care of myself. There is a time and place for boys I guess for me, it’s just not now?

I am not saying I’m anti boy AT ALL. For me personally, I’ve decided that if talking to a boy makes me question my self-worth I don’t think it’s what I should be striving for. If a boy doesn’t answer my Snapchat it by no means degrades me. It doesn’t make me any less me. I’ll eventually find someone who will want to talk to me, regardless of how weird I am! That day is just not today?! This is something that sometimes I feel like I’ve conquered this feeling, but other days I let it get to me. I’m a work in progress as I should be. I hope some of you girls can relate to this. I know it’s a feeling I’ve been feeling for quite some time now. Being single is ok. Being single is awesome!

As I hinted to earlier, I have had a mental breakdown or two this summer. Mostly “WTF am I doing?” “Why don’t I have a boyfriend?” and other classic quarter-life crisis questions. I’ll admit to feeling trapped. Being away from home has really urged me to want to travel and get out of my comfort zone. Moving to Arkansas was a huge step for me and it’s really challenged me to get out of my daily routine. I am a creature of habit, so sometimes that break in the routine can be really tough. But I really needed to be able to take a break in my routine so it’s been good.

Moving away from home has sparked an urge for travel. Not kidding, I dreaaaammm of getting out and seeing the world. Especially this summer, I cannot stop thinking about it. Maybe the fact that my time living in Louisiana will come to an end soon? My travel bucket list right now consists of: SoCal, NYC, Arizona and Austin, TX. It’s been great to get out of good ole Louisiana, but I will say it’s made me realize there truly is no place like home. I’m not so sure Louisiana is my vibe, but I guess I’ll have to travel a bit out of school and see where I feel at home? It’ll all come soon I guess (in less than a year from now I’ll be a college grad holy cow I cannot think that far ahead lol).

Sooooo if you’re still here after ALL OF THIS- thanks. No really, thanks for reading, following along, commenting on my Instagram posts – I really appreciate all of you! I hope you’ll continue to follow along with me on my adventures as I enter this INSANE season of life. LOTS N LOTS OF LOVE.

Here’s the link to my set: top and bottom. It’s been one of my faves lately – no really I’ve been wearing it allll weekend lol.

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