film friday: this is oregon

THIS IS OREGON from Shwood Eyewear on Vimeo.

In honor of me flying back to the beautiful state of Oregon on Sunday, I thought it would be appropriate to show this video. Oregon is seriously so gorgeous and I love that it only takes a little bit of time to drive out and suddenly be completely immersed in nature. I think it's one of the most beautiful places on earth. If you have time, I highly recommend going to their website (thisisor.com) and checking out the photos, and would even more highly recommend actually going to Oregon and exploring all it has to offer.

so try to be somebody

dress/skirt/shirt/tights/shoes: thrifted // belt: forever 21 // jacket: from a friend




Can I just say that I'm quite proud the majority of this outfit is thrifted? I for one absolutely adore thrift stores. When I was a lot younger, I thought it was so uncool to have clothes that were bought from a thrift store, probably because that was back when I thought brands of clothes made you popular. My junior high self went so far as to shop at all the popular stores just so that people would think I was cool. Newsflash: it didn't work out so much. People didn't think I was cool when I suddenly had "Hollister" plastered all over my chest. Thankfully that phase of my life has ended (the brands and t-shirts and jeans phase) and I can roam the thrift store isles in all their glory!

I've been trying to purchase more basic pieces for my wardrobe, such as this skirt and dress. I have a lot of crazy pieces but not a lot of basic ones I can mix a whole bunch of times. I think this skirt will be just what I need and I already predict I'll be wearing it at least once a week this year. It will be hard to refrain from doing so. The red shoes were definitely a fun purchase. In Oregon I had my eye on some $20 red shoes (c'mon thrift stores, you're supposed to be cheap!), but I didn't buy them for that price tag reason. Now I'm so glad I didn't do it because these red shoes only cost me $6! Yuuus I love negotiating with sales people to get good deals.




This outfit works because most of these colors are neutrals. Neutrals are colors (blacks, whites, browns, navys) that go with any other color, and that includes other neutrals. Whoever decided to say that brown and black didn't go together was crazy, because they do, because they are neutrals. Even my cream colored shirt can be considered a neutral because it's a member of the brown family. Then I just added a little pop of color--red--to make the outfit stand out. I could have chosen any color shoes and bow because again, everything else was a neutral. And as far as print goes, I'm actually wearing two prints. The navy dress has some flower embossment (not a real word, but it makes sense, haha) sewn into the fabric (which you can't quite tell from the photos, but trust me, it's there), and then my cream top has some neutral flowers on it as well. They are nice subtle prints that work together.

I hope this helps you guys out in mixing prints and colors together! :)





Have a super awesome day. Love you!

birthday wishlist

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12

Also this shirt, one calendar for school, one for blogging/goals, one journal for diary, one for dreams, and a moo gift card.

Now that the holidays are finally over, it's time to focus on birthdays in the Parker family. My dad's, brother's, and my birthdays are all within the span of eight days, so it's nothing short of a celebration at our house. Of course, I head back to college before my birthday, so the party party party time will have to be a little premature, but I'm still really excited about it! My dad had me put together a wishlist of things I want, so I browsed around and found things that I claim I can't live without. But really I am content with where I am in life and this is just stuff (not saying that I don't want to get stuff for my birthday though, parents! Wink wink.) I'm just really thankful I've had an awesome break with my family and boyfriend and that in a week I get to go back to an awesome school with some of the most amazing people I've ever met.

express yourself

shirt/skirt: thrifted // leopard shirt: mom's closet // tights: forever 21 // boot: target // coat/socks: from a friend



Yay! First outfit post of the year! I've had a nice little break from the camera ever since finishing my 365 project, but now I'm excited to get back into the swing of things. I leave for school again in exactly one week, and I'm ready for life to kick into gear. Of course, I say that now, but probably in a few weeks when my eighteen credits is killing me, I'll regret saying that. But I can't wait to see all my friends again and take classes and be surrounded by beautiful Oregon landscape. And of course being in this Alaskan weather has hardened me up for what I thought was a cold Oregon winter.



Check out my super fun camera nails! I posted a previous version of these on instagram (you can follow me @impulsings), and I loved them so much (or rather, hated how poorly done they were, haha) that I redid them! The trick is to use sharpie. And when you put your top coat on, be very quick about it so the marker doesn't run at all. I really love these nails and I'll probably experiment with more designs like this in the future.




Also, I entered the Modcloth year of dresses contest and have a fun blooper video for you guys! I promise I'm not this dorky in real life, or maybe I am. At any rate, the contest made me really excited for 2013 and even if I don't win, I really want to focus on print/color mixing because I really do love it a lot and want to help out anyone who's a bit scared to try it out. 2013 is going to be a fantastic year!

bloopers from Lauren Parker on Vimeo.

I hope you all have a really awesome day, and I would love it if you voted for my entry here! Also don't forget to enter my print giveaway. I want as many people who want to enter to do so. The more the merrier!