fashionista Archives - Piloting Paper Airplanes

|lunch date| Life in pieces makes a whole

This has unexpectedly been a summer of change you guys.

In June it became clear I needed to leave my budget-strapped nonprofit and I began a serious job search. To say the environment was toxic is an understatement and the last few months only became worse. And let me tell you! Job hunting takes so much time it’s a job in itself – while still working full-time, the relaxed and adventurous summer we had planned went up in flames.

Through the process and despite problems in the office, I realized how spoiled I’ve been. I worked a 20-minute walk from my house, my yoga studio is in the same building and my favorite local coffee shop is right there.

I’ll have to commute now? Join the rush-hour crush on public transit? My commute time quadruples?? I’ve managed to retain small-city work habits in DC. Remarkable, really.

The good news is I’m now a week into a new job! My commute isn’t the worst – I’m able to catch a limited-stop bus and avoid the metro trains all together. It’s a nice salary increase. The staff are spunky and friendly.

I’ll give a little more detail when I get my new office arranged and decorated and can also post photos.

In other summer news!

We went on vacation! Finally. And it coincided with our 3-year anniversary! We camped for 5 days in a Maryland State Park, turned off phones, didn’t check times, went exploring and generally just breathed. In perfect timing, I accepted my new position the night before we left, so we really were able to fully relax.

I ran a 10-mile trail race with some good friends:

I’ve been much more consistent with runs and workouts:

Life in pieces makes a whole | PilotingPaperAirplanes.com

We’ve spent time around the city and had family visit:

Life in pieces makes a whole | PilotingPaperAirplanes.com

Cassie and I took advantage our last weeks working together (she started a new job too!):

Life in pieces makes a whole | PilotingPaperAirplanes.com

I’ve enjoyed my home. A peaceful home space is so important when outside the doors is crazy:

Life in pieces makes a whole | PilotingPaperAirplanes.com

Now I can settle into a new space and new routine. I can work with freelance clients again. And because I work in the city now, I can be cool and have lunch dates with fellow downtown employee friends.

Thanks for sticking with me!

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Since I’ve been mostly absent, how have your summers been??
How do you handle transition periods?

September 5, 2015/6 Comments/by LarissaDaltonS

feature, |style|

|style| Breezy black top

Black splits summer top {PilotingPaperAirplanes}

Cue the messy hair, wrinkled fabric and too-cool top. But there’s no time like the present, even if the present isn’t perfect!

I made this breezy black top over the weekend and I’m pretty happy with it. I don’t use patterns when I sew like this, so sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The fit here is perfect, the length is right where I want it, and the side slits provide movement in the shirt while showing just a little bit of skin. I’m ready for you, summer.

Breezy black top {PilotingPaperAirplanes} style, fashion, outfit

Thanks for reading!

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Embrace the present, even if it’s not perfect!

April 28, 2015/7 Comments/by LarissaDaltonS

|lately|

|lately| This is me

This is me March review {PilotingPaperAirplanes.com}

This is me, friends. A woman who lives by a to-do list, but isn’t afraid to ignore it when needed. Even the blog calendar. I haven’t felt this happy to write a post in a long time as I do right now. It’s been a crazy few weeks and I’ve missed it! Getting up this morning, sitting down with my tea and signing in to PPA felt refreshing and oh-so-perfectly normal. Life is settling down again.

Fitness

Moving counts, right? There are 37 stairs round trip and a parking lot between old apartment and new apartment. I walked those 37 steps a lot. I counted the hours total we spent working, then averaged how much of that I was walking back and forth to be about 10 hours over moving weekend. Seeing as everything hurt for the next week, I’m counting those hours.

That equals about 37 hours of activity for the month of March. Only 15 days of actual workouts, as I took nearly a full week off post move. Best news is I am tracking my measurements and weight for monthly check-ins with my accountability partner – I’m consistently dropping inches and while the weight is slower, the number is moving.

What I learned this month:

• Stairs are the enemy. I have never liked stair workouts and I hate them even more right now. So I need you to do me a favor:

Tell me that a good stair running workout works in less time. Tell me the heart rate and VO2 max training results are better than anything else. Tell me it’ll make my ass look amazing. Please and thanks for the motivation.

Fun

Um, we moved! But really. I found I was in the mood for something new and fresh. Call it spring cleaning or something. This move just felt really good. We purged some more stuff, reorganized and have a much prettier balcony view now.

Sure, I’m convinced my new building is built over a sinkhole given the dramatic waves in the floor. And btw, sinkholes are f*** terrifying, so I most definitely had a moment of freaking out and “hells NO Jon, I can’t live here!” It passed.

Now my brother Matthew is our new housemate. My kitchen is stocked with Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and Pop Tarts. Jon and I are boring adults I think.

In other fun news, IT’S SPRING. I enjoyed morning tea on my balcony for the first time this weekend, I wore sandals last week, I painted my toe nails for the first time this season AND it’s Cherry Blossom season so we took Sky Squid out for the Blossom Kite Festival (even though it was actually not spring that day, but almost miserably cold). Now I have a few online shopping carts of spring and summer tops that I can’t buy right now but absolutely need. You understand.

Favorite Instagram photos:

Food

Confession time. The no sugar thing continuing through Lent didn’t really happen. I gave up pretty quickly. I’d already done it for a month! I’d paid my sugar dues. What did happen was much more mindfulness of said sugar intake. I’m quite proud of myself actually. *pat on the back* My February sugar detox was successful in that it caused me to be more aware how much sweets I was consuming and change accordingly.

My other success is my water intake. I’m averaging 7-11 glass per day. My goal is at least 100 ounces, preferably closer to 150. And yes, I track it daily in my work planner. I feel amazing you guys! Funny how you don’t realize you felt bad until you feel great. I’m less fatigued, snack less (hunger vs. dehydration) and my skin feels a lot better.

Reminders:

• >sugar + <water = great!

• I power up in the sun. Man I feel so much better when it’s bright in the morning. Remind me of this when it’s 90° and sunny.

Happy April!

How was your March?
How was your Easter weekend?

April 6, 2015/13 Comments/by LarissaDaltonS

Life & Lemonade, Social, |style|

Halp! Searching for fashion advice

YOU GUYS.

I have been obsessed lately with fashion blogs and fashion on Pinterest and… the lack of fashion on my wardrobe. Ugh. Normally I don’t care all that much and with limited spare funds for shopping exploits, it’s easier to make do. Plus, my non-fashionista self has an irritatingly hard time selecting and pairing pieces.

But! Jon and I have planned a joint shopping splurge in the near future – hopefully SOONER than later *wink* – and I can’t tell you how excited I am to not only get rid of and replace much of my closet (honestly, I still have things from college; maybe before college) but also update Jon’s wardrobe. Giddy!

Alas, the time has not yet come, but I’m trying really hard to plan. Too often I impulse buy just because something is on sale and not necessarily because I love it or because it will last. And I’m pretty awful at shopping with the rest of my wardrobe in mind. The worst thing ever is getting home excited about a new piece and having nothing to wear it with. So I’m trying to be proactive while I bide my time (let’s be honest, I don’t actually want to plan and think this much) until shopping extravaganza can begin.

Ok, also, despite my big words, we don’t actually plan to spend a gazillion pennies. But it has been years since either of us were able to put a whole lot of effort or dollars into quality clothes and I, for one, think its past due. Jon is along for the ride. 🙂

Anyway, I’m switching up my fitness or life motivation to fashion inspiration this week. And HALP! I need advice, tips, ideas, style tips, anything. I’m creative enough that I want to say I’m pretty good at fashion stuff… but that’s just not the case. Here’s what I like: skinny bottoms; loose tops; short skirts; lots of color; not afraid of patterns but I have zero concept how to mix them; absolutely ok with sparkle; some structure but not too much; a “whimsy” feel; nothing fussy and definitely comfort reigns over all else.