Sunday Chronicles: Blog Birthday!

Investment Piece: Sunday Chronicles: Blog Birthday

I started this little piece of the Internet about 3 years ago. Honestly, I had no clue what I was doing. My mom actually came up with the idea, having read about blogging in Texas Monthly. Since I was 2 and began to have opinions about what I wore (and learned the word “no”), I’ve loved all things fashion and had something to say about it. So, I took a course on WordPress and began shooting my looks. We’ve grown, I’ve found my niche (Fashion Stories), and I still love all things fashion and talking about it. I couldn’t be more grateful for you joining me! There are so many exciting things to come; however, today we’re taking a minute to celebrate our blog birthday! So, let’s sit back, pop some champagne and look back at some of our favorite posts!

Investment Piece: Cinderella Shoes

The post that started it all: Cinderella Shoes

Investment Piece: FBF: Gucci Top
I still love this Vintage Gucci top.

Investment Piece: Pop of Yellow
From my first shoot with Katy Shayne, Pop of Yellow

Investment Piece: Feature in Influential Magazine
To my first shoot with Megan Weaver YSL

Investment Piece: American Girl
KYN Photo American Girl

Investment Piece: Fashion Stories
To my first Fashion Stories

Everything in between and everything to come.

Thank you for being a part of Investment Piece!

Wishing us all a week of celebrations and amazing shoes! Xo RA

Sunday Chronicles: Alterations

Loves, spring is coming (yes, even though it may be snowing where you are). The season of rebirth, renewal, and a great time to reassess our goals. It got me thinking about alterations. I’m such a firm believer that fashion can be how we tell our stories, and I love how alterations allow me to become a creator. From simple alterations, hems, rips, buttons, etc, to the ones where pieces get remade into something new, seperating a dress, making pieces into other things, etc; altering fashion allows you to really make something your own. Or ensure that a piece really fits you.

What can that teach us about our lives? I like to think that it means that, just like pants that don’t fit quite right, we should take our goals and plans and take in/let out/remake until they are a perfect fit and say what we want.

Fashion with a deeper meaning? I thought about it so much, I made us a little video:

I would love to know your thoughts about alterations. Both the fashion and the goal kind. What have you remade?

Wishing us all a week of perfect fits and amazing shoes!
XO RA

Sunday Chronicles: In Love with Potential

It’s the “season” of love. And I hope whatever Valentine’s means to you that you had a great day last week! I got to thinking about love: falling in it, rising in it, and all the times that we think we’re in love, but we really love their potential. It happens with clothes, too. There are things that we want, or that are in our closet, that we think will fit a certain way, go a certain way, will make us a certain kind of person. And sometimes, they do. But, there are times when the potential that we love is all that’s there. What do we do then?

I recently fell in love with a pair of shoes. I had outfits for days planned, knew that they would be chic, and that they would fit perfectly. They’re a bust. These shoes simply don’t fit me well at all–they make my feet look odd. And they don’t quite go with what I thought they would. Yet, I kept trying: to make them fit, to make them into what I wanted them to be. The potential was so good. And I’m not good at letting good potentional go. But, loves, sometimes we have to.

So, I made us a little video with some thoughts. Do I have the answers? No. Do I know how to resist falling in love with just potentional? No. But I’m working on it.

If you have solutions, I would love to hear them!
Also-I’ve linked similar items to the outfit in the video in the #ootd below, I can vouch that these pieces have much more than potentional! (To shop follow me on the liketoknow.it app and use the screenshot of the pic!)
Wishing us all a week of real love and amazing shoes! Xo RA

Note: This post does contain affiliate links. While that does not affect the price for you, I may earn commission from them. Thank you for your support!

Investment Piece: falling in love with potential

Sunday Chronicles: Valentine’s Day Gift Guide

There may be a rumor that I don’t like Valentine’s Day (see here, here, and here.) Let it be said that I am a great fan of love, and all the trappings that come with it, but a little wary of days where we “have to” anything. But, as long as it’s with a free heart, let’s tell each other we love each other and buy some gifts!

Be it for you, or for anyone you love, here are some of my picks for what to give this year for Valentine’s Day!

Note: This post does contain affiliate links. While that does not affect the price for you, I may earn commission from them. Thank you for your support!

Fountain Pen
Say what you will, but acknowleding all the hard work your honey does can do wonders for you both! And a great way to say “great job”? A great pen. (I grew up with a Mom who LOVES office supplies, so I have to say pen and office supply gifts are some of my fave.)
Some of my fave pens? Custom, personal Executive Nautical. (A friend makes them and they are just to die for!) My other picks for saying “thanks for working so hard!”:

Self Care
Spa days can not only be really romantic, they can be a much needed way to let your loved ones take care of themselves. Can’t make it to the spa? Here are my picks for self care at home:

Heart Shaped
Cliche? Yes. But still popular for a reason! Nothing says “I love you” like a heart! My picks:

Chocolate and Wine
Is there ever a bad time for chocolate and wine? I didn’t think so! And just in case you need something to add to those amazing gifts, here are my picks:

I would love to know: how do you celebrate Valentine’s Days? And what do you give as gifts?

Wishing us all a week of love and amazing shoes! Xo RA

Sunday Chronicles: Super Bowl Food

Investment Piece: Sunday Chronicles: SuperBowl Food

As much as I love fashion, I also love football. (We all have so many different sides). SuperBowl Sunday is always something I look forward to-the game, the commercials, and the food. Fun fact: before I became a fashion blogger I seriously thought about being a food blogger (before I really knew what a blogger was). For years, I’ve been on my own personal combination of Paleo diet and have loved learning to cook/make adjustments to traditional comfort foods, or game foods, and making them my own-little diet friendly foods.

Below I’m giving away some of the goodies I’m whipping up today–because nothing goes better with the SuperBowl than food!

Cauliflower Pizza
Finding Cauliflower Crust was a game changer for me. Being gluten free/low carb, pizza was something I basically gave up for years. This crust let me have it back! I don’t make my own cauliflower crust. (I’m just lazy enough). I love the brand Caulipower (but really, any brand that you like will do).
I also feel bad calling this a recipe. Pizza is basically a free for all!
I do like pre-cooking my crust a little first to ensure that it’s crispy. Then I load up with my favorite sauce, veggies, protein, and cheese (I eat mainly goat cheeses). Cook and then eat! It’s the perfect SuperBowl Food!

Nachos
Like the pizza, this isn’t really a recipe, but an excuse to throw amazing foods on top of chips. To negate, I usually use a combination of plantain/beets/baked/chips that use coconut or avocado oil. Again, some veggies, some beans, some jalapeños, tons of goat cheese, broil and dig in.

Muffins
Investment Piece: SuperBowl Food

I know: you don’t think muffins when you think Super Bowl food. But these Paleo muffins are almost like a desert (though I also don’t turn down dark chocolate) and you can eat the left overs for breakfast!
You’ll need:
3-4 ripe bananas
4 eggs
(The recipe calls for 1/4 cup maple syrup. I didn’t add it the last time I made these muffins, though I did add 1 TBS maple sugar. I really think this is to taste, but that’s what the batter is for, so you can make sure it’s sweet enough for you before you put it in the oven!)
Scant 1/2 c peanut butter (or nut butter of your choosing)
1/4 c oil (coconut is best)
Splash vanilla
Mix well and add to:
1 1/2 cup coconut flour (technically the recipe called for almond with 2 TBS coconut, but I usually go all in with coconut)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 TBS cinnamon

Mix all together well. I then add chocolate chips and chopped walnuts. You could also use more nut butte as a “filling” (pour some batter in your pan, nut butter, more batter).

Pour batter into lined or greased muffin pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy!

I would love to know–what SuperBowl Foods are you making?
Make sure to check out my Instagram stories today to see what we ended up eating!

Wishing us all a week of comfort food and amazing shoes! Xo RA

Sunday Chronicles: Not Ready to Let Go

Investment Piece: Sunday Chronicles: Detox

At this time of the month you may be over all the people telling you all the ways they are cleaning out their lives, starting fresh, letting go of all the things. I get it. Goals are important to share, at least I think so (that whole accountability thing). However, having people talk repeatedly about what they are letting go of can be hard to put up with. Especially, if you’re not ready to let go of whatever it is that you’re holding onto.

A fun paradox in me? I love new starts, fresh beginnings, and the idea of minimalism (or at the very least the idea of cleaning out the old to make room for the new). But I also love things. Shoes, clothes, books, even school supplies; I love them. And I can have a hard time letting some of them go. For every piece in my closet I can tell you about 3 ways I could wear it, mention that I would miss it if I didn’t have it, and have feelings about it. And those are the pieces I think I should get rid of. Am I aware that I can hold to things too long? Yes. But is that any better than letting go of something too soon?

I have a theory about letting go– we do it when we’re ready. One of my favorite sayings is:
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom” – Anais Nin
About personal growth? Absolutely! But, does it also relate to not letting go of things that you’re not ready to yet? Absolutely. At least to me.

Because we chat fashion we’ll stay in that lane. I know that I have things in my closet that I could get rid of, we all do. And yes, I will tell you that in theory I think that you should get rid of things that you don’t LOVE, that are space holders (get what you really want, even if you have to save for it), that have no special meaning to you.
But.
There are things I’m just not ready to let go of, even though maybe I should. From shoes that I just love (even if I don’t wear them all the time) to shirts that I just can’t seem to part with, a part of my closet that I’m in the process of saying goodbye to.
And it will happen.
When I’m ready.

I believe that we do things till we can’t anymore. And while I would love to be a person who rips off the bandaid (or gets rid of the shoes), I’m just not. I tend to do it in stages, then eventually leave the shoes in a box in my car for a month till I don’t want them anymore. I don’t hold shame for needing my time in letting go. I’m a big believer that you shouldn’t hold shame in that, either. Let everyone tell you what they’re letting go of; if you are not ready to let go of something, take your time. There’s room and space for us all to let go of things at our own speed.

How’s that for cleaning out?

How do you deal with things when you’re not ready to let go?

I’m open to suggestions.

Wishing us all a week of appropriate letting go and amazing shoes! XO RA

Sunday Chronicles: Goals

Investment Piece, Fashionblogger, goals, Sunday Chronicles, CA, TX

Tis the time of year. People are de cluttering, cleansing, and telling everyone about all the things that they plan to accomplish this year.

I’m in.

Every year, at least a few times, I make a few swipes through my closet. You can read about my methods collected here. In the coming weeks I’ll be doing it again.
(SideNote: we all know I’ll never be a minimalist, but I do think that there are things that you can clean out. Yes, I’m more of a fan of hanging onto things that you LOVE, even if you don’t wear them all the time’ but, here’s to us all finding a happy medium).

This January I’m cleaning up my eating. I usually try to eat fairly clean, but with the holidays and extra happy hours, it felt like it was time to tighten up. I’m doing a take on Get Off Your Acid (I LOVE the mineral drink), and am cutting back the sugars/carbs/alcohol, etc while sticking to all workouts that were to easy to skip in the holidays.

There are goals I have for my personal life, professional life, this site, and other endeavors. Goals are one of those things that I love to share, yet get really private about, and often don’t know how to give advice on them. If you’re looking for articles and tips about how to stick to your resolutions, there are out there. (Have one you LOVE? I’d love to read it!) Do I have any idea what to add to that conversation or grounds to chat about goals?

I don’t know.

There are goals I’ve reached, blown past, and some that I had to let go of (which isn’t always a bad thing, sometimes dreams shift). We all know that some of the best methods to achieve what we desire are:
1. Consistency
2. Managble steps
3. Postive attitude
4. Remaining flexible

And yet, we all know that in the pursuit of our goals, there are going to be times when we stumble a little bit. Maybe we screw up, take a day off, decide our methods aren’t working. No matter what the goal, there are bound to be setbacks and times when we either want to give up, or aren’t sure what to do to get to where we want to be. There are times in the pursuit of my own goals that I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing, and want to give up. At those times I think of this:

Investment Piece: Sunday Chronicles,: Goals

(Which is basically a reminder to be flexible about methods, but determined in destination). I’m still uncertain in my standing to give advice in goal getting. But what I know, whole heartedly, is that the main way to achieve your goals is to pursue them. At times that will be in little steps, and they might not always feel good. But we try, and we do. The way to show up is to show up. And the way to get your goals is get after them.

I’d love to know: what goals are you pursuing and what are your methods?

Wishing us all a week of goal getting and amazing shoes! Xo RA

Sunday Chronicles: Hangovers

Investment Piece: Hangovers

Loves! How’s the new year treating you? Are you plunging in and getting stuff done? Or are you still having a Holdiay hangover?

Yep, I’m a firm believer that hangovers don’t just come from too much champagne (though, those are doozies). Emotions, jobs, and even holidays–all come with their own type of hangovers. Let’s be honest, there has to be some sort of aftermath when we (I) have spent the past few weeks relaxing in sweatpants.

I’m not mad at hangovers. There’s nothing wrong with indulging (responsibly). What I think is telling is what we do with our hangovers. Do we sit around feeling bad, or do we use the time to reflect and plan?

(Another bit of hangover wisdom: sometimes hangovers last more than one day. I have no judgment if you need to lay on the couch with a face mask and comforting carbs, but once we get past a day, it seems as if we could make our hangovers work for us.)

So many hate the month of January. I’m not one of them. Fresh starts, trying new things, and taking a look at our indulgences (and how we can learn from them), and adjusting accordingly, are a great balance to a time of parties, champagne, gifts, and looking back. There’s no right or wrong way to deal with your holiday hangovers. I personally love a great cleanse and some intense focus on my goals (dry January can be so good). However, there’s an argument to be made that a little champagne and a little fun are also a great strategy.

So, I would love to know: how do you deal with hangovers? Recover by hair of the dog? Do a 180? Most importantly, what do you think we learn from our hangovers (even if it’s just to make sure we drink water in between drinks)?

Wishing us all a week of forward motion and amazing shoes! Xo RA

Sunday Chronicles: New Year

Investment Piece: New Year
Loves, what a year. I’ve been thinking about all that I’ve accomplished, and that I want to in the next year. About being brave and being scared, and amazing shoes. I’m so grateful that you visit my little corner of the Internet. Here’s to a blank slate full of things we love, and fashion that inspires us!

Xo RA

Happy New Year
-Hope Galaxie
As the world celebrates
With fireworks and cakes
I’m standing here alone
Far away from home
With nothing but a suitcase and memories

As the stars surround me like water
I raise my hands in full surrender
To God, my Redeemer
Lord, this year is far from ordinary
I’ve never seen such extraordinary
People, places and things
Amazing human beings
Searching for purpose, just like me.

Looking around, I wonder
Since a year is like clashing thunder
Booming suddenly
Then vanishing instantly
Why waste time uselessly?
The old year came and went
I hope your time was wisely spent
On helping others and working hard
So that many people may regard
Your lifetime as truly great
And not just because of fate
So learn this lesson, but not from me!
Try it yourself and you will see
Making a difference starts with one step
With one foot, then the next

So walk right now into the light
And find yourself shining bright
Don’t worry what people think
Because right now you’re on the brink
Of showing others what is true
Happy New Year, from me to you.

Sunday Chronicles: Holiday Schedule

Investment Piece: Holiday Traditions

It’s finally here! This is the week the holiday season has been building towards and I’m here for it. Whether you’re scrambling for last minute gifts or relaxing with family, I hope that you’re having a holiday season for the books. I know we all get a little crazy here, so I wanted to update you on what you can expect on the site!

You’ll get holiday greetings both tomorrow (Christmas Eve) and New Year’s Eve.
Sales will be up December 26 (you have to use that holiday money somehow), as well some picks on 12/28 and 1/2. In the mix you can also find a look back at my favorite posts from this year, and new outfit posts! (I promise I won’t leave you with just sales!!) We’ll be back to our reguarly scheduled programming on 1/4, and of course update you on our goals for the new year.

In the next few weeks, a great place to keep up with me is on Instagram (@racheladelicia) and on Pintrest (@racheladelicia). You’ll see my OOTDs (shoppable) and much more!

I hope this holiday finds you doing your favorite things with your favorite people.
Thank you for being one of mine!

Wishing us all a holiday holiday and amazing shoes! XO RA