BY TARA BURKE
This plaid (really tartan pattern) blazer from the 90s was an amazing find I took straight out of my Mom’s stockpile. It came with shoulder pads and all, which I usually take out, but this blazer had them sewn into the entire stitching of the shoulder, so that was a no-go. I love that this blazer isn’t stiff, but is made out of a cloth-like material. It makes it the perfect casual piece to add a little more interest to a fun graphic tee.
Rainbows are just awesome. They always remind me of Genesis 9:16 and how God not only keeps His promises, but that He cares enough to send us beautiful reminders of who He is. They also remind me of my Kindergartners because whenever I ask them what their favorite color is, they always say, “Rainbow!”
One of the recent color trends in fashion has been rainbow! I’m all about this fun and bold look, so when I saw this skirt on Forever21 for $7 I was in. It’s also fuzzy, which is the absolute best and makes it work as a winter skirt.
Now that I’m writing this I’ve realized this outfit is all Forever21 from the sweater to the boots. I ordered everything offline since there are way more unique pieces on their website compared to the store. I love this sweater because it is distressed and has such fun chain details. It makes a classic black sweater a little more edgy.
We ended up finding another cool photo background in the endless creative possibilities that NYC has to offer, so Cai and I took a ton of shots!
One of the qualities of the Enneagram 2 that I relate with A LOT is the ability to love and serve in such a measure that just doesn’t really stop. If y’all haven’t checked out Sleeping At Last’s Enneagram based songs, you need to because they are all pretty awesome, but I feel the “Two” lyrics deep. Although, it is describing a little bit of the unhealthy side of the enneagram (loving and sacrificing for someone to the point that you’re hurting yourself), something I can definitely be guilty of if I don’t keep myself in check, but it displays pretty well what lengths 2s will often go to take care of the people they love. So, I thought I’d share one of my “2” struggles in hopes of helping you navigate friendships and how they can honor God, your friends and yourself when you have this kind of love to give!
Vintage is my fave thing for so many reasons. First, I love 1930s-50s fashion. The hunt to find great vintage among the junk in a thrift store is so fun, plus everything you find is unique. It’s a great way to be a sustainable shopper. I’m also a history nerd and like looking up the brands and their stories, and that is exactly what I did for this vintage Jack Winter top.
BY CAILIN BURKE
Sports are my thing. If you know me, you know talking about sports is one of my all-time favorite conversation topics. I’ll debate, I’ll make predictions, I’ll gush over my favorite team — so on days like today, ~ The Super Bowl ~ I am even more pumped than usual… until I go on social media and see people hating on sports. I get it. Sports are not in everyone’s set of interests. You see people get all riled up and intense about their team, a big play, or a bad ref call, and you’re like, “Who cares?!” I totally understand that. But for me, sports is my hobby and passion, and it really brings a lot of fun and good memories.
I recently had a conversation with my sister and boyfriend asking, “Why does everyone make fun of sports?,” saying things like, “Oooh sports!” Or when talking about the game, someone always has to chime in, “Sports!” I know it’s often used to show that they have no knowledge in the topic – but we don’t use the same mentality when talking about other’s interests. I enjoy music – but don’t know everything about it. I don’t walk into my friend’s conversations about musicians and their stylistic comparisons and go, “Ooh music.” There are so many hobbies that people are obsessed with like fishing or chess or hiking. These interests require some knowledge to talk about, but no one is dumbing down the hobby or showing their blatant disinterest in it when someone else brings it up. We don’t see social media posts like, “Haha those hikers – not into that. Who cares. I’m just here for the trail mix, not the hike.”
Again, being disinterested in sports is fine! God gives people different ways to find enjoyment here on earth. However, sports is mine – so bragging about how you’re not into it, isn’t the most fun to constantly read. If you were passionate about something, you wouldn’t want to see everyone mocking it on social media. So yes, enjoy your food, your commercials and halftime – but still give some love to football fans just out here trying to enjoy their game day.
One of my life mottos is, “I don’t care what people think of me, but I do care how people see Christ in me.” I think it’s so important that we represent Christ well and how we present ourselves outwardly through clothing and beauty is a part of that. You know I love fashion, went to college for it and a decent amount of our posts are styled based. I’m not a huge beauty person…I only have time for the basics every morning, but when I look at all the hair, nail and makeup products I have, sometimes I wonder why do I have all this?!
I don’t think having fly style and caring about how you present yourself is a bad thing. I think it’s awesome when you can put on an outfit & makeup that expresses your vibes and makes you feel amazing. However, I do think as a whole we place way too much emphasis on beauty and all the ways we can improve ourselves on the outside. Every once in awhile it’s good to take an inventory of the investment you are making into your outward appearance compared to your spirit, and how you can ask God to help you glorify Him more in these areas. So, here are a few of my check-up points to see where I’m at on modesty, beauty and finding a balance that displays Christ appropriately.
Continue reading “Modesty, Beauty and finding a Godly balance”Where are all my people who are bad at directions? I’m not the best navigator when it comes to street names, main roads and highway exits I should know. I’m really good at visually remembering where I am. When there are no formal directions, I’m the one who get us home because I remember that tree with a strange nook in it that we turned right at to get to the main road. Just had to defend myself for a second (for what it’s worth, haha) because Cailin can get a little annoyed of my version of having a sense of direction.
love never gives up
Been doing some thinking on the Reproductive Health Act that was just passed in NY, especially late term abortions. Although it can be very easy to sit in judgement on either side of the camp, I often think using our voices sometimes drowns out God’s… even if our intention was to make God’s voice known. Comment sections fill with people simply defending instead of leading (I’ve got a whole essay behind this thought…if you’re interested in hearing it, lmk in the comments).
BY TARA BURKE
To get our creative momentum going Cailin and I often go out on Saturdays to shoot some photos. We have now become accustomed to calling these adventures, “Saturday Shoot Days.” At times we’ll have a look or aesthetic in mind, but this time we just chose a location and worked off of that. If you live near or in Upstate NY, going to an apple orchard every fall is basically a right of passage. It might be basic, but come on… who doesn’t like fresh apples off the tree, some cider and of course some apple cider doughnuts?! So off we went to a local orchard to take some photos.
BY TARA BURKE
Although it is true that some of your clothes have to be tucked away for winter, not all of your floral prints do! It’s really simple to keep them going all year long if you just switch up the styling. Cailin winterized her sunflower hoodie by simply pairing it with a matching beanie, black jeans and some gray checkered Vans. Oh, and you can’t forget her fly Champion fanny pack!
Castle Foundations 