I know I'm not the only person out there who's undeniably, head-over-heels in love with every striped tee they see- right? It's an obsession. The problem is deciding between the seemingly endless options. Big stripes, small stripes, blue stripes, white stripes. You get the point. That's why I've begun the quest to find the perfect striped tee (for me).

Part of fine tuning my wardrobe is identifying and investing the those staples I can't live without. I've decided that having at least 4 striped tops is an absolute necessity for me. No two should be exactly alike but they should each fulfill a need in "dream" closet. My current assortment includes: a beloved 3/4 sleeve, navy and white striped top I found at a thrift store, a weekend-friendly long-sleeve, white and navy option from JCrew, and a bohemian peplum-style, red and white striped top from Free People. Which leaves me with one final opening to fill. 

Zara | JCrew | Cos | Uniqlo | Calder

As you can see I'm a bit all over the place with my selections. How can I choose between black or navy, thick or thin stripes, long sleeve or short sleeve? It really comes down to need.

Right now all of the striped tops I own are long sleeve, and though I wear these tops mostly fall-spring I'm starting to feel the need for a short sleeve option which will be easier to layer in the cooler months or throw on during the hotter months. Also, two of the three striped tops I own right now have navy stripes, so I'm thinking a black and white option could be a good call for my final addition.

So that leaves me with a hunt for a short-sleeved, black and white striped top made of cozy fabric and quality enough to sustain hundreds of wears. Any suggestions. Talk about first world problems. - b.

Writing down your thoughts is something that takes a lot of time and practice. When you first start a journal it often feels foreign and you find yourself filtering things you say even though "no one will ever read it." That's what blogging feels like to me- a journal that never loses that new feeling. A place to filter things just a little bit, making them bigger and better than reality somehow. The thing is I don't want it to feel that way, but how do you retrain your brain to be completely honest in public?

I honestly don't know the answer, but like all things in life I suspect it takes practice. What I do know is that journaling and blogging both stem from a deep human need to share our feelings and connect with someone, even if it's only with ourselves. They also stem from a desire to leave a legacy, something to be remembered by.

I've been thinking a lot about what my life looks like from an outsider's perspective and just how much I filter that experience for others. I've also been thinking a lot about where I'd like to see my life go on the next five to ten years. As much as I love planning I've never been big on setting personal milestones but as I approach my last year as a twenty-something it feels like it's time to start thinking in the long term.

It's not enough for me to sit idly by and watch the years slip by like water through my fingers. I want to take my life and mold it into something that means more. A life that positively impacts our world in some way. To be a giver not a taker.

I don't know what my legacy will be yet, but you better believe I'll be chronicling it by pen or keyboard. Hopefully unfiltered. - b.

My earliest memories of making art aren’t really memories at all, but stories that my mom has told me over and over again until they’ve become real in my mind. She loves to tell people how I learned to draw and craft before I could even write my own name. Her favorite story being one where I crafted a miniature nativity scene out of erasers and blocks at the age of 3. Meticulously drawing faces on each character, and dressing them in different colored tissue. It’s from these stories that I began to see a recurring theme of religion and in particular the birth of Christ (see above). At first I thought it a little heavy for a small child to dwell on such heavenly beings, but after talking it over with Ryan it made perfect sense.

As a small child the most significant characters in my life, outside of my family, were those figures I saw repeatedly on Sunday mornings and at holiday celebrations. I was too young to understand the idea of a movie star, or cartoon character, but through repetition I was able to grasp that baby Jesus and the biblical characters that surrounded him were significant in some way. There is no way that I could have understood the symbolism of what I was making, but it eased its way into my subconscious anyway.

Years later in college I would again find myself drawn to the idea of religious iconography and of symbolism as I studied art history. I could write a whole post on just that, but I’ll save you the art history lesson for now. I now happily seek out the symbolism in things, though not in an overtly religious way, and it delights me when I spot something in my work.

Funny that a silly little sketch my mom saved for over 2 decades now holds so much meaning. I suppose that’s equally symbolic. - b.