Fashion

Was I Fearless? A Look Back on 2016

December 27, 2016

*Affiliate links may be used in this post - clicking them does not cost you anything!

Thanks to thredUP for partnering with me today to style this pretty green dress for the holidays! Even though it’s past Christmas, this holiday outfit is still perfect for New Year’s Eve!

I kind of wish there was more than one week between Christmas and the New Year because I have so much I want to say and share about this past year and about this coming year. But we only have a week, and I didn’t blog yesterday because Dustin and I both had the day off and I was trying to keep a nasty cold at bay and also because I just wanted to eat discounted Christmas chocolate and snuggle. Sometimes you just have to let go of being a perfectionist and embrace the small moments that count - that’s one way I’ve learned to live more vibrantly in the past few months.

Since the new year is coming (whether we want it to, or not) I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and planning and reflecting. I’ve been working tirelessly on a lengthy and detailed 2017 business action plan for HTC. I’ve been taking some online courses and trying to budget out my money for some much needed electronic upgrades. And I’ve been taking the time to look back on the past year and think about the things I accomplished and the things I decided to let go of.

At the beginning of 2016, I decided my word of the year was going to be “Fearless.” I wanted to let go of my self-doubts and anxieties of what other people thought of me and pursue the things that set my soul on fire. I wanted to turn my back on personal fears, like my cancer coming back for me or being in an accident that would cost me my leg. I wanted to go more with the flow and not stress out so much about changes (both big and small.) I wanted to be brave and courageous and fearless and make 2016 my own. I chose this word before I knew that we would move three times across the country. I chose this word before I knew my husband would have three career changes. I chose this word before Rosie got bit at the dog park, before the transmissions in both of our cars started dropping out at the same time, before our downstairs neighbors started harassing us for walking around our apartment. I chose the word “fearless” without knowing what 2016 held and I hoped I would be able to make it my own.

So was I fearless?

December Weekend Outfit & Simple Addiction Coupon Code

December 9, 2016

I received free product in exchange for this styling. All opinions are my own. The Simple Addiction Coupon code is NOT an affiliate link!

December seems to hold the busiest weekends of the month. Between holiday parties, holiday errands, and holiday dates, we are ALWAYS on the go during December weekends. I’m typically a homebody and introvert and prefer to stay home during the weekends, snuggled in with Rosie and Dustbust, but I do not mind staying busy during December because I want to experience the holiday season as fully and vibrantly as possible!

I’m working on a big fatty list of Holiday date ideas for next week (I know, I’m getting it out later than I planned, but that still gives everyone 2 whole weeks to get as much holiday cheer in) but wanted to share this cozy outfit I wore last weekend while exploring a SUPER cute Christmas tree lot with Dustin (complete with reindeer, turkeys, and Santa!) I’m all about being cozy and comfortable during weekend adventures, especially during the winter, but since it’s December, I still want to look festive! I mean, Christmas only comes once a year, right?

FURTHER READING: #myvibrantholiday CHALLENGE AND 30 HOLIDAY PHOTO IDEAS FOR INSTAGRAM

I am super cliche and LOVE wearing peacoats during the winter. I don’t think there is anything as warm or classy looking than a peacoat. But, peacoats can be super pricey and in a fit of madness, I sold my 3 peacoats when we moved from Idaho to Arizona, thinking that we weren’t going to live in a state with a real winter for quite some time. Well, that was a silly notion, because here we are, 1.5 years later living in Utah and it is most definitely winter here. Oops. Anyway, I saw this buffalo-checked pea coat at Costco about a month ago and loved it SO much, but didn’t buy it at first because I wasn’t sure if I would wear it a ton since it is a pretty bold color and pattern. But, I kept on thinking about it, and my rule is that if I think about something more than 3 times in a week, it’s meant to be.

Hey There, I’m Chelsie

November 17, 2016

PR samples - I was sent a sample to style. All opinions are my own.

This year has been insane for me and my little family and between all the changes that we’ve gone through, I’ll be the first to admit that my blog has suffered at times. Now that life is settled down just a tiny bit (as in, instead of it feeling like a hurricane, it feels more like a tropical storm) I feel like it’s time to start fresh here. I know that there are some new faces around HTC, especially from Instagram, so I wanted to just take some time and reintroduce myself - to show you that there is a real human being writing the words behind this screen and that my life is not picture perfect as some posts may lead you to believe.

Hey There, I’m Chelsie!

Yes, it’s spelt with an “ie” and not an “ea” because phonetically, it just makes more sense. Apparently, the word “chelsea” means port of ships, which I’ve always been embarrassed to share. Back in the day when it was cool to look up the meaning behind your name, my friends would be like: “oh my name means ‘Princess of Peace’ or “Warrior Loved by All'” and I’d be like “Cough mynamemeansaportofships.” But I’m fan of it now, especially because I realized that ships live on the ocean and I truly love the Ocean. I am all about that salt water life.

10 Affordable Fall Outfits to Wear //

November 11, 2016

affiliate links: clicking on a link may result in a small commission for me at no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping me run HTC!
PR samples: a few of these pieces were sent to me over the last few months to style. Many of these pieces I bought with my own money

Man oh man, this post has been a lot more work than I thought it would be, but I’m super excited to share it! After living in two VERY warm states (Arizona and Lousiana) for the last year, coming to Utah and experiencing a real fall was kind of a shock to my wardrobe. I had gotten rid of almost all my coats, sweaters and layering pieces during our moves and found that I didn’t own a lot of warm clothing. I was both dreading and looking forward to the task of rebuilding my fall and winter wardrobe; it would be fun to get some new clothes but it would NOT be nice to spend a lot of money!

And then I remembered! thredUP! I’d had a little bit of luck before shopping them and decided to try again. And let me tell you, I was so successful trying that second time, I tried again. And again. And again. I’ve placed at least 5 orders with ThredUp in the last 2 months and have built my fall wardrobe up from the ground AND I’ve spent just over $125.00 doing it. I know that may seem like a lot at first, but considering I have added 13 key pieces to my closet, it’s actually been a HUGE amount of savings.

Never heard of thredUp before? No worries. In simple terms, thredUP is an online consignment shop, but it is so much more than that! thredUp’s mission is to make your life a little bit easier by offering bargains on quality pieces ever day, and making it easy to clean out your closet all in one! You can send your gently used clothes into thredUP for money that you can use to buy other clothes they have or you can cash out the money to PayPal at the end of the month.

Each piece of clothing I’ve bought from thredUP has come in excellent condition - everything looks like it is brand new and the discounts are SIGNIFICANT (i.e. a $35.00 Old Navy sweater for $7.99) In fact, some of the clothes still have tags on them! The key to shopping thredUP is to constantly check what they have in their inventory. Thousands of items are being added to the site by the hour and hundreds of items are being “released” by shopping carts if they have not been purchased within 24 hours. This means that the specific piece you may be looking for may pop up at any time! If you see something you REMOTELY like, add it to your cart because if you don’t, someone else can and then it’s bye bye! You can always remove things from your cart later, I’ve learned it’s just better to add them immediately or else you’ll be sorry!

Anyway, each outfit I’m sharing below has at least one piece from thredUP and the price I paid for it, so you can see the great bargains that are to be had. I also tried my best to link similar products so that you have options in case you want to recreate a look!

Sidenote - this post is NOT sponsored by thredUP (although I have worked with them before.) I just have had so much luck and so much love for them that I had to share! If you want to try thredUP, you can use this link and get $10.00 towards your first order!

Another note - you’ll notice that I use a lot of accessories (like shoes & bags) on repeat. That’s because I’m a real girl on a real budget and can’t afford to have 20 different bags to accessorize with…and that’s OKAY! I figured we’re all in the same space when it comes to that and I hope that by reusing my accessories or certain items of clothing, you can be inspired by the many different fall outfits and styles you can get our of your closet!

I’ve been Afraid of my Blog (and How I’m Combatting that)

November 4, 2016

It’s been an interesting week, to say the least. Last time we chatted, I told you all about Dustin’s new job offer and how excited we were for him to get back to chasing a career in software sales. He started on Monday and so far, it’s been everything we wanted it to be and more. What I didn’t say was how I accepted a part time receptionist job at a nail salon and then backed out a week before I was supposed to start. I guess I just don’t know whether I’m coming or going and I’ve been a bit confused these last couple weeks about what I want in life.

What do I want to achieve?

Dustin keeps asking me that question: What do you want to achieve in life? I know he’s asking me because he wants to support me and be on the same page as me. He’s pretty great like that. The thing is: I haven’t had an answer for quite a while, for a couple of reasons. One: I had a mid-life crisis at the age of 24 when I graduated with a degree in education and realized that I didn’t want to pursue a career with it and two: we’ve been moving around so much in the last two years, that I haven’t had the time to really look into anything else. I’ve always had my blog during that time and it’s been my safe haven and my saving grace, but now that it looks like we’re going to be staying in one place for a while, I’ve been really struggling with that question: what do I want to achieve in life? What’s next for me?

Hey There, November (Goals & Fall Layering Inspiration)

October 31, 2016

Is anyone else in pure disbelief that it’s going to be November tomorrow? I feel like most of the year has passed by relatively slowly, but ever since September hit, things seem to have started moving at 10X the normal speeds. I am mostly excited about it being November because I can officially start getting into the Christmas spirit without getting too much flack from my husband. But I also wouldn’t mind if time slowed down just a tiny bit because my favorite time of year always seems to go by too fast. I just love wearing all my fall clothes and piling on all the layers! (Sharing one of my favorite layered looks with this post to give ya’ll some fall layering inspiration!)

Sweater: Lauren Conrad via ThredUp (Get your first $10 dollars here)

Vest: Mint Julep

Jeans: Target Mossimo Jeggings

Boots: Kohl’s last season (Similar Here)

Necklace: Thrifted

Earrings: Burlington Coat Factory

I really thought life would slow down a little bit after we got back from Lake Powell and settled into our new apartment, but things have been just as crazy as ever. We spent the last two weeks car hunting for a second car for Dustin since he’ll be commuting to downtown SLC every day for his new job. We went up to Idaho this last weekend to visit some friends and family. We’ve had a lot of people coming to visit or needing a place to crash while coming through SLC, so my office has been a guest bedroom for most of the month. I’m not complaining because being so busy has prevented me from being plugged in all the time. It’s helped me be more present in my daily activities and more active in my pursuit to live a vibrant life. But, I’m really ready for things to slow down just a tad, to really get back to my passions (HTC being my main one) and to continue to move forward with some big plans and goals I have.

I didn’t set goals for October because my life was so hectic that month, but I am ready to get serious about November and kick some butt!

Blogging Goals

Work through Materials from the Ultimate Bundles Genius Blogger’s Toolkit - Blogging friends, if you haven’t heard about the Ultimate Bundle Genuis Blogger’s Toolkit, I highly recommend you go check it out right now. Once a year, this bundle goes on sale (it’s different every year) and it comes packed full of ebooks, courses, printables, and bonus material worth over 5,000 dollars for…wait for it…97 dollars. I bought my bundle without hesitation and am already so pumped about the amazing information I have access to. Trust me, there is a LOT of information in this kit, and it will probably take me several months to work through it all. But, I’ve picked a couple courses/ebooks to start off with and I want to work on one a little every day!

Conduct Reader Survey - It’s been a while since I checked in with the people who actually spend time reading my blog, so I want to conduct a reader survery to get an idea of what is working for everyone and what isn’t as exciting. So, please keep an eye out for that in the next little while, because I would definitely appreciate your feedback!

Plan out Editorial Calendar for the Rest of the Year I feel like I have so many ideas for posts bouncing around in my head and about 10 lists of ideas in 10 different places. I want to sit down and really nail out my content calendar for the rest of the year so that I have a clear vision of what I’m working towards! Hopefully that will help with my next goal, as well.

Consistently post 3X a week - It’s no secret I’ve struggled with posting consistently since this summer. It’s not that I haven’t had things to say; life simply got in the way and I found myself overwhelmed at times juggling the balance of blogging and being present in my life. Now that life is slowing down a bit, I’m hoping to really get organized, figure out a way to be more productive with my time and to stay on top of my posting schedule.

Send out weekly email newsletter - Thank you all who took the time to give me a little bit of feedback on what you would want to see in a weekly email newsletter. It definitely gave me some clarity and direction on what to put together. I’m so excited to start emailing those on my email list every hump day with my Hey There, Wednesday newsletter. It’s going to be a collection of posts to share, inspirational messages and will hopefully be a bright spot in your mid-week slump!

Personal Goals

Establish a morning routine and stick to it - Since Dustin has had a couple weeks between getting his job offer and actually starting his new job, I’ve been a bit lazy about getting up and getting things done because he’s basically had 3 weeks off. I just wanted to spend as much time with him, getting our feet on the ground here in Utah, before we get back into the swing of things. Now that he’s starting his new job today, I really want to get into a good morning routine. I want to be up and moving between 6:30 - 7:00 and have taken Rosie out for her morning walk, be showered and dressed and ready for the day by 8:30-9:00. Too often, I would get up slowly and not get dressed or ready for the day until 1:00. I know from experience that getting up and ready for the day, even if I’m working from home, makes a huge difference in my productivity!

Continue to follow our healthy eating guidelines and loose 5 more pounds - I know I mentioned this before, but Dustin and I did a serious overhaul of our eating habits a couple months ago. It wasn’t just about dieting, it was about changing our lifestyle. Since seriously committing to our own little program, I’ve lost 8 pounds all together. The last couple weeks have been rough with all the traveling and car shopping, but I’m ready to get back on our program. My target is to loose another 5 pounds by the end of the month!

Sidenote - if this is something you’re interested in hearing about, let me know in the comments below! And let me know what your goals are this month. Also, if you are a blogger, did you get your hands on that toolkit?

Thoughts on Leggings and Two ways to wear them this Fall

October 19, 2016

I received free products in exchange for styling them on this blog. All opinions are my own!
Affiliate Links: Clicking on some links may result in a small commission at not additional cost to you. Thanks for supporting the brands that support Hey There, Chelsie.
Are leggings pants? Thoughts on the leggings debate and two ways how to style them this fall featuring Simple Addiction's new leggings // Hey There, Chelsie

Oh leggings season. The best time of the year. The leaves are turning, the weather is getting cool and I can wear leggings on repeat without needing a reason why. Before I jump into these two different style ideas I wanted to share today, I first want to take a few minutes to express my point of view on leggings, because I know that there is a lot of controversy surrounding them and how they should be worn.

Here’s my take on it all: I love leggings. They are comfortable and cozy. I love the way I can layer with them during the fall in winter. I love that I can wear a pair under my sweatpants when it’s really cold. I love wearing cute fall outfits that work perfectly with a pair of leggings.

On the flip side, I also want to be proud of the way I present myself. Although I’m not accountable for dirty thoughts that others might think of me, I am responsible for the image of myself I present to the world. I know that might be kind of confusing, but what I mean to say is this: I’m the only one who has control over the way I present myself as a human being to the outside world. I want to present myself as someone who is confident and who has self-worth and as someone who is to be respected . So I am careful on how I style my leggings when I wear them. That doesn’t mean I always cover my bum, but I want to make sure that my outfit overall looks put together and something that I can be proud to be seen in. I only own leggings that are thick enough to ensure that there is nothing that can be seen through them. When I walk out the door and into the world, I want people to see me and get a vibe for who I am because of my outfit and not just the fact that I’m wearing leggings that you can see my undies through. Does that make sense? Basically, I’m all for wearing leggings, all the time, but put forth my best effort to look presentable and respectable when wearing them.

I asked Dustin for his thoughts on my leggings and he said that while he appreciates it when I wear things long enough to cover my bum (more because he doesn’t like seeing other guys looking at me while we’re out together,) I’m an adult and can make my own choices. (I love that guy!) And, because I respect his opinion and want him to feel comfortable when we are in those situations, I do make a more conscious effort to pair my leggings with tunics and dresses when we’re out and about. I don’t want him throwing punches at other guys in the middle of Costco!

If you want to read a couple other opinions on the leggings vs. pants debate, Shannon from Salty Spaces has a fantastic post about why she keeps wearing leggings here.

Behind the Scenes: 5 Things I do to Prepare for a Photoshoot

October 12, 2016

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #StickItToLint #CollectiveBias

Last night I had the amazing opportunity to meet up with a very talented hair stylist in the Utah area and have my hair colored and cut by her! She had found me on Instagram and reached out, asking if we could collaborate, and after checking out her work, I knew that my hair would be in good hands. As we worked on changing up my balayage for fall and winter, we started chatting about blogging and how Hey There, Chelsie got to be where it is today. I realized that there is a lot of “behind the scenes” stuff that happens that I never talk about or share! It’s not because I want to be secretive or that I’m doing something sketchy, I just didn’t realize that people wanted to know about my actual blogging process. So, starting today, I’m going to start sharing more posts that share what goes one behind the computer screen as I work on growing this space.

I was telling Christy Lee (my stylist) that when I started blogging, I never envisioned myself being a style or beauty blogging. I was actually really self-conscious and ashamed of my scars and never thought I would be comfortable or confident enough to actually share photos of myself and what I was wearing with the whole world. However, as I started incorporating more fashion posts and photos into my blog, I realized that I was starting a healing process. I began to invest more time into myself and found a new confidence and self-love as I shared my story through my clothes with others. I wanted to show others that despite the fact that I have scars and a traumatic past, I can still take pride in my body for the things it has gotten me through. I’ve been learning to love myself again through doing fashion posts on my blog and I’ve learned so much about myself since I started doing them!

But! Here’s the thing: I don’t want to be one of those fashion bloggers who makes you feel like you have to buy new clothes every day or buy really expensive things to look put together and follow the trends. I’m very much a “real girl” and try to share that through my style. That’s why you’ll see me style pieces multiple ways, or see the same accessories pop up in many outfits. I’m a real girl who only has so much money to spend and I want to get the most out of my clothes as anyone else does!

Anyway, today, I want to share the behind the scenes of the process I go through to do a fashion photoshoot!

Autumn Fashion Find: Fall Floral Dress

October 10, 2016

It’s a freaking beautiful 76 degrees outside today (Monday) with a slight breeze drifting through the windows of my new office. The sun is warm and gentle and the leaves are all igniting into this vibrant yellow and it’s fall. It’s October. It’s perfect. I’m feeling so inspired and so refreshed and am so excited to share this fun style on HTC today.

I know it’s been quite and sporadic on this space lately, but ever since we left Louisiana, we’ve been going a million miles a minute. I’ll be sharing more on our new lives here in Utah soon, but things are finally, finally slowing down enough for me to brainstorm, to write, and to get back to blogging.

So today, I am starting a series on the blog called Fashion Finds, where I share a seasonal fashion style that I’m experimenting with and chat about how to style it and where to buy it. I know that I get really frustrated with my closet as seasons change; I always feel like I don’t have enough clothes to get me through the season, or that I don’t know how to get the most out of the pieces I already have, or that many of the pieces don’t reflect my current style. I don’t want to spend a ton of money on updating my closet every season, so for me, it’s all about finding styles and trends that are affordable, that can be styled multiple ways and that can last longer than just one season.

Today, I’m sharing one of my favorite Autumn Fashion Finds from the last few months: a Fall Floral Dress.

Outfit Details:

How to Wear White after Labor Day

September 12, 2016

Affiliate Links: Click on links may result in a small commission for me at no cost to you.

Collaborating with the talented Whitney Majors Photography! Be sure to check out her work!

I remember when I was a little girl going back-to-school shopping with my mom. I needed new shoes and I fell in love with a pair of white closed-toed sandals. I wanted those shoes so badly, but my mom said no for two reasons: one, I didn’t need another pair of sandals (true) and two, no white after Labor Day. Even in grade school, I remember thinking that was the dumbest rule I had ever heard of and decided that when I was old enough, I would wear all the white I wanted after Labor Day.

Here’s the thing about fashion/style: everyone says there are “rules” but the only rule you should follow is to wear things that make you happy and feel confident in your own skin. Let’s be real: life is too dang short to try to follow silly fashion rules. I’ve found that when I wear things that I truly love and feel good in, I have a kick-a day because I don’t worry about what other people think. Plus, it’s fun to break rules and live a little on the wild side, right? (And yes, apparently my idea of living on the wild side is wearing white after Labor Day, but hey, I’m working on it.)

Anyway, I have been eyeing this adorable white peplum top from Simple Addiction for MONTHS. I always am a little weary of peplum tops because sometimes the way the peplum hits my middle can be a little unflattering, but it went on sale a few weeks ago and I finally snagged it. I love the geometric hem on the sleeves and the bottom of the shirt; it makes it feel so fancy and delicate!

Since I just got it a couple weeks ago, I definitely plan on wearing it well into September and October, so here’s how I’ve been styling this white top past Labor Day and transitioning it into fall.

3 Ways to Style your Inner Harry Potter Nerd

September 5, 2016

A product was given to me in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own!

I was supposed to finally go to Hogwarts last week, but alas, a hurricane blew through Florida the day we were supposed to leave and we decided to push back our trip just to be on the safe side. After all the crazy flooding we experienced here, we decided we didn’t want to risk driving through more rain. To be quite honest, I’ve had enough rain to last me another 3 years and I was content to stay home for few extra days and wait for the storm to pass if it meant dry travels.

Anywho, Dustin and I will be heading out later this week to fulfill my childhood dream of exploring Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, buying a wand and doing a little bit of magic! Yep, we’re going to Universal Studios in Orlando to celebrate a successful summer and my remission anniversary. I could go on and on about why Harry Potter is so important to me, but I think I’ll save that for a separate blog post because there is a lot to it. For now, just know that Harry Potter saved my life in a lot of ways and the fact that I’m finally going to be able to have a Butterbeer later this week brings tears to my eyes. I’m so excited. I’m SO excited!

Harry Potter has been such a huge part of my childhood and my life and continues to be important to me now, even in my mid-twenties. I’m always looking for subtle ways to express my inner Harry Potter nerd in my style choices because I’m not ashamed to be a #potterhead! Today, I wanted to share three ways I bring my love for HP into my style because I know there are may of my friends out there who feel the same way I do about the Boy who Lived!

Boho Vibes with Ink + Alloy

August 9, 2016

This post was in collaboration with PRIMP Network & Ink + Alloy. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been avoiding the boho trend for months now, not because I didn’t like it, but because I just wasn’t sure how to make it my own. I love fringe and flowy fabrics but was finding that a lot of the boho styled clothes were just a little too revealing for my own personal taste. Being rather well-endowed in the chest region, a lot of the tops out there just weren’t possible for me to comfortable wear. I had just about given up hope of every figuring out how to add some boho flair to my wardrobe when INK + ALLOY entered my life.

I connected with INK + ALLOY through the Pretty in my Pocket Network and was so excited to be able to partner up with them. Both PRIMP and INK + ALLOY believe in empowering women and encouraging them to believe in who they see themselves as, not as what others want them to be. Specifically, INK + ALLOY “has a vision of the world where strong women are empowered to stand out. We celebrate the Modern American Woman for all she is, with no standard in background, race, or beliefs.” It’s so refreshing to be affiliated with brands that encourage you to #primpwithpurpose.

When I went back to high school after finishing my chemotherapy, I found that my peers were really uncomfortable with me talking about my experiences in the pediatric cancer ward. Before I realized what was happening, I was feeling really ashamed for talking about cancer and realized that the more normal I appeared, the easier it was for my peers to accept me back into their lives. But here’s the thing: there is no such thing as returning to normal after cancer. And although it’s taken me quite some time to be proud of my scars, I am really happy that there are brands out there like INK + ALLOY who want to celebrate strong women and encourage them to stand out!