Happy Holidays + Resolutions for 2016 + End-of-Year Sales

Coat: J.Crew | Shirt: J.Crew (sold out, but I like this one that's still available) | Skirt: ASOS (exact cut is out of stock, but this slimmer cut in the same fabric looks great) | Scarf: J.Crew Factory | Bag: Valentino | Boots: Stuart Weitzman | Lips: Stila 'Fiery'

Sean and I spent a wonderful Christmas holiday in the Winter Wonderland that is Breckenridge with family and close friends. We loved every minute of skiing, drinking hot chocolates and hot toddies by the fire, soaking in the hot tubs and watching the skiers go by, and stopping by the cute little shops in town.

I'm a little sad that Christmas is over, but even though I'm not much for resolutions (they fall apart so fast!), I think I'm going to try to instill a few. My husband wants us to slow our lives down and eat a little better, which is a great idea. I want to improve my blog and hopefully find more time to share what's in my head with you. We both want to exercise more since that so easily goes by the wayside when you're two busy lawyers with dogs, hobbies, volunteer work, and other obligations taking away your free time. I think the gist is that we want to encourage ourselves to find that "productive downtime" that has been seeming so elusive for us. Wish us luck!

For those of you who are looking to do a little wardrobe refresh in the new year, I thought I'd do a quick run-down of after-Christmas sales for you.

• Nordstrom: the Half-Yearly Sale has arrived, with sale prices up to 60% off + price matching. My top picks are these extra-comfy Sam Edelman ballet flats that are pefect for commuting or running errands without a blister in sight, this amazing Bobeau wrap that works for any and all figures, and these rarely-on-sale glossy original Hunter rain boots.
• J.Crew: 40% off hundreds of styles, including certain colors of the coat I'm wearing in this post. My favorite petite tee is on sale, too.
• Ann Taylor: 50% off all items + free shipping with code EVERYTHING. I love this pink tweed skirt with matching top and this all-season stretch dress that seems like the perfect addition to any closet.

Happy holidays!

x, Tam

6 Tips for Managing Stress, Dealing with Anxiety, and Enjoying Your Life

As I promised, I'm going to be doing a few more wellness posts here and there. After a very stressful week segueing into a relaxing weekend away with family and friends, I felt ready to share some of my easy ways to make sure anxiety and stress don't rule my life.



Most of the time, I love my fast-paced, jam-packed life and career. Doing the kind of legal work I do is tremendously rewarding, but it’s also challenging, high-stakes, and sometimes heartbreaking. Squeezing in time for blogging, calligraphy, exercise, family and friends, and all the million little things that need to be done to make life run smoothly can be overwhelming.

I am a fairly high-strung person who has had a very active imagination since childhood. I’ve suffered from bouts of anxiety since I was a teenager, and over time, I’ve developed some relatively simple coping mechanisms that really help me bring my anxiety level down, assess my priorities, get shit done, and enjoy my life.

Admit to yourself that you are overwhelmed

Sometimes I get into a pattern of feeling a growing sense of apprehension without really realizing it. I try to pay attention to those feelings now and let my conscious mind realize that I’m feeling overwhelmed and need to step back and address it. The first step to coping with anxiety is realizing it’s about to bubble to the surface.

Neaten your space

Having a desk strewn with files and papers piled on the floor of my office makes a stressful day and a long to-do list feel impossible. The same goes at home—it’s hard to clear my mind when I have to clear a spot on the table to start a calligraphy project. It’s difficult to drift off to sleep when I have unpacked bags, a cluttered room, and laundry to put away.

Spending a few minutes tidying up my space does wonders for tidying up my mind and helping me to refocus. As I’m removing those files from my desk, I can prioritize them. They stay on my desk in a neat vertical file caddy for immediate action, go into an appropriate “action pile” on my bookshelf, or are placed in my filing cabinet if no action is needed for a couple weeks.

Hello, Again

Hi, again, readers! As I was preparing to write this post, I realized it has been just under three months since I last posted here while I was getting ready for my big adventure in Australia. If you had asked me just before that if I ever considered taking an extended break from my blog, I would have said, "No way." But life happens, and life was telling me I needed a break.

Not long after my last post here, I learned my grandmother, with whom I was very close, had passed away very suddenly. It ripped a hole in my heart that was too big and raw to share with anyone but those closest to me. Although it was difficult, Sean and I headed off to Australia not long after. I kept up the sunny, happy posts on social media, and I took some outfit photos while we were there, but I couldn't bring myself to edit or post them here. I couldn't seem to muster up even an ounce of creative spark, and looking at my blog made me tear up because my grandmother always enjoyed looking at my outfits and photos so much.

While we were in Australia, my family's sweet rescue pup, who was somewhere around 16 or 17, finally got to the point where he was very ill and in pain. My parents made the difficult decision to let him go. Even though I knew this was coming, it hurt my already-broken heart.

Then, to add injury to insult, I suppose, I suffered a serious injury while out diving in the Great Barrier Reef. As I was climbing back into the boat, the ladder I was using moved suddenly and crushed two of my fingers. Ending up in an Australian hospital needing surgery and wondering if I'd ever be able to use those fingers again was definitely not on the itinerary. With lots and lots of help from Sean, I made it through the rest of the trip and back home.

Okay, that was the bad part--good part is coming up next.



Now, two months later, post-rehab, I am back to typing with my bones healed and my fingernails growing back (pretty thrilled about all of those things). My heart is slowly mending, and I have learned quite a bit about taking care of myself.

So where to next? I want to share some of the things I've learned over the last couple months with you, and I plan to open the window into my life a little wider in my future posts. I already love sharing outfits, shopping, and travel with you, but I'm thinking I'll add some posts that talk about my exercise routine, my journey to eating healthier, my strategies for coping with anxiety and difficult times, and the tips and tricks I've found useful.

In the spirit of sharing more, here's the wide-angle view of the first pic in this post--a shot of my little sanctuary, my bedroom. It's my favorite room in my house, and most of this blog has been written sitting right here.

Tee: J.Crew (more on my love for J.Crew petite knits here) | Denim: J.Brand '620' | Necklaces: Theresa Mink, Kendra Scott via Rocksbox (review here) | Watch: Michael Kors | Lips: Stila 'Fiery'

Don't worry--I'd never leave you hanging on outfit details!

x, Tam

P.S. Thanks so much for reading, friends. This was a hard post to write. Tune in later this week for a much more lighthearted topic: how I survived a 16-hour flight and my tips for long-haul plane travel.