Boyfriend Jeans and Gold Heels

Top Brandy Melville (similar), Jeans Forever21 (Similar), Heels H&M (Similar)

Braided Updo and a Highlighter Yellow Jacket

Pretty sure the title captures it all but just in case, I am OBSESSED with this bright yellow jacket from Zara. I  have no idea why the color is listed as "lime green" unless I have suddenly been struck color blind  but nevertheless, it's amazing.

Also key right now (with this rainy weather) and my hair at a very awkward length, is this braided updo. I start by braiding the top part of the hair into two french braids, one on each side, and then I twisted the bottom up randomly and shoved pins in it until it's contained. The trick is really just practice, practice, practice. The more you do it, the better you will get at it. Also, don't be scared of bobby pins, more is more when it comes to those.

Today's make-up is all about Benefit Cosmetics. Cha Cha Tint on the Lips, Dallas as a contour and Bella Bamba for blush. They have this awesome deal on a two set right now called Hot 2 Trot that's amaze and includes the Cha Cha Tint and Bella Bamba!  And on the lashes is BadGal Lash, a nice creamy, thick formula that's great for the heavy layering seen here (I think this is 4 coats?)

Spring Neutrals: Trenches, Cognac Leather Everything

Sunglass Urban Outfitters (similar) Trench Nastygal (similar and ON SALE) Jeans H&M Tank Old Navy Watch Nixon Booties Forever 21 (similar and ON SALE)

Manic Pixie Dream Girl Fashion

Never heard of a manic pixie dream girl? You've probably seen one in a movie a time or two (list of 16 here) or read about her demise in NY Mag (doubtful) but she lives on in my heart, and in my deep suspicions that I might be one. Need a good laugh? This video - State Home for Manic Pixie Dream Girls - always has me in stitches. "I paid the cabdriver in buttons!" Anyways, I digress. MPDG give great fashion. As the video explains, they are cute, but also quirky and awkward. They love glitter. They dance in the rain. They wonder at the marvels of every moment. They decide to dye their hair to match their favorite lipstick, they own flower crowns "just in case", and they wear adorable peasant dresses around the house on rainy days. None of the latter is in the movie, but it should be. Fashion is supposed to be fun, right?

Flower Crown Cult Gaia 

Dress NastyGal (old) Similar

Pink Lips Tutorial

Sporty Chunky Flat Sandals

I LOVE this trend. Why? Because it's comfortable to wear and not that expensive to do. I decided to style my throwback adidas sporty flat sandals in what I like to call "Sprenk" (that's sporty + preppy + punk) by throwing it on with absolutely destroyed jeans, a simple v-neck tee, gold jewelry, and a matchy-matchy schoolboy navy blazer from JCrew. Ring (Joie) Bracelet (2Bandits) Pants (Nastygal)

Low-Calorie Zucchini Pasta with Lemon & Pecorino

I love this dish. You get all the richness of crisp al dente fettucine, drenched in rich alfredo sauce, for a small fraction of the calories.

The trick to this light, creamy low-calorie dish is in the tools. This little wonder is called a spiral peeler aka zucchini pasta maker. All you do is insert the zucchini and twist and out comes these gorgeous green noodles. Then, boil some water and cook the "noodles" to desired level of softness. I prefer crunchier noodles but you can play around to find what you like. Put the cooked "pasta" in a bowl, add some lemon juice and grated pecorino cheese, stir until a creamy sauce develops and then stuff your face!

The softer side of pink hair

Pink Hair Trench Coat Purple Shoes

I will be writing a long post on my decision to paint my hair pink but for now, I just want to show that it is actually a lot less punky and rebellious than I worried it would be - especially when paired with all black and a classic trench!

Hair (Manic Panic Bubblegum)
Lips (Baby Lips in Pink Punch)
Coat (Similar) Purple Flats (Similar)
Snake Ring Joie (Similar)  
Watch (Nixon), Nails (Essie Lux Effects in A Cut Above) 
Pink Ring (Sundance Pink Martini Ring)
Pastel Beanie (Similar)
Sunglasses (Rayban)

Peaches and Cream Smoothie

Sometimes you want a milkshake but you don't want the calories... That's when you need this smoothie. It's creamy dreamy and indulgent tasting but, it's not. Simple ingredients to make an extra dinary, healthy  treat!

Blend together a cup on 1 percent milk with a cup of peaches. Sweeten to taste using Splenda or agave syrup.

Sweatshirt Weather

Aka everyday in foggy San Francisco. Sometimes, it's a Sunday night and you need to leave the house and look socially acceptable, but leaving your PJs behind is more than you can stand. Enter the "fancy" sweatshirt. Add some lipstick and some booties and you look totally like you tried (but you didn't)

Animal Pattern Sweatshirt H&M (Similar), Jacket Zara (Similar), Jeans Forever 21 (Similar), Boots Jeffrey Campbell (Similar and only $55!), Nails Essie Lux Effects in A Cut Above, Lipstick Nars Dragon Girl, Ring Thrifted (Similar), Snake Pinkie Ring Joie (Similar) Patterned Clutch Forever 21 (Similar), 

Red Heart Glasses

Sending out lots of love and gratitude and kisses ! Happy Valentines Day! xoxoxo

Sunglasses (similar), Guerlain Hydrating Lip Shine in 240 Pamplelune - vibrant coral, Jacket H&M (similar) polish (Essie) jeans (Paige) 

Mixing Patterns Plaid Plus Leopard Print

Denim shirt and hunter boots

Sometimes you had too much gluten free pasta the night before and none of your jeans zip. On those days, The Lord provided us with the denim shirt. I love these hunter boots (a present from my soon to be mother-in-law) because they are so cute and also can take anything my dirty puppy throws at them... form and function? Sign me up. 

And because I was feeling a little squishy pre-v day I also decided to sport my Dena hearts Steve necklace. I love custom jewelry! 

In Defense of the Selfie: Chronicling my Cancer One Duckface at a Time

I have been reading a lot of stuff recently in defense of the selfie. I personally freaking love selfies. LOVE THEM. I have been called the selfie queen twice in the last week. I take this as a compliment (although at least one time I'm pretty sure it was intended as anything but...)

The invention of the front-facing iphone camera is right up there for me with fast fashion and sliced bread. In fact, I like it more than sliced bread. I'm not going to compare myself to Vincent Van Gogh or talk about the great art of the self portrait. I have a mission. The selfie is my number one tool in accomplishing this mission.

See, way back in the day, when I found out that I had CANCER, I googled. I googled like nobody has ever googled before. And what I found filled me with so much fear, anxiety, stress and soul crushing panic that I vowed I would document every step of my journey. And I would make it look beautiful. I would make myself look beautiful.

Now, this may have been a silly task in the spectrum of "I got cancer for a reason, and my reason is to make the world a better place by (fill in the blank)." Sure, I could probably help raise money, or educate people (and I do both of those things whenever I can.)

But I get a little miffed when people say some variation of "You have cancer - how can you still be worried about how you look?" Yes, people have said this to me. Often with the absolute best of intentions and often with a compliment on how great I look. And I have a reaction to it, a joke that I make, where I say "Listen, I got cancer, not a personality transplant." This answer is funny, it makes people laugh. But to be honest, I'm get a little sick of having to justify caring about how I look.

Do I wish I was the kind of person who gave that extra $100 I've been saving to a cancer charity instead of buying myself that gorgeous pair of shoes I've been dreaming about? Of course I do. Sometimes I make that choice. But sometimes I buy the shoes. Or the perfect baby blue motorcycle jacket. 

To me, wanting to be beautiful or stylish or caring about how you look is not a terrible thing to be ashamed of. I have a really healthy self-esteem about my appearance. I know I am good looking. I love clothes and make-up and exercising. I feel good in my own skin. I have occasional days where I say mean things about my body and my looks, but in general I try really really hard not to do that and to focus on the things I like about myself. In addition to liking my face and how some clothes fit me, I also like my brain and my sense of humor. I try to be a good friend, and a good daughter.  I work hard when I commit myself to something, and I love people freely and with reckless abandon.

Does caring about how I look and wanting other people to think I look nice somehow make me a worse person? I don't think so. I think it makes me human.

So, yes, really I cared about how I looked, and I still care about how I look. I care a lot. I care (gasp)  even though I have cancer. I like to be complimented on how I look. It makes me feel good.

Those of you who have never faced down the barrel of losing everything that makes you feel good about yourself, makes you feel like a woman, makes you feel pretty, I envy you. But I also know being a girl is hard enough when you are healthy or without a sympathy inducing medical diagnosis that makes strangers stop you on the street and tell you how good you look with your bald head.

Taking a selfie is like saying - "Hey, World, I feel like I look good today." YOU DO. YOU LOOK AMAZING. The fact that you like yourself right now (on the outside, where other people can see it) makes you look spectacular. That angle, that lighting, that outfit - perfection. Thank you for sharing your confidence and your self-love with me. It's so much better than the alternative, a world where girls bash themselves all the time.

These selfies I post every single day, these search results that I have populated the internet with, how do you think that makes people feel who are facing down the barrel of the same gun? It makes them feel better. I know it does, because they write me and tell me that. And every single time I get one of those messages, or a new follower on my baldspiration board, it makes me feel so good I feel like glitter is about to explode out of my skin. Not just because they are telling me they think I look good (although thank you for that) but because they are telling me that they think they can look good too. That chemo is not the self-esteem death sentence we all think it is. That they will still be fierce, gorgeous, sexy girls with or without hair.

My many selfies have become a way to show the world that every step of the way through cancer, chemo, and out the other side, that it is possible to be fierce and hot and sexy and stylish and beautiful. With the right attitude, and some retail therapy, you can face down anything and still feel good about yourself. That is why I love selfies.

Google "growing your hair back after chemo" and you will see about 500 million selfies of me. I will be the top search result above the Mayo Clinic and Health.com. And I look AWESOME. I know I do. I don't need you to tell me that, but I don't mind when you do.

So maybe, the next time you see a #selfie, you think "cool, I love how that person is liking themselves today." Feeling good about yourself is hard to do...Instead of condemning these people why not celebrate it? Why not encourage people to seek out the beauty in themselves instead of shaming them for it?

In fact, tag me in your selfies** (@denajulia on instagram, @denajulias on twitter) and I will like your selfie and tell you how amazing you look. Because everyone has beauty in them, and it can be so hard to look at yourself and find it. We are all facing our own battles, even if you can't see them, and a little more love and complimenting people can't possibly be a bad thing.


**Please no genitalia, ok?

Boho Braids for Short Hair

I was raised very bohemian (my dad is for reals Czeck, like used to print for City Lights Bookstore bohemian) and my mom is a gypsy Hungarian. So of course, it's been a long growing out process to get back from cool, cutting edge bald chick/pixie to something more in tune with my boho/gypset style preference. 

My hair is finally long enough to start experimenting with braiding, the special sauce for this boho meets grown-up look for dinner with my fiance's coworkers. 

With hair this short, you cant make a braid and wrap it around. You really need to use the "french" method of braiding by selecting small sections and weaving them around. The trick is to go 2/3 around with one braid and then 1/3 with the other, so you meet on the side instead of the middle. Nobody thinks to look there, so you get a nice "crown" even though you didn't have to reverse braid. 

I paired the hippy hair with some necklaces and then a grown-up blouse and jacket so as to be more profesh. (Intentional bad grammar and abbrev alert!!) If you need a french braid tutorial, check out the ones I pinned to my growing it out board, an excellent source of hair transition inspiration. 

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