OFF TO TALL TREE

---

Yesterday I wrote my final exam. Now I can officially parrrrrtaaaaaay! James is playing up at Tall Tree Festival with Towers & Trees this weekend, so I'm tagging along. We're gonna tent it, but just for one night...oh my goodness I'm actually going camping...eeeee. 

Now that school's done (I'm not starting my next course until September!!) all I want to do is curl up on one of these amazing circular beach blankets (I love this one and ohhhh this one too) with a real good book.

P.S. Did you see my Summer 2015 Reading List??

I've heard such good things about these lipsticks but I can't seem to bite the bullet...

I'm finally catching up on The Mindy Project season 3 and ohhhh my goodness that scene when Danny finds out they're preggers and searches NYC for her...#swoon

How cute is this scalloped one piece?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! I'll be sure to post Tall Tree festivities so follow along...

INSTAGRAM // FACEBOOK // SNAPCHAT: lauraliira
TWITTER // PINTEREST

XO

2015 SUMMER READING LIST

---

It's light out well past 9pm. All I want to eat is ice cream. And I have a desire to go camping (whaaat??) Folks, summer is HERE. I also have the desire to curl up and do nothing except sit in a hammock and read a book. Maybe you have that desire as well and if that is the case, you will be glad you stopped by today because today, I'm sharing what's on my summer reading list!

Summer is my favourite time for reading. I think it started when I was a little girl. I always remembering going to the library in the summer and signing up for their book reading club. You were challenged to read a whole bunch of books and it was THE BEST. Well this summer, how about we take that challenge? Here's 10 books I'm going to read this summer...and please don't judge me for the chick lits :p

1. Silver Girl by Elin Hildebrand- I actually already finished this one! It's definitely a chick lit but it's perfect for summer. This author always writes about Nantucket and it makes me want to visit there sooo badly!

2. The Shadow Queen by Sandra Gulland- I'm so pumped to read this! I devoured her trilogy on Josephine Bonaparte. Love me some historical fiction.

3. Fashioned to Reign by Kris Vallatton- I actually bought this book last summer and never really dived into it. It's all about empowering women to step into God's calling for their lives and not be held back by the glass ceiling society or (sadly) church's have put over them.

4. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern- Both Courtney and Thea recommended this one to me so I'm defs going to read it!

5. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving- I've only heard good things about this book so I'm excited to read it!

6. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion- I loved The Rosie Project so I'm assuming I'm going to love the sequel! Witty writing is perfect for summertime!

7. One Plus One by Jojo Moyes- I'm currently reading this book. I'm only in the beginning and it's pretty good. Nothing too exciting but I'm digging it.

8. Where'd You Go Bernadette? by Maria Semple- OH MY GOSH I LOVE THIS BOOK. It literally had me laughing out loud repeatedly. I can't recommend it enough!!!!

9. Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan- I've heard this one is a page turner...so pumped for it.

10. Simplify by Bill Hybels- I started reading this one in LA and almost bawled....it's exactly what I need. A serious refreshing cup of iced tea on an incredibly hot day. It's all about simplifying your life to do what God's called you to do. At the end of each chapter there are action steps...and you know how I feel about action steps (!!!) My soul is really excited to read this.

OK there you have it, 10 books I'm going to read this summer! Who's with me??

xo,

s.s.♥︎.

L.A. RECAP

---

Hiiiiii. I'm back from L.A. I got back late Saturday night (well technically early Sunday morning) and had a wild day at church yesterday (Sunday's are a very long day for me). I had a good sleep in though and I'm excited to share some photos from my trip with you!!

We flew in Wednesday night and stayed at a hotel near the airport. Since the conference didn't start until Friday night, we had some time to kill so we decided to be true tourists and do a hop-on-hop-off tour. It actually worked out real well because it served as our shuttle from the airport hotel to Hollywood AND we got to see a ton of LA! It started at LAX and took us by Marina Del Rey, Venice Beach, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and finally to Hollywood.

The weather started out a little bit chilly with a side of extra smog....(ewh). But once the smog burned off it was VERY hot and beautiful :)

We stayed at The Hotel Roosevelt which is iconic and was the hot spot in early Hollywood days. I'm a big fan of the hotel. Nicely done rooms and gold and black in their logo. My kinda place...also their pool area...oh m geeee.

Obviously In & Out was a must. And can I say how much my heart was hurting to be so close to Mickey but not enough time to do Disney? #tragedy Hey James...take me back!!!!???

Godchicks (the name of the conference we attended) was at the Dolby Theatre which is where the academy awards take place!!!! And get this, it was the FIRST Christian event to take place there. Praising Jesus in that place was INCREDIBLE! The speakers were Joyce Meyer, Christine Caine, Dawn & Rich Wilkerson Jr. & Holly Wagner. Every speaker brought an incredible word...God was speaking very clearly. I'll be sharing more on that at a later time, but for now enjoy these last few pics!

Oasis Church's team did such an incredible job! I'm sometimes a snob when it comes to going into a new place to worship because our team is just soooo amazing but Oasis was phenom AND all the dancers and videos were sooo on point. I guess that's what you get when you have professional actors and dancers attending your church!

It was also a great time spent with my pastor, mentor and friend, Lisa. She is a treasure and we had a blast together!!

And how good was that PINK SKY and MOUNTAIN as we flew into Seattle????!!!!

Hope you're having a great Monday.

XO,

s.s.♥︎.

OFF TO L.A.

---

photo taken on our coachella trip in 2013

 I'm off to LA for a couple days and thought I'd say a quick HELLO! I'm so excited to be attending Godchicks conference. The lineup is UNREAL...Christine Caine & Joyce Meyer...!!! Be sure to follow along on snapchat (username: lauraliira) & instagram as I'll be posting LOTS. Get ready for a ton of in & out and palm tree pics...oh and guess what? Bando is having a pop up shop on Friday!! Can't wait to check that out! #DREAMCOMETRUE

over & out,

s.s.♥︎.

WARDROBE // 13

---

Happy Monday morning! Hope you had a wonderful weekend!! Our great weather has stayed around and I'm happy to report I got some beach time in on Saturday AND I'm also going today...BOOYAH.

Today I have some more photos from my shoot with Rachael. Not only is she an amazing photographer, she also taught me how to keep with the cool kids and style that half up hair do. Real champ right there. Make sure you check our her site and like her photog page on facebook! 

Thanks Rachael for these amazing photos!! 

Outfit Details:
Blazer, Top, Leggings, Watch, Sunglasses (similar), Slides.

And don't be making fun of me for my Adidas slides! I seriously live in them. James hates them, but they're so comfortable and Aritzia sells them so they must be cool...ha.

Past Wardrobes- 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7 // 8 // 9 // 10 // 11 // 12

Happy Monday!

xo,

s.s.♥︎.