STYLE STORY: GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

As I shared in my Vietnam post, I had quite the adventure in that beautiful country. And the best part of it was being able to share the experience with my family!

If there’s anything this past year has taught me, it’s that life is short & filled with unexpected circumstances. We should cherish every moment we have together as best we can.

There are a million reasons why I love having a sister, but the fun part is that we both love exploring different styles and fashion. And often, my sister and I dress similarly without planning it, which is probably why a lot of people think we’re twins.

And it happens a lot on vacation when we pack similar outfits. We stayed at the beautiful Victoria Can Thô Resort on the Mekong River for a couple days. It was a nice rest from the whirlwind adventure we experienced before arriving in Can Thô.

One of the days, we both walked out of our hotel room wearing similar geometric patterns! Of course we would.

I thought the coincidence was kind of funny. Because the thing about geometric patterns is that it’s repetitive and you know what comes next. But adventure is never mundane and you can never be certain of what to expect in the next moment. We captured our “twinning” moment and thought I’d share it with you!

Shop Our Outfits:

Romper: Target (Similar) // Dress: Piperlime (Similar)

Jewelry: Rocksbox (Get 1 month subscription FREE with code joannaxoxo)

STYLE STORY: FLORAL SISTER STYLE

Happy Monday! It's been a while since our first sister style post, and to celebrate the fact that we've been making music together for 20+ years, a realization I recently had, I thought I'd share some shots from our shoot with N3Lau Photography. We've been wanting to get pictures for our band, June & July, and for our YouTube channel, and finally found a moment of spare time this summer, so we asked him to take some pictures. We love how they turned out!

We chose our dresses separately and true to sister fashion, we just so happened to both choose floral dresses from our closets! But I love how the prints aren't too similar. I styled the rest of our outfits with pops of color to bring out the gorgeous hues in our dresses.

I chose to style my outfit with the Benevolent Jewels Crystal Flake Collar Necklace, one of my favorite statement necklaces that so simply dresses up any outfit. And the best part is that 10% of the purchase will be donated to Patriot PAWS, an amazing organization that trains service dogs for disabled veterans. The average cost to train one full service dog is $27,000 and there are currently 107 veterans on the waiting list. This program addresses this need and help disabled veterans regain lost independence and emotional stability. Incredible right?

And even better, with the code JHCODE20, you can get 20% off your entire purchase at Benevolent Jewels! So get shopping!

Isn't my sister beautiful? And she has a beautiful heart to go along with her looks. I'm so thankful to have a big sister like her to look up to!

If you'd like, check out our latest video and subscribe to our channel! We are so thankful for the sweet encouragement we have received from friends old and new!

Love you guys!! I hope you all have an amazing week ahead!

SHOP OUR LOOKS:

Jess's outfit:

Dress: Anthropologie (Similar)

Shoes: Casa de Hernandez (Similar)

Necklace: Kate Spade (Similar)

Clutch: Kate Spade

My outfit:

Dress: Hong Kong (Similar)

Shoes: Just Fab (Similar)
Bag: Asos (Similar)

Necklace: Benevolent Jewels (Use code: JHCODE20 for 20% off any purchase!)

Bracelet: ILY Couture

Linking up with:

Watch What I'm Wearing

Manic Monday

Style to Inspire
Let it Shine
Monday Bloom
How I Fall
Fashionably Employed

Style Sessions

Trend Spin

Stylish Tuesday
Confident Twosday
Style Me Wednesday
Tres Chic Fashion
Throw Back Thursday

Friday Fab Favorites

Friday Frills

Fashion Friday

Passion for Fashion

Favorite Fashion

Style Story: Fall Sister Style

When life is a constant marathon and you don't have time to notice nature's beauty around you, it's a problem. When the leaves just started changing this Fall, it took me a week to notice the obvious beauty of some climbing vines in the city alley behind our house. Cue the realization that I need to slow down and stop being so absorbed with the lists of things I need to get done and instead, take the time to soak in the beauty of God's creation.

I love how the colors of these vines bring life to the usual drab of our little alley. Jess came up with this brilliant idea to use it as a backdrop, so sister style part 2 came to be.

Style Story: Sister Style

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a fundraiser for an amazing organization called Pursue Scholars. What they do is nothing short of amazing.

While there are many organizations that provide the monetary resources for students to attend college, Pursue Scholars goes beyond that and provides support in other ways. The organization supports them throughout their college journey by providing life coaches and by keeping in touch with them often, praying for them, sending care packages and cards for birthdays and other occasions. How amazing is that?

The fundraising event took place on a boat cruise on Lake Michigan and thankfully the weather was perfect for dresses! The sunset & my favorite skyline were breathtaking as always. 

Dresses: Hong Kong | Necklaces: ILY Couture (Also seen here & here) | Earrings: Betsey Johnson | My shoes: Anne Klein | Jess's shoes: Naturalizer | Purse: Asos (also seen here & here)

Thanks for reading! And please be sure to comment below if you know any other great causes that I & other readers should know about!

Life Story: Summer Life in Grams

Instagrams, that is.

I promise another real blog post soon, but while thousands of people in Chicago were in the midst of Lollapalooza this past weekend, I was in the midst of Wedding-palooza! Two weddings in two different states all within 24 hours. Just as crazy, fun & wonderful :) It was so nice seeing old friends and laughing/crying happy tears together!

Before I get to the instagrams, I'm asking for a huge favor from my awesome readers. I wish I had the time to bake something yums for all of you, because I would if you would do this one thing...
Please VOTE for my look to win an H&M gift card! It's simple! Just click on this link & click the <3 that hovers over the image to vote for my look! 
(Psst! Any US citizen over 21 can enter too! I'll vote for your stylish self if you enter!)

While I recoup from the weekend craziness, I'll leave you with my favorite Instagrams from my summer that you probably haven't seen if you aren't following me on Instagram...(what are you waiting for?)!

Top: Anthropologie | Pants: Bossini | Shoes: Toms | Necklace: ILYCouture | Purse: NY&Co  

 My favorite kind of mail...wedding invites!

 Enjoying friends :)

 Sisters style!

My sister's outfit: Anthropologie

My outfit: All from Hong Kong & Malaysia

 New Jeweliq pieces

 Trying new restaurants in Chicago! The salad was SO good!

 Dress: Hong Kong | Sweater: JCrew | Shoes: Kelly&Katie | Bag: NY&Co

 Enjoying my favorite skyline for a sweet & simple girls night in!

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram for more of my attempts to be artsy/hipster...!

Have a wonderful week!!

Travel Diary: What I Wore & Ate...in Hong Kong

Victoria Harbor

Last year I wrote a series of posts about what I ate in Hong Kong, so to do something different for this year's trip to Hong Kong I'm writing a simpler what-I-wore series of posts...aka. I'm a lazy blogger. Sorry I'm not sorry. Oh, and I'm including a few food photos...because I can.

Top: Marshalls

Pants: Loft

Shoes: Kelly & Katie

Purse: NY&Co

Necklaces: old

Kids at Ocean Park...Because we're really mature.

Top: Marshalls
Hats: Thanks, Ocean Park for letting us borrow the fashionable headgear!

Walking around Causeway Bay.
Dress: Cynthia Rowley
Cardi: JCrew
Necklace: ILYCouture
Bracelet: Tobi
Bag: New York & Co.

 Top: somewhere in Hong Kong

Shorts: Forever 21

Shoes: Kelly & Katie

(I used the new A Beautiful Mess iPhone app to create the second photo. My favorite part of that picture is that adorable little girl!)

Have you seen the giant rubber duckie that's swimming around the world?? It was my favorite part of the trip :) I heard through the grapevine that it's coming to America next!!

 Too beautiful to eat. Lotus bun.

 Honey from a real honeycomb!

JW Marriott concierge

Gold chocolate. Um...yes please!

JW Marriott concierge

 The BEST Peking Duck I have ever eaten. AND they prepare it in front of you!!

American Peking Restaurant

My favorite snack :) (Rolled noodles with delicious sauces)

My favorite dessert. A big bowl of fresh fruit & fruit jelly!

Hot pot with the fam! YUM.

Victoria Harbour Restaurant (They also have amazing dim sum)

Hope you enjoyed this post! I won't blame you for drooling over the keyboard after seeing the food photos. I am.