Long Time No See...

Hey, all!

I haven't written in forever but thanks to studying for the step, it's been really difficult... but since I have been waaaaay too lazy to take pictures of my outfits, I don't have a record of my outfits. But since I have been on my butt a lot doing nothing but studying, I do have pictures of my nails so here are some of my nails!

NOTD 1: Silver Tip + Accent Nail with gold and silver overlay

NOTD 2: Longing for the Beach from my small apartment room 

NOTD 3: Night sky and Sunset 

NOTD 4: Pastel Plaid + Silver and Gold Overlay

Hope you enjoy! Thanks for visiting!!!

And there it goes again, bye, Spring!

Ah, leave it to Northeast to wreak havoc on your dreams of warm weather and finally being able to look a little more presentable again. Really, how cute can you look layered up in 3 jackets, 2 scarves, and a beanie with 3 leggings and fur boots on? Well, I never wore that much clothes, but I knew that I should have each time I stepped out to get to my car. With short hair, I knew that wearing a beanie will put me in danger of being confused as a boy, but I wore my beanies constantly because well 1. I didn't want to take care of my stubborn cowlick that is determined to be the hair death of me and 2. it's cold out. It's times like this that I actually miss being in the Southwest where the weather drops to 30 degrees for 2 weeks and call it winter and then heats back up to 115 degrees and say, "PSYCH! And you thought you were going to have a long winter... cute~" The irony is, I actually managed to put away most of my winter clothes away under the bed to make room in my TINY closet in my TINY room so all my clothes won't be squished. Just my luck.

So over the weekend, I got to go watch the Celtics game against the Wizards. (Go, Celtics!) Now, I'm not a big fan of watching basketball on TV (I'm more of a football fan), but watching it live, it changed my perspective a little. (Rondo, if you somehow run into this blog and read this comment, I would die, but still, I love you but you need to make more shots. I do realize that it's your job to make plays, but it broke my little heart watching you give away shots when you had so many good opportunities. Just saying, but still, you are my favorite player!) It was fun with all the people around you cheering and even if you were obnoxious with your comments, there were about 2,000 people who were more obnoxious than you and louder. Now, only if I can afford to go to more exciting games, and learn how to scream and cheer loudly, I would be set for watching sports.

And now onto the outfit that I wore on Saturday, only to step out and realize, I should have worn tights....

Dress: ADAM

Jacket: Kenneth Cole

Boots: Boutique 9

Actually, this is one of my first attempts at wearing colorful shoes. I usually go for the basics when I buy shoes: black, brown/nude, and white. But when I saw these babies on sale at Karmaloop, I knew that I had to snatch them up and learn how to incorporate it into my outfits. Actually, I had dreams of wearing them with shorts since the weather was actually warm when I purchased these, but whatever, I'll deal with another long weeks of cold weather.

But here is to the end of my long rant, and thanks for visiting!!!

OOTD and Nail DIY

Hey, all!

I'm just going to post a few outfits that I wore yesterday and today, and I figured I'd do a nail look that I finished earlier today.

Shirt: Romeo and Juliet Couture 

Jeans: Hudson 

Boots: Palladium

This is the look I wore yesterday. Figured I would embrace my inner Paul Buyan and rock the red plaid. But what makes this shirt a little more unique is the black dip dye detail at the bottom half of the shirt and the line of buttons at the back. So depending on how many buttons you decide to button up, it can look more fitted or loose.

Scarf: Zara

Shirt: A&F

Belt: Zara

Skirt: Victoria's secret

This is the outfit I wore earlier today. It is starting to get warm up here in the Northeast so figured I would rock an outfit that would not require me to wear a thick jacket.

I recently purchased the scarf not too long ago from Zara and have to admit that I'm in love with the quality and the look of the scarf! So far, Zara has not disappointed me!


So the following pictures shows somewhat how I did the gradient nails.

Materials: nail polish base, base nail polish color, 2 similar colors for gradient (you can use only 1 if you want to, but I used 2...), make up sponges (I cut these to a smaller size so I can dot more easily)

1. Prepare your nails by cutting nails, taking care of the cuticles, and the base coat.

2. Put your base color on all the nails you want to put gradient on. I used "Cab Fare" by SEPHORA by OPI for my base color.

3. Dab on the stronger color using the make up sponge at the tip of the nails. I used "Magic Bus" by Urban Decay. I dabbed the color from tip to the cuticle to make sure that the color is strongest at the tip of the nail. If it doesn't end up with perfect gradient, it's fine. I usually dab about 1/4 of the nail or about how much a french tip would end.

4. Dab on the 2nd gradient color using another make up sponge, same as above, from nail tip toward the cuticle. I used "What's Your Sign?" by SEPHORA by OPI. I usually dab from nail tip down about 1/2 way down the nail.

5. Apply top coat and you have your gradient nails!

I like to have 2 colors for gradient because I feel like that makes the gradient pop more especially if the gradient color is kind of light color.

Hopefully you enjoyed this short tutorial. Thanks for reading!!

Faking Comfort

Hi, all!
I know that I have been bad at updating this little space of mine, but as mentioned before, it's kind of weird to have a schedule going when all you do all day is just study... but here is 2 looks that I have been kind of enjoying since I've been venturing out of the apartment to study... since the weather has warmed a bit here in the northeast, I've been ruling the comfy look with maxi skirts since I refuse to wear sweats as my comfy alternative...

Look #1:

Scarf: Alexander McQueen
Jean jacket: Banana republic (old)
Shirt: 7 for all mankind (old)
Bag: Cambridge Satchel Company
Skirt: Express
Shoes: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Look 2:
Shirt: American Eagle Outfitters
Jacket: Kenneth Cole
Skirt: Billabong
Shoes: Minnetonka
Bag: Wayuu Taya Foundation

Figured wearing maxi skirts is a good way of faking to the world that you actually still care about the way you look without sacrificing comfort.

Hope you enjoy!

Colored Denim

Hi, all!

I figured it was time for a long overdue update on this little blog... it's been crazy trying to get ready for the step, practicing for the real test via the school, and just having my life happen. The wedding came and went, but the trip was so brief and hectic that I had barely any time to take pictures and what not... so it's a little saddening that I was not able to capture any of the outfits and any pretty pictures of the bride. Not to mention all the wonderful food at the wedding! But all in all, I'm glad that my schedule has calmed down somewhat and I can update the blog a little more often and share new things that I was able to acquire since Christmas on!

So back onto the title of the post, colored denim. Currently the new thing in fashion is colored denim. While I have been seeing a lot of designer brands (J brand, Hudson, 7 for all mankind, etc.) have been shelling out a ton of beautifully colored denim, I didn't feel like shelling out $150+ for a single pair of jeans for the following reasons:

1. As much as I love colorful things in my life, I don't see myself wearing these jeans in the long run... Knowing me, I will always fall back to my safety net of dark blue/black jeans.
2. The new in colored denim are meant to be worn in skinny jeans style. I don't have skinny thighs like most models. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you see it), I played sports and danced all of my life and my thighs have accumulated its fair share of muscle and now, fat, making skinny jeans a little more difficult to wear. 
3. I like to shop smart. If I can find good alternatives for a designer piece, I will purchase the alternate especially if it's more trendy. I will dig deep into my pockets and invest in nice classic designer pieces but I probably won't dig that deep into my pocket for trendy pieces until I'm not on student salary. 

So to complete my goal of buying trendy pieces but at fraction of the price, I shopped around. Two stores with the most vast colored denim collection were American Eagle Outfitters and Zara. 

Skinny jeans and legging from AEO                            Skinny jeans from Zara
You can find them here and here.                                 You can find them here, here, here, here, and here.

I liked jeans from both stores. As you can see above, both companies made vibrant and beautifully colored denims. Both companies also priced their jeans reasonably. AEO jeans are more consistent in style, fit, and quality. The only downfall is that their neon yellow jeans aren't really neon, but more dirty, muted neon yellow. But skinny jeans from AEO were thicker material with good stretch that fit my thick thighs well. For me, I feel like jeans that are made of thicker material help cover my crotch area and accommodate my thighs well. Since the pockets were also shallow, the pocket didn't show through.

Some of Zara jeans were similar to the ones I got from AEO. But depending on which style you got (the neon yellow and bright pink pants), they were made of material that was thinner and more papery if that makes sense. Maybe it is because it is an European company but I felt that the pants fit tighter around the thighs. Also, there were more discrepancies in sizing. The neon yellow and the pink jeans were at least one size smaller than the other jeans. But I did like that all of the jeans from Zara had zippers at the ankle.

In the pictures below, I will be comparing the colors of the jeans.

The left pair is from AEO and the right is from Zara. As you can see, the pair from AEO is a lot more muted  compared to the pair from Zara. While I loved the color from Zara, it fit at least one size smaller, which made me sad. It is also thinner and more papery, which isn't really my cup of tea when it comes to skinny jeans.

The pair from Zara is the closest in color I've seen to a true neon yellow similar to the ones from J. Crew. For a price at $79.99, it isn't bad, but just make sure to buy it at least a size bigger.

These are the two yellow denims from AEO and Zara. The left is from AEO priced at $44.50 and the right is from Zara priced at $59.90. The pair from AEO is more pastel yellow while the pair from Zara is warmer yellow. Both pairs fit similarly with similar feel. But as mentioned earlier, the pair from Zara seemed to fit a little tighter around the thighs. Since the pockets were deeper in the Zara pair, the pockets showed through the pants.

Depending on which color you prefer, you can't really go wrong.

The 1st pair on the left is from AEO and the other 3 pairs are from Zara. The pair from AEO is the most unique which is more of an old-fashioned rosy pink while the most right pair from Zara is the brightest at neon pink. For the middle pastel pink pairs from Zara, depending on which pair you purchased, it was either thicker and more stretchy, or thinner and papery. The thinner and papery pairs fit about one size smaller.

Depending on which colors you prefer, you have a pretty wide array of colors to choose from.

This picture shows 2 pairs of green jeans. The left pair is from Free People and the right is from Zara. The pair from Zara is actually more pastel mint color, but it looks more grey in the picture. But the pair from Free People is one of the most unique color green I've seen while researching for different colored denim. You can find them here. The waist on Free People seemed a little smaller and it is a stiffer pair of jeans, but with a unique color like these, I will sacrifice a little comfort.

Mind you, there are a lot of fabulous colored denim offered by many designer companies as you can find here. As a student, I just didn't feel like spending a ton of money on trendy jeans. If I were buy the pile of jeans that I bought from AEO from a designer company, I would have spent over $1,000 but via AEO using coupons (they usually have at least 15% off coupons via online shopping) and spent less than $250.

Hopefully this long review helped whoever was looking into purchasing colored denim. I still have some from Express and other companies that should be coming in soon that I will post a detailed review on.

Thanks for visiting! 

It's been due time for a little update... I've been just tired and just feeling lazy lately but here are some of my more recent nail looks...

The first look that I did is a sky blue and blue silver look. Since I didn't really know which design I liked the best, I kind of went nuts on all of my fingers. Every one of my fingers had different design on it. The middle finger had a twist on classic french nail and the index finger had moon design on it.

As you can see, the thumb had the gradient look on it. I wasn't kidding when I told you that I had no idea which design I liked.

The next design is more Valentine's day related. I changed the design about 2-3 days after I did the blue nails because well, I forgot that Valentine's day was just around the corner.

Don't mind my pretty crappy method of placing the base color. I really have a hard time painting an even base when I'm putting pastel colors on my nails. I feel like darker nail polish are more forgiving when you suck at painting the nails. So as you can see in both my pink and baby blue bases for both looks, you can see that I got a lot of nail polish on my fingers as opposed to my nails. All of my nail polishes came from the set OPI by sephora this last Christmas.

Hope you enjoy!

Hi, all. Hopefully people who are running into my little blog is having a better time in their lives than I am. With taking time off to just study for the step, I haven't really felt the need to go out or really get dressed out of my PJs for that matter all that often. So I've been in bum mode and really just have some fun with nails and making food. Yes, I do realize that I should be studying but one can only study for so long at least in my room that is... Probably the worse choice in my life to agree to have a TV in my room. There is so much on TV that you can watch when you absolutely have to study, don't you think?

There is a wedding coming up in the next few weeks or so so I'll actually have to be dressed up and since I'm visiting the boy's family, I'll actually have to look decent... which leads to... more shopping!!!! YAY! I have been able to score a few cool things on great deals lately which I am super excited about that I'll post in the near future. But currently, some of the things I have been able to procrastinate with are my nails. I have to say with the amount of times that I have been changing my colors, I still SUCK at applying even coat, especially the pretty light pastel colors. But I have been getting better at doing gradient nails. After being submerged in the sciences for so long, doing my nails provide a much desired creative outlet my little brain wants.

Please ignore my funky looking fingers... I was all sorts excited when I found the bluish-purple nail polish in my collection and since only having one color on my finger nails bore me, I rummaged through my pile of nail polish for the next perfect colors to do gradient nails with. I don't know the nails of the bluish-purple and the red-glitter polish that I used because both came from the mini nail polish collection SEPHORA always puts out during the holidays and the middle pink/silver glitter color came from AVON. Then I finished the top off with a red glitter top coat just at the tip to intensify the red color. I have to say that this is one of my most successful gradient look yet! Now onto the first of a few hauls that I did...

My first pair of Miu Miu shoes. I actually got these for a great price from Neiman Marcus. This particular pair is a little too big for me, but since they were soooo pretty and they didn't have it in my size, I just got the larger size but I re-spotted on their website for smaller size, so I'm just waiting on those babies to arrive! Hopefully those will fit better! According to the website, it's about 4.7" high so it is a fairly high heel but it is still comfortable although having the shoes not slip off my feet may help increase the comfort. But I do love the soft pink sole and the velvet bow. I don't always go for super girly shoes, but I had to when I spotted these.

Hope y'all have a nice day!

First Food Post

I've been craving something sweet and yummy and while wasting my study time on the internet, I ran into a recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread by Joy the Baker. It was relatively simple to make other than the fact that I had to wait for the yeast to do its thing, which is to let the dough rise.

I don't know how it happened but most of the sugars ran to the bottom of the pan and made a little caramel. I guess when I tried to bake the bread long enough to get the middle of the bread to bake completely, I had to bake it about 10 minutes longer than Joy recommended. So I ended up burning the bottom a little, which makes me a little sad because the burnt sugar makes it a little difficult to eat. It's not as pretty as Joy's Bread but I can't compare to someone who has done this longer but o wells. Nonetheless, it was delicious and I have no complaints.

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Another nail look...

Hey, y'all!

Since I have taken some time off to study for the step, I haven't really left my apartment that often thus the lack of OOTD posts... doing my nails, reading up on blogs, watching football, and making attempts at studying... I have been great at procrastinating a few haul posts that I have been meaning to do since Christmas but well, I've been just too lazy so expect some in the near future. (Maybe)

But lately, I feel like I've been stuck on the gradient nails because now, it just feels boring with just one color on my nails. I'm actually kind of proud of the base color that I mixed up for myself which ended up being this cool pink/silver holographic-y base. I really wished that the dark blue would be a little more gradient-y but it ended up looking a little more french nail-ish. O wells, that will do for now until I gather up the mental strength to fix it... For these nails, I caved in and used the sponge method. But since I didn't have a makeup sponge, I had to go McGuyvre on my butt and cut up an earplug and substitute it as my "sponge." Hopefully whoever runs into this little blog enjoys the nail look.

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New Nail look

This is a nail look that I did until the nails chip or get ruined on me since I'm terrible with my nails... Gradient nails are not as difficult to do at home as a lot of people may think. It just requires more or less the right consistency of the nail polish and a little patience.

Base: Sephora by OPI base coat
Gradient: Sephora by OPI "Already Famous"
Glitter: Sephora by OPI "Don't be Eggnog-ious'
Top coat: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails UV Top Coat

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Entering is easy, just blog/whatever form of communication you prefer, comment on her blog!

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Much needed update and so forth...

Hey guys!

Hope all of you had awesome holidays. I know mine were filled with family and good food. I know that I mentioned on posting my last outfit for the year and here it is... it was the day of my finals so since I felt pretty crappy (who dosen't during your last final of the year before Christmas break?) I decided to kind of dress up. Why? I don't know. I tend to dress up whenever I feel crappy... probably because making myself pretty makes me feel better. But here it is.

 

Cardigan: H&M
Shirt: Victoria's Secret PINK
Skirt: H&M
Tights: Francesca's
Boots: UGGs

The pictures show a close up of the friendship bracelet my friends and I decided to get... the clasp broke on my bracelet so I used the red ribbon pin that my friend got to keep it together. Figured it will still be festive while being sentimental for our last day of school together until we meet again...

  

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