Necklaces du Jour

Well... yesterday's "jour"

Notice the time stamp.... did I tell you I was an insomniac or what!? 


Anywho: these were the necklaces I happened to be wearing yesterday:

Heart via the Man; Pendant via House of Harlow

The reason I'm showing these to you is because, even though it was just another average day of finals week, I managed to throw on a piece of revelatory bling!! My double-sided gold heart necklace... One side has an "M," my first initial, and the other side looks like this: 

"Austin Danger Powers?"
"Danger's my middle name."

Well, Rae is mine!!

Now that I've let you in on my little secret, I'm also going to tell you how much I looooove my middle name :) Do you like your name? I'd love to hear some cool ones!

Product Review: Double Whammy!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure

Color: Back to the Fuchsia

Now, this stuff WORKS! Sally Hansen claims that it is "all 5 steps of a manicure in 1 bottle," and it really is (see their website here). My nails needed to be filed, buffed, and everything in between, but I didn't have time. I hate when my nails look shnasty, so I pulled this out of my cabinet (had bought it one time at Walgreens thinking I might try it some time) and put on a couple coats. Not only did it fill any spaces that needed to be buffed out, but it really does shine and stay on as if you've had a full on salon manicure with all the steps (base coat, polish, top coat, etc.). 

It's awesome, and I wanna get more colors!

Sally Hansen dares us to compare it to our favorite salon brands (like OPI and Essie), and I have to say, I am quite surprised by how torn I am about which is the best polish. Additionally, it goes on super smoothly and easily due to the tapered end of the brush to polish your nails... I barely got any Fuchsia on the sides of my nails and cuticles! 

It's been 3 days and my nails still look exactly the same... we'll see how long this awesomeness lasts!

On a less exciting note.... I was really excited about the Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen (again, Walgreens Wanderer right here....) in White, because I thought it'd be good for giving myself a French manicure (or, at least attempting) and drawing cool designs on my already-polished claws. 

Don't be deceived!

I took this picture immediately after I added the heart to nail, and was pumped about how good (I thought) it looked, and all the potential designs I could create to avoid studying for finals!

Well, even after an hour of waiting for it to dry, and being careful for three, it never did. I eventually had to wipe it off (which I hate doing with any kind of nail polish -- gooey grossness) and I'm mad I bought it. Maybe it didn't turn out well because it was on top of the Sally Hansen Salon polish, which is supposed to appear to have a shiny top coat finish, and you are supposed to apply the pen to the nail before you add anything else?? But I don't know. 

Anyway, go for the Complete Salon Manicure polish! I wish they had more colors, but I'm sure they'll add some new summery ones soon.

Wanna know how I learned to walk in high heels?

LIKE THIS!....

 In case you haven't gotten it yet, I learned to walk in heels (pathetic, I know... I'm graduating from college in 11 days...) by wearing them around my apartment! Whenever I've been home lately (lounging, cleaning, cooking, whatever...) I've been "practicing" by just hanging out in my brand new grad shoes! In the images above, I'm in my kitchen takin' care of day-to-day AM business....

...and now I'm almost a pro :)

I highly recommend this trick if you've got some major "schlepper" in you like I do!

P.S. DON'T JUDGE MY UGLY COLLEGE APT KITCHEN FLOOR TILES! I had nothing to do with them.
P.P.S. Like my bath robe?
P.P.P.S. Whenever you are adding a "P.S.," you add an additional "P." Most people don't know this, and just add another "S." It is a huge pet peeve of mine because I took Latin for so many years! [insert nerd criticisms here]... Anywho: If you forgot multiple things in whatever you're writing and need to "double P.S. it," then it should be "P.P.S." - this means "post post scriptum" (which makes more sense then "post scriptum scriptum" if you think about it!). 

14 for 7 from the 7 til 14

...confused yet??

So, I've been trying to come up with something appropriate for me right now (this time of the year, this much school work, weather, blah blah etc.) to help me start remixing like Kendi. She always has such great ideas for remixing, and I think I'm creative enough to get crafty and design my own project geared towards my needs. I am a schlepper... I could be in PJs or sweatpants all day. Since I'm graduating in 2 weeks from today, I need to change that... This project will force me to get up and get dressed every day (which will be good for finals week because, for some reason, I focus better when I'm dressed properly), and think consciously about my outfit choices.

This is my project:
The week before graduation, May 7th through 14th, I am going to wear only 14 different articles of clothing (for 7 days), so that I can better learn how to remix what I already own! Kendi inspires projects like the 30 for 30 challenge, which are way too intense for me at this point in my early blogging career... You can read her rules, but right now I'm working on mine. I've already established a few, though, some of which are similar to hers:

1) Exercise clothing does not count. That'd be gross. I'm allowed to change to work out, which means I'll probably be more inspired to go to the gym for some endorphins the week before my summer begins, anyway!
2) Underwear/garments/shirts/tanks don't count either, obviously.
3) Accessories are not part of the 14. Shoes, to me, are accessories. Therefore, shoes aren't part of the group either ;)
4) The weather is still REALLY iffy here, so leggings/tights and outerwear are not part of the 14. Also, I might need to substitute a pair of jeans for a pair of jeans since I'm in college and there are always laundry issues or people borrow your clothes, etc.

I also already know some items I'm going to include!! I have to consider things like Saturday to Saturday means senior/grad brunches and I don't want to be a.... WAIT FOR IT.... outfit repeater! (hence remixing)... ok, anywho:
1) Gray splendid maxi skirt via Bop
2) Dark green, knitted maxi dress
3) 1 Pleasure Doing Business Skirt -- either blue and white stripes or GOLD -- what do you think?
4) White lace crop top via Urban
5) Royal blue cardi via Madewell
6) Jeans (undecided which pair) *
7) Striped tee shirt via Urban
8) White button down via Urban
9) either another skirt (black?) or a pair of shorts... weather dependent * In Wisconsin this time of year, it could be 30 degrees or 70 from day to day...
10) 1 special outfit for something special! This 1 special outfit could be decided last minute, or borrowed from a friend, and must count as one of the 14 pieces
11) Cream blazer via Urban
12) .....??

WHAT AM I MISSING? I feel like I need more "bottoms," although it's only 1 week. Suggestions? I'll post my items soon with pictures!

A different kind of HAIR "PLUG"

It's April 28th and was a whopping 39 degrees here in Madison, Wisconsin today.... went to class (can I get a "hell yes!?"), ran some other errands, attempted to prepare my apartment for my friend who's visiting this weekend (he's quite the handful), blah blah etc etc. I was bored, and this is where my mind went: I wish my hair was long enough to donate again!

I have been blessed with an extremely thick head of luscious locks... I love my hair. And I'm allowed to say that because I can also admit there are other parts of my body that I hate! However, I can change someone's life by giving them my hair instead of my minorly college-esque beer belly.

Can you imagine, especially as a female, losing your hair? It sounds very superficial at first (hey! don't judge! I'm the one who donated my hair, here!), but when you think about it, your hair is such a defining feature. People see it. People notice it. You can change it to match your mood by the way you style it. There are aisles in the grocery store solely dedicated to hair! You can be a hair model... catch my drift?

Something else to consider is that hair can be really hard to grow long/strong/healthy for anyone, let alone someone who is battling an illness... I can attest to this, as I planned to grow my hair out to donate (and give to Pantene Beautiful Lengths) from the beginning. I knew I wanted to take perfect care of my hair, so that I could make someone very, very happy with it!

For almost 2 years (literally) I cut my hair 1/2 of an inch every month. I used good products. I didn't straighten or blow dry it often. I didn't wash it more than once in a day. Baaaaasically, my hair (well, this other person that'd be receiving my hair somewhere that I didn't know) came first, and I was a slave to it. Now that's maintenance! I'm a swimmer. Despite the chlorine, I still kept it looking like this:

Your hair doesn't have to be this long... I guess I got a little carried away, as I do with everything. Mine was nearly touching my belly button when I cut it - not ok. Only in this case, it was, because it was for a reason and so healthy! For Pantene Beautiful Lengths, you only need to give 8 inches, vs. other programs that require 10. I'd also heard a little bit ago that there was a place to which you could donate your hair that didn't have a length or no color requirement, but I'll have to get back to you on that...

Apparently, it takes a couple of pony tales to make a wig... they told me that with my hair, alone, they were able to make multiple wigs!

If you were to get your hair cut short for the season what style would you get?

Do you need to hear more about this experience to help you decide whether or not to "make the cut?" If you have any questions about products that help prevent breakage and damage, please feel free to ask!

Just musing....

I am about to go read aloud to less fortunate school age children with some women from my sorority...

I have decided I want to do a REMIX exercise like Kendi did, but I don't know if I want to wait for her to "create" a new one/set the trend for this Spring. Plus, my roll into Spring/Summer mode is usually a little different because I'm packing up for home (this time permanantly) from college, in addition to the weather in Madison, WI being a little "iffy." Thus, my remix idea might be very, very customized, just to see if I can't challenge myself.

I love the idea of The Daybook's Awesome and Awkward Thursdays, except I want to be awkward and awesome all the time... so I'm going to be. Whenever I feel like it. Oh, you'll know...

<3 moi

P.S. REMINDER: College Prep is giving away those rain boots -- don't forget to register!!
P.P.S. Along the lines of College Prep... she found these yoga mats. I need a new one. What do we think? Cute, or not?

April Anthro Catalogue... avec mes changes!

Salut!

I read the April 2011 Anthropologie catalogue, and....

I have to be honest, I didn't like some of the outfit pairings. While some pieces caught my eye (ex: the turquoise pencil skirt below via anthro), I thought that it'd look much better with a BDG button down shirt via Urban Outfitters (that comes in so many colors -- I have the white -- and is much more cost effective than certain tops from anthro).

 In this post, I am going to try to inspire you to "do it yourself" with some of these outfits.

Lesson #1: In many cases, one [simple] shirt can completely change the look of two skirts with entirely different look

Lesson #2: Maxi skirts are the best things since sliced bread. Not only can you EAT sliced bread and still be comfortable in them, but they are flowy and springy and oh, so comfy! Take my advice!

Lesson #3: Accessories -- more to come later!! We're already examining remixing and color in new types of skirts, here, let's take a bit of a break...

HOWEVER... How much snazzier are my looks than anthro's vision for these little SPRING 2011 numbers? [below]