Rain or Shine

Well, it's well and truly spring, and the weather is as variable as can be.
Thankfully however, the thermometer's been hovering around jacket temps lately, so away with the winter clothes and hello spring clothes!

...except, as I realize every spring, it's rather hard for me to dress in spring. Your mind says shorts and sandals, but your body says put that fleece jacket back on, crazy, the wind's still blowing! So, with a super simple investment in a couple pairs of black tights, I've found my new favorite spring outfit: a chunky sweater tucked into belted jean shorts over black tights, and black suede booties. And as the the title indicates, it works in the craziness of spring weather! (though I recommend maybe a different material of booties for those rainy days, unfortunately I'm not very gentle on possessions haha, so my booties got a taste of the rain)

Sun:
 This was my outfit for Easter Sunday, and it worked perfectly for the sunshine we were enjoying!

Sweater- Forever 21, Belt- Forever 21, Jean Shorts- Ruff Hewn, Tights-Forever 21.

Sunglasses-Nine West (Marshall's)

 I bought these sunglasses after loving them in the store, but felt a little unsure of them later, as they aren't my usual Wayfarer-esque shape, but, as you can see from my happily posing face, I'm now OBSESSED with them! Love the difference in the roundness of the frames.

 My stepsister and cousin decided to chalk our hair while drawing on the driveway, I've always wanted to do this and loved the effect. I'm gonna have to get legit hair chalk to try out over the summer!

Booties- Z London (DSW)

Rain:

Last week, the April showers began to really reign after a couple weeks of wonderful sunshine. But, I do love rain when it's warmer out, and decided to again use the shorts and tights combo.

Sweater- Chaps, Belt- Forever 21, Shorts- Ruff Hewn, Tights, Forever 21

 I loved the red of the sweater to brighten up the gray day, and it was warm and chunky enough to keep me cozy.

And, of course no outfit would be complete without a little arm party, today I kept it simple with a leather and gold watch, and my always bracelets: a green and magenta friendship one, and a green leather one that one of my best friends brought back from Ireland! 

I have always loved this look and finally got the confidence (and clothes--black tights are essential, seriously, why did I not own any before) to try it out, and I'm so glad I did!! Good luck in your spring dressing, I for one can't wait for more sunshine and warmth!

Have a wonderful week! xx

Back in the Saddle/A New Direction

Well, it's been a while again. I was having a great year, but then life threw me a couple of curveballs having to do with my family, and I needed to be away for a long while. Things are all right now, just hectic and scary and sad for a while. First, we found out in January that my mom had breast cancer. So thankfully, they found it very early before it spread, and in a whirlwind month, we went from diagnosis to surgery after which she was declared cancer free! She is doing very well now (:
Then, in February, my grandma passed away. She is the first one of my grandparents to die, and I don't think the realness of the situation has quite hit me yet. It catches me off guard every once and a while, and I'm sure it'll really hit me next Christmas, which was her favorite holiday and is always a grand family gathering. She had been struggling for a long time with lymphatic cancer and had a hard past six months or so. However, I'm so glad that now she's finally her whole self again and out of all of the pain. I have so many happy memories of her and I know she's watching over me now. Again, it still hasn't fully hit me, and it feels strange to type those words, because to me she's still just an hour and a half from me, bustling around her huge old house. But, the last time I saw her she was happy and doing relatively well, and I'm thankful for that.

So, with that news out of the way, back to the blog! In January I made a great list of resolutions which I promptly forgot about and ignored for a month and a half. Then, a couple weeks ago, at the start of my spring break, I decided to get back into exercising and was doing really well! It's a little harder to remember to do it now that I'm back in school, but it's still in my mind and I'm trying to be consistent about it! I love the way I feel after and during a workout. I'm working to get myself in good shape after four years of a life without consistent exercise, and while I am strong naturally,  I want to be in better form and lose some weight before I go away to a different college in the fall! I can't remember if I ever mentioned that or not, but I finally decided to go away to university next fall, and I am already so incredibly excited for it. The girls I'm going to live with are great, the campus is so much fun and so busy, and I think the environment and being away from home will be so good for me. I haven't quite decided what I'm going to add onto my current Spanish major, but I'm giving it some serious thought and I will decide very soon (scheduling starts tomorrow, eek!).

In January, I felt very lighthearted and happy, but as life got crazy, the old sadness and disappointment crept back in. However, over spring break, I was able to really let go of things and just enjoy myself and busy myself with whatever I wanted, and it was absolutely wonderful.

 

While, as you can see, spring break wasn't very "springy," I enjoyed staying inside and hanging out.



Finally, I wanted to talk about taking my blog in a new direction, which ironically is actually the original direction I intended for it!

One of my resolutions was to create something each month and blog about it. This is mostly because I wanted my blog to have more of a lifestyle feel to it than previously (sorry for all the rants in the past, last year was angsty).

First, I want to talk about makeup.
I never used to care much about makeup to be honest, so long as my eyes could be seen (my eyelashes are very blonde).
However, over a year ago, I found this amazing YouTube channel called "Pixiwoo." (Youtube.com/Pixiwoo). Suddenly, I was tearing through their tutorials and learning a whole lot about not only different types of makeup and their uses, as well as techniques to apply to different shapes and colors of features. Nic and Sam (the two sisters behind Pixiwoo, both makeup artists for around a decade and a half) feel like those super cool young aunts who chat with you like an old friend and give you a good catch up and life tip with every visit. Their videos are helpful and the looks always come out beautiful--even if I begin to question a look halfway through. So, on the rare chance that one of my sisters is up for modeling, I jump at the opportunity to try a look on them!

My older sister Anne modeling as Cleopatra a la Elizabeth Taylor. All done because she had twisted her scarf into a turban while being silly and I said she looked Egyptian and I wanted to do a look!

While I am by no means perfect at makeup, I love practicing and I've been trying out different styles and looks on myself, and I'm slowly amassing a collection of products to work with! It's one of my favorite creative outlets these days (:

 Next is another creation that I wanted to share, even though it's unfinished.

Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice (2005).

 I loooooove to draw. I've been drawing seriously since elementary school, and it's one of my favorite things to immerse myself in. Usually, I like drawing portraits, and have been meaning to draw Lizzy Bennett by Keira Knightley since, oh, about forever. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books and the 2005 movie is my favorite, ever. I've had it memorized for years, and I just love it.
This image is from a favorite scene of mine ("The Secret Life of Daydreams" by Dario Marianelli plays in the background during a series of rainy and sunny days while Lizzy swings alone and silent), and I've always thought Keira looked absolutely beautiful in it.
My drawing isn't finished, and it isn't perfect, but I'm very proud of it, to be honest. I love getting face shape and proportions right, especially since I just draw freehand, looking off an image on my phone, usually. I love it and I can't wait to finish the whole thing!


Finally, I want to begin talking about fashion. I love fashion as well, and I read multiple blogs and watch multiple YouTube users about fashion/lifestyle.
I've been in serous need of some nice, dark leather boots since forever, as the pair I had previously are slightly reddish in tint and do not go with everything.  Finally, the other day in DSW I found these babies.

Boots, Ralph Lauren. 

 I have to admit, at first I was a little skeptical of these because they are a little looser around the calves than I'm used to, and the foot part seemed to either be too big or too small, and I couldn't find a good pair of socks to fit in them well. However, I decided to take the plunge and buy them, and I'm already so glad I did! They were more than I usually pay for (anything) boots at $85 (I'm poor, in college, stingy, etc.), but I used a $20 off coupon to get them to that price, and I knew I was buying quality with the brand. The gold detail on the side is a little strangely bright yellow in color, but I don't notice it much and to me that's fine. I just love these boots! I love the look of them the more I wear them and I'm sure once they're all broken in, they'll be a great pair to hold on to for many years. I'm so glad I have them!

Well, this was quite a lengthy one, and as I've come down with a wicked cold, sleep is calling my name. I would love to know any opinions you have on my creations and how you feel about the expansion of my blog theme! I'm so glad I'm finally heading in the direction I set my course for when I began. I'll do my best to stay consistent and stick to my April resolutions in the future.
Thanks for reading and, goodnight!! xx

In with the New

I'm a couple days late in saying so, but

Happy 2014!!!! (:

Enjoy this selfy avec sequins and year glasses (:

Personally, I was not a big fan of 2013, and I was very excited for a new start. However, I saw a good degree of cynicism floating around on the internet about the idea of resolutions, and it made me think about them and why we choose to make them. 

Many people seemed to be saying: why now? why choose this day to make a change? you could have made it any time you wanted before; did you really need this little stupid jumpstart of a calendar change to do something about an issue in your life?
But for many people, the answer is probably yes.

Personally, December was a whirlwind for me. It felt like I didn't even have time to catch my breath while the semester wrapped up, I had my birthday, and family started to come home for the holidays. I loved finishing something and having time for rest, but honestly, the time for rest only truly felt like it started a few days ago. For starters, on Christmas Eve, I came down with something (guessing the flu) and was left in bed with feverish chills and aches while the family watched movies and ate cookies. It was an ebb-and-flow kind of thing however, and it always seemed to let me have some fun: getting to come down for dinner and a movie later on Christmas Eve, fun with family and friends on Christmas, skiing on the 26th, and other family times and a couple outings with friends. Unfortunately, this thing is still clinging onto me in the last way it can: a cough and somewhat sore throat. But, it's definitely lessened and is on its way out, and I feel all the better for having a) an excuse to let myself recuperate and get some sleep and b)finally coming out of it. 

However, lately, it's been hard to convince myself that it was all right to sleep in for an extra hour or two or to just sit and do what I want for a couple hours. I try to be very responsible and so, if I let myself slack off (which I do too often), I tend to feel very guilty and become nervous and worried while doing something unproductive. However, this still becomes an outlet for me, and I sneak in a few YouTube videos or 15 minutes on Tumblr on many occasions, and often make myself late and unhappy, even if the time I spent doing something online made me happy at first.
I'll let that be a little lead-in and thus list my resolutions for the New Year in which many changes are already set to come for me! (I am listing this mostly for myself, that I have something to keep up with, and also if anyone is interested or can use my resolutions to set some for yourself!)

Resolutions for 2014

1. Exercise three times a week, every week.

2. Learn 1 new piece in entirety on the piano each 1-2 months (depending on the piece).

3. Create two things each month, blog about them each month.

4. Write in my journal at least weekly. 

5. Be more open with those I love and those I don't know (trust).

6. Read some of a book for pleasure every day. 

7. Limit recreational time on the internet daily to 1.5 hour total (45 minutes on school days).

 8. Begin my homework by 4 every day.

9. Go outside every day (even in weather, do something).

10. Save 1/3 of all earnings. 

These are all quite personal to me, but I plan to share my progress with these on here (I want to blog more positively and frequently this year) and if anyone would like to share your resolutions and progress, please feel free! I'd be glad to know and support you (: I hope this year is as good for everyone as it's been to me so far, and as I hope for it will be in the future! (:

And, to finish it off, I just want to share with you that, as the view from my window will affirm, there is sunlight after the storm. (: