Finals: It's Do or Die

I'm sure anyone in college can relate.  Finals are 100%, without a doubt, the WORST time of the year.  You're stuck studying all day.  It's so boring.  That's what I've been doing for the past week, preparing for this torturous time.

Whenever I attempt to cure my studying-induced severe loneliness, I try to study in the same room as my friends.  Bad idea.  Yesterday, I watched videos of sea otters holding hands and a monkey riding on a pig's back, practiced my signature for when I'm famous, was followed by Aaron Carter on twitter (don't ask me how that happened, but I may have freaked out a bit... or a lot), went for a walk to get ice cream, played in the rain, measured the length of my hair with a ruler, and talked A LOT.  And then after all of that, I decided to go back to my room to really get some studying done.... but I proceeded to take an accidental nap instead.

I clearly don't study well when I am with others.  People distract me too easily!!  That is why I am locking myself away from fun.  Until Tuesday, when I finally finish, I am not letting myself study with friends.  I will only let myself on the internet for short period of time.  This is going to be rough.  Oh man, why am I doing this to myself?  Let's see how this goes!!

So, I haven't posted in a week for the very same reason that I won't be posting for the next 5 days.  But then I'm on summer break, so I can blog to my heart's desire then!!

See ya in 5 days!! :)

Melissa

"I don't love studying. I hate studying. I like learning. Learning is beautiful."
-Natalie Portman

Get To Know My Style: A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

I love fashion and clothes- hence, the blog you are currently reading.  But I figure it's important to tell you a bit about my style before I start throwing ideas and outfits onto the internet.

To put it simply, I wear whatever I feel like wearing.  I don't think I could ever confine my style into a few words or even a paragraph.  I'm sort of all over the place.  My style isn't super specific.  I like clothes that are chic, feminine, somewhat tailored, sometimes studded, modern, 50's/60's inspired, classic, and the occasional sparkly or sequenced garment.

I do gravitate towards girly things, as I am a thoroughly a girly girl.  I like light colored florals and pinks.  I also find myself loving skirts and dresses significantly more than shorts lately.

I also really like neutrals.  Some days, like today for instance, I wear all neutral colors.  I just like the crisp look once in a while.  On other days, my outfit is usually about half neutral tones.  They match almost everything and I like having a solid foundation in my outfit.

I very rarely wear two flowy items together.  Either a tight top and loose bottoms, or vice versa.

I love belts!!  I went through a phase when I wore a belt with every single outfit.  This was not out of necessity, I just really liked the look.  Now, I wear them more sparingly, but I do love the days when I wear belts!

With this being said, not all of my outfits will fit into these criteria.  I'm far too scatter-brained to wear clothes that fall perfectly into a category.  I like to change things up.  I'm not going to pretend that I'm a total trend-setter or that I am a fashion guru, because I'm not.  Yes, I try to wear fashionable clothes.  But no, I don't always follow fashion rules.  After all, aren't rules meant to be broken? ;)

One general style note is that I always try to look put together.  To me, the point of wearing an outfit is to wear an outfit, not separate clothing items that I happen to throw on.  The various garments should complement each other and work in harmony.

So that's my style for ya.  I'm sure that as soon as I post this a million new thoughts will pop into my head.  Oh well!  I guess you'll just have to wait and see what I wear.  Than you can see for yourselves! :)

 Melissa

“Fashions fade, style is eternal.” 

-Yves Saint-Laurent

Ballet Flats: Not just for Ballerinas

It's no secret to anyone that I have a fixing for ballet flats.  They can can dress up a simple outfit and tone down a fancier ensemble.  They can be plain, colorful, neutral, patterned, have cutouts...  You get the idea.

This spring I have been wearing them almost everyday!

So here are some of my inspirations:

These are from J. Crew.  I love the small stripe and simple little bow.  It's a cute little touch.  They just look so delicate and fabulous!

 

These are from Zappos.  I've been feeling studs lately.  Cute with a hint of toughness.

 

These are from Bloomingdales.  They're so light and I just want to wear them out to tea.

These beauties are from ShopBop.  Love love love.

These are from Lulu's.  Something tells me you aren't surprised I like them. ;)

These are from Zappos.  I love florals, so I think they would add a really nice punch of color to an outfit!

'Tis the season for flats!  Enjoy showing off the tops of your feet!!


Melissa

"I always wear flat shoes, because I can’t walk in anything else.”

- Sadie Frost

Outfit of the Day: Black and Stripes

I've been on the hunt for a plain  black cotton high-waist skirt for a while.  And by a while, I mean a since November!  The main problem is that I'm tall (5' 9"), so skirts always look inappropriately short on me.  I can't tell you how many skirts I've tried on/ bought online and had to return because they were too short or not the style I wanted.  This is simplest skirt, but for some reason no one seemed to carry it.  However, I was at the mall last week and found the most wonderful skirt!!  It was only $10 from Charlotte Russe!  Total bargain!  It's crazy, I've been looking for so long that I decided to let myself spend a bit more money because I wanted it so badly.  And low and behold, I found the perfect skirt for a wonderfully low price.   *happy dance*

Also, the weather is finally warm enough here in NY!  Where I live we have the winter tundra and the summer dessert, nothing really in between (okay, yes I am sort of exaggerating).  Anyway, now I can finally wear this skirt and I'm SO flipping excited!!

So here's my outfit of the day!

Please ignore the terrible photography!  I had to resort to taking selfies my not-so-lovely camera.  Also, you get a nice view of my college dorm room.  If you think it's small and cramped, you are absolutely right.

Anyways, this is what I'm wearing today!  I love how summery and airy the outfit is!

Have a lovely Wednesday! :)

Melissa

 

Online Shopping Obsession

I have always been one to love online shopping.  It all started in 8th grade with Bloomingdales, Saks, and Shopbop.  I perused their online stores and begged my mom to buy me anything and everything that was priced under $40.  The situation usually went a bit like this:

"Mom, I love you very much.  Can I show you something?  It's kind of urgent because I'm afraid that everything in my shopping cart will get sold out!  I love this.  And I love this.  And I can't possibly live without this."

My mom would reluctantly buy them for me with the optimism that I would wear these prized clothes a thousand times over (bless her soul).  The clothes would come in a week later.  I wore everything maybe once and then they collected dust in my closet.

Nowadays, my online shopping habits are significantly healthier... if you could actually say that my amount of online I do shopping is actually healthy.  I actually think through my purchases and do indeed wear what I buy.

My current favorite website are as follows:

Modcloth 

This site has the most fabulous clothes.  OMG I just drooled over everything I  saw on the homepage as I linked the website to this post.  Seriously, check it out!  They have a really great mix of styles and a wide range of prices, so it fits practically every budget!  I've order quite a few pieces from Modcloth and have never been disappointed.  People leave really helpful reviews and returns are always free (if it's within 30 days)!  How can you go wrong?!

 

This is the most beautiful skirt in the entire world, in my opinion.  You can find it here.  It's called "Sweep Me off My Pleats"- which is a fitting name because this skirt really sweeps me off my feet (pleats) every time I see it.  My college budget can't quite justify buying it seeing as I wouldn't have a ton of places to wear it to (elegant tea party anyone!?).  Buy one day, I will buy it.  And it will be a glorious day!

Forever21

You all probably know that drill.  Really great, fashionable pieces, at crazy prices.  They aren't necessarily the highest quality, but they are so worth the price!!  Call me lame, because I know there is a Forever21 in just about every decent mall.  But I can't resist popping over to the online store every once in a while to take a look at what they have.  I usually end up filling my shopping cart with loads of jewelry and headbands.  But with such low prices ($1.80 for of earings? HOLLA!), it's easy to justify such purchases.

I actually just bought this necklace last week (at a physical store).  LOVE it!  It's a simple gold bow.  That's it.  It's just enough to make a little statement.  I paired it with a high neck black and white sleeveless top, which I may feature in an upcoming post.  I might consider buying it in the silver as well because I liked it that much!

Nasty Gal

Now I'm sure some know of this website.  But for others, I have to put this disclaimer in.  This website is not a gross adult website.  It's a wonderful, tasteful clothing store.  Some prices are a bit steep, but then again I tend to be on the more frugal end of the spectrum.  Simply put, look at the clothes.  It's pure eye candy!

 

Stop the traffic.  This bag.  Oh my goodness.  This bag.  It is one of the best purchases I have ever made.  If it isn't already obvious, I love mint green.  Now that the color is in this season, I've been stocking up a bit on mint clothes.  The second I saw this bag I almost fell of my chair.  It's perfect!  My mom saw how much I liked it and bought it for me (have I mentioned how much I love my mom?)  This bag is fantastic.  It's on the small side, but it holds all I need for the day.  I've used it many times and I still think it is the bees knees.  I see now that it is 50% off ($34 from $68).  Holy cow.  I only wish it was $34 when I (my mother) initially purchased it.  But it's okay, it's so worth $68 for the amount of love I have for it.

I'm always on the lookout for great new online shopping websites, so let me know if you have any favorites!!  Happy shopping!! :)

Melissa

"I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist."
-Tammy Faye Bakker