Favorite Blog: Steffy's Pros and Cons

Meet Steffy, the stylish social media strategist living and loving in New York with her husband, Matt, and her weenie dog, Claude.  

How cute is her sweet dog?

She has such a lovely style; a happy blend of retro and bohemian aspects, giving off a delicate vintage fairy presence, which is sort of a goal for my own style. 

She is fearless in the face of change, having made the move to New York from Miami this past year, as well as spontaneous.  Recently she's dyed her hair a deep red and pierced her nose. I admire these qualities and aspire to embody them a little more myself. A little spontaneity can't hurt, especially if you're a cautious teenager like myself. 

She is very active on social media, posting on instagram and tweeting almost every day, but my favorite thing is that she shares her snapchat with her readers, and makes sure to update her adorable story.

For more Steffy in your life, be sure to follow her blog!

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A sandal made out of yoga mats? What?

Last summer I was in my horrid transitional phase between dirty hippie to 90's mainstream style (a grotesque time that I never want to relive), and my go-to footwear choice was a pair of Teva sandals. It's not like they were the cute ladies sandals that Teva has, no, they were chunky men's blue and black Teva's.

Consequently I have been on the hunt for a new pair of staple summer sandals, and I believe I have found them. 

One of my best friends recommended these Yoga Sling sandals from Sanuk, so I did some research on them and decided to purchase them for myself! 

The footbed is made completely from recycled yoga mats and is very tough and durable. The top strappy part is an extremely comfortable, stretchy material  that will never irritate or rub the foot the wrong way. In addition to being eco-friendly, they are totally vegan!

I wanted to check out the shoes in person before I ordered them online, so I made a trip to the closest DSW to try them on and see how they looked. I was skeptical that they could be cute and comfortable, but these sandals truly are. Their squishy yoga sole feels almost like memory foam and their stretchy straps look cute and classy. I ended up buying them there that day!

I'm can't wait to start wearing these all the time, yet another reason why I'm extremely excited for summer!

I know that these sandals will last me a few summers, despite my notorious shoe-destroying past. I'm more than in love with these sandals. 

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You can also find me on tumblr and pinterest!

Sunny Sunday Wicker Park Adventure

iphone photo as shot by me oh yeah

Another of my iphone masterpieces featuring my thumb 

All of these photos (except the two lame cell phone ones) were taken by the astounding and ethereal Sophia Powers, and I would like to give a huge thank you to her for letting me use them. For more of her work, check out her flickr and her photography blog!

Knowing that the upcoming two months are going to be two of the worst we may ever weather, my friend and I decided to go on a little excursion to somewhere new, and we decided on the Wicker Park neighborhood. 

We took the blue line to Damen and we had arrived. Immediately falling in love with the neighborhood, we were on a quest for coffee and we didn't have to go far. We had hardly stepped off of the train platform when we laid eyes on Stan's Donuts and Coffee. We hustled in and I got myself a soy chai latte and a vegan donut, which were both so delicious that I think I'll probably dream about them tonight. 

We then wandered around, popping into vintage and thrift stores and each finding a couple of things. After a few hours we got a little overheated in a shop and went to a restaurant next door, which happened to be Umami Burger. We just sat and drank some water and ended up splitting a plate of french fries with ketchup that they make there, which was very tasty. The waiters there were all very kind to us, which we appreciated quite a lot.

We wandered around for a little longer, soaking it all in, before heading home when we felt a few rain drops. 

It was one of those fast-paced and yet relaxing days, and I cannot wait until we can go back. 

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Easter Pastels

Top: Aeropostale 

Skirt: Thrifted

Shoes: Juju footwear

Glasses: Claire's

I think it's probably against the law to not wear any florals or pastels on Easter, or maybe that's just for me. 

I love wearing sweaters with shorts or skirts in the early spring because it's the perfect ratio of cute and practical, and I especially love those fuzzy and brightly colored sweaters that remind me of the 90's. I bought this purple one from Aeropostale during one of those after Christmas sales, and I'm pretty certain it's from their Bethany Mota collection. I paired it with this floral skirt because I think they compliment each other, and I am very much one who loves to wear a lot of color. I added my jelly sandals, which I also purchased on sale, and my pink heart shaped sunglasses and called it a very colorful day. 

Happy Easter!

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March Favorites 2015; old and new loves

This past month I got quite a lot of makeup items from NYX and reviewed them in my last post, but I wanted to talk about some other things I have rediscovered or purchased and enjoyed. 

First up is this EcoTools concealer brush which was included in their brush starter set I bought quite early on in March. EcoTools is a wonderful eco-conscious and vegan company with affordable products, and therefore my favorite purchase for makeup brushes. I bought the kit for the blush brush that I use for powder, but I have appreciated each of the other brushes which it came with, especially this concealer one! In the past I have applied my concealer with my finger or the little wand if it was from a tube, and then used a brush to bled it in, but lately I've been using this brush to apply the concealer to my face while blending it in simultaneously, and then using my finger to finish blending and pat it in. I think I prefer the latter method because it seems a little cleaner than sticking my finger over and over again into my concealer. I love this brush because it's just the right size and density for this exact purpose!

Next up is something I rediscovered this month that I had bought over the summer, this Wet n' Wild Take on the Day eye shadow primer by Fergie in the color "A Little Party." Wet n' Wild is an extremely affordable cruelty free company you can find in any drugstore, and I believe it has some gems. I wasn't in love with this product when I first bought it because I just wanted to use it as a primer to stop other eye shadows from creasing or wiping away, and it's really not great for that purpose. It's an extremely pigmented champagne colored shimmer which showed through any eye shadow I tried to put on top of it, and too much of it felt strange on my eye lid. Additionally, it's not the nicest smelling. 

On a whim, I recently tried it out again, wore it alone on my eyelid, and absolutely loved it. It stays on until I want to take it off, albeit it's a little tricky to get off. I love the color and the shimmer to it, especially because I love having a shimmer to my face. Although it's not really what I expected it to be, I enjoy what it really is. 

Adding to the passengers on the shimmer train, I've rediscovered this E.l.f. Healthy Glow Shimmer Powder E.L.F. is another inexpensive and cruetly free brand at most drugstores, which does have some vegan products as well as some hidden gem products. I picked this powder up last spring when I went through a short phase of wanting to be a fairy (a phase which I never really expect to end), which was followed by my face of wanting to be an earthy hippie and I quit wearing makeup. Thus, this glorious shimmer powder got lost in the shuffle. Luckily I have found it again and have continued using it. 

I love the subtle yet pigmented shimmer it has, perfect for every day wear for me. I dust it down my nose, in my cupid's bow, up my cheekbones, and down my chin. It gives a neat yet messy finish, if that makes any sense at all, which makes me love it even more. 

Finally are these NYX Butter Lip Balms that I wrote about in my last post, but I used these almost every day. I have one brighter pink, Ladyfingers, and on subtler pink, Panna Cotta, and I have gotten so much use from them both. They are beautiful shades that brighten my entire face, as well as hydrate my lips. I seriously love these guys. 

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