Comfort Factor

The worst thing about being a neuroscience major are the tests. Seriously. I understand that they expect us to want to know the material, but I don't know when in my life I will ever have to be able to recite the twenty amino acids or the glycolysis cycle. However, I can't exactly rebel against my Professor and refuse to take the test, so I've spent my weeks studying and cramming my head with lots of biology terminology. By the time the test came around, there was no way I was going to take it in any sort of actual outfit. Luckily, no one on campus bats an eye at probably the fiftieth girl that they've seen in a sweatshirt and leggings. So I threw on my comfiest shirt (with just a hint of sass), my trusty leggings, and a cozy pair of socks and boots.

(shirt - Brandy Melville; leggings - Lululemon)

(lipstick - Revlon in Cinnamon Spice)

(socks - Urban Outfitters; boots - Jeffrey Campbell)

Test Shots

Life has been crazy lately; it seems like I make page long to-do lists every day, and although posting on here is always on them, it unfortunately always seems to fall by the wayside. In what seemed to be my biggest attempt at procrastination yet, I decided to pull out the over the top makeup and goof around with my camera. Here are some selects :)

(eyebrows - avon's glimmersticks in tawny; eyes - face stockholm's kräm-ögonskugga in siden, mac penultimate pen eyeliner in rapidblack, chinese brand of 'hi-tech waterproof mascara'; Cheeks - benefit's watt's up, face stockholm for j. crew blush stick in pinched; Lips - face stockholm for j. crew in chili flake)

(Chipped nail polish - essie's tarte deco)

Cindy Lou Who

When I'm at school, it seems as though I can wake up on a Sunday, and in the blink of an eye it will be Friday. Time seems to pass incredibly quickly, except for when I'm in Organic Chemistry. Consequently, I rarely find time to pull myself together, opting for leggings and a muscle tee over an actual outfit. But with the weather being so nice lately, I had to take advantage of it. Since I was running late to class (as it seems I always am....maybe I should stop taking so many naps), my top knot ended up making me look a little bit like a Dr. Seuss character, but I decided to just go with it, because hey, it kept my hair out of my face during class :) I promise I'll have more posts up soon!

(scarf - lf; shirt - brandy melville; shorts - american apparel; sandals - birkenstocks)

Product of the Week

When it comes to doing my nails, I can be quite lazy. I regularly make vows to myself to either stop biting my nails, get them done every week, or take off the polish once it starts to chip, but I never follow through with them. That's why when I do actually paint my nails, I have one product that I absolutely adore. Besides waiting for the polish to dry, my least favorite part of doing my nails would be attempting to remove all the polish with nail polish remover. I have an affliction to cotton balls, so I would try to use paper towel, and it would end up shedding everywhere. Enter e.l.f. nail polish remover pads. I randomly picked them up one day at Target, since they were only two dollars. When I used them, I was amazed by the product. They come in a set of 12, and I can use one pad to clean off all ten nails. Although they have a little bit of a weird smell, it's nothing compared to acetone. They also don't sting, which is a problem that I would run into a lot (I may or may not bite my cuticles...). I would highly recommend these, because there's really no better way to remove nail polish. The pads are mess free, and way more inexpensive than other nail polish removers. 

(e.l.f. professional Nail Polish Remover Pads)

Basic with a Twist

A while ago, FACE Stockholm sent me a couple products to review. I wrote about the nail polish here, and the other product they sent me is their latest Dream Cream Eyeshadow. Overall, I was very happy with the product! It glides on like a dream, and the color stays all day. I was sent the color Siden, which is an opalescent grey-pink. Since Siden is such a light shade, it did require some building up, but the end result is a beautiful neutral that can be paired with anything.

Side by Side

To this day, I'm still scared of black eyeliner. I only just became brave enough to try winged eyeliner a few months ago, and am still not sure as to whether or not I actually pull it off. It also seems that I am perpetually tired, which means that I am constantly rubbing my eyes. Although I've heard great things about Urban Decay's black 24/7 glide on eye pencils, I'm still too scared to try anything other then a pen liquid liner. Up until a week ago, MAC's rapidblack penultimate eye liner was the only black eyeliner I used, because I had received it one year for Christmas and it worked like a charm. However, when at Duane Reade with my friend Emma, she suggested I buy Jordana's FabuLiner Liquid Eyeliner. I followed her suggestion, and was pleasantly surprised with the product. Immediately, it reminded me of my rapidblack, so I decided to compare the two.

Life, Lately

I had an unexpectedly fantastic weekend this week, and it was the perfect end to yet another exhausting week at camp. Unfortunately, a lot of the photos taken at camp haven't been posted online yet, so I can't put them here. Along with it being CIT Appreciation day this week, the CIT show also happened. I made a guest appearance (surprising the campers, who thought I wasn't in the show) and was the host of Thursday Night Live. Although it meant pulling a couple 13 and 14 hour days at camp, it was definitely worth it to see the kids faces. I finished off the week with a cast party, and then a trip up to Westchester to see friends from school. I didn't realize just how much I missed everyone until I saw them, and it was amazing being able to catch up with everyone. It makes me really want to go back to school. Anyway, here are some photos from the week.

An adorable card one of my campers made me :)

I decided to share the love, and wrote letters to my campers!

Something I never expected to happen: Matt and Kim showed up at camp! It was amazing meeting them, as I saw them a couple months ago at Bonnaroo and performed with them years ago at the Bell House. Never thought this would happen!

Delicious meringue mushrooms from one of my campers!

An early birthday gift from Sephora :)

Swing

As much as I love my work, it can get exhausting at points. So exhausting, in fact, that the only logical thing to do was to spend my lunch break doing a little bit of shopping to relax. Basically, I shouldn't be let into an American Apparel when I have store credit and am delirious due to lack of sleep. As much as I love my friends, they are not very helpful when it comes to getting me to not purchase things :) I walked out with this skirt, after my friend told me that it was impossible to own too much denim (and since I didn't own a denim skirt, it was definitely time to invest). I'm very happy I did, because it's hard to find skirts that are appropriate work length. By pairing it with winged eyeliner, red lipstick and a flowered shirt, I felt a bit of a vintage vibe, but that might only be in my head :) Needless to say, I think it will become a staple in my wardrobe, and I'm very happy my friend convinced me to get it!

(shirt: urban outfitters;  necklace: brooklyn flea; skirt: american apparel; shoes: converse)

Comfort Zone

Today was one of those days where the thought of putting on anything requiring effort was out of the question. I somehow managed to hit my head and subsequently sleep for 22 hours on Friday, so I spent my weekend in a sleep induced haze. The only somewhat productive thing I did this weekend was getting a haircut, which I was in desperate need of after a few traumatizing at home and salon dye jobs. Although today's outfit may not have been the fantastic one that my still professionally styled hair deserved, it was just what a semi-rainy Monday called for. Everyone has a different outfit that they immediately reach for when they're feeling this way, and I can say for sure that my go-to outfit is a tank top and jeans. Whenever I'm unsure of what to wear, I know I can fall back on my pretty extensive collection of graphic tees and tanks for inspiration. I'm pretty sure that I'm singlehandedly keeping Brandy Melville in business, because, on days like this, their graphic shirts seem to be the only thing I want to wear. Luckily for me, they're pretty inexpensive :) Also, sorry for the horrible photo quality today - these were taken after a very, very long day at work!

(tank: Brandy Melville; shorts: American Apparel; shoes: Toms)

FACE Stockholm for J. Crew

Before about a month ago, I never wore lipstick. A self-proclaimed chapstick addict, I felt that that was enough. I was always nervous about smudging my lipstick, having it on my teeth, having it bleed, etc. However, this all changed when I decided to randomly pick up a lipstick while standing in line at J. Crew. It was on sale, and I thought why not? The color looked pretty, and I did need to start stepping out of my comfort zone. As soon as I put it on, I was so happy I had decided to buy it. The color was "French Martini" and it's sheer, semi-shiny pink color perfectly complimented my skin tone. Of course, I was so excited by this that I immediately had to go back and pick up several more- at $4.49, they were a steal (and I was paranoid that since they were limited edition, I'd never be able to find a color like this again). I also decided to pick up the other two colors in the line, "Peony Pink" and "Chili Flake", to see how they compared to "French Martini". I am so glad I did, because these three lipsticks have definitely made me into a lipstick person.

left to right - Peony Pink, Chili Flake, French Martini

Life, Lately

It seems as though lately the New York weather has only had two settings: either miserably hot, or humid thunderstorms. The latter being very unkind to my hair! After spending the week working in, according to the news, what felt like 110˚ weather, it felt like such a luxury to spend my Saturday curled up in bed with a couple good books, my cat, and an air conditioner. Here are a few photos of this past week.

The nicest part about air conditioning: being able to enjoy a hot cup of tea!

Imagining Ariel

Hello!

So I've now realized starting a blog in the middle of Wacky Week at Camp was an awful idea. I swear I do have a (halfway) decent fashion sense, it's just that I've had to put on costumes this entire week ;) However, I digress! Wednesday was "Halloween" day at camp (I spared you the photos of me dressed as a giraffe on Tuesday), and although I had several costumes I thought about wearing, I got pulled into being a Disney Princess at the last minute. Fun fact: if you ever have something that has multiple Disney Princesses on it, they will never be making eye contact with each other. But, again, I digress! This being my fifth year working, any enthusiasm I had either as a camper or a new CIT for making elaborate costumes has completely diminished. So instead, I tried to imagine Ariel as almost a real person - where would she shop? What would she wear? This was the final result. I thought it turned out well (I got a fair amount of compliments, surprisingly), but I apologize profusely for the terrible quality of this photo - it's what happens when you only have 30 seconds until you have to teach! And the outfit wasn't that unflattering in person, either ;)

(Shirt: Wildfox Couture; Skirt: American Apparel; Flower: Kate Spade; Lipstick: FACE Stockholm for J. Crew in Peony Pink)

A Welcome Surprise

Hello!

I would say that family is pretty unique. Even though my parents have been divorced since I was seven, they have managed to remain fairly friendly with each other. Friendly enough that we even go on family vacations together! This year, things got pretty crazy. My mom decided to rent her house out for two years in order to take a sabbatical in South East Asia, and is spending this summer preparing for her trip and living in Upstate New York. Seeing as I'm away at college most of the time, it bummed me out that I wasn't going to be spending the summer with my mom. Luckily, due to the spaciness and planning issues that run in my family, there have been a couple welcome surprises (not pictured: my brother making a two day return before he heads off for the rest of the summer), including my mom coming home to send my brother off. After a long day of work, nothing beat the feeling of opening the door to see my mom sitting at the kitchen table. Although she did manage to drink the last coke in the fridge, she quickly made it up to me by a trip to the nail salon and some intense rounds of cards. Sometimes there's really nothing better than family.

(Nails: Essie's Lilacism, rings: [from left to right] family heirloom, Bonnaroo, Underground Designs, Bonnaroo, Disney, Tiffany's)