*Apologies for this post going up a day late, wanted to wait to get the photos from the salon for this post*
If you know me, you know that I have spent most of my younger years as a blondie.
My natural hair color is what most people would describe as “mousy”, so I have always found the lighter my hair, the more flattering it is on me! Before leaving to study abroad last January, I tried to do something different with my blonde locks. It didn’t exactly turn out as planned, so THE DAY BEFORE I left to go abroad I decided to dye my hair one color.. basically black. Talk about taking a major right turn. I went from blonde to black in the matter of a day! Instead of taking the time (which I didn’t have) to fix the blonde, I decided to take a somewhat easier way out, and go dark (which didn’t end up being so easy… sigh).
While the dark hair was convenient for the time I had it, I was still getting it done every few months to get rid of the lighter pieces coming through. Not to mention, it was simply too harsh for me and my skin tone.
Now, I am once more in the process of going light again, and I can’t wait! I had my second appointment with my amazing stylist yesterday, Amber, at Bobby Mack & Co and am en route to going back to blonde. If you’re anything like me, you like instant gratification. When I went to my first appointment I expected to go from black hair all the way back to blonde in a single appointment. Boy, was I wrong. Turns out, if you want to have any hair left on your head.. you have to make that transition the healthy way.
So, my first appointment was simply starting the process, and getting rid of some of the harshness of the black. I waited 6 weeks until my second appointment, and left with some amazing lightness in my hair! I couldn’t possibly trust Amber more, and I cannot wait to get to the final product. If you are at all interested in balayage and hair painting, Bobby Mack & Co will blow your socks off (take one look at their Instagram and you will understand why). ↓
Now time for a little before and after from yesterdays appointment!
BEFORE
Appointment 1- Starting the process of going light
AFTER
YES. PURE MAGIC. I KNOW.
I also got a cute little trim with some angles which I desperately needed in my life. Can’t wait until my next appointment right before GRADUATION.
Thanks for reading friends, HAPPY SNOW DAY EAST COASTERS.
PSA: If you didn’t understand the reference in the title… i’m disappointed in you.
Oh hey there! Happy Tuesday peeps! Coming at ya live, with a new fashion post featuring only affordable clothing! Side note- I have found that most of the time, the exact pieces I am wearing are no longer available.. so in that case I do some research to find similar styles! Not to mention, most of the time they are on sale for KILLER deals, which pains me considering I most likely paid full price.
Anywayyyyy….
Before I move on I want to quickly make an announcement about my new blogging schedule. In the past, I would only post when I had time, which lead to inconsistency and lack of posts. NO MORE OF THAT NONSENSE AM I RIGHT. So, as of now every Tuesday I will have a new blog post out! The topics will vary from fashion, beauty, health, fitness, you name it. I am really looking forward to all of these fun posts to come, and I hope you are too! Also, suggestions would be more than appreciated!
On to the post!
When planning this shoot, my friend Nicole and I wanted vibrant and fun scenery. We wanted neon signs, fun backdrops, the whole nine, and we got just that! All of these photos were taken in Wildwood New Jersey, which if you have ever been there, i’m sure this will make a lot of sense.
I remember running to the mall the day before this shoot thinking, I want something trendy yet affordable to make for some really cool photos. More times than not, you really do not have to break the bank at Urban to get the trendy look you’re going for. I’m living proof!
Months ago while scrolling aimlessly through Instagram, I saw a blogger wearing a large puffy star jacket, just like this one. From that moment on.. I WAS A GIRL ON A MISSION.
I did some research and continued to find diddly squat. Bummer right? Wrong.
I will never forget the moment I spotted this beautiful lady hanging ever so perfectly on a rack in the middle of Bloomingdales. My vision had come to life, and I was ELATED.
With a jacket like this one, you can really do anything. I know, that sounds crazy… I mean, look at it. However, a statement piece is a girls best friend because it completes the look for you, requiring minimum effort. How nice is that!?
Do you ever come across a piece of clothing that you know is SO questionable, but you also kinda need it? That was this shirt. A while back I stumbled upon this Sacajawea inspired silk top and grabbed it for about 8 dollars at a thrift store on South Street here in Philadelphia. While it sat in my closet collecting dust for quite some time, I knew that one day I was going to wear it and love it. So- that is what I did!
Ah, New York, New York. Although you leave me exhausted, helpless, and a little dirty, I can’t help but to love ya. Just a few weekends ago, I visited New York with a full agenda. This included a visit to by CHLOE, an Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper live show (which was incredible), a visit to Cha Cha Matcha, and much more. Of course, I brought my camera along for the journey!
I have to admit, Cha Cha Matcha has been ALL over my Instagram feed and it was on the top of my priority list during this trip to New York. Funny enough- I hate green tea. Moment of silence for the money I willingly wasted at this establishment simply because it looked beautiful. If you say you have never purchased something simply for the Instagram, YOU. ARE. LYING. TO. YOURSELF.
Now that the weather is breaking a bit, I need to get my butt back to New York. What should I put on my to do list?
That’s all I got for today! I really cannot express how excited I am to get back to blogging. Unfortunately, the last couple months of school have completely drained every ounce of inspiration I had in me, BUT.. its a new semester and there are only good things ahead.
So many posts to come, I can hardly wait 🙂 Have an amazing day!
One of our favorite things to do while traveling through Europe, was to simply explore. When arriving in a new place, we would unpack our bags and immediately take the town. We weren’t necessarily sure where we were going half the time, but we always managed to get to the darnedest places…which also translates to a vintage art, clothing, and handbag market. Isn’t that convenient!?
Part of our trip was to the South of France. It was hands down one of my absolute favorite places I have ever been. Our first stop was to Nice, and turns out you can hop on a train to Monaco and Cannes and be there within 20 minutes which we took full advantage of for two days.
When arriving in Cannes, we started making our way to the city center where we quickly discovered the JACKPOT.
Strangely enough, the four of us ended up in the center of it all at a table full of vintage Louis Vuittons, Hermes scarves, and Chanel jewels (I remained totally calm during this entire endeavor). NOT. We made friends with two older French women who were selling these goodies and had THE TIME of our lives.
What did I find?
While looking through the glass case of Hermes vintage scarves, I was so overwhelmed by their beauty. What does she look like you ask?
I don’t know about you, but when I purchase or receive something this special I put it on display in my room just to stare at. I love anything vintage and this piece will definitely be in my life for a veryyyyy long time.
Thanks for reading:) What is your favorite vintage item you own?
Remember that time I said my new belt would be making an appearance more than once? I kept my word!
During my last week in London, I did some vintage shopping with the QUEEN of vintage. Christiana if you are reading this, I love you forever.
We stumbled upon this incredible vintage store that only left me teary eyed knowing I had found it JUST DAYS before I was leaving to come home. I mean, why did that happen!?
For being a vintage store placed in the middle of Central London the prices were amazing and the options were endless. I left with this cropped Rolling Stones t-shirt, that was a whopping £14. It is safe to say I grabbed it and ran.
Naturally I wanted to center an entire look around this find. So, I paired it with high waisted black jeans and my Gucci belt for some added detail. Not to mention, these backgrounds couldn’t be more perfect. (Nicole, you are a gem).
I would also like to mention that these photos were taken after consuming an entire bottle of prosecco with said Nicole.
I know it has been quite some time, but life has been a little weird lately.. and when I say weird I really mean I spend most days daydreaming about going back to London. Oh well, *one day*.
While back in good ole Philadelphia, I have had one of my favorite shoots to date with who other, than Nicole.
I quickly gathered all of my new goodies from my time abroad and threw together some makeshift looks, all centered around my new Gucci baby.
During my last and final week in London I took the plunge and am now a proud owner of a gorgeous Gucci belt. She is simple, slender and sleek.
You can probably tell from my smile in those photos that I was basically lusting over life.
Bershka Girlfriend Jeans (Purchased in London, don’t know if they are still available)
Bershka White Platform Sandals (Also purchased in London, but they are everywhere now!)
Gucci Leather Black Belt (with the smallest buckle size)
So that is my debut of my new belt that I can promise you will be seeing very often.
Now that I am home and in the midst of summer, I am starting to write again. One of my next posts is going to be a more personal one on my time in London (UPDATE: NEW POST IS UP). It took me a while to sit down and write it, but I did and i’m looking forward to sharing it. Stay tuned folks!
Ive been home from studying abroad for 2 months now. How? Beats me. How do you say goodbye to a place that impacted you in countless ways? There are simply not enough hours in a day to explain the love that I have for London. In 5 months I traveled around Europe and did more things than I knew I was capable of. I conquered more anxiety driven fears and more bucket list dreams than I knew was possible in such a short amount of time.
I’ve been wanting to sit down and write about my experience in London ever since I got home, but I’ve struggled. Truthfully, it’s because I’ve been wishing I was still there. Thinking about it too much stings a little bit more than I thought it would. Not being able to wake up on a Saturday morning and hop on the tube to Portobello Market or Carnaby Street makes my heart hurt. I wouldn’t and couldn’t explain my adventure over the last 5 months even if I wanted to. When asked “how was London?” I literally draw a blank. The first word that comes to my mind is “amazing” but that is simply not enough. How do you explain a culture, the people and the life you’ve been a part of and adapted to? You can’t.
I didn’t know a once completely foreign place had the power to change me so much. I knew this experience was going to be “life changing” as they say, but I definitely didn’t grasp the magnitude of that phrase. It was most definitely, life changing. Aside from my education and internship, simply being so free felt, well so free. I was introduced to a place I had never been to, with free reign taking me anywhere. London was my playground and I truly did feel like a kid. I think we often psych ourselves out into thinking we can’t do the unimaginable. But sometimes it’s the littlest strides that take you the furthest places.
My mind would often wander as I was waiting for the tube, or walking a crowded street about how I got so lucky. How did I get here? I experienced so many moments of pure bliss. In these moments, I would turn to my friends and say “soon were going to be home and wishing so badly we were back here, in this moment. So lets enjoy every single second of it.” And its true. I wish I was back there. In those moments (I was the sappy friend, ask anyone).
Very few times I wished to be back home in Bucks County, PA. Homesick I wasn’t. Actually, I would say that was one of the last emotions I felt during the course of my trip. I knew that everything I may have been longing for was going to be waiting for me when I got home. My room, my car, friends/family, Target (lol), it would all be there. Waiting for me.
In the past I would constantly have to remind myself to live in the now. Which is pretty shitty when you think about it. Sometimes it would be my anxious mind taking me somewhere else, and other times it was the block of metal I was holding in my hand distracting me from life’s blessings that were right in front of me. I’ve been so cautious of that recently, and wow is life sweet. I’ve been thankful enough to have experienced so many moments over the last few months that I knew were only going to happen that once, in that particular way. It was a strange, sweet and amazing mix of emotions that was pretty difficult to take in all at once. But I knew, I was never going to be in that exact moment again.
London was the sweetest adventure I’ve been on in my life. I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be. I needed to be there at that time in my life. I needed to experience everything I did and meet the people I met along the way. I wish these people knew how much they impacted me.
What blows me away the most is how picture perfect this world is. Physically that is, don’t be mistaken. The planet we live on is so breathtakingly beautiful it’s hard to recognize that its real. It wasn’t until I had moments like one in Greece where we were driving to the red clay beach on the edge of a cliff with the ocean to our left that I realized just how small we are. We are minuscule and the world around us is massive and beautiful. We are so lucky.
I saw so many places I have dreamt of my entire life, and other places I didn’t know I needed to go to, but I left a piece of my heart there, knowing I would one day be back.
Within the first month of us being in London, we started planning out our big adventure. Now when I say big adventure, I mean that very, very literally. A month-long trip around Europe, country and city hopping with a suitcase (ok maybe make that 2), with hostiles and Airbnb’s booked, we were ready to take on those 9 or so flights just knowing we wouldn’t be back in our beloved London until a month later. You can bet your bottom dollar we conquered that month like it was our job. Our itinerary included—Amsterdam, Nice, Monaco, Cannes, Barcelona, Milan, Florence/Tuscany, Cinque Terre, Rome, Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini. The amount of research that we had to do in order to make this trip successful took WEEKS. In our next life, we would most definitely be coming back as travel agents. We were just 4 girls figuring out one metro system after another. In a plethora of languages, that is.
I’ve been waking up day after day with a weird feeling. I guess indifferent towards where I am.. location wise. Sad wouldn’t be the right word, because I am not necessarily sad to be here, just longing for more. For a month straight I woke up every day not knowing what adventure I was going to go on next, or what I was going to see that day. I loved that feeling. Sometimes the day ended with seeing an 800 year old monument that left you in awe, or it ended with us at the local snack food store buying anything and everything that resembled American food. I loved waking up everyday not knowing what was going to take my breath away, but having the feeling that something most definitely was going to.
So I guess what I am trying to say is… to travel is to live. Yes it is cliché, and yes it is a quote via Google, however it is beyond true. I have truly never felt more alive than within these past 5 months.
I have never felt more determined to see the world than I am right now. I stepped out of my comfort zone a long time ago, and I never plan on going back.
If I am being honest, I have read this over what feels like a thousand times. I am really not sure if I got all of my thoughts down on paper, but I sure did try. But, it makes sense considering this experience left me speechless, this trip left me speechless, and London left me speechless.
I will be back for you Europe, that I can promise.
s e e i t w i t h s a m i 