{Fashion} Top 10 Summer Pieces in My Wardrobe

Sunday, June 28, 2015

HELLO GORGEOUS READERS-

I am very excited to bring you a post inspired by minimizing my closet, and only really wearing what I love. When I got home from school in may, I went on a cleaning rampage. I have gotten rid of 6 garbage bags full of clothes and 3 garbage bags of just stuff... it has all been donated to a local charity and it feels so good! I've been scouring Pinterest for ways of maximizing my wardrobe without breaking the bank, my closet space or hangers lol and I ended up pairing down my closet based around the idea of a Capsule Wardrobe. I don't really have a specific set of clothes for summer as it is because I wore a uniform during the summer in high school, and I have to wear jeans and basic tee shirts to work now. And I also haven't had the confidence to rock cute summer clothes, but that is for another day. Now, these pieces are just for the top half of my body. So this does not include jewelry, scarfs, jeans, skirts, pants, etc. Just tops.
You might notice that there is kind of a similar color scheme going on, and that is because I have based my wardrobe around my coloring, and discovered most of the pieces I gravitated towards most, were ones that are perfect for my coloring, in case you want to know, I am a Winter. So I look better in blues, blacks, grey, purple, and honestly a lot of my wardrobe is that with the occasional pop of color. So here we go:



Black sheer blouse, I got this thrifting so I don't know where it is originally came from but I wear it endlessly and it is so chic. I do have to wear a tank top because it is very sheer.


This has been one of my favorite pieces since I bought it. This was a $5 find at Target while I was at school and I wear this all the time. I've worn it for presentations for my fashion classes and for Client Presentations in Graphic Design.


This is another thrifted piece that I love dearly, the color looks great and the gold accents hit the spot.


Gotta have that pop of color, this goes great under my cardigans or I have a couple of blazers it looks great under as well


denim shirts + leggings = perfection


This i actually got in Boise, Idaho in 2013 from Ann Taylor Loft. I have another one in dark blue, that is currently put away in a box with my winter sweaters. But this white one I think is definitely all year round. with the short sleeves it works well into the spring and summer months. 


Got this at a store near my hometown that sells name brand clothing at discounted prices and i have to say that i wear this ALOT


I know that this looks odd hanging up but this cardigan, (sorry another thrifted piece) is SO flattering and I wear it with everything


Vintage tee from Old Navy, soft, comfortable and classic. plus this color and the one below look good on me. I have this style of tee in probably 5 other colors but these two and a grey one are the ones that I wear the most. 



All of these items are basic. Easily mixed and matched and that is something that I truly love about the whole idea of a capsule wardrobe. 

More on this capsule wardrobe experience soon.

XOXO, 

Kelsey 

{Beauty} My Favorite Summer Nail Polishes

Saturday, June 27, 2015

HELLO WONDERFUL PEOPLE- Today I have a peek into my nail polishes, with a few of my favorite colors that I return to weekly during the summer. Recently my nails have just been white, but today I painted them a blue-green color, "Go overboard" by Essie. Hope you enjoy this quick peek!



Apologies for the messy bottles, but they are well loved so that is alright<3

XOXO, 

Kelsey 

{LIfestyle: Book Review} Make it happen by Lara Casey

Friday, June 26, 2015

HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE- Happy Friday! I am sure you all are just as excited as I am to have the well deserved weekend here. Today I have something a little different for you but awesome all the same and that is actually a book review. It is not a fashion or art book, but a book on Christian Life for Women.  Now, if that turns you away, that is not a big deal, but at least read what I have to say about the book, because it DOES have helpful ways of taking control of your life and living the life you have dreamed of and really desire. {BTW, my nail polish, if you are wondering, is "Go Overboard" by Essie}

Let me tell you, this book has changed my life. If you are a Christian, you know your walk with Christ is SO SO SO important, and sometimes it is hard to feel connected to Him, and there are occasions you might feel like going "where are you"? By praying, reading, and working through this book with lots of my notes and prayers and personal comments, I feel closer to Him. I am one who really feels connected to God through really good books, and this was definitely one of those books. I am going to let my best friend, Kate, read the book and once she is done I am going to re-read it because it just has really changed my life. {And can you like pause for a moment with me on how GORGEOUS this cover is!? I'm in love}


Lara tells her story throughout the book, through trials and errors and lots of experience she is working to figure out what God wants her to do with her life, and getting to read her story is really quite inspiring to me. The last paragraph on the back cover says "Your time has come to take a leap of faith. Join me as we surrender our fears, end the chase for perfection, and say yes to cultivating the meaningful lives God desires for us." 

End the chase for perfection. That line ended up being part of the reason that I choose this book. I'm sure all of us, I know I do this, compares ourselves to others... a lot. So much more than we should, and it is sad that we do that. Because we shouldn't. Each of us live a little differently, and we end up jealous of other peoples "perfect" lives we see on Instagram and Facebook and all those social media sites. Social media is good for some purposes, but there is a darker side, that leads to insecurities, jealousy and unhappiness. I admit to trying to take the "perfect" photos for Instagram (I prefer Instagram over Facebook anyday), and it is so unhealthy for me. I need to be thankful for my own life  body, family, job, choice of career, physical state, etc. And if I don't like something, then I need to work on making what I want happen. And that is what this book helps me to do. There are sections to answer questions in the book, and at the end of each chapter there are "Take Action" boxes where she gives helpful, I would say "prompts" to get to on your way. 


This book is phenomenal. I've never done a book review before, so I hope I covered it okay. 

Was it a good book?

YES
Would you recommend it?

YES
What did you like about it?

I would say my favorite thing was Lara's story, and how real she is and so personable. She struggled too, so to see someone elses struggles turned into a success is amazing. 
What did you dislike?

I loved everything, there was not one page I didn't like. 

XOXO, 

Kelsey 

Create 365 Happy Planner Review

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE- So, I have been successfully doing a post everyday the past few days, and it feels wonderful. And today I bring you something that I am SUPER excited about. Pictures of my Happy Planner... YES- if you are not part of the planning community, it is something you should look into. Decorating your planner, totally customizing it to your complete liking is a popular trend. For me it started with Bible Journaling, I love writing in my journaling bible with different fonts and it is actually a big trend. I ended up, through Bible Journaling, coming across planner decorating on Pinterest and I was immediately obsessed. This is a whole community guys, it is absolutely wonderful! I did some pinterest-ing, and tumblr-ing, and found the Create 365 Happy Planner ( HERE ), and instantly wanted one. I chose the Gold Dots planner, but I ended up falling in love with the black and white stripes on the inside of the cover so I switched them around. So the Gold Dots is the actual cover in case you are wondering. I decided I will probably switch it back once it gets more fall-ish. But anyway, I showed it to my friend Emily, she became obsessed as well, once mine was ordered **THIS PLANNER WAS PURCHASED WITH MY OWN MONEY** and she saw mine she ordered one as well ;) I ordered the planner, notebook/grid paper, and two sets of stickers. Shipping from CA to PA was faster than was expected and I am SO happy with my planner. I have been obsessing with it and I have been collecting stickers and things to put inside of it, I found Disney Character stickers so I am pretty sure I am going to be doing a Disney Plan with Me. Maybe next week. So a few reasons why I chose this planner, hmm well I guess one of the reasons is that it is similar to, but not exactly like the Erin Condren planners, if you love the EC planners don't get me wrong, they are amazing, but as a college student the HP was more affordable, and I honestly liked what I could do with the HP v. the EC because you can do so much more with the HP. I know some take out the EC and put it in the KiKI K planner system but that seems like a lot of work to me, but nothing against that if you do like your planner that way. The HP has a disc bound system and personally I had never heard or seen something like that before but I loved the idea that you could take pages in and out and I took out all the months that I won't be using for awhile, I have July-December (fall semester for me) and the rest I put in a plastic sleeve so they won't be damaged. I did add a few things, I made a fall schedule with my classes, I made an additional monthly calendar to keep track of my daily workouts, I created inspirational cards, I added tabs in the back of the planner where I keep my notebook paper, with like my goals, career ideas, blog post ideas, DIY's, Recipes, passwords, Action steps for my goals, etc. I was told by my professor that this semester will be a hard one for me, and I am determined to take control of the situation by being super organized this fall and using my time wisely. That is why planning is a huge part of my life, so now without further wait, because that was a long intro, here are the pictures!!

So to begin this is the cover (which is actually the inside, Gold Dots are the true cover)


 It has a page for your name and addresses etc. and I covered that for security reasons of course.



So this is a schedule I created for the fall, it is my fall class schedule, and they are, yes, color coded and when I write exams and assignments down I highlight them in the matching color. 
 On the left is my fitness tracker, where I write what I do during the day to keep healthy. Normally I swim, walk the dog, do yoga, or strength training with the SworkIt App. and on the right is this week. Now this week is a funny story because the planner doesn't start till July, so I've had two weeks where I didn't have anywhere to plan, so I photocopied a page, covered the dates and used a block a day, limited space but it works :)
Closer view of my fitness tracker. I did work out today but I forgot to write it down, this morning I did yoga :) 


this is what I meant by photocopying and using a day per box. this is last weeks spread.


this is what a monthly view looks like, I didn't show my other months because I have personal info on them but this is what it looks like blank. 

this is a blank week from September, and I made the little card thing on the right, I made a few to coordinate with the months colors and will move them week to week. 

closer view, this is VERY similar to EC planner, these boxes are slightly bigger, and there is a quote on the bottom not more lines but I love this anyway. 

So this is what I meant about the tabs in the back, I created a bunch of sections so everything is in one place and I absolutely LOVE IT!

This is next weeks spread and I can't wait to get into it more! I made the cards on the right



other page of next weeks spread. I covered where I am going because that is where my boyfriend lives but I think it looks cute. Oh that tape with the diamonds is actually NOT washi tape, its patterned scotch tape, i've been using that since I don't have any washi tape right now. 

So what would a planner post be without pens!? The black one is my FAVORITE PEN EVER, my handwriting looks gorgeous I love the fine tip, and its wonderful, it is the UniBall Signo Micro 207. I've also been using the PaperMate Flair pens which do not bleed through btw, and I have a pack of 16 and I use this blue one for my fitness tracker. 

So I hope you have enjoyed this post!! 

XOXO, 

Kelsey 

DIY Tumblr Inspired Wall Hanging

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

HELLO LOVLIES- I am back here on the blog today, I am really trying to make a effort to do what I love. I feel like I've been distracted recently, with school, a new relationship, switching majors.. you know all of that piles up, up and up. And I want to get back into things that I am super passionate about but have put on the back burner, like writing stories, blogging, watching makeup videos on YouTube, and therefore in this spirit of being healthier, working out more (which is a great start to my day btw) I want to bring the back burner items to the front. So yesterday I was watching YouTube Videos because it is fun, and I've been into watching like "healthy living" type of videos and eventually came across this DIY from MamaMiaMakeup, link to video HERE (opens in new tab), I was totally in love. Now, normally I watch these videos and go "ah, that would be so cute but I don't have time for that" well, today I MADE TIME. And completed the Wall Hanging from the video. It was a blast, it looks UH-Mazing, and my boyfriend even said "that's cute babe" so 5 stars for this DIY! Here are a few images of this awesome DIY! (And do you like my new banner? I decided to make it a little more creative and fun, and I honestly love it, but let me know what you think!!)

 So I made two different hangings, originally I had just made one, but then I ended up making a second one for above my bed because I loved the look so muchh! I might make another bigger one for above my bed like the one by my mannequin but for now it will do!
So "tumblr" (lol)

This project is really simple and so gorgoeous, this would actually be a really cool backdrop for photos for a wedding or something along that line. Sorry, distracted Kelsey here lol. Anyway, I just took some thin twine, and first tied it to the stick at both sides with enough slack in between so it would sit where I wanted it on the command hooks. Then I tied it on the string so it was hanging vertically and hug it up so I could cut the length of the string to my liking. Then I cut and added more string to it across the branch. 

 So for the triangles I cut them out of scrapbook paper, and taped the string to the backside of one piece and then rolled the tape into a donut to add the second piece. I didn't know how many pairs of triangles I needed, so I had many extra, but I will save them and use them for something else. For a video instruction for any clarifications, check out the video link above to see how Mia did it.
And, the aftermath... string on the floor, paper everywhere, I should probably clean that up once I finish writing this post. I hope you have enjoyed this DIY and let me know if you do it! I know I would love to see it and I'm sure Mia would as well.


XOXO, 

Kelsey 

Work Out Inspo

Monday, June 22, 2015

Work Out Inspo





Hello beautiful people of the blogger-world; I mentioned in my last post about how I am trying to be healthier and lead a more active lifestyle and so today I bring you a work out gear post.

I am going to list and then talk about the items above:

1. A good sports bra: This is essential for women. Especially as a woman with a larger bust, and those of you with larger busts can agree that trying to concentrate on your work out but having your bust bouncing can make you feel uncomfortable, distracted, and unfocused. A sports bra that keeps my chest secure leaves me able to focus on what I am doing completely, not to mention they come in really cute colors and styles.
2. Yoga Capris/leggings: As someone who doesn't really like shorts, work out capris are a must have. My favorite ones are from Old Navy's Active line. They are comfortable and I always am complemented on them. 
3. Favorite Headphones: Headphones or earbuds are a must for working out. Create the perfect workout playlist using Spotify, Pandora, or buy a few songs and make your own playlist. I really like the new Fall Out Boy, and Imagine Dragons albums for working out. 
4. Perfect Kicks: My dad just recently bought my a new pair of sneakers from Adidas and I absolutely love them. Normally I go for black sneakers, but I fell in love with a pink pair and wow they are neon, but I love them anyway. Comfortable sneakers are good for supporting your knees, back and posture while working out.
5. Water is essential: Find a water bottle, doesn't have to be fancy, and drink, drink, drink. Water is essential, 75% of Americans are dehydrated, and that is not good. I've been drinking ALOT more water and keeping track with my FitBit app, and I feel better, and even feel less hungry throughout the day.
6. FitBit: Now this is not an essential, a classic pencil and paper will do with a pedometer, but if you have the opportunity to get a FitBit or something similar, they are absolutely incredible. Mine keeps me accountable and I find myself checking it often to make sure I achieve my step goal. With FitBit you can also log what you eat, your water intake, and it can wake you up in the morning with vibrations. Which at first I wasn't sure if that would wake me up, but it does! I have the FitBit Charge, and I absolutely love it.
7. Hair ties: Get your hair out of your face and out of mind! I braid my bangs back, or use a hair band to keep my hair in place while it is in a pony tail or bun. 

xOxO

Kelsey 

Well, hello

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Summertime






Well, hello all of you beautiful people. Long time I suppose. I hope everyone is doing well in this marvelous month of June. So much has been changing in my life; I'm going abroad again in 2016, I'm in a new relationship, I turned 20, I've minimized my wardrobe... hold up.. what? Yes, you read that correctly. I've gotten rid of 5 6 garbage bags filled with clothes (I donated them), and I only kept pieces that I love dearly. I'm obsessed with "Capsule Wardrobes" and "Packing Light" because I am going to be living abroad in 2016 and must past for 4 months in one suitcase, check out my Pinterest board HERE on "packing light" and capsule wardrobes. Also you can check out my other pins if you want ;)

I'm excited for what this summer is bringing. I am trying to be healthier, I have a FitBit (my mother bought it for me thinking that it will help me to be healthier) and it is AMAZING! I plan on doing a post about it (I actually have a list of posts that I want to do, I think currently i'm at like 80 or something ;) ).  I've been eating better, getting up before work to walk the dog, and my bike is fixed now so I can ride it in the morning and I am super excited. And today I re-arranged my room and it feels SO MUCH BIGGER, and has a good vibe to it. I will be able to lay out my yoga mat and do some stretches and a quick workout my boyfriend (he is a exercise science major) made for me.

I hope all of your summers are going well, you will be hearing from me soon!


XoXo

Kelsey 
 
template design by Studio Mommy (© copyright 2015)