Today I have a fun, makeup related post for you. Since I am living abroad, my makeup choices are a lot more limited, since I only brought a few things with me. So I wanted to show you what is in my makeup bag. This traveled with me to Amsterdam and Paris, and also around Ireland as well. 

The essentials. My Urban Decay Naked Palette that I was given for Christmas from Jordan's family. And my makeup bag, it is from Clinique and had some goodies inside, it was from my Aunt for my birthday.                                                                    

                                                                                    

 First we have my eyeshadow palette. I pretty much wear the same eyeshadows everyday. Naked, on my eyelid, and Virgin, on my brow bone.

 

The other eyeshadow I brought with me, that I got in Paris in 2014. MAC's, All That Glitters.

The makeup brushes that I brought with me. The three with the wooden handle were in a set from my sister for this past christmas. I think they are from amazon. The purple handle brush is from Real Techniques. And the black handled brush, I'm not sure where it is from, I got it for my birthday when I was in 9th grade.

The Eyeliners that I have with me. Two from Physicians Formula, the grey one came with the Clinique bag, the Maybelline one I LOVE and need to review on here and buy a new one of. Then there is one from Rimmel London, and then one from Essence, which I think is an Irish brand. 

Three lipsticks. Two from Rimmel London, they are the 16 HR Proactive ones and they really do stay for a long time. I need to do a review. 

The Lipstick is Rimmel London, 128- StarryEyed

Starry Eyed

Red

Nude 

Two mascaras. The Clinique one came with the makeup bag. 

Two blushes. I actually had the one on the left included in a post a while back. The other one is from the Clinique bag. They both look similar but have a very slight color difference. 

Two Favorites. Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Treatment Creme, and the Maybelline BB 5 in 1 Beauty Balm.

Eyelash curler from Dollar Tree.

Perfume roller ball from a store here in Ireland, called New Look. 

Tweezers from a pharmacy here in Ireland. 

What is a makeup bag without a few of these?! 

Hope you enjoyed, 

XOXO

Kelsey

{Fashion} 1 tee 3 ways

1 tee 3 ways by hellosimpleme1 featuring a blazer jacket

Something I have learned since traveling a lot and living abroad is the power of the white tee. It has become an absolute staple in my wardrobe and I can't believe I had only decided on getting a couple of white shirts in the fall. A white tees can be worn so many ways that it is almost ridiculous. It can go with anything.

So here we go, the first look, on the far left, I think is my favorite and I feel like it almost has an Audrey Hepburn vibe to it. A white tee tucked into the black skirt is timeless, plus tucking it would help to give an hourglass shape. The shoes are adorable, but classic being black. Cat eye sunglasses give quite a statement, and the white purse completes the look.

Middle look: This is exactly the sort of outfit that I will be wearing when I am a working professional. The White tee goes perfect with the pants, and the nude pants, shoe and purse really makes the teal blazer really pop. It would even look really cute with jeans.

Far right: Pretty much my go to look. Except I tote around a longchamp bag and not a Louis Vuitton one, but patterned scarves create so many outfits with white tee shirts, and a pair of comfy sneakers completes the look. I would wear those everyday if I had a pair. I really would like to get grey sneakers, I think they are so chic.

Hope you enjoy these ideas and use them to create some of your own!

XOXO,
Kelsey

{Lifestyle} Being In The Moment

On Tuesday, March 20, 2012 in my junior year of high school, I began a journey into the blogging world. I can't believe that I've been writing HelloSimpleMe for 4 years now. I know I've been off and on with it, but I work full time during the summer, and during the school year, I want to blog but activities and homework end up consuming me. 

Today, I'm going to be talking about getting off the computer, phone, ipad, and really being in the moment. Once I am done writing this post, I am taking myself to dinner. I watched a video today about how we as the younger generations are literally glued to our phones and the little screens all of the time you can't go to dinner without having somebody on their phone. Part of it isn't our fault, our society has become engrossed with the computer, with those tiny screens. It also mentioned our relationships. That instead of building friendships face to face we are counting how many "friends" we have on Facebook. How many of those people actually care? That is the real question. So, here are a few ways that I like to unwind from my screens, and just be. 

1) Reading - What better way to relax than to read? To open a book and be transported to another place, another city, country, world, universe. To be someone else for a few hours, to fall in love with the characters and feel their emotions. That is what is so incredible about reading, the way the writers use words to take us away and out of ourselves, placing us in someone else for awhile. 

2) Journaling - I love to journal. I have countless journals from probably 6th grade all the way to now. And it's incredible and sometimes painful, reading back through them. But someday when I'm older, and forgetful, having them will be worthwhile. 

3) Setting goals - One of the things that I love most is setting goals. To daydream about all the things that I want to do and accomplish in this life and write them on paper. Then break each dream down into action steps, then break it down more and more, until there is something I can do everyday towards reaching those goals. 

4) Planning - Or scrapboooking, whatever you prefer. I don't scrapbook much although it is something that I would like to get into someday when I have more time someday. I plan in my Filofax. I plan to keep my sanity with school, but I also enjoy decorating my planner, and I actually use a lot of scrapbooking supplies to decorate my planner. It is calming for me, and I like being creative with decorating and trying new things. It's a lot of fun for me.

5) Coloring - I am a HUGE coloring freak. I have way to many coloring books and I enjoy all of them. I find my coloring to be so relaxing. 

So there you go, a few things that I do when I unplug from all the screens and just want to be. 


XOXO, 

Kelsey

{Lifestyle} Planner Addict

I'm a planner addict. I will announce it loud, proud and to pretty much anyone who will listen to me. I think planning your days out keeps you 1) on track each day 2) focused - what do I specifically need to do today? and 3) organized - what days do I work again? For me, it is essential. Especially as a college student, I have roles in so many groups and have so many projects due (especially as an art major), that without my planner I would be lost, and constantly hidden under a load of reminder sticky notes. I'll tell you a little bit about my planner journey. I have used a planner for as long as I remember, but it wasn't until last summer, when I came across the Me and My Big Ideas, The Happy Planner, that I really got into the planner decorating community. I bought my Happy Planner last summer, I did a blog post about it actually, and I really enjoy decorating and playing with that planner. In August 2015, I bought my first Kikki-K planner, and fell in love with the 6 ring system. It is easy to take things in and out, and I love the possibilities of customization that comes with it! I actually ended up putting my Happy Planner inside of my Kikki-K! (Which is ironic, because in my HP post I talk about how I wouldn't put the HP in the Kikki-K because of how time consuming it was... and I ended up doing just that AND- it didn't take as long as I thought it was going to. So way to go Kelsey) I loved the HP inside of the Kikki-K, and I enjoyed that system. (Side note: I did not actually put the WHOLE happy planner in my Kikki-k, the wonderful thing about the arc bound system is that you can take pages in and out with ease. I only had the months of fall 2015 in the planner, and my 2016 pages are still in the arc bound system.) And then, to even further fuel my obsession, my amazing boyfriend, bought me a Filofax for Christmas. And I have been religiously using her, its a Filofax A5 Saffiano Leather Planner in Raspberry. And she is gorgeous * insert heart eyes emoji here lol* and that is the planner that I will be showing you today.

  That is my boyfriend and I, at the first football game of the season in the fall. He's the one who bought me the planner :)

 This is this past week. It's kind of funny, because I've always been a horizontal planner, until I got my HP, even then I was still into my horizontal inserts, at least for school. But the filofax comes with Vertical inserts, and I ended up using them, and making do. And I actually really, really, love planning vertically. I have hoizontal inserts as well I was trying to use, but I found myself coming back to the vertical ones! I can't wait until I am home from Ireland and can start using my HP again (I didn't bring it along to Ireland).

 OH! So that brown piece of paper with the dates and the stuff crossed out, is actually my daily spending. Not the amount, but just to mark if I did spend money or not that day. Being abroad is very expensive, and so I am trying to do my best and keep a budget.

 So this section is simple, it is just wishlists. Wishlists about planner goodies, clothing,  apartment decorating, Christmas (etc)

 This is probably my favorite section of my planner. My #girlboss section, in this section I keep everything for my future empire lol, blog post ideas, YouTube video ideas, ideas for stickers for my Etsy shop, a tracker for my instagram, everything like that :)

 This is just really a notes section, filled with notes on various things, such as minimalism, and packing for trips and capsule wardrobes.

 I started this in January of doing daily journaling pages in my filofax, and this is that section.

 Mini zipper pouch that has ticket stubbs from various things that I've done while here in Ireland.

 Financial section, so daily spending, monthly goals, debt tracker.

 Pouch that currently only holds a drawing by my boyfriend

 Filler note paper in the back.

So that is my planner! I hope you enjoyed seeing inside, and keep a look out for more planner related posts!

XOXO, 

Kelsey

{Travel} Life Update

So, it has been a while since I have posted anything and I wanted to give a update about what I am doing. I'm currently still in Ireland, until the beginning of May. It is insane how fast the time here in Ireland has flown by. I'm going to make a list of a few things that I've done since my last post:

• I turned 21. Not so much of a big deal here, as it is in the states because 18 is legal here, but none the less, when I get back I can enjoy a cold one with my Dad. 
• I got my 2nd tattoo. It is a beautiful mandala that I had done in Dublin right after my birthday. It sits on the top of my shoulder and I love it SO MUCH. 
• I went to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam was amazing, and so beautiful. We went to the Anne Frank House, the Royal Palace, did a Canal Tour, and so much other stuff, I can't believe we fit it all into 3 days. 
• I went to Paris, France for Spring Break. For Spring Break a couple weeks ago, March 20-25, we went to Paris as a group. It was incredible to be back, and it was just as amazing as I remember. I love the atmosphere of the city and the hustle of it. This time I did things I didn't get to do last time, like a boat tour, tour of Notre Dame and the Catacombs, I went to the TOP of the Eiffel Tower (I'm terrified of heights, but I did well!), climbed the stairs to the top of the Arc De Triumph, spent lots of time in the Louvre. It was amazing, and I love the city. 

I also have a Facebook Page for my photography! I would love if you stopped by, hit like and said hello :) ALSO, it is not official yet, but I am in the process of opening an Etsy shop! I am super excited and I enjoy the planner community and LOVE being a part of it, so I am excited for this new adventure.

So that is all for now,  I will leave you with a photo of gorgeous (and delicious) macaroons that I took in Paris.

XOXO 

Kelsey

Travel Abroad 2016

Some of you might remember when I studied abroad my freshman year of college. I went to Paris, France, as a fashion merchandising major. I fell in love deeply with traveling, I got my first tattoo, flew internationally for the first time, went to a club for the first time, and nonetheless it was the experience of a lifetime. Now, as I enter the spring of my Junior year I write to you from a different location. I am currently sitting on my bed, in the townhouse we are staying at in Dungarven, Ireland. I'm studying here for the whole spring semester, so as of today until May 4th, and I hope to do some blogging as I am here. To keep the memories richer, and to share with my family so they can see what I am up to. So I am interested in writing about my capsule wardrobe, packing for studying abroad (it's a whole monster in itself), the traveling that I do, my day-to-day thoughts, posts about my travels within Ireland, and about living and being in the beautiful city of Dungarven itself.

Photo from:

 http://www.dungarvan.com/location.htm

I've been a roller coaster of emotions the past few days preparing for this adventure. I'm close with my family and friends, so leaving them was really tough. My boyfriend and I have been together for almost a year now (in March!) and I was really worried about how doing the long distance would go, but I'm 100% sure, it will work out just fine :) We have a solid relationship, and I have all my confidence in it.

Today was day 1 on this adventure, and although I ended up soaked from the rain and muddied my shoes, it was a wonderful day. Any day is a good day to be in Ireland!