Cute First Day of School Outfit Ideas - ft. Hollister

So it's July 29th and for some of you back to school is just around the corner...however I personally don't start until September 5th... so I wanted to do a post on cute outfits you can wear for your first day back to school. This would be my idea of a cute back to school outfit...btw if you're wondering I'm going into high school...so ninth grade!

1.

 

Let's start with a basic - skinny crops. These ones are super cute, dark, slightly destroyed at the knee, and currently, on sale at Hollister for $30 from $49.50. I actually have this exact pair (I'm a size 1 for reference, but I do think they're a little big on me in the leg...) but other than the leg issue (they fit me more like bootcuts would in the leg as opposed to the skinnies they're supposed to be) these jeans are incredibly soft and super comfy. I also really love that they're cuffed at the bottom, it's a super cute detail that I think adds the perfect touch to this outfit. http://www.hollisterco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10201&storeId=10251&langId=-1&categoryId=43458&parentCategoryId=43458&topCategoryId=12552&productId=905873#



2.

 

This is a cute navy and white plaid checkered shirt with cuffed sleeves. I think this one makes you look really pretty and sophisticated, and I think it would look even better with straight hair, neutral makeup with pink lips, and the cuffed crops. I actually have this exact shirt from Abercrombie Kids, but I couldn't find that one online anymore. It looks really nice over a white or navy lace cami, especially if it has pretty lace detailing at the top! This shirt is on sale for $30 from $39.50 at Hollister, but if you can still manage to find it at Abercrombie Kids, I got mine on sale for $6! http://www.hollisterco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10201&storeId=10251&langId=-1&categoryId=91712&parentCategoryId=%5bLjava.lang.String%3b%4045804580&topCategoryId=12552&productId=931329&seq=01

3.

This is that pretty tank top that would look perfect underneath the plaid shirt. It's delicate and girly, with pretty lace at the top with beaded detailing. This tank is available in white too, if you'd rather wear white under the plaid shirt. It's currently $19.50 on the Hollister website, but if you wait a bit I'm sure you could find it on sale. http://www.hollisterco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10201&storeId=10251&langId=-1&categoryId=79167&parentCategoryId=&topCategoryId=12552&productId=980090

4.

These are classic rubber flip flops, in navy to match the rest of your outfit. Since the shirt may be a bit fancier than you would usually wear to school, you can dress it down with rubber flip flops. These ones match the rest of your outfit, of course, and are durable and comfy. The best part? They're currently on sale for $9.30. http://www.hollisterco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10201&storeId=10251&langId=-1&categoryId=16448&parentCategoryId=16448&topCategoryId=12552&productId=924469

5.



This pretty braided belt is the finishing touch to your outfit. It's classic, simple, yet pretty and goes with any outfit. I especially like the brown leather against dark crops. Of course, if you don't wanna spend on the money on the belt from Hollister, you could find a brown braided belt just about anywhere else as well. This one is on sale for $20.65 currently. http://www.hollisterco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10201&storeId=10251&langId=-1&categoryId=12599&parentCategoryId=12599&topCategoryId=12552&productId=810708

What about jewelry? Keep it simple with pearl studs, a simple silver necklace, and a silver charm bracelet.

One Direction?!

Since One Direction has gotten so incredibly popular, I guess I never really talked about my opinions on them - I know they're are a lot of people who are absolutely obsessed - Directioners - and a lot of people who absolutely hate them. Honestly, I do like them, a lot ore than I do say, Justin Bieber (sorry Beliebers!) but I do, after a while, get sick of hearing about them and sick of seeing them on my Facebook News Feed 999,999,999,999 times every single day. I really do like their music and I feel like I loved the song What Makes You Beautiful before One Direction even became really popular. I think the songs have a good message, and  really do like the music, but I think it's a bit overrated.

Oh yeah, and Liam's sexy.

This is my favorite ♥

LJBASWCU: Summer

Haha remember this? From when I first started my blog...oh gosh that was a long time ago. Ljbaswcu is, let's just blog and see what comes up. And I feel like doing that today because I'm not quite sure what it is I actually want to blog about but I know I said I'd blog so...

When I first started my blog, I had just blogged about whatever, I guess. So  I guess that's what I should do today... because that was always fun and I like blogging about random things because I'm random like that :P

Summer reading. Mrow. I'm taking Honors English next year, which means I have to read THREE books. I chose Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, and The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. Let me just say, I finished Tuesdays With Morrie, although I have yet to even start the worksheet that goes along with it. It's a really good book, but it's also extremely sad. I'm about 60 pages into Nineteen Minutes, which is also very good, surprisingly, I didn't think I would like it. But I do. It's very long though and the font is small so it's going to take me a long time to read but I guess I don't mind. Summer reading isn't all that awful if you like the books, which I do, so far. Oh and then there's summer algebra, which absolutely sucks. Blech.

Summer plans. Gosh I really am blogging all about summer today aren't I. Let's see...there's a few vacations I'm going on (and yes I will hopefully still be blogging even during them) I'm also doing summer band, yay (wow, what a band geek...) oh well. That starts Monday, and I'm excited for that. I miss playing my oboe. My sisters have swim lessons, which leaves one day free each week, in which I'll probably end up going swimming or something, probably at the lake I always go to. I picked blueberries earlier this morning, it was fun and they were really sweet, yum. Hahaa I suppose you could say this summer has been better for me than previous summers, because as you know, I pretty much detest summers. Two months alone with no friends. Yuck.

Summer Favorite: I'm really liking Clinique's Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturizer. I'm shade 3, and I just recently got this product, which is somewhere, more or less, around $25. It has SPF 15, which is always good, and gives just enough coverage for summer. It doesn't small bad and it doesn't make me look orangey either. I really like it so far, haha I'll have to review it sometime!

Who Is A?! Pretty Little Liars Season 3!

So Pretty Little Liars Season 3 has begun! I must say, I am very excited to see what season 3 has in store, especially after Mona having been revealed as A in the season 2 finale... surprise, surprise, NOT. I kind of wish it had been someone else. Mona wasn't too surprising, because she was also A in the books, and the A on the show was supposed to be different. Anyway, here's my possible list of suspects and why they might possibly be A.

Maya: Maya could have been A. Also, side note: I don't think her death was a murder, I think it was suicide. I think she killed herself, maybe because she felt guilty, possibly for being A, if she was.

Jenna/Garrett: It's so obvious! He had the papers from that night in a previous season, Jenna has a reason to be A - to get back at them for blinding her, and there has to be a reason she's still prtending to be blind, right?

Melissa: Melissa is an interesting character. I definitely would not be surprised if she was A, especially because she had been involved with Garrett, Ian, etc. Also, she has a tendency to lie to Spencer, and has several reasons to get back at her.

Tiffany & Co. Jewelry!

Hi loves♥

I'm going to be just talking about my experience with Tiffany & Co., and the Tiffany piece that I have, and just an overall what I think of the brand.

Okay, so first, I would just like to say that my Tiffany & Co. experience has been amazing. The piece I have (and I'll get into that later on the post) is beautiful, and definitely worth all he money it cost me. I actually just got it cleaned and polished at the Tiffany store the other day, and it is so shiny now, it came ou absolutely beautiful. All of the jewelry there is an incredible quality and stunning as well! Everyone working at the Tiffany store is so nice and helpful, they definitely know what they are talking about. The only downside (for me) is that the closest store is about half an hour away :( Also, when you buy a new Tiffany piece, I love how it comes packaged - in a blue jewelry bag inside one of those little blue boxes, tied with a pretty white ribbon. It makes me love Tiffany even more!

The piece that I have? Maybe some of you know that I had been saving for this for quite sometime and I finally got it last November! It's the Return to Tiffany heart tag charm bracelet in sterling silver, a classic Tiffany piece. The bracelet is currently $275 (subject to change) and is worth every penny. When polished correctly, which I suggest having done at Tiffany's, it is super shiny, just like in the picture. It is very difficult to break. However, since it is sterling silver, it will tarnish, so you will have to get it polished, how often depends on how often you wear it. I wear mine everyday and I like getting it polished after six months. Also, if you don't wear it for a long time, it can also tarnish that way.

However, it is definitely worth it. Polishing/cleaning is $15, and like I said, the bracelet comes out so shiny and pretty. definitely makes me want more :D

http://www.tiffany.com

Alternatives to THONGS?!

Yes, you read that title right. So, if me talking about underwear makes you uncomfortable, feel free to either go find another post to read, or exit out of my blog ☺

I hope you guys don't find this post uncomfortable, but I thought I'd do it anyway. Why? Yoga pants and leggings are becoming more and more popular, and unless you actually want those ugly underwear lines, you can't exactly wear regular underwear, now can you? Usually, the solution to this is something like a thong - which comes in many styles and variations, such as the v-string. But what if you aren't allowed to wear such "provocative" underwear? Or what if you don't really think you need to spend the money on new underwear, when the ones you have work perfectly fine? Well, here are some alternatives to thongs that work just as well! By the way, if you wanna learn more about thongs and the benefits of a thong, you should check out this video:

1. The first alternative to a thong is simple. Don't wear underwear. Yeah, you read that right. Not wearing underwear? You won't have to worry about any ugly underwear lines showibng through, and you won'

t have to worry about the line of your underwear showing above the line of your pants or leggings. If you don't mind the feel and you feel comfortable with this, it's a great idea. Besides, no one will know unless you tell them, right? However, maybe you don't so much like this idea. Fortunately another solution is...

2. Yoga underwear! Victoria's Secret Pink makes these, and other brands might too, I'm not sure. These are made of a soft, stretchy material and are designed to be worn under yoga pants or other tight pants. They do help with underwear lines significantly, but are still there. Here's a link to a simple yoga bikini: http://www.victoriassecret.com/pink/shop-by-style-panties/seamless-bikini-panty-in-stripes-victorias-secret-pink?ProductID=22894&CatalogueType=OLS

3. My personal favorite if you can't wear a thong: lace. For some reason, lace back underwear tend not to show through yoga pants or other tight pants. At first, the lace may be uncomfortable, especially if you're not used to it, but once you do get used to it, it is even more comfortable than a thong, and it of course leaves pretty much no underwear lines when worn under yoga pants. Lace underwear are sold pretty much wherever regualar underwear are sold, bvut my favorite place for lace back underwear (and underwear in general) is Victoria's Secret Pink. These are my favorite lace-backs: http://www.victoriassecret.com/pink/shop-by-style-panties/lace-back-bikini-panty-victorias-secret-pink?ProductID=57491&CatalogueType=OLS 

So, hopefully this helped you figure out how to wear yoga pants or leggings with underwear when you aren't allowed to wear a thong :P If you really want one? Try explainign the benefits of one to your mom: no underwear lines, for some people, can be more comfortable, and you may feel more confident when wearing one. Hope this helps! Remember, a thong is just another piece of fabric :P 

Happy Summer!

Hey! So, it's finally summertime, my school ended on June 18th (a half day on a MONDAY, how pathetic) but anyway, yay and nay for summer, yaybecause I now have a lot more time to blog. When I first made this blog I would blog just about every day. I would just always be blogging, and if I forgot, I would make up for it by doing all of those extra posts on the weekend. Thenb, I soon got very busy with school and pretty much stopped blogging. I would post a few times, maybe once or twice every few weeks, even months, always saying I wopuld start blogging more often. Well, clearly that never happened. But I will be blogging much more often this summer, hopefully two-three posts per week, maybe more or less depending on how much time I have and if I'm going on vacation or if I'm busy with summer reading or, ugh, new this year, summer MATH - yuck. Anyway, back on topic...why don't I like summer?
     For me, summer is just this unsocial two months where I spend all day long doing boring crap and being bored out of my mind. Basically, I don't really hang out with my frieds in the summer. Why? Because if they're on vacation, I'm not, when I'm on vacation, they're not, etc. etc. etc. Plus, they all participate in all these camps andeveryone's just too busy. Gah I hate summer. Plus there's this stupid thing called summer algebra, prepping for algebra next year (btw I'm taking Algebra II Honors...oh god wish me luck with that, hahahaha. Anyway, this post wasn't supposed to be a rant on how much I dislike summer so...
     Where have I been? Of course, over the past few months, I've been busy with school and such. Also, I've been a lot busier on other websites (sorry :P) but I am obsessed at the nmoment, with Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, and, also, I got a Facebook, how exciting!(: Not only has my other Internet life (hahaha) taken over my time for blogging but also my "life" life. Let's see...I've been hanging out with my friends more and more often. I broke up with my boyfriend. I had a band concert, graduation, graduation dfance (so fun!) among several other things. I'll be going on vacation for two weks total this summer (not saying where or when!) I had my dance recital, practice oboe often, and I joined track. Most of that's over now, which means, I have more time to blog, which I'm super excited about!
     By the way, about my YouTube: Unfortunatel;y I don't really think I'll be posting many videos anymore...I've just gotten too bus to film and edit a video every week, and its just too stressful. Maybe I'll upload a few this summer, like possibly a back to school haul later on, since hauls are my favorite videos to watch and make! Also, a room tour gets requested the most often, so I may or may not do that depending on if I decide to go back to YT or not.
     Speaking of the hauls, I've already started getting back to school clothes because, as you know a lot of stores are having huge sales this time of year...like the VS Semi Annual sale and the redline sales at Hollister/Abercrombie...for example, I got a $49.50 pair of jeggings for $7.74 at Hollister! But I'll discuss that later, haha.
     Anyway, yhe point of this post is this: I'm back for summer and am so very excited to start blogging more like I used to! I stioll have a ton of ideas of things to blog about and certain products I want to review, etc. So, cheers to that! Happy beginning of summer and I'll talk to you all soon:)

xoxoxo

Pretty Spring/Summer Dresses!

If you read my last post (on graduation dresses) you'll know what my dresses look like, (tell me which one you like best!) I personally love summer dresses, I've especially noticed how many cute dresses Hollister has lately, as well as Abercrombie. Not only am I shopping for graduation dresses recently, but also dresses for the grad dance, this formal dance thing at the end of the year. I did buy my dress, but cannot find it on the website so I'll have to take a picture later and put it up in another post, but I got it at Macy's on sale for $63 and it's pink with flowers, and it's a really pretty, strapless minidress. Anyway, I wanted to talk about some of the cutest dresses and share my thoughts, plus share with you what will probably end up being my graduation outfit!

Personally, I love the Hollister dresses, as I already mentioned many times. I love the casual summery look of them, plus they are strapless (personally my favorite) and are not too revealng. They come in a ton of cute prints and patterns, too, and are relatively affordable at $60 or less, and will probably be on sale soon as well. They are really comfortable soft dresses and definitely very pretty. I like this lime green one:

Personally, with dresses I like to keep my shoes pretty casual unless it's some formal event in which I feel like wearing heels (will do another post on that later) so I like flip flops...that are a little bit nicer than just your average flip flops. I picked out these leather ones from Hollister, and they match the dress perfectly! They are currently $34.50 which might seem a bit expensive for flip flops but they are totally worth it.

For jewelry, I plan to keep that simple as well, just my fake diamond studs, and Tiffany bracelet, maybe a cocktail ring from Forever 21, but nothing too special!

Tell me what you think of this look in the comments below!

Graduation Dresses!

So graduation is coming up (for me anyway when I graduate middle school in June:) which means its time to start shopping for dresses, especially this past week, which for me was April vacation. I picked two dresses, both from Hollister, I think the price was $59.90 for both? I'm pretty sure that's what it was. Both are really pretty and I can't decide what one I want to wear!



or...



---so, what one do you like better?

Playing Oboe/Competition/Band

Yesterday I had a band competition (won silver:) so I thought I would blog about my experience playing oboe, (I love it,) and being part of a concert band, what competition is like, etc.

I'm in my last year of middle school, there are three grades in my middle school, no not telling what grade I'm in...just 'cause haha...but anyway, around December of this year I decided I wanted to join band, so I talked to my band director and he said that, they had just had the winter cncert, would just be starting on new songs, it would be a good time to join, especially because I want to be part of band in high school, and it would be beneficial to have a little prior experience. So, after much thought, I was between clarinet, and oboe. I listened to several videos of each on YouTube and finally realized oboe is the instrument I love, I've loved it since I first heard one in third grade. It took a few tries to rent the oboe, as there were a few payment issues, but eventually it was worked out and I first started on oboe in the middle of January. I love it. Oboe is something I can look forward t, I actually considered joning when I first started middle school, but for some stupid reason waited til now. It's so fun to know how to ply an instrument! The only downside is, the reeds. I use Jones Medium Oboe Reeds, they are what work best for me. As you may know, oboe reeds are expnsive, a good reed costs about $15 at least. And you go through them pretty quickly, they're very easy top break. I'm currently on my sixth reed since January, and yeah, I have a friend who plays clarinet who uses an average of twelve per month, but then again, you can get a box of twelve good clarinet reeds for about $10. If you're willing to spend the money, oboe is an amazing instrument to learn how to play. Also, it is one of the hardest. You need a good embouchure and when you first start need to be willing to work hard at it and practice often. Again, all worth it!

So, yesterday was competition, my band got a silver medal. It was fun, we were one of the first groups to perform, meaning after we performed, we basically had the whole day until awards to do whatever we wanted - talking, eating, just hanging out, whatever, so it was really fun:) The stage was pretty amazing and I loved playing, although my reed was brand new, and I probably should've broken it in a little bit first hahaha. Other than that everything went smoothly, and at the clinic afterward, turns out the only thing keeping us from gold was pretty much just being perfectly in tune. We were actually just one point away from gold which is really annoying, but whatever, we still did good and my band director seemed pretty happy with it:)