Minty accessories.

     I am so excited about the accessories that I wore with my outfit today so here's a second fashion post. I've noticed that most bloggers (including myself) post in the mornings and afternoons, so here's a treat for any night owls checking their blogger dashboards tonight.

• Shorts: Forever 21 (January 2013)
• Shoes: Charlotte Russe (January  2013)
• Bracelet: Forever 21 (January 2013)
• Earrings: Forever 21 (January 2013)
• Belt: Petal Boutique {Charlotte NC location} (April 2013)
• Nail polish on fingers: Pure Ice in Peony 
• Nail polish on feet: Attempt at a French pedicure done by yours truly. :-) I think I did pretty decent!

     I'm obsessing over the color mint. I love how in it is this year, and I keep buying more and more things that are minty, my latest purchase being this adorable bow belt! Wihtout any of my accessories this would have just been a basic white top/black shorts, but I think that the touches of mint and gold that I added turned the outfit into a chic, girly and springy outfit! 

     What I think is the best part is that none of my accessories cost very much! I adore Charlotte Russe and Forever 21 for jewelry and other cute essentials. Those two stores are where most of the things in this post came from. My pink nail polish is from Walmart (nail polish is one of the few things I buy there). I refuse to spend a lot of money on nail polish- I almost always buy the cheapest brands. Pure Ice is one of my favorites! I've worn their nail polishes in other fashion posts before. They have super cute colors and they're usually priced at about $1.99 per bottle- can't beat that! 

     Another important thing to keep in mind for accessory shopping is to look for sales. Some of my best finds come from clearance racks. I got this belt for 20% this weekend after finding out that Petal Boutique in Charlotte was having a sale this past weekend. I had wanted to visit their store for awhile, and finding out that I could get free cookies and 20% off my purchase was incentive to make the trip out! :-)

     Are you big on accessories? Do you like to splurge on designer brands and jewelry, or are you a fan of trendy and cheap finds? I'd say I'm a mix of both- but my college student budget prefers the second.

     xoxo Miss ALK


     P.S. The red X on my right hand (in the first picture) is because today, April 9th, was human trafficking awareness day. Other bloggers like Raquel and Elle also participated!

Fashion post {4/9/13}

     This outfit was actually what I wore to church this past Sunday, on April 7. It was the first Sunday so far this semester that was warm enough for me to wear cute spring clothes to church, and I was very excited!

• Shirt: Forever 21 (January 2013) [also featured in this post]
• Skirt: Dillard's (November 2012)
• Wedges: Antonio Melani {bought at Dillard's} (November 2012) [also featured in this post]
• Belt: Christmas gift from my cousin (December 2010)
• Hat: Target (April 2013)
• Sunglasses: Koh's (July 2012)
• Bracelet: Silpada Designs (2008)
• Nail Polish: Sephora by OPI in Already Famous

   

      To start off, if you've been reading my fashion posts for awhile now you'll probably notice that certain pieces of mine tend to repeat themeselves. In this post it's my shirt and wedges. While I rarely repeat full outfits, I do use a lot of the same basic pieces in many of my daily outfits. Minus a few "splurge" items, most clothing and accessories that I buy have to be guarenteed to match a lot of things that I already own, or be able to be incorporated into many different outfits for me to buy them. If you really love something, why not wear it alot? :-)

     I love this shirt from Forever 21 because it's a gorgeous color and matches so many things that I own! I can dress it up or dress it down. Pairing it with different types of jewelry creates a new look every time. The best part about it is how little I paid for it! Forever 21 is one of my go-to places for cheap but well made t-shirts and other basic items. They always have a great style and color selection.

     I bought this skirt and the wedges together last November. They were marked down quite a bit at a discount Dillard's location. I have been waiting for the weather to get warm enough to start wearing them, and was so excited to this weekend! I love the cute flower pattern and pretty pastel colors in this skirt. It's short enough to not be a pain to walk in or too hot to wear, but long enough to still be modest and appropirate for church.

     I picked some bold accessories to match my outfit. I found this beautiful sunhat at Target this past weekend! I'd been wanting a sunhat for awhile (Aren't they such a Southern thing to wear?), and had browsed a few other stores for them. But everything that I found was either not the style that I was looking for or way too expensive, such as this Vineyard Vines hat. So I decided to try my luck with Target, and I found the exact hat that I was looking for! It's in a neutral color so it will match a lot of things, and it has a beautiful wide brim. The best part is I paid only $14.99 for it! The sunhat is something that will definitely be appearing in more of my fashion posts soon (I'm warning you guys now!). The belt was a Christmas gift from one of my older cosuins a few years ago. This summer I want to experiment with pairing belts like this that I have with shorts and dresses. 

     Since my belt and hat are both quite bold, I didn't wear a lot of jewelry with this outfit. I had on some small stud earrings that aren't pictured, and this cute bracelet. My mom got it for me a few years ago from Silpada designs, which is a company that sells sterling silver jewelry through independent representatives. The finishing touch on the outfit was a little bit of reddish-coral lipstick for an extra pop!

     What are some of your favorite things to wear when the weather gets warm?

     xoxo Miss ALK

     P.S. I'm thinking about sharing some embarrassing and 100% real e-mails shared between me and my freshman year of high school crush in my next post- think this is a good idea? For the record I can't even read them without laughing my head off. :-) 

My first vlog!

     Before I actually post this, a couple disclaimers and some important news:

1. Whatever the recording program is in my computer made my voice sound about 500% more nasal than it is in person. Honestly- I don't sound like I have a stuffy nose all the time! Haha.
2. I'm sorry for looking away from the camera for so much of this. When I really got talking I forgot to stare at the webcam. :-)
3. In a bit of happy blogging news, one of my absolute favorite bloggers, Julianne, got engaged  this past weekend! Head on over to her blog Between the Lines to wish her congratulations!

     Thanks to everyone who submitted questions for me! I had a lot of fun doing this, and I might do it again in the future. 

     Have a great Monday! North Carolina is experiencing some AMAZING weather this week so expect some springy fashion posts!

     xoxo Miss ALK

Farewell to a fashion icon.

     I'm sure many of you have already read this online, but today fashion icon and designer Lilly Pulitzer passed away at the age of 81. Lilly's style and life are an inspiration, and she will be missed!

     I have just started to really get into the Lilly Pulitzer brand this year, and I'm seriously in love with everything that company designs. Anything with the Lilly lable on it is guarenteed to be pretty and fun to wear. But as I'm starting to find out, the brand of Lilly Pulitzer is more than just a fashion lable. One of my favorite quotes from Ms. Pulitzer herself is "Style isn't about what you wear, it's about how you live." Lilly = classiness.

     RIP Lilly Pulitzer! May your legacy and your brand live on.


     xoxo Miss ALK

All things prom {part 1}

     *First important announcement: if you're a blogger in the Charlotte area I'm going to be shopping at Petal Boutique (Charlotte location) tomorrow afternoon for their anniversary celebration! E-mail if you're also planning on going- I'd love to meet some of the CLT Social girls in person!*

     **Second, I had originally planned to post my first vlog yesterday. I recorded it two nights ago... but I kept rambling and rambling on so it turned out to be 19 minutes and 50 seconds! Eeek! I'm going to try re-recording it over the weekend to about half that legnth, and it will go up Monday morning! That means that there's still time to ask me a question that you'd like to have answered in the vlog.**

     Now for the main topic at hand today: I'm going to start this post off with a little story. One of my guy friends from high school, T, used to be a teacher aid for a science teacher at our high school last year. Since we were seniors our schedules were a bit more flexible, and since I had a free period while T was in Mrs. N's room I used to go visit him. The first Monday after our prom in May, Mrs. N comes into the room and goes "Finally you kids will have something else to talk about now that prom is over! That's all I've been hearing about for the past few months!" We both laughed, but then I started to realize how true it was. Literally everyday since the start of school after Christmas break the conversation between my friends had something to do with prom. I saw T this past weekend when I was home for Easter break and we laughed again about how so much of our senior year revolved around day dreaming and preparing for this one little night.

   While both of my proms were definitely not the best nights of my life (or even close, haha) as I so imagined, they were enjoyable and it's a high school perk that I think everyone should experience. At my high school we had a combined junior/senior prom, and underclassmen could go if they were invited. My sophomore year a ton of girls in my grade got asked, and at the time I had a crush on an upperclassmen. I was so hoping that he'd ask me, and was quite bummed when he didn't. But later when reflecting on the experience I realized that I was more just bummed about not getting asked because I wanted three years of wearing a beautiful evening gown instead of just two. :-)

     Since it's "that time of year again," I thought I'd devote a few posts to prom. Today I'll be sharing about what the two proms I went to were like, and next week I'll be sharing some of my favorite prom dresses for the 2013 prom season, as well as my thoughts on the idealization over prom.
   
     My junior year I went solo, but as a part of a big group of friends. I actually almost didn't go to prom because I woke up with an allergic reaction and feeling sick (you can read more about that on my old blog in this post), but by afternoon my symptoms had subsided and I felt well enough to go. The weather was terrible though. It was probably in the low 50s, windy, and cloudy. It later started raining once we were at prom. Since I live fairly close to the beach it is common at my high school to take prom pictures at one of the beaches, but my group ended up staying in our friend C's backyard because of the weather. He and his parents put on a lovely pre-prom dinner for everyone and our parents.

     I definitely saved a lot more money my junior year- and that was a wise decision! I got my dress on sale at JC Penney. I had gotten my shoes for free a few years before at a church yard sale. I did get a corsage and my hair done, but overally I tried to save as much money as possible, because I figured I'd rather splurge for senior prom. Below are a couple junior prom pictures- one of me and one of me and my sweet friend A! A graduated in the class of 2011 so this was her senior prom.

     Now fast forward to a year later- senior prom! After an unsuccesful attempt of a guy friend of mine trying to get me a prom date with his friend who went to another school (major FAIL) I decided to take it upon myself to get a date. I asked my friend E from my school's Interact club. We spent much of prom with our friends Jules and K who were also at prom as "just friends," and had a great time dancing with them. My friend H had a bunch of girls over at her house that afternoon to get ready, and then our group's hummer stretch limo came to pick us up and bring us to the beach for pictures!

     I blogged about the senior prom dress shopping process in this post. It was so much fun! My mom took me a store in Massachusetts called The Ultimate. The whole store is literally just designer prom dresses. If you're a New England girl headed to prom or a special event I'd highly reccomend that you pay them a visit! I never intended on wearing a puffy orange hi-low dress for my senior prom, but after trying on tons and tons and tons of dresses I slipped into my dress and knew it was the one for me! It cost a bit more than I was comfortable with, but my mom said that I could splurge since it was my senior year. :-) The dress was from one of Mori Lee's prom lines- Paprazzi. Also- it is WAY brighter than it looks in these pictures! It's truly a neon orange.

     A gorgeous dress also required blingy nails and new shoes of course! I got my shoes at DSW- my favorite shoe store. The shoes were blingy and over the top which was perfect. I had acrylic nails done at a local salon. For my hairstyle I decided on big bouncy curls with a half-up, half-down style.

     And here are my senior prom pictures! Unlike junior prom the weather was absolutely perfect my senior year. 75 degrees, sunny, and no humidity! It was perfect for taking pictures at the beach.

 Me and Jules! She's one of my best friends from high school. She's in the grade behind me.

This is me and E, my prom date! :-)

One of my favorite prom pictures! I love the pretty colors in my corsage (The wristband was made of purple sequins!)

H (aka "homegurl") and I getting ready to head to the beach!

Wearing this dress seriously made me feel like I was an exploding neon colored peach or orange. I was constantly re-arranging my skirt the whole night so I wouldn't trip on myself!

And lastly, here's a picture of me and a some friends (and a couple people that I didn't even know that hopped in the picture, lol) at outside our prom venue! Sorry that the color barely came out in this, but this is like the only accurate picture that shows how bright my dress was. The guy lying on the ground was Jules's date, our goofy friend K. My date, E, is pretending to step on his head here. Good times.

     Did you go to prom in your high school years? Or if you're in high school, are you going this year? I'd love to hear all about your prom experience!

     Happy Friday lovelies!

     xoxo Miss ALK