Best in Blog Photo Bloopers: Winter 2015.

    

     First off- can I get a round of applause for blogging all five days this week?! I can't remember the last time that this happened during the school year! This was actually one of the most stressful weeks that I have had in a long time- both academically and personally. Some of the posts that went up this week were pre-scheduled over last weekend, and others were written during my study breaks throughout the week. I found that getting more blogging done actually helped me to be more motivated with my homework (who knew?!). I can't promise five-day-a-week posts every single week of the semester, but I'm going to shoot for at least a three day posting schedule from now forward!

     When I was editing the photos for my most recent fashion post, although I found some pictures that I loved and couldn't wait to post, I was also appalled by the amount of outtakes that there were! So many of the pictures that Gina took of my outfit were just plain horrible- and not because of her or her photography, because of me!! Lol! I would move, the sun would be in my eyes, my outfit wouldn't cooperate... etc. I'm sure that other fashion bloggers can relate. I began to realize that I had a bunch of hilarious outtakes saved on my computer from past fashion posts, and I thought a fitting way to end my first week in awhile of posts on all five weekdays would be to share some of my favorite "bad blogging pictures."



    Without further ado:

This is definitely a favorite for me out of all of these!! I look so mad haha!

#GossipGirlLinkUp Fail?

SOOOO washed out.... scary!

Beach blog pictures candid fail.

     And lastly, my favorite outtakes from my latest fashion post:

  
     Lastly, if you follow me on Instagram (@miss_alk), you might have seen that I was nominated yesterday for the #20BeautifulWomen challenge that is currently going viral on there. I decided to accept the nomination, but instead of posting a normal selfie or a typical picture that I feel really beautiful in (beacause I feel that I do that a lot with sharing my normal blog pictures on social media!), I decided to make my picture for the challenge a unique one:

     This was a Snapchat that I sent to Ciera, (one of my good friends that I've stayed in touch with from my former college) on the eve of my last birthday!! Sometimes you just can't take yourself seriously. ;-) So now this gem is up for the whole Instagram world to enjoy! Happy Friday!!


      Hope that y'all will have a wonderful weekend! I will be back next week with more posts (as I am finally back on a regular posting schedule!), and stay tuned because exciting big changes are coming here to Southern Belle in Training soon, and I can't wait to share more!


     xoxo Miss ALK

Being Adult.

     Last week, when I was on my way to science lab (I have science class right after lunch, followed by a half hour break, and then a two and a half hour corresponding lab. #funtimes), I had a random text from Jules, who is one of my best friends from back home in Maine. She asked me if I had any dinner plans for a weekend that was a few weeks away. I immediately responded with "no," followed by something along the lines of, "But it's irrelevant because obviously I'm not going to be home that weekend....." She then followed back with. "I know. Would you like to have dinner with me in Charlotte?" I immediately started FREAKING OUT. In the middle of my science classroom! And when I say freaking out I mean shrieking and tears running down my face, no joke. Jules has already visited me in Charlotte once- she came to see me just after I transferred to my current college back in October 2013. So I knew that when she said she wanted to visit again, she wasn't messing with me!

Jules's first visit down South- on our day trip to Greenville, SC.

    First I should note that Jules didn't just want to pack up and abandon her life to see me. ;-) State schools in Maine have very different school breaks then colleges in the South, so she had a school vacation coming up in a couple of weeks, so it made sense that she would want to get out of Maine's frigid temperatures for a few days! However, I did not have a school vacation coming up. Since Jules is one of my best friends, (and I miss her dearly when I'm at school!), the first thing that I said was "of course you can visit!", I just let her know that I might have to do a little homework while she was here, and attend classes, and go to my internship, and a couple of sorority events... etc. But I was convinced I could make it work. My roommate was fine with Jules coming in during the dates she wanted to visit, so everything seemed good to go.

     Jules called me a couple nights later ready to book her flight, and I gave her the go-ahead. But after we got off the phone, I looked at my schedule again, and then I suddenly realized... HOW IN THE WORLD CAN I HAVE A FRIEND FROM HOME VISIT?! In addition to my daily classes, homework, internship, weekly babysitting job, during the dates that Jules could visit I also had:

• A broadcasting conference to attend here in Charlotte that my academic advisor recommended me for (an amazing opportunity for my major!)
• A full weekend of babysitting the weekend before Jules arrived
• A sorority mixer event
• A midterm in my hardest class the day after she would have left 
• My roommate's 21st birthday

     I took a long hard time to think about things, and I ended up having to tell my dear friend that this wasn't the best time for me to host a visitor. Since she is such a good friend, she was of course very understanding (and we are actually talking about her visiting later in the spring when I have a long weekend off from school!), but still, it killed me having to tell her no. I was so flattered that she wanted to make a last minute trip down to see me, and it would have done my soul some good to see her. It has overall been a good few weeks since coming back to school, but there have been a couple things happening in my life that I haven't posted about here on the blog, and I know these are the types of things that having Jules here for would have helped so much with.

     But alas, I made what I think was the responsible adult decision, and put my school and work priorities first. If there's one thing that I have learned this far in college it's that you can't do it all. Don't pass up the exciting opportunities that come your way, but at the same time, pick and choose which to actually take advantage of! Nothing good comes to anyone who pushes themselves over their limits and overextends themselves in too many directions.


      I already have plans for every single weekend of this month, and sadly none of my plans are that exciting. The broadcasting conference which I mentioned above is probably what I am most excited for, but I have a lot of prep work to do to get ready to attend that, and it is being held early on a Saturday morning, which is my sleep-in day. :-) Oh- the sacrifices one makes for the transition to adulthood!


     Can any other fellow collegiates (or former collegiates) relate to how difficult it can be to sometimes make the mature decisions instead of the fun ones? Please tell me I'm not alone (and that I made the right choice in this situation!).


     I feel as though I haven't shared a post as personal as this in awhile. Ever since I started taking my blog in a more fashion-focused direction over a year ago now, I have slowly been reducing more and more my amount of personal posts. I feel that a lot of the early personal posts on Southern Belle in Training were so over personal that it's awkward for me to read them now, haha!! Soon I am going to be going through and cleaning out some old posts like that... but, I still do think it's good to get "real" on here sometimes and to take a break from the fashion and beauty talk. :-)


     xoxo Miss ALK

Sale Rack Sequins.

Dress: H&M || Coat {Old} || Shoes: Nine West || Purse: Michael Kors || Earrings: Forever 21 || Rings: Charming Charlie || Nails: Essie in Merino Cool || Lips: NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Sponge Cake

      Do you ever have a week that's just a little bit longer than usual, and you know that to celebrate the end of it you need a night of dressing up and going out with some girlfriends? That was me after the first week of spring semester (how was that only a few weeks ago?!). My first week back at school was absolute insanity. I have a demanding course load this semester so that in itself was something to get used to, plus it seemed like I was getting hit with some personal stuff all at once. I knew that by Thursday night I needed a night out on the town with some of my favorite ladies!

    
     After I got out of my internship that night, I headed to the mall with Jess (my Big in ADPi), and her two suitemates, Haley and Hannah. The only stop that we needed to make was H&M! All three of the girls wanted to get some new going out clothes for that night and I was actually the one who didn't really want to buy anything (I was just at the mall for the Chick-Fil-A in the food court... ;-) ), but I made the mistake of browsing the sale racks and fell in love with this gorgeous dress! It was orignally $70, but marked down to around $33. After the week that I had, how could I ever pass it up?!

Dressing room selfie for the win!

     Two days after my night out was my blogging meet-up with my fellow NC Her Campus Blogging Network bloggers Gina and Cara! Even though I had only worn the dress just 48 hours before, I hadn't had enough of it yet, and I brought it along as my final outfit to wear for all of the photo shoots that the three of us had! (The pictures in this post were taken by Gina.) While Gina was taking these pictures (on my new camera!) I felt like I was in a fashion magazine! It was the perfect ending to a long week. Sometimes a glam new dress is exactly the perfect pick-me-up, dontcha think?! In the future I can't wait to try re-styling this dress with different jewelry, shoes and hairstyles! Especially with wearing my hair up since it's a low-back dress.

     The exact dress that I'm wearing has sold out from H&M since I bought it on clearance, but they're currently selling a very similar dress in black! And better news- it's much cheaper then my dress was! I have it linked in the shopping widget below. :-)

     xoxo Miss ALK

Style Theory Tour Charlotte: Recap.

    This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend an event here in Charlotte called the Style Theory Tour. I had previously posted about this leading up to the event a couple of weeks ago when the Style Theory Tour sponsored a giveaway for a ticket to the Charlotte event here on my blog! I didn't know a ton about the event before attending- all I knew is that it was being held at a hotel here in Charlotte, and that I could expect a whole day filled with panel discussion about hair, make-up and fashion, which are three of my favorite things!

     When I arrived at the hotel (it was held at the Embassy Suites near the airport), I got to check in at the media table and received a complimentary tote bag with some freebies inside. I then headed into the room that the event was being held in so that I could grab a good seat! The Tour provided everyone with note pads and pens so that we could all take notes on what the speakers would be discussing, and I'm so glad they did that!

 

     My favorite speaker of the tour was the make-up artist, Ashunta Sheriff. She was formally Alicia Key's make-up artist, and has worked with many other celebrities and socialites. She herself is a woman of color and has recently designed a make-up line specifically made with women of color in mind, but she has worked with clients of all races and is very skilled at what she does. I absolutely loved how she was able to tie talking about faith, health and life into her make-up demonstrations and tutorials! I got to meet and get a picture with Ashunta after she finished presenting.

 

       Tameka Raymond, the main speaker of the Tour, was wonderful as well. I unfortunately did not get a picture with her, but I really enjoyed seeing her warm personality radiate through her sections of the Tour! Tameka gave lots of great advice, and one thing she said that really stuck out to me was that every time you meet someone you only have "30 seconds to make your lasting impression." Just 30 key seconds! So that is why dressing well and knowing how to communicate effectively when you meet someone is an important skill to have.

      My only complaint about the Tour was that near the end of it, during the open question and answer section, a lot of the questions from audience members for Tameka became more about life and career advice and less about specifically fashion. Of course Tameka answered them all graciously. :-) But where this event was mainly fashion and beauty focused, I would have rather seen more styling demonstrations instead. But that is just my personal opinion, overall I did enjoy the event!

     Thanks again to the Style Theory Tour for hosting me at their Charlotte stop! Below is a schedule of dates for the rest of the tour stops:

     xoxo Miss ALK

Winter Casual.

Sweater: Talbots || Jeans: American Eagle Outfitters || Vest: LOFT || Boots: Tory Burch || Sunglasses: LOFT || Purse: Michael Kors || Earrings: Talbots || Bracelet: {Local boutique} || Ring: HJ Greek || Kors || Nails: Essie in Merino Cool || Lips: Revlon Super Lustrous in Demure

      

      This is one of the outfits that I wore during the Her Campus Blogging Network NC Regional Group  meet-up that I got to host a few weeks back! This is what I wore for lunch with the girls and for my drive up to the Triad area, which is where the meet-up was. I feel like this is such a perfect outfit for a casual weekend day during a Southern winter. It's cute yet comfortable, chic and not overdone. 

     Vests are very in-style for this winter! Of course during this past fall J. Crew had all of the buzz when they re-released their famous herringbone vest (which had sold out the year before), and gingham and striped vests seemed to be all the rage as well. I had a couple vests in my closet from last season, but I wanted to find a new vest for this year that would match a lot of key pieces that I already owned. I wanted it to be unique enough from the herringbone vest though (and hopefully cheaper as well!), so I started shopping around. I found my perfect vest on Black Friday this past year, at LOFT! I'm wearing it here. It's made from a very cool tweed fabric, and has a side zipper, and I am obsessed with it! I also got a great deal on it since it was on sale for Black Friday. I love how I can still be apart of the vest trend, but have a slightly more unique vest to rock. ;-)

     I am also wearing two of my all-time holy grail beauty products here- Essie's Merino Cool nail polish (my FAVORITE winter nail color), and Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipstick in Demure, a warm peachy shade that's one of my signature colors! Sometimes it's just great to return to old favorites! Have any of you rediscovered a love for any older beauty favorites recently? 

      

     xoxo Miss ALK