My Favorite Present I GAVE

The thing I love most about Christmas is finding the absolute perfect present for each of my friends and family members. This year, my family and I said we weren't going to exchange gifts. All of my sisters and I are going to spend a day together getting mani/pedis instead. So, although we said no gifts, I still wanted to get my mom something special.

 
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This was my outfit for Christmas dinner. A polished sweater and sparkly jewelry is my favorite combination for winter because you can look grown up and professional while still showing off your favorite blingy jewelry. The necklace I'm wearing in this photo is from target. I also wore rings and bracelets to add even more sparkle to the outfit. I love an outfit that I can wear as much jewelry as I feel like. A plain, neutral sweater is the perfect canvas to adorn with as many jewels as you please! The rest of my outfit was skinny jeans and my new ugg boots :)

 
Here is what I got for Christmas this year. I really wanted a new pair of Ugg boots since they are perfect for walking around campus or anywhere during winter. The boots were my main present and then I got a few other smaller ones. I also bought a few things for myself for Christmas and also to reward myself after a semester of hard work! ;)

 
I haven't posted on my blog in what feels like forever! But I am a senior in college and needed to focus a bit more on my classes so my blog had to come second :(
However, I am very proud of myself and what I accomplished this semester:
School is so important to me and I am so happy with what I've done throughout my (almost) four years at Alvernia University. I cannot believe that next semester will be my last but I'm so excited to see what will come after it!

Another reason why I didn't post sooner was CHRISTMAS! My house was crazy busy this year; with both sides of our family coming to our house for Christmas dinner.
I have also been catching up with friends who are home for winter break and doing all kinds of fun stuff such as ugly sweater parties! ;)
PLUS, all my sisters and I have been home together for the first time in a long time so we have been hanging out together non-stop. I love it!

I am going to share more about what I have been up to and what will be happening for me when I get some time to take some pictures :)

xoxo
 
Boxy corners, linear lines, and strategically placed dots give eyes graphic new shapes.
This fall, the cat-eye trend is very popular. I have never been great at eyeliner so it is something I'm going to practice! ...

 
I couldn't wait one more day to wear my boots!! It's still pretty warm out, so I wore the boots with a short sleeved t-shirt and light weight fashion scarf. I love the colors in this scarf. I bought it during summer but the orange, brown, and yellow color combo says fall.  Now I can't wait for everything else that says fall! (pumpkins, pumpkin spice coffee, cozy knit sweaters, red and orange leaves, plaid, etc!)  💋
 

Live Streaming New York Fashion Week.

Since I can't be there ( I wish! ), I have been LIVE streaming NYFW on my laptop :)
This is the site I've been using: http://newyorkfashionweeklive.com/
Here are some of my favorite collections from NYFW so far:

 
Combat Boots! I get so excited to wear boots in the fall and my new combat boots are no exception. This is my first pair of combat boots and my youngest sister actually inspired my urge to buy a pair. She had a pair last year and literally wore them almost everyday until the zipper broke apart. And when it did she was nothing short of devastated. :( So, towards the end of summer we started looking for a pair for her to replace the broken ones and as I was helping her look around for a pair, I found myself wanting my own pair!

 
Maxi skirts were a huge trend this summer but they can be easily transitioned to fall! Throw on a sweater and some ankle boots and your maxi skirt is ready for the fall season.
On the right is a picture of my friend Jess who always styles her maxis just right! I love her pairing of the busy printed skirt with a simple black 3/4 sleeve top.  She wore this on a summer night when we went out for drinks but she could easily wear this outfit during the fall too!
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The fall season gets us excited to bring out our sweaters, scarves, jeans, and boots. But new trends have emerged for fall 2013 for everything from the IT color to the IT pattern. I have been keeping tabs on some of my favorite designers and I like to take note of what seem to be the easiest trends to conquer as a college student from a small town. Here are my favorite fall 2013 trends:

Sweaters.

First up: sweaters. Obviously sweaters are always in style in fall and winter seasons to keep you warm, but the style for sweaters in fall 2013 are either a cozy knit sweater or academically-inspired sweaters.
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Kate Spade's sweaters for fall are worn over a white button-down for an academically-inspired look.
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Michael Kors included the ever popular comfy loose knit sweaters in his collection.

Emerald Green.

If you haven't heard about it yet; Fall 2013's IT color: Emerald Green

This trend can be worn as a pop of color in an outfit, accessory, nail polish, or you can go all out such as wearing an emerald green dress!

Mixed Prints.

There are so many big patterns for fall 2013, such as plaid, tweed, hounds-tooth, and argyle. So why not mix and match them!
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Kate Spade mixes hounds-tooth and tweed in this blouse + jacket combo. The overall style of this outfit is 60s-inspired which is also a big trend this fall.
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Alice + Olivia mix plaid and argyle in this look.

Leather.

Leather is huge this fall. From jackets to skirts to bags, leather is one of the most popular and easiest trends to try. My favorite is the leather skirt because it is different from the pieces we usually see in leather, such as leather jackets.
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Kate Spade leather jacket
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Michael Kors leather dress
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Alice + Olivia leather skirt (my favorite!)
These pieces are easy to find and fairly easy to style! Try them out, I know I will ;)