Friday, January 31, 2014

Wishlist: The Perfect Bedroom

So, as of late I've been pinning a lot of home decor ideas on my Pinterest. I think the fact that I just signed a lease with my two best friends (!!!)  for our apartment next year has got me all excited. Since I've been living at home all year, I just moved back into my old room. I touched it up here and there, but there was no fresh start by any means. Although new bedding was involved... Bright pink, of course!

While I love this bedding from Lilly Pulitzer, I'm going to have to refrain from buying it as I'll be taking the new bedding I got this year to the apartment with me. BUT that being said, bedding isn't everything (just the centerpiece of a bedroom...in my opinion) and I've got some ideas up my sleeves for how to make my room next year my sanctuary. And yes, a lot of pink will be involved.

Take a peek at the looks that are inspiring me nowadays!

A De-Cluttered Desk



Simple Decor



Organized Shelf-Space



Light Up the Night



Not so sure this is allowed... but we'll see!

A Pop of Color



Show Off Your Closet



A Few of My Favorite Things...




Personal motto: the more pillows, the better.

Jewelry as decor? Yes.



Granted, I'm on a budget and my room will never look as nice as the rooms in these pics. At least not in the next five years anyway... Maybe seven. Fingers crossed post-college success comes sooner rather than later! Really though, learning how to budget is already proving to be extremely difficult.

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Happy Friday!

xoxo

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Beat the Wednesday Slump

So, I'm pretty good at taking care of myself. I make it to the gym every week, eat pretty healthy, all that jazz. I've been feeling out of it since Friday though, and really need to get back on track.

I'm so much of a happier, better person when I'm exercising and making sure I'm making good choices. I've just been so tired lately and I worry I'm falling into that mid-winter slump. I swear if that groundhog says six more weeks of winter this Sunday someone is going to be in trouble!

Anyone else feeling the same way? It's so hard to motivate yourself to get to the gym when it's 12 below outside and downright freezing. A cozy bed with lots of blankets seems like a much better option, although it's not as good for your self-esteem as exercising is. My daily struggle.

Anyways, here's some fitspo for your thoughts!












via Pinterest




Always try and be the best you YOU can be.


xoxo

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Grammy's Round Up

Alright, I KNOW I'm not the only one who thought that they got the best part of the Grammy's over with within the first five minutes of the show. Beyonce and her man killed it and I've fallen even more in love with the world's most famous couple. I made it until 9:30 when Taylor Swift performed and then I was ready for bed. I tend to try and stray away from hating too much on awards shows, but this year's Grammy's just weren't my favorite. #sorrynotsorry

Quick rant sesh: Lorde won two awards. Get out of here. Awesome that she's seventeen and has great writing skills but she honestly creeped me out a little bit during her performance. Anyone else? Meh. That's how I feel about that summed up in one word.

I will say that the star-studded bash had a great deal of wonderful looks to admire. The celebs brought their best and I could not be happier about it. Check out my favorite looks from the show below!

Also, apologies for the sassiness in this post... I just spent a lot of time reading Betches Love This.

The Ladies Stole the Show


Alicia Keys in Armani Privé

Ciara in custom Emilio Pucci

Katy Perry in Valentino

Miranda Lambert in Pamella Roland

(My favorite...) Taylor Swift in Gucci Premiere

The Men Surprised Too


Daft Punk in Saint Laurent

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Ryan Lewis in Mr. Turk

Miguel in Saint Laurent

The Golden Couples


Calvin Harris in David Thomas X JBH with Rita Ora wearing Lanvin

Jay-Z in Tom Ford with Beyonce in Michael Costello

(And my other favorite...) John Legend in Gucci and wife Chrissy Teigan in Johanna Johnson

So even though the Grammy's were a little disappointing, at least the fashion wasn't!

xoxo

Monday, January 27, 2014

Monday Inspiration: Give In

Just another manic Monday... or week! If you didn't notice, I was not able to get up a "Weekly Wonders" post last week. It felt like the week just whizzed by and between classes, homework, meetings, and life I just didn't have the time. Goal for this week: Be more on top of things.

Moving on, last week was a whirlwind of emotions and stress. We didn't have classes Monday, but something happened last Sunday that just bummed me out and put me in a funk that made accomplishing anything (besides signing a lease!!) seem impossible. By the time classes on Tuesday rolled around I had no choice but to pick myself up and work my butt off the rest of the week. I was so thankful when Friday came, I was actually dying to go out and just hang out with friends.

Sometimes letting loose with your best friends is the greatest remedy for releasing all the stress that had built up throughout the week. I mentioned here that I tend to feel anything and everything. Last week I was so busy I felt like I didn't have time to even handle anything I was feeling, and it all crept up on me Saturday when I finally had some downtime. 

I learned this summer that not taking the time to acknowledge and handle the feelings you don't want to feel is going to do you more harm in the long run then it will do you good. I was just talking about this with a friend yesterday who was feeling a little down (for good reason). Pushing away feelings you're afraid of or uncomfortable with might be a good remedy in the short term, but you have to give in to them at some point.

The bigger they are the harder they fall, right? I know this idiom is meant to describe failure, but I think it can be applied here as well. The more intense the feeling and emotion you refuse to acknowledge, the longer you harbor it somewhere deep down inside, the worse the heartbreak is going to be when they finally come to light. I've become a big proponent of taking time to consider how I'm feeling in any given situation, why I'm feeling that way, and how I can move on from it.

You can't find peace by avoiding life. You can't find peace by ignoring your emotions. The hardest part of accepting this part of life is accepting that it's okay to feel everything. When you're feeling everything at once though, that's when you run into trouble. You can run from so many things in life, but you can't run from yourself. You can't escape yourself. And your emotions are a part of who you are, a part of what defines you, a part of what defines your life. But that doesn't mean you have to let them run your life.

I'm a very intuitive person. I can tell when someone is struggling. And the one thing all these people have in common? It's not that they're broken, it's the fact that they think they're broken.

We've all been there. We've all felt lost. But if you break once, it's okay. Just don't allow yourself to stay that way. Part of the process of overcoming the tougher emotions in life--heartbreak, grief, loss, even love-- is allowing yourself to feel them. Really, truly, deeply, feel what it is your feeling and don't be sorry about it. We're all human, and we're all just trying to get by. My greatest worry about our society today is that between social media, the pressure to fit in, this "American dream" that always seems so out of reach, people have lost themselves. We've become ghosts just puttering around hoping that one day we stumble upon success. Don't be a ghost. Don't run from who you are. Give in to your emotions, give in to your feelings, and life will find a way to repay you. Honesty is one of the hardest things in life, but it's true what they say, nine times out of ten it's the best policy.

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Challenge yourself this week.
xoxo

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Looks I'm Loving

I've SO been looking forward to this post because what with all the awards shows (it's finally the season!), and NYFW coming up (eep!) there are just an abundance of looks that I, well, love.

There's been a lot happening, so I rounded my picks off to three favorites from given bloggers, award shows, random Pinterest finds... There's so much to see, so much to love, and so many gorgeous celebrities to envy! They have to be normal looking with undone hair and a bare face, right? Not going to lie, sometimes the "Stars without Makeup!" segments of magazines really make me feel better about myself on a down day. Pathetic, I know.

Have a look, and happy Thursday!



The 2014 Screen Actor's Guild Awards


Lupita Nyong'o



Gucci

Kerry Washington


Prada

(People really loved this one or they hated it... I loved it because, I mean, it's Kerry Washington and she's pulling off a crop top while PREGNANT. Kudos.)

Anna Gunn


Monique Lhuiller

The 2014 Critics' Choice Movie Awards


Margot Robbie

Elie Saab

Lupita Nyong'o


You win again Lupita... in Calvin Klein

Kristen Bell


Pamella Roland

The 2014 Golden Globes Awards

Amy Adams


Valentino

Kate Beckinsale


Zuhair Murad

Emma Roberts


Lanvin

Classy Girls Do Wear Pearls


I love everything Sarah from Classy Girls Wear Pearls wears, so I couldn't not include her. Especially now that she's uploading all the looks from her engagement trip to Keil!




And Tumblr Never Disappoints Either...




A little out of season... but I love it nonetheless.


Pink Peonies for Days


I just recently discovered Rachel's blog and I'm also so in love with her style.




A Love Affair with Pinterest Finds





If you missed yesterday's post (I posted it late...), don't forget to check it out!

xoxo