fashion – I Don't Even Have a "Pla"

Let’s Be Real: Is Renting Your Clothes Actually Worth it?

Coming up on Fall and Winter, I have soooo many clothes. These two seasons are the longest and when, for whatever reason, I’ve bought the bulk of my clothes. I want new clothes, but the thought of having to put more sweaters in my suitcases for storage in the spring makes my skin itch. Enter clothing rental services.

Ive been wanting to try Rent the Runway Unlimited FOREVER. I love the idea of getting fancy clothes you can endlessly swap and make cool outfits, constantly. For $159 a month, it’s just not in the budget. It’s fantastic if you’re always buying clothes and usually spending more than that a month, but I’m definitely not. Recently, they added an option for $89 per month for 4 items a month. A better option for people like me, but I was still on the fence.

I came across this ad recently for a clothing rental service called Nuuly. It’s from the same company that does Urban Outfitters, Free People and Anthropologie. It’s super new and launched in July. It’s $69 a month for 6 pieces you can rent and return or buy for a discount (most of the time). Basically the same as RTR, but with more clothes for less money (which makes sense because they aren’t designer brands).

Since I had a good number of how many pieces in my box, I decided to build one full outfit I figured would go together. The next few pieces would be either things I liked but maybe wouldn’t buy or something different I wouldn’t normally wear. Here’s what was in my first box:

First thing I wore was the cheetah print romper. I figured it would be something I’d only be able to wear this month before it got too cold and I honestly wasn’t sure how it was gonna look on me. I surprisingly loved this piece. It ended up being so comfy, fit really well and the neckline was super flattering!

Next, was this snakeskin trench coat. I bought this to go with the neon turtleneck, but it ended up not looking that great. I really needed a white chunky turtleneck or something similar, but tried to pair it with what I had anyway. Loved this piece individually, but was really hard to style. With the right pieces, it would’ve been so much cooler.

Then, was the neon turtleneck shirt. Wouldn’t call this a sweater since it wasn’t super thick. I thought the material would’ve been thin, but it was actually not see-through while not being heavy. It looked really cool with on all black look!

Next, we have the Paige jacket. Mostly just got this because I was lusting after it. It ended up being another one that was a little hard to style. I felt like it really looked good with turtlenecks and thats about it. Still a gorgeous jacket and loved the print.

Last, but definitely not least, the patchwork flare jeans. I saw these and immediately had to try them. It was another risk because they could’ve not fit or been actually so weird in person but wow. These were so good I really wanted to keep them. Fortunately, the price tag kept me from that, I could get two more Nuuly boxes for the price of those pants alone. My only regret is that I didn’t wear them more!

If you can count, you’ll notice I left something out. The black pants with the ruffles were very underwhelming and fit weird. I’m a high waisted pants girl and these were not high enough for me, I need them boob level!!

I thought when I ordered this stuff “If I can wear 3 pieces out of all of these, it’ll be worth it.” Turns out, I found some stuff I really loved and took some style risks I wouldn’t have normally taken. That last sentence sounds like its a life changing thing and I’m a motivational speaker, but you get it.

Fall Trend Alert: Having Tiny Titties

DISCLAIMER: I’m not coming for people with tiny boobs. We’re all given a certain amount and we may increase or decrease to our leisure, if you’re willing to pay for it. I would also like to point out that it is 10000X easier to add boob (pushup bra) than take boob away (there’s no “take boob away” bra).

However, when it comes to fashion lately, smaller boobs are more “stylish”. I can think of so many times where I’ve said, I can’t wear that because I have big boobs. I recently watched a IGTV video from an unnamed magazine company where they talked about trends for fall or things that they’re loving as far as clothes go. I would say about half of the things we’re very specifically tailored to people with absolutely nothing up top.

It seems that we always want to add more boob, but in clothing lately it’s trendy to just not have any boobs at all. Here’s some examples:

Sweaters with just one button to close it, cute! On me? Suggestive.

Imagine trying to wear a bra with this–comical.

The trend here seems to be tiny strings to hold your top closed. God forbid your boobs fall with gravity and aren’t inline with your eyeballs.

This started trending on Instagram as everyone saying, “look at Katie Holmes being an influencer! So chic!” Instead of how it would be framed if she had my body which would be, “Katie Holmes wardrobe malfunction! Seems a little sloppy.”

Another trend I’d like to point out is the androgynous dressing, which basically means baggy-suit-wear-so-you-look-like-a-guy. A little easier to pull off, but I’m definitely still gonna look like a girl.

Without getting preachy or talking about something I very much don’t know anything about, this is part of larger issue with fashion. Everything is always made for people of a certain body type and looks wonky on anyone that doesn’t look like that. That’s why it’s cool that some brands now show you the same article of clothing on different body types. But of course, high fashion and trends really aren’t there yet. Anyone who isn’t rail thin really isn’t considered in designing clothes, it’s always just made bigger in order to fit more bodies. And “thats the tea”, on that.

Let’s Be Real: Are Fabletics Leggings Actually The Best?

Since I mostly live in comfortable clothes now and like the occasional workout class, I needed some new leggings. And by need, I mean just convinced myself I needed them. I’ve been wanting to try Fabletics for a while now, but got spooked by the V.I.P system. Basically, this charges you 50 bucks after the 5th of every month unless you buy something or skip that month. I’ve been burned by forgetting to skip my Hello Fresh before (literally woke up in a cold sweat after sleepily seeing my PayPal charged 60 bucks one morning), but really wanted the discounted leggings. My bank account be damned, I signed up and walked away with the cutest spring leggings.

I have two favorite pairs of leggings. One was bought for maybe $25 at Forever21 and the other was a very spontaneous Lululemon $98 purchase after feeling very good in them in the dressing room mirror. The price is obviously wildly different, but they do have a few things in common. 1. Super mega high-waisted. 2. The perfect length aka no bunching at the bottom and not too short. 3. Thin enough to breathe but thick enough that there isn’t any weird see-through areas. It also helps that they’re both a cute print and mostly black.

I’d say the key to finding good leggings is trying them on. I’ve bought way too many online that were either thicker than I thought or didn’t come up high enough—which it needs to be at least over the belly button no question. Fabletics opened a pop-up down in SoHo so I was able to try a few on. Wouldn’t say there was a huge selection, but decent enough. These are what I tried on and what I ended up getting. 2 for $24, ya can’t beat that.

So the question is, do these measure up to my favorite leggings? Let’s get the not so great out of the way, as usual:

I think because these leggings are light colored, the sweat marks show. Kinda gross, but crotch sweat is real and I don’t need it seen.
THICK! The fabric is super thick. I dont hate it (I bought them full-well knowing that), but kinda hate the “front wedgie” that gives me. Am I right ladies?

Okay now for the good stuff:

Great price. I mean $24 dollars for two is great. After the intro price, it’s $50 if you’re VIP which is still better than Lululemon
The perfect length. Not too long and not too short.
Holds your shit in TIGHT. And super high-waisted
The colors are just so pretty and make me feel cute while sweating my ass off
Did I say price already cause it’s good

Overall, 10/10 would buy again. Might try a few other styles that may be less thick in the future, but definitely worth the hype! If you’re in the market of new ones, I recommend the mint because the color is wow. Let me know if there’s something else you want me to cover in the comments!

My Favorite Things in 2018

Does that title rhyme slightly? Just me? Great.

I wanted to do this wrap up of the stuff I really loved this year that I didn’t talk about and/or barely talked about. Sort of like a giant Sunday Summary, A.K.A that thing I don’t do anymore (but can still be viewed if you’re into that).

Best Hair Product of 2018:

Processed with VSCO with p5 preset — The Tragic Before

Technically, this isn’t a product. HOWEVER, I discovered this dry shampoo blow drier trick and it is a game changer. Had bun hair all day and then someone wanted to hangout (and i did not want to have bun hair) so I tried this trick. Here’s the post I did and how it ended up going for me, but spoiler alert, it works.

Best Book in 2018:

If you need to know anything about me, it’s that I love to read. I’ve been slacking slightly with how much, but I’ve been picking up major speed with it lately. I’ve read roughly 20-ish books this year, which is kind of a lot. Trying to narrow it down to the best was hard, but some of the books I read just sort of ran together. Really thinking about doing a monthly post about the books I read the month before (mostly just to push myself to read more). OKAY on to my actual pick: You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero. I know what you’re thinking “Self-help book? That’s for sad weirdos.” Here’s the thing: You’re right! BUT, I’d argue that everyone is kind of a sad weirdo sometimes! I read this when I really needed something to give me things to do after I quit my job and when I needed a distraction from going down the “what if I have to move home because I can’t find a job” hole. I would honestly read it again, that’s how much I liked it. If you’re stuck in place in your life where you have no idea what you’re doing, read this. If you wanna make a crazy change, read this. It’s 2019, the year of making goals and gettin’ bread—as the memes say, so read it!

Best Makeup Product of 2018:

Okay I almost put something else for this that was expensive and to be fair, very good. I feel that I should instead pay homage to a brand who had my back when I was too broke to go to Sephora and get new stuff. That’s right I’m talking about ELF. You wouldn’t think with $1 brow pencils and $3 concealer would be worth putting on your face. I’m here to tell you, your assumptions are wrong. My brows are perfectly filled and my pores CONCEALED! Was actually not a fan of the bronzer cause it was too glittery for my tastes but that doesn’t mean it’s not quality! Okay done with my spiel.

Best Skincare Product of 2018:

Spoiler alert it’s like 2 dollars. Spoiler alert again, it’s lemon juice. I started using it and it felt like a miracle. Then I stopped for a few weeks recently, because I’m skeptical person and sometimes I don’t feel like buying lemons ya know. Started using them again and wow I forgot how good they are. My skin just has so much less redness and blackheads! It’s so great and so cheap.

Best Movie of 2018:

I know you all want me to say A Star is Born, but I’m sorry I can’t. The music is amazing, yes. Bradley Cooper is hot, yes. I absolutely knew what was gonna happen at the end and so I didn’t like it as much. Maybe if there was a world with no spoilers and people wouldn’t have talked about how amazing it was and subsequently ruining it. I also really don’t watch movies in theaters that much. I’ve seen maybe 3 movies this entire year, so I fell like I can’t say what the best movie this year is. I can say what the best movie I saw this year. It’s not new, it’s just new to me. Okay, it’s Steel Magnolias. This is a weird pick for me, since every time anyone would bring this up I’d immediately think “How can that be good? It sounds so corny.” It was on Netflix a few months back and it was a rainy Saturday, so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s set in a small town in Louisiana—hence the name. The thing about movies centered around the South is they’re always over exaggerated. Every other word is “crawfish” or “gumbo” or “pea-can pie!” I get it, its a movie, but that why I never really like them. This one doesn’t do that. Overall, its pretty reflective of life in smaller southern town and I loved it. I cried, I laughed and now I know why it wont so many awards. It’s not on Netflix anymore, but find it somewhere because it’s so good.

Best Show of 2018:

Okay this is so hard because I’ve seen so many good shows this year, but there’s only one that filled me with the most joy every time I turned it on: The Great British Baking Show. Am I late to this game? I really don’t know but this show is so good. I really loved watching to the point of watching two seasons in a about a week. I did it in a weird way where I watched seasons 5 & 6 first and in my humble opinion, those are the best seasons. After that, they change the hosts and Prue isn’t one of the judges and I need her color coordination in my life. I love the accents, the stuff they come up with and Paul Hollywood is a cutie, I’m just gonna throw it out there. Really into shows that make me laugh and aren’t super dramatic lately and this one definitely fill that for me. I even watched it twice, so if you haven’t yet, here’s your notification.

Best Clothing Purchase of 2018:

This was the year I bought so many clothes, it’s obnoxious. Trying to “re-vamp” my wardrobe and also buying things for a 9-5 job was tough. I think the best purchase and the thing I got the most use out of were my Lululemon leggings. As you know, I’m more of a quantity over quality gal. Trends come and go a lot for me to be buying something that I may not wear in a few years that costs an arm and a leg. Also let’s keep it real, I’m still washing my clothes in a laundry mat for god’s sake. I’m in no place to be buying anything over 50 bucks. I completely believe in a good splurge for things that may be expensive, but you’ve been lusting after for a while. Hence, my purchase of these leggings. I really wanted to see if they are so different from the $20 Forever 21 leggings and I’m here to say yes they are. They fit like a glove, the length is always perfect (aka no bunching at the bottom) and they stay in place when I’m running. I still only have one pair so far, but 2019 I’ll be getting some more and really coming into my basic white girl form.

Best Workout of 2018:

So, I’m splitting this up by home workout and workout class, okay great:

Best home workout is always Tabata with Raneir Pollard hands down. He’s so fun and at the same time, the workout is always intense. It’s always my Monday go to for a good strong beginning to my week. Also, they just uploaded a new one!

Best workout class I’ve been to in the city is Yoga sculpt at Corepower yoga. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, If I were a richer woman, I’d be doing yoga twice a week at minimum. This particular class is not only yoga, but a little bit of cardio to satisfy my needs. They have them all over, so check them out if they’re near you!

Cheers to 2019! Can’t wait to make many more posts and let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see more of on the blog 🙂

The Sunday Summary

I haven’t done one of these in MONTHS, so I feel as if I need to update you guys on the things I really like lately. Pay attention (please), this is a good one.

Elf Concealer

I have this weird thing where I have two concealers. One is my expensive concealer for when I wanna look like a pore-less model and one for when I’m just living my everyday life as a regular human—or for when I wanna look good, but not that good. Just me? I happened to be in Target the other day and remembered I was running out of my regular human concealer, as well as my fancy one. A dilemma! On a whim, (and because I didn’t wanna go to the mad house that is Sephora), I bought this. Actually rivals my expensive concealer AND only $3?! I have turned a new leaf.

Graphic Tee Trend?

I never, In my wildest dreams, thought I would actually like this trend. I love pairing a tee with fancy pants (as seen below), especially patterned pants. Not by any means ready for Fall, (because Winter is next), but I do miss my pants. I’m still hesitant to buy any band t-shirt that I have never listened to, or a shirt that says something horrible like “beast mode.”

RX V.S. Lära Bars

It’s hard to pick which one I like better. RX bars are my personal OG. They have basic ingredients, big, taste amazing and have no added sugar. HOWEVER, Lära bars are making a serious contender. Some of them do have added sugar (usually only about 3g), but follow the same “basic ingredients” principal. They also have some amazing flavors like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Coconut Creme Pie and (my personal fave) Lemon Bar. They aren’t as big as RX bars, so I would say that’s their downfall. I know I’m late to the party on these, but maybe someone else is too, okay!!

Running on a Treadmill?

As you guys may know, I’ve been implementing running back into my daily workouts. I used to run solely outside (in the devil’s heat), but lately, I’ve been using the treadmill. At first, it was a ride on the struggle bus. You have nothing really to pay attention to except maybe a TV you can’t hear. You also aren’t really going anywhere, so it’s just you and your thoughts for however long you can stand it. Since switching to a focus on endurance, instead of focusing on speed, I’m actually enjoying it. I either listen to a podcast, or some of my favorite jams of the moment. Definitely not going fast, but I can usually last longer and run better on the treadmill. As with anything, the more you do it, the better you get.

Book of the Summer: You are a Badass by Jen Sincero

Late to this party as well, mostly because I figured this book was corny. I decided to switch it up and read a book or two about bettering my life—maybe give the murder mysteries a break. This was surprisingly good and only slightly corny. I would say, keep an open mind when reading. It gave me things to do while on the job hunt and inspired me to change some things in my life. Highly recommend if you feel like you’re struggling with anything or just need some inspiration*~.

The Sunday Summary

Talking about some realness on this Sunday summary. All about putting lemon juice on my face, what to do when your running day doesn’t workout because the weather is horrible(or maybe you just don’t wanna run because who really likes that shit?) and what book I am loving right now(and how to get a free book)!!

Beauty

Okay I touched on this a little bit in my last post, but I wanted to go a little bit more in-depth about it. I’ve always had “problematic” skin and I will try anything once if it will help in some small way (and doesn’t cost my left arm). I just started putting lemon juice on my face randomly one night and I got say, I love it. My skin is naturally super oily, uneven and I have dark marks from my time with cystic acne. I’m so serious when I say, I’ve never had my skin look so even and bright when I wake up in the morning. And this is just using a lemon. A LEMON. I highly recommend if you have skin like mine. I just squeeze a little on my face where I have the most issues and sleep with it on (kinda sticky, but worth it).

Style

The newest trend among the fashion conscience people is, the mom jean. Basically loose-r fitting jeans that are super high-waisted and usually light-washed. I love anything high-waisted to cover the *ahem* problem areas and suck that crap right in. However, I can’t help but wonder if I would actually think these were cute if half the world wasn’t wearing them? Probs not. All the fancy people are wearing the 501 Levi’s (you know which ones) and ya girl was on the hunt for cheaper ones (NOLA trip coming up and also wanted Steve Madden strappy heels). After going to Levi’s in Brooklyn for a wear test, I set off to find similar fitting ones for cheaper. I found these babies and after trying on several decided they were my closest match. Keep in mind they are crazy tight when you first put them on, but they stretch out after a couple wears and aren’t meant to bounce back(no spandex or stretchy material). I thought about going a size up, but ultimately stuck to my true size and I’m glad I did. if you wanna be trendy, but not spend a cool 100 bucks, these are for you.

Food baby

I was nervous to try this because usually with certain dairy-free ice creams they like have a drier texture and just aren’t as delicious as regular ice cream. I swear, this brand puts out the best dairy free stuff cause this tastes creamy and ah-mazing. I literally come home and eat it immediately after work(don’t @ me). This is the best flavor, 10/10 you won’t regret it.

Fitness

In this endless winter NYC calls “normal” and “not a big deal” and “a livable place,” some days I don’t wanna go outside. I’ve committed to two days of running, but some days, when its 30 degrees or snowing in March, I don’t. I love the feeling I get after I run, (not the actual running cause who actually likes that), so I needed to find a cardio routine I could do in my apartment that gave me a similar feeling. In comes PopSugar Fitness to save the day. This is one of those cardio videos where you are constantly moving the entire time, which are my favorite. I feel pretty much as winded as I do when I run when I finish this video. The best part? Only 10 minutes. Quick and a great workout!

So I read a book…….

I don’t know if I’ve talked about this yet, but I signed up for Book of the Month in January and I am in love with it. For those who don’t know what it is (which I didn’t either) basically they have a list of amazing books and you pick one for them to send you! It arrives in maybe two days, tops, and I haven’t gotten a book I didn’t absolutely love, yet. The book I chose for this month was Other People’s Houses. I’m normally a murder mystery gal, but I decided to branch out for once and see if I liked this book since it wasn’t something I would normally get. I gotta say, I loved it. I binge-read(is this a word????) it in a literal week any time I had a few minutes. It’s mostly just about the lives of these people in this one neighborhood in L.A. Sounds boring, but the characters are so funny and relatable I couldn’t put it down. Here’s my link to get a free book!

So I listen to this podcast

Podcasts are slowly becoming my favorite things to listen to at work and they’re fabulous for long flights (NYC—>NOLA). “Keep it!” is a new podcast from my faves at crooked media which stars Ira Madison III, Kara Brown and Louis Virtel. They talk mostly about celeb news and the occasional politics. The most current episode talks about Cynthia Nixon’s run for governor of New York (Mirandas everywhere rejoice!) and the Donald Trump Jr./ Aubrey O’Day scandal. To be honest, Louis could probably do a dramatic reading of my to-do list and make it funny. 10/10 look forward to these every week.

I did a thing in NYC and you should too™

Okay on Saturday I finally did something I’ve been wanting to do for like two weeks. I had an entirely vegan meal at a Mexican restaurant. Yes you read that right. Thrillist did a piece on the owner talking about his amazing new creation. I went, mostly because I really wanted the nachos and didn’t wanna feel bad about eating crap (trying to save my calories for my trip to NOLA next week). I highly recommend the nachos , as they were the best part. I also had the quesadillas, which are my favorite at any Mexican restaurant because of my love of cheese. They were pretty good, considering I absolutely hate vegan cheese of any kind. Also had margs of course, which you can’t go wrong with. Definitely something to try and I’ll probably come back just for the nachos.

The Sunday Summary

Talking about this new dry shampoo hair trick I tried, my new favorite pants (cause I’m all about pants lately), the best Galentine’s ever and the best workout for your abs!

Beauty

As a blogger, I follow a ton of bloggers on Instagram (duh). I recently started following Brighton Keller who lives in Dallas. She super sweet and one of the more genuine bloggers in my opinion. I saw on one of her stories recently about a dry shampoo trick she does with her hair and then mental made a note to try it out one day. Well Friday I was struggling with some day-3-hair-bun-action and this guy was like “let’s have drinks!” My motto is to just say yes to everything so I was like I guess I gotta figure out how to make this work and then I remembered her trick and was immediately over-joyed. I’ll link her video here, but the gist is to take a round brush, hair drier, dry shampoo and basically act like you’re drying your hair with a round brush even when its dried. Sounds very weird but my hair was super flat and gross so I figured I’d give it a shot. I used Not Your Mother’s Texturizing Dry Shampoo, but you can use whatever you have.

And there you have it! Definitely not something I have time or energy for everyday since I barely have time to dry my hair, but definitely something to do on day 3 hair that just the grossest it could possibly be (aka my hair).

Style

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would like pants that look like these, but New York has changed me (kinda). These are some that I got from work that aren’t available yet (coming soon I swear its on the website), but you really can get these anywhere. Super comfortable and have like a denim-feel without looking it straight up jeans. Here I dressed them up with booties and a black turtle-neck:

Then I dressed them down with a t-shirt and sweater with converse:

Fitness

I love me some Tabata because its short bursts of working out, which makes it go by quicker. To me, it’s the best new way to do a HITT workout. My new favorite is this super quick ab workout I just discovered. As I’ve said in my workout routine post, I run every other day and do abs. This is great because its quick and by the time I finish running, I’m over it (cause running kinda sucks lets be real).

So I watched this show………

This honestly should just be titled “I binged this show in a day because it was so good.” I don’t know if you guys remember Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, but me and my mom LOVED that show when I was a kid and we watched it all the time. Well Netflix has done a re-boot with all new people and it is the best reality show I have seen in a while. The guys are ADORABLE and fun, I have a huge crush on Antoni like zamn. It’s just like the old one where each guy is in charge of different aspects of life like food, style, and design. Besides this show being hilarious and fun, it’s also so important and they touch on some really serious issues. They talk about police brutality against black men (Karamo is black), what it means to be gay and religious and the struggle to define yourself as a black and gay man. I laughed, I cried and I cannot wait for next season

So I read this book…….

I subscribed to Book of the Month, which is a great way for me to push myself to read more and I get a gorgeous hardcover book for 16 bucks! I just finished this book and wow, it was insane. It’s all about this woman living with Agoraphobia (fear of the outside) because of a drama she experienced about a year ago. Of course it’s a murder mystery romance-y thing because that’s all I read now.

So I did a fun thing in NYC and you should too

If you’re a human being, you know that Valentines Day was this past week (barf). However, you might not know that the day before Valentines day is Galentine’s Day! Coined by the beautiful and fictional Leslie Knope of Parks and Rec, it is a day of celebrating gals! I decided to take my gals to this beautiful restaurant Café Medi. I’ve been wanting to see it girl because the pictures I’ve seen are unreal.

They were having a Galentine’s event, 3 courses AND a bottle of wine for 50 bucks. Basically a steal for NYC and I love any excuse to drink on a weekday. The place was gorgeous, and the food was unbelievable. I ate way too much and had way too much fun. No complaints from me.

The Sunday Summary

You might be reading this title and saying to yourself “Excuse me, is this……the vibes???” to which I would say “uhhhhmmmmmm no????????? Obviously the title is totally different can’t you read?”

Okay I know I said I was canceling the vibes and you know what

This is my attempt at revamping/classin’ up the vibes okay? “the vibes?” what am I 22??? No I’m 23 so now I have just a summary of my classy life. (honestly the title is TBD cause summary is not my best work with words but its HARD okay?)

Lets get into it.

Beauty

As per usual, I am trying to revamp my skin care. I’ve switched completely to the charcoal life and i gotta say I dig it. I use both of these products, but the exfoliating one I only use every other day. I definitely notice a difference in my skins overall oily-ness. Let me also add that the exfoliating one smells like a beautiful man so extra added bonus in my opinion.

Style

I just got these beautiful babies and I got sooo many compliments at work(and the gram because I had to post about them). Bad news is I cannot for the life of me find them online but I swear they exist somewhere in the abyss that is Forever 21. Happy hunting!! In all seriousness, based on the fact that I went through every pant they had online, they have a TON of striped pants of all colors. Just an FYI ya know.

Foods

I was trying to figure out a way to make my cauliflower taste good but not have to use too many ingredients(cause money). I also wanted to try to use stuff I already had available. Pinterest came through though and I found a recipe! All I did was separate some cauliflower florets and heat some oil in a pan. Then put some minced garlic and the cauliflower in the skillet and let it brown for a bit. Next added soy sauce, juice of a whole lime and some strata sauce and voilà! Unbelievably good and easy.

So I watched this show……

*Spoilers maybe???

I finally got around to watching The Crown! At first, I was like sheesh every episode is like a mini movie how am I gonna finish this? Of course it reeled me in and I finished two seasons in a week hah. Literally my favorite episode was the one where the queen mother is in Scotland and she meets that cute little old man and he’s so nice to her. I cried and also I really wanted them to get together cause that poor woman could use some joy!!!

So I’ve been listening to some music……

This playlist though. It took me on a ride through the angsty early 2000s and I love it. It satisfied all of my phases including but not limited to: Blink 182, Good Charlotte and All Time Low. Very nostalgic and I love it.

So I found a new podcast…..

I stumbled upon this after a suggestion from one of the other podcasts I listen to. It’s all about this missing persons case from 2005 and it literally unfolds as the guy is doing the podcast its crazy. Theres a bunch of episodes and he also has another podcast called Atlanta Monster! Also makes me a little homes sick cause of the people have thick Georgia accents and its the cutest thing.

So I did a fun thing in NYC and you should do it too..

I haven’t done brunch in forever so I decided to try one of the best bottomless brunches in NYC at Agave. I couldn’t make reservations, but after an hour and a half(this place is POPPIN) we managed to get a table. It was definitely worth the wait!

The food was so good and these guys sitting next to us told us to get the prickly pear margarita and man were they good and so pretty! Our waitress was so cool and nice despite being so over-worked with all the people. So could not recommend enough.

Live From New York it’s the Sunday Vibes

Before we begin I gotta talk about this cute as shit little bakery right next my apartment I discovered (actually Kristen did when looking at my location on Find My Friends so shout out to her). It’s super tiny, but cute and there’s cat decorations all over the place. Bonus is that most of their stuff is gluten free and everything is vegan. Sometimes living in Brooklyn annoys me, but this is one of those times where Brooklyn is cool as heck.

Beauty¡

This week I thought I’d give a little tutorial on how I do my eyeshadow. This is how I do it when I’m going out and wanna look fancy!

So I’m using this Kylie Jenner Palette, the Burgundy Palette. I may not like Kylie Jenner very much (like who cares if she’s pregnant barf me), but I gotta admit, her eyeshadow is really good. Super pigmented and I don’t have to use a whole bunch of it to achieve the color I want.

I’m gonna be using the red colors cause they match the scarf I’m wearing tonight (cause I’m matchy matchy af). Most people who do their makeup start with the eyes but I never understood that tbh. I wanna go for a more dramatic look so I’m gonna put tape on the side of my eyes to help get a cat eye without free handing it.

I just kinda eye ball it and hope I get them straight (sometimes works sometimes they’re crooked because I am just a girl not an expert). I make sure to put on eyeshadow primer, I use the Two Faced one.

I usually start with the more glittery part on my eye lid and then the more matte shade in my crease. Next I’m gonna line my eyes with black shadow and smudge it out. I used the Naked two palette and the last black shade.

I sort of do a triangle thing in the corner of my eye. I also highlight my brow bone and the other corner of my eye. This is the finished product!

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I usually don’t go this dramatic but the opera calls for the dramatic right? Right.

Style¿

(Minus the) Leather High Waisted Wrap Front Skirt @ Express $59.90

Double Layer Satin Cami @ Express $39.90

Got this beauty on sale at Express and I am in lurrrrveeeeee. I paired it with this top because I like the contrasting fabrics of satin and leather, but you can do lace as well! It’s super high waisted which I love (honestly if anything goes back to low-rise I will have to just go into hiding). I wore it with stocking and booties a few weekends ago and you can also do OTK boots. Also express has $25 off of $100 right now just FYI you’re welcome.

Fitness¿¡

Had another Saturday where my brain violently did not want to workout. I decided maybe I should start incorporating some yoga in my life sine people rave about it a lot. I’ve tried it before but I usually find it so slow and I get tired of it very easily. This one however was relatively fast paced and I actually was slightly sweaty after. I only burned about 150 cal (which I tried not to stress about) but I felt pretty tight and toned afterwards. Might have to go against my extreme cardio nature and do this more often (maybe).

Entertainment¡

So I finally finished the first season of Riverdale (its been on my Netflix list for agggeeessssss). To sum it up, its kinda like a more fast paced Pretty Little Liars (or should I say better cause it took 40 years to find out who A is). There were a couple weird parts like when Veronica and Cheryl have this like dance off and its very weird and cringe-worthy. I guess it’s more directed toward idk people in actual high school, but some parts make me barfy(like how much they SING). I am patiently waiting for season two to be on Netflix despite my judgment. Here’s hoping I don’t quit it in the middle for season 4 like I did with PLL. Only so much “who done it? Find out in three years” a person can take.

THIS.BOOK. Obviously one of my favorite authors and this book reels you in with the first chapter, its insane. I haven’t technically finished it yet, although I read it till 3 am last night for no other reason than I couldn’t stop. Its all about true crime and thriller stuff but thats all I’ll say cause when I first started reading it I also had no idea what it was about, so you should be blinded and delightfully surprised as well.

Pandora decided it was going to keep crashing my phone, so it had to go. Luckily, I found a playlist I liked on Spotify that I loved just as much. I only have two settings when it comes to Christmas: classic Christmas and jazzy Christmas. Unfortunately, Spotify can only satisfy one at a time.

Katie Does NYC Things

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Kept it a little low-key this weekend and just went to Opera (I think I just contradicted myself?). I felt like an old bitty complaining about today’s uncultured youth anytime I told anyone what I was doing that night. But also a very fancy old bitty. Then my friend proceed to inform me this was probably gonna last about 3 hours and I started to feel a little less fancy and little more worried I would die of boredom. The Opera was Thaïs which is basically about this godly man trying to convert this promiscuous lady to become a nun. It works, but not before he decides he loves her and doesn’t wanna be godly anymore (men are fickle beings). The first act was a little dull and I began to fear that I wouldn’t make it through all three, but to be fair, the first Act was a lot of praying and exclaiming. Also the entire thing was in French (which I only knew because I recognized the word for garden thanks 4 years of french!), so you have to read the words on the little screen in front of you (thankful for the little screen otherwise what a snooze fest). The second and third acts were more entertaining with this famous violin solo in the middle of Act II and III. If you’ve ever watched a cartoon in the 90s I feel like this was in an episode somewhere (or maybe I made that up but I recognize it!!). Then I was like “if I like this am I a weird nerd?” but then when was I ever to a nerd? There were a few funny parts (I don’t think they meant them to be funny) like when a guy threw a bunch of cash in the air to distract them so Thaīs and the guy (whatever his name is) could get away cause that is definitely a sure fire way to distract me too. All in all something I would definitely do again if I ever wanna feel •cultured•

Also please enjoy me failing at trying to see the Rockefeller Tree get lit (I was very annoyed and you’d know if you follow me on snapchat!!!!!!!!!!!!) (Also the other reason I kinda wanna post videos on here cause its pretty funny).

I’m thinking about putting videos on here of me talking about something (story of something funny that happened, my fails of nyc etc.) lemme know what you guys think! (I feel like I’m asking the void but its fine).

The Vibe at 5

This week we got shampoo that I catered to my hair, velvet boots (extra as heck), sale sale sale and too many carbs

Read on babes

Beauty¡

Function of Beauty shampoo & conditioner

I finnaaallllyyyyy got my Function of Beauty shampoo and conditioner I had been dying to try. In case you’re unaware, this shampoo claims to be made for my hair. You fill out a little quiz where you say what you want your hair goals to be, and what your hair is like currently. My hair is straight and oily so I wanted oil control, volume and scalp soothing! So here’s my hair after washing it the first time and drying it with a round brush:

Thoughts: My hair felt soo soft, but maybe it was just the fact that I was using something different from the norm? Volume seems pretty normal and my hair smelled fantastic.

After a full day of work and treating my hair like I always do: Still very soft, but kinda flat. Wouldn’t say worse than normal, but still. Upside is I don’t think its as oily as it normally is after work! The true test is how it will look tomorrow when I wake up (cause its usually a grease ball).

Okay here’s day 2:

Not too bad, honestly. Not a huge difference from the normal though.

Not sure if this is a placebo effect, but i feel like this looks better than normal??? Its definitely soft still, but this is probably a good hair day for me not a normal hair day.

Here it is on its best day Thursday:

Okay so I don’t wanna post like a billion pictures of the same thing so I’ll just say how I felt about it overall. I feel like eh value was the biggest improvement and the thing I noticed the most. My hair is still pretty oily, no more than normal though. Overall, I like it. Is it better than what I normally use? I’d say yeah. Is it worth spending more money on? Not really. I was expecting life changing, but that’s not really what I got. Smells ah-mazing though!

Style¿

Marc Fisher OTK Velvet Boots @ DSW $50

If you follow me on Instagram (which you should what are you doing?!?!), you know I shopped some of the crazy sales going on right now. I got these gorgeous things at DSW on sale and they are the new loves of my life (sorry pizza). Yes they are velvet which makes them 10000x better. Feet approved as I wore them all day at friends giving and they didn’t kill me. Also PSA everything at Express is still 50% off go go go!

Fitness¿¡

PopSugar Fitness 45min Tabata on Youtube

I need validation cause I got up on thanksgiving and did a 45 minute workout (and then proceeded to not workout the rest of the weekend). This sounds easy in retrospect because its 8 rounds of work for only 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off. Like whatever right? The sweat was real and crazy. Kinda like insanity, but less insane and awful.

Entertainment¡

Into the Water By Paula Hawkins

In between watching Gossip Girl for the 10 billionth time, I managed to finish this in like 3 days. Its the same author that wrote Girl on the Train and has the same murder mystery twist that I loved in the last one. This one is about a string of mysterious suicide drownings in a lake in a small town. OR are they suicides???????? Keeps you going literally till the last sentence (read it to know what I mean). 10/10

Katie Does NYC Things

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Thursday after my sweatfest, I went to a friends giving in Jersey City. Its a pretty nice city but man is it inaccessible as shit. Only one train in or out is rough and slow. Anyway, I got in with my mac and cheese (not vegan friendly) and met everyone. I got invited because my friend knew the person throwing it. We drank and ate and somehow popped some illegal fireworks then ate some more. A very fun thanksgiving well spent I would say.

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Saturday was a brunch day at Jack’s Wife Frieda which I’ve been wanting to try out! We went to the one in the west village since I love that area. There was a lot of people waiting, but it didn’t take very long to get a table at all. Very cute and delicious (like me). Then we walked around shopping and looking at all the Christmas stuff.

Managed to get this crazy awesome shot inside the 4th floor of Burlington Coat Factory haha. Then went went out in the Lower East Side to Pianos, which is now my new favorite place. You had to pay 8 bucks to get to the top floor (for some reason) and it was worth every cent. The music was awesome and I danced and sweated my butt off (sweaters don’t work in bars). The night ended with pizza, of course, but all in all one of the best Saturday nights in NYC!