Twofer Tuesday and temporary leave of absence

Oh Express, where have you been all my life? Right there in the mall, I've just been walking right on by you this whole time. But not anymore!

Express is killing me with their super cute skirts, I just cannot get enough. I'm thinking one will make it on to my fall/winter buy list. The two miniskirts I'm coveting at the moment:

LEFT Art Deco Sequin Mini 59.90   RIGHT Sequin Embellished Mini 59.50

Even though this is a Twofer Tuesday, not Threefer Tuesday, I have to give an honorable mention to this little sassy pants:

Mixed Print Satin Pencil Skirt 59.90

And my clock just rung midnight, which means this is officially a Twofer Wednesday :( Oops.
In other news, I must take a short temporary leave of absence, because I'm currently experiencing death by school + work. Yay. I'm hoping to be back in a week or two. Salut!

I heart gold

I'm really loving gold right now, especially the idea of pairing a gold shirt with a gold skirt, especially two different tones of gold. I think pairing this with black booties (if in doubt, wear some black booties, right?) and some unique but still understated black earrings.

Stella McCartney long sleeve top, $1,000 / Loose shirt, $120 / Crop tank top, $24 / Fabergé short mini skirt, $640 / Calypso St. Barth tiered mini skirt / Gold pleated skirt, $160 / Skater skirt / Emilio Pucci black ankle booties, $1,245 / Black bootie / Eddie Borgo long drop earrings / Nickel free jewelry / Miso sparkly earrings, $8.12

Check out the set I made on Polyvore.

So what do you think...two-tone gold outfits...yay or nay?

PS-I swear a new mani tutorial and the Rodarte star hairpiece diy will be up in the next few days!

Star hairpiece DIY inspo

I bought all the stuff I need to make a very classy fake copy of the the Rodarte gold star hairpiece:

source

I had to go to Hobby Lobby (bleh), and I still didn't find exactly what I was looking for, but hopefully what I bought will work. Mondays and Tuesdays are always the busiest for me, so I'll probably be making this Wednesday. I'll have some more awesome pics too! (as long as it's not a disaster)

Toodle-oo.

Now craving...

I've never been a scarf person, except for winter scarves, because when it drops to -10 F here, I mean, they're a necessity. But fashion scarves...they're cute, and a great way to add color or print or just something interesting to an outfit, but I've always felt kinda stupid wearing them. But I've decided to give them another go, because they are super cute.

My favorite place to (formerly) look at scarves and (hopefully) buy soon is definitely Nordstrom 3rd level (that's what my family calls it). I guess you could call it the "junior's" section at Nordstrom, but Nordstrom is just so amazing and "junior's section" just sounds so...crappy. Well, this is not crappy, definitely not. It's got all the style of the designer's section of Nordstrom (the 2nd level, as we also say), but at like 1/20th of the price. Sounds good to me!

scarf crazy by annabanana770 featuring printed scarves

LULU printed scarve / LULU floral scarve / David & Young printed scarve / David & Young printed scarve / David & Young david young / Sheer scarve

11 years

source

My nails go lunar

I don't have that many different colors of nail polish, mostly because I'm cheap and every time I think about buying a $2 bottle of polish I get my panties in a bunch, so I end up passing on it. But the other day at the store I gave in a got a new color. I really liked it but I didn't want to do just an all-over regular paint job, I wanted a little more oomph. Luckily, the solution came to me while I was reading a magazine; they had a "statement nails" article. So I decided to try out the fairly well-known half-moon mani. Here's how it went, in excruciatingly boring detail (with pictures!):


1. pick your polish

POLISH Sinful Colors Rise and Shine     TOPCOAT Essie No Chips Ahead

  2. scavenge around your house/apartment for some of those page hole protectors (we all have them)

page hole protectors, Grandpa's desk drawer (no joke)

3. cut out five, cut them in half, peel off, and stick onto bottom of nails

I tried to get them all about 1/3 of the way up from my cuticle, or whatever. Just eyeball it, this ain't no bridge we're building

4. paint top portion of nail

I used two coats; this polish dried pretty dang fast = happy Anna

5. after polish is mostly dry, slowly peel off protectors; finish with a topcoat

like a boss

Some side notes:

>I don't use a basecoat because I'm a rebel! and I don't own any... and I'm kind of impatient when it comes to letting nail polish dry (seriously, who isn't?), so it's a bloody miracle I even use a topcoat.
>It doesn't look horrible, but I didn't get the edges of the protectors stuck down to my nails very well, so the corners are a little funky.

I've never done this style on my nail before, and it took a day to get used to the weird half-painted look, but I'm really starting to dig it! Definitely I'll be repeating this mani again.

The fibula

I've seen the whole "wear a brooch as a hairpiece" tip in a few different places, so today while I was getting ready I thought, what the heck, and pinned my one and only pin/brooch in my hair. I got it from my grandma (or maybe great grandma..?) when I was like 8 years old. Because I <3 poodles. So brooch in the hair...yay or nay?

>Fun fact: in ye olden dayes, the brooch was called a fibula.

Beauty wish list

I think, when it comes to fashion, beauty (hair, nails, makeup, etc) is just as important. It can make or break an outfit. If you have on a killer outfit but your nails are grungy (not in a good way) and your hair looks like the bride of Frankenstein (not on purpose), it kills the whole vibe. On the other hand, if your outfit is okay but nothing special, kinda boring or blah, a unique manicure or a good hair day can take it up a notch. Which is why I pay attention to the beauty details. I didn't use to put in that much effort (no nail polish, same hairstyle every day) but once I started changing it up a bit I realized you don't need to change that much to look and feel like you've changed it up a lot (does that make sense?). So most nights you get dressed up you do a smoky eye, but one time you do a strong lip instead. It's fun. It makes everything feel new again, and it expands your beauty horizons. So here's my beauty wish list:

cuticle cream

Burt's Bees Cuticle Cream 6.00

I used this all the time in high school, and every time I got it out my friends wanted to use it. It smells really good and it's cheap. And it lasts a long time. And it's good for your nails. And...you get the idea.

star cluster hairpiece

Rodarte 600, photo

I've seen this hairpiece a few different places/magazines, and it's suuuuuper cute! I think it'd be pretty easy to recreate, I'm sure there are star hairclips out there somewhere, all you'd have to do is use a bunch. 

>So I just checked Target, Walmart, Forever21, and Claire's online and they didn't have any star clips/barrettes, so looks like I'll be making my own, so...challenge accepted! Off to Michael's or Hobby Lobby...

lip mask

Mary Kay 9.50

Around the time I was in middle school, my mom used to buy a lot of Mary Kay stuff, and one thing she bought there was lip mask. It's literally exactly like a face mask, but for your lips. I always used to steal it. It's awesome and it really makes your lips smoother. So I just might have to revisit this.

burgundy lipstick and nail polish

LIPSTICK Revlon Lustrous Black Cherry 4.99     POLISH Essie Wicked 7.75, photo 

I just did a post of my top ten fall wants, and two of the numbers were burgundy and dark lips. I've been looking for a dark burgundy nail polish for ages. Like years. I wanted one that was pretty dark but still light enough to see the color, and one that wasn't too red but not too purple either. Pretty much the same criteria for the lipstick.

Taste of fall

The last two months have been super busy, what with moving and work and school, but I finally have my schedule worked out so I'm excited to get back to posting.

I'm also excited because for the last few weeks, fall has been in the air. Sort of. Basically, it's been 80-90 degrees instead of 110. But now that it's starting to cool off a bit, and now that it's September, I've definitely started thinking about fall clothes.

I've always enjoyed fall/winter fashion a bit more than summer fashion. With jackets and blazers and coats and sweaters and tights and boots galore, it just seems that there are more options. There's only so much you can do with a tank top and shorts, you know?

Here's my top ten list for fall:

ONE. quirky print shirt

Forever21 22.80

The actual shirt is okay (I'm not a big fan of elasticized sleeves), but I love the idea of this print.

TWO. motorcycle boots

American Eagle 79.95

I actually first saw these boots last spring, but they were already on clearance and they didn't have my size. All summer I kept my fingers crossed AE would renew them for this fall season so you have no idea how happy I was when I went online last week and voila! they were back. Sometimes certain trends or specific pieces grow on me, and sometimes I'm immediately in love. These are in the latter group.

THREE. printed skirt

LEFT American Eagle 34.99   RIGHT Forever21*

I'm really loving the printed skirt, and I think it'd look just as cute with tights when it gets cooler out.

FOUR. metallic sweater

H&M*

I'm definitely a sucker for anything metallic or sparkly, which I think is interesting because I'm not particularly girly, especially when it comes to clothes/fashion. Apparently glitter is my achilles heel. Anyways, I know some people prefer either silver or gold, but I'm on equally good terms with both.

FIVE. killer heels

Payless 54.99

I'm not going to lie, I don't really frequent the Payless website too much when I'm browsing online for shoes (unless I'm desperate) because I'm usually a bit disappointed when I actually go to the store to try them on (not to say they don't have cute shoes, but a lot of times they aren't as cute in person or they don't have them in the store or they're uncomfortable). I just happened to be on their website to check out some shoes I have to buy for my friends wedding (I'm a bridesmaid. yay.), and I saw these and pretty much started crying from their awesomeness. I love that they'd be wearable throughout the year, and I also like that the heels are a bit chunkier (I think the only way I could not feel nervous about breaking a heel while wearing stilettos is if I weighed -90 pounds).

SIX. printed blazer

I'm not going to lie, I don't remember where I saw this picture. And no, I don't know the designer. But I do know that I like a blazer, and a good print, and of course metallic (see number 4 above) so all combined is pretty much heaven. Great idea especially when the outfit with it is a bit dressier (black cardigans get boring).

SEVEN. printblock minidress

LEFT Nordstrom*     CENTER Nordstrom*     RIGHT Nordstrom Tibi 375.00

I know colorblock has been pretty "in" for a few seasons? years? now, but I called this printblock because the base of the dress is colorblock, but then one of those blocks is given a print. I like it.
>Side note: I could not spend $375 on a dress on my budget, but I'm not opposed to using it for inspiration. The birds are cute, the price is not. Please don't think I shit hundred dollar bills and then buy all this. 

EIGHT. french phrases

ohsoprettythediaries.com

I saw this picture on a blog I really like. The direct link to the post where I saw the shirt is here. Apparently the shirt's from Forever 21, but they don't carry it anymore, at least not online (I already checked). I'm thinking of finding a cute French saying and making my own shirt, but we'll see how much my laziness interferes with that plan.

NINE. burgundy

InStyle September 2012

So along with not being really into wearing pink and rainbows and unicorns and whatnot on my clothing, I'm also not that into bright colors in general. Like, at the moment my closet is organized by color and it looks like:

-big chunk of gray--big chunk of black--big chunk of navy blue--moderate chunk of white--tiny little sliver of yellow/green/red/purple- 

Which is why I like burgundy. It's not really a "summer" color. I'm not the color police or anything, but it just kind of has that fall/winter vibe going on. Plus it's definitely a color, so it keeps my mother happy (if she ever offers to buy clothes for me, she basically refuses to get me something if it's gray/black/navy) and it's muted enough that I don't feel like my clothes are screaming at everyone who looks my way. At first I didn't like the colored skinny jeans trend (actually I'm still not loving it, but it's not burning my eyes anymore either) so I think I might break out of my usual only-blue-or-black-skinny-jeans thing I have going on right now and get some burgundy ones. Yeah, why not.

American Eagle 39.95

TEN. dark lips

Just like above, dark lips seem to work a little better in the colder months. So possibly next time I'm at the store I'll pick up a lipstick or stain and let you know what I think. Now I just need an event to try it out at (8am class = probably not the best time or place).

*I had saved the pictures earlier and was checking for updated prices but I couldn't find them online anymore. I really tried, but I've been staring at the computer screen just a bit too long and needed to stop before I started going blind. Sorry :(