Outfit: Red Slip + Lingerie.

Photos by Aidan Bradbury-Aranda

earrings: Icing

body chain: DIY

teddy (underneath): Victoria's Secret

dress: thrifted

shoes: Candie's at Kohl's 

clutch: unknown

Good evening, everybody! Tonight I'm going to be sharing my Valentine's Day outfit. I'm beyond excited about this post for multiple reasons. First off, I suppose we'll talk fashion. I was thrifting over in San Antonio when I went to visit my parents for winter break, and I came across this beautiful red nightgown (I'm pretty sure this is a nightgown, yes). 

The moment I laid eyes on that sucker, I knew it would be my Valentine's Day dress. So I go to the register, and they give it to me for 50 cents. Definitely one of my proudest thrifting moments. Boyfriend complaint: it's kind of shapeless. It was a valid concern on his part, I suppose, but sometimes you gotta just switch it up.

I'm a huge fan of the teddy and body chain combination. Lingerie is one of those things that I love to indulge in although it is so not worth it for someone like myself, who's always trying to be budget-friendly. Getting to wear it as a visual part of my outfit helps justify the purchase a bit more. Then there's the body chain which will forever be a staple in my closet.

Beyond the fashion, I'd just like to take a quick moment and thank my amazing boyfriend for the photographs. I don't know if it comes off as obvious on-screen, but these photos are taken with a film camera. So a huge shoutout is in order to this lovely human being that took the time to rent out a fancy camera, transport it by plane and car, take the pictures, and get them developed, scanned and sent over.

It warms my heart how supportive he always is about this blog, and how he always goes above and beyond to help me turn visions into realities. Thank you so much, Aidan! And thank you so much to everyone that takes time out of their precious days to visit my blog and encourage me to keep writing! You're the best :)

Outfit: Faux Moto + Socks + Booties.

Photos by Fernanda Teixeira

earrings: gifted (Forever 21)

faux leather jacket: New Look via Wet Seal

ring: unknown

bag: Nine West

top: JC Penney

cami (underneath): Forever 21

jeans: Love Culture

socks: Merona at Target

booties: LC Lauren Conrad via Kohl's

Good evening, everyone! How goes it? I just woke up from an unexpected nap, complete with super attractive drooling (a.k.a. I got knocked out without even realizing it cause I had exams two days in a row and was a walking zombie by that point). Now I'm counting down the minutes (55 at press time) until the new Law & Order: SVU episode starts because my habits are really unhealthy, guys. 

Today's look is simple and non-fussy and just ready for a long day of school and work. My mom used to do that half ponytail thing to my hair back in the day, and it was feeling very flat the other day, so I decided to go down nostalgia road and pretend I'm 5 again.

I've been meaning to mess around with those super cute socks since I bought them about a semester ago, but it just didn't feel right- until yesterday, that is. These LC Lauren Conrad booties have been worn so much lately on their own, they were just ready for a bit of an update, and Target happily delivered. Overall, I was just in a comfy and cozy state of mind so a comfy and cozy outfit was the way to go!

45 minutes until Law & Order: SVU! Have a beautiful evening, party people!

Style: Oscars Favorites.

Merry post-Oscars Monday, everyone!

Although it doesn't seem that a lot of people were digging Neil Patrick Harris' presentation style, one has to appreciate the white skivvies, right? This year's ceremony brought on a lot of feels, as award recipients tackled important issues such as equal pay, ALS, Alzheimer's, suicide prevention, and immigration, among others.  By far the most touching moment was John Legend and Common's performance (and win) for the song Glory. I don't blame the people attending for being drenched in tears. Heck, I was comfortably sitting on my couch and bawling my eyes out during the speech. It's people like these that make the less socially sensitive folks of the entertainment industry (S.P., anyone?) a bit more bearable.

In terms of style, there were so many beautiful people that killed it on the red carpet. I wish I had a better understanding of men's fashion (or, I guess, a keener eye for tuxes) so I could include some lovely male eye candy in my roundup, but for now, I'm just going to give some shoutouts to the ladies that made me green with dress envy. (Also, Eddie Redmayne. Because Eddie Redmayne is the absolute cutest). Here were my favorites from the night: 

Jenna Dewan Tatum

Zendaya

Naomi Watts

Emma Stone

Oprah

Jennifer Lopez

Dakota Johnson

Rosamund Pike

Margot Robbie

As usual, I was attracted to the (mostly) deep hues and body skimming silhouettes, and just in general by the looks that felt most cohesive from head to toe. If I had to choose an ultimate favorite, it would be Emma Stone. Her dress cut and color were so unexpected and not the easiest to pull off, but she's Emma Stone, so she can pull anything off. 

And this concludes the awards season. Cheers, and thank you so much for stopping by! 

*Images from Getty Image

Personal: Liebster Award.

Hello, gorgeous people! Last week I had the honor of being nominated for a Liebster Award by the lovely Kelly of Amourtera. Today, I was finally able to take a breather and put together this post! The Liebster Award is supposed to be for blogs under 200 followers, and I applied that rule in terms of Bloglovin' followers, although those I chose may have well over that number on other social media platforms. Thank you so much to Kelly! I had a tough week and this award really brightened it a bit! Please know that if I nominated you, I truly enjoy your blog! 

Here's how the Liebster Award works:

It's an award for blogs that have under 200 followers, designed to recognize and increase exposure.

First, thank the blogger who nominated you for the award. Then, answer the 11 questions they asked you, nominate 11 new bloggers, and give them 11 new questions to answer. The last step is to let the 11 new bloggers know you nominated them!

Here are Kelly's questions and my answers:

Q: When did you start your blog?

A: I started my blog in 2012 (when I went off to college) as a creative outlet and way to deal with being out on my own for the first time. 

Q: What's your favorite band?

A: My absolute favorite band is OneRepublic. I get a lot of crap for it, because apparently they're really basic or whatever. Someone told me that they were my favorite band...along with every other semi-young girl's favorite band- to which I say... they've been my favorite since Apologize. So I get fangirl seniority. 

Q: What's your favorite makeup brand?

A: I don't wear that much makeup, but I suppose I see myself gravitating towards Maybelline whenever I purchase something new.

Q: What's one trend you are tired of seeing?

A: I'll probably never be able to get behind culottes.

Q: If you could travel back to any moment in time, and re-live it exactly the same, what would it be?

A: This is super cheesy, but my prom night was perfect and I wouldn't mind doing that all over again. 

Q: What's your favorite quote?

A: "Everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together." -Marilyn Monroe 

Q: What are you most proud of?

A: I'm going to be graduating university next fall with zero debt, so I'm pretty proud of that. 

Q: If a zombie apocalypse were to happen right now, where would you go and what would you bring?

A: I'd go to Eastern Europe and party with the vampires. And I'd bring every episode of Orange is the New Black and How to Get Away with Murder.

Q: Would you ever skydive?

A: Maybe one day. But it would have to be with someone I trust a whole lot. 

Q: What's one goal you have?

A: I want to get into a competitive graduate program and further my education. I just haven't decided if I'm going to tackle that right after college or wait a few years. I would also love to work for Buzzfeed or Cosmo. I've wanted to work for both of them for the longest time!

Q: Who is one person you look up to?

A: Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York is my absolute role model. He is a kind, generous soul and a great example of the ways in which we can use the Internet to make the world a better place.

I nominate these beauties: 
Kaitlin of 5ftave. Andrea of Andrea's Devotion Nieszka of Sparkle + Chic Hana of Sweet Chilli Adry of Adry on the Daily Tina of Just a Tina Bit Stefana of The Pretty Blossoms Katie of The Aisle of Style Ok, so I may have nominated only 8 people instead of 11. However, everyone I nominated has either been in my Bloglovin' feed for a while or within my bookmarks, giving me the perfect excuse to finally organize those and follow the lovely ladies that have impressed me with their creativity.  Here are my questions for the recipients:
1. What inspired you to start blogging? 2. If you could raid any three celebrity closets, which ones would you choose and why? 3. Who is your celebrity crush and why? 4. What is your dream job?
5. What is one place (anywhere in the world) you recommend visiting? 6. What does your favorite day-to-day outfit consist of?  7. What are your favorite stores and websites to shop at? 8. What are your favorite TV shows?  9. How do you calm yourself down when you are stressed out? 10. Where do you find inspiration? 11. What is something you've always wanted to do, but were too afraid to? I hope you all decide to take on the questions, at least for my sake! I love being inspired by fellow bloggers and discovering new brands, shows, tricks, etc. through them.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and thanks again to Kelly! 

Outfit: Deep V Dress + Handmade Jewelry.

Photos by Aidan Bradbury-Aranda

earrings and necklace: made by boyfriend

clutch: thrifted

dress: street vendor in Mexico

sandals: Target

Hi, everybody! First of all, I would like to apologize for the photographic overload. I was really excited about experimenting with new poses and movements and colors for this new post and just couldn't narrow it down to the 3 or 4 pictures that I usually end up posting on the blog.

This outfit gets me SO excited! It's basically everything I stand for in terms of personal style- a little bit of thrifted, a little bit of gifted, a little bit of quirky non-chain store, and a little bit of #basic 'everyone shops here but I still love it'.

I feel like the entire look speaks for itself, but let me just have my sappy little happy girlfriend moment- I am just absolutely in love with this jewelry set that I got as a Christmas present from my multi-talented man. He's just the absolute best when it comes to making things, and I'm so glad I finally found a look that did the earrings and necklace set justice.

Thank you so much for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Lifestyle: NYX Honey Dew Me Up Review.

Good evening, everybody! Tonight I'm going to be doing something a wee bit different- I'm going to be trying my hand at product reviews. Particularly, we're going to be looking at the NYX Dew Me Up Primer, a fairly new addition to the NYX Cosmetics family.

I came across this product in last month's Cosmo, I believe. I was instantly attracted to the packaging and promises of this product, so I picked it up at ULTA as soon as I got the chance.

While I'm no makeup expert, I can usually tell within the first couple of uses whether or not I will be using the product, and this is definitely something that will be staying in my makeup cabinet for a while. 

First things first. Here is some of the product information available on the NYX website:

• DESCRIPTION: Inspired by honey's golden glow, we developed a primer that neutralizes the appearance of discoloration and redness. Our innovative light reflective gold flecks create a luminous look that will help keep your skin looking radiant all day.
• PERFORMANCE: This primer is loaded with beneficial ingredients for your skin. Honey is a natural antiseptic, while the gold flecks increase radiance, and collagen strengthens skin. 

That all sounds absolutely lovely, doesn't it? Let's see how true I found it all to be...

PACKAGING: From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I think the packaging is gorgeous! I love the simple sturdy look and the way it highlights the product inside. While I'm not the hugest fan of honey as nourishment, this packaging is slowly making me reconsider. However, from a sanitary standpoint, I agree with most of the product reviews I've seen- a pump would have been much better and would not have sacrificed the aesthetics.

THE PRODUCT: The Dew Me Up has a very gooey, honey-like texture. Right after application, the skin feels sticky for a couple of minutes until the product can fully dry off, leaving the skin feeling primed and moisturized. The smell is something I am completely ok with inhaling on a daily basis. The price point is a bit high for NYX (around $17), but I find it justifiable at least once. It does contain gold flecks, which I don't mind, but don't see the benefit of. More than anything, I believe they just make the product more aesthetically pleasing. I have yet to notice them contributing to the luminosity of my skin in any way.

THE BENEFITS: As far as the product description goes, I only semi-agree with the luminous skin. I see a slight difference, but not enough to warrant it being one of the product's selling points. That being said, I do agree that it helps with discoloration and redness. Lord knows my face is currently a swamp of anxiety and long nails-induced redness and this product has a. helped reduce the rash-like look of my face and b. made it as soft as a baby's bottom. In addition, contrary to most of the stuff I've been reading about it- I actually find it to be quite a kick-ass primer! I've worn it out on two occasions so far and both times, my face felt like a happy camper and kept its makeup on. I do also like it as a serum, but really believe it does its job as a primer in an impressive manner.

Skin before primer

Primer swatch

Post primer glow

There you have it, folks! My take on the NYX Honey Dew Me Up. In a nutshell, I don't regret buying it in the least, and I'm certain I will use up all of it! Have you tried the product yet? Are you thinking about trying it? Let me know your questions or opinions!

Thank you for stopping by, and as per usual, have a lovely day/night/afternoon/life!

Outfit: Vacation Maxi + Flip Flops.

Photos by Fernanda Teixeira

earrings: gifted

dress: Peter Som for Kohl's

backpack: PacSun

bracelet: TJ Maxx

flip flops: LC Lauren Conrad

Good evening, party people!

Just wanted to quickly stop by tonight and introduce you to two amazing items in my closet that I am really happy to be owning.

First of all, there is the Peter Som dress from his Kohl's collection. Well, this thing was expensive to begin with. Every single time I would go into Kohl's, I'd be eyeing this thing like it was the most massive Nutella crepe on the planet. Want. Need. Can't justify spending over $50 on a maxi dress.

And then sale season came around, and I found my precious. It was the last one left, and it was an XS, but I'm so glad I took it for a test drive. Much to my surprise, it was a great fit. I can't remember exactly what the end price was- definitely under $20, maybe under $15.

The second item I'm absolutely in love with is this bracelet I purchased over the summer at TJ Maxx. I'm a sucker for nautical items and they were carrying the cutest nautical themed costume jewelry, so I just had to indulge!

The weather has been super nice these past couple of days, so I'm taking advantage of all my maxi dresses- so perfect for getting through my school and work-filled day!

Thank you so much for stopping by!