The Liebster Award for Lil' Ol' Me

Today's post is a really cool opportunity for me. I was granted the Liebster Blog Award for 2014.  

(Everyone go over to check out Stay A Minute, the lovely blogger who nominated me!) 

The purpose of this award is to highlight up and coming bloggers and it is designed as a networking tool to help link the blogging world together and help us to all find more blogs to love on. I'm honored to have been given this blogging award and I'm thrilled to participate. As a part of the participation, I was given ten questions to answer. I will also link to a few blogs I will in turn nominate and their respective ten questions. 

1. If you could meet anyone (deceased or living) who would it be, and why? On a personal level, this question would be answered differently. But on a fashion level, I would love to meet Coco Chanel. I don't always agree with her choices in terms of morality and politics, but the woman could DESIGN CLOTHES. 

Chanel No. 5 is my go-to fragrance of choice, owning Chanel earrings and a handbag would be an honor, and don't get me started on the Chanel lipstick line. 

 

Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel was raised in a Catholic orphanage and rose from the ashes, so to speak, to create one of the most inspirational, high end, truly classic clothing, makeup and accessories lines in the WORLD. In.the.world. The clothes Chanel designed in the 40's are still beautiful and wearable today. The tweed dress suit? STOP IT. The quilted leather handbag. COME ON. 

A runner up would be miss Diane Von Furstenburg. Don't get me started on my love affair with her dresses. And does that woman AGE?! Plus, her designs and patters have unabashedly stood the test of time. While being bright, vibrant and trendy, they're classic and never go out of style. You can buy (ahem, invest) in a DVF dress and wear it for ten fifteen twenty years while never looking outdated. 

2. Who is your idol/hero? My personal idol or hero would be my dad. He's the wisest person I know, and I always know that whatever advice I get from him is sound! He's practical, honest as can be, and methodical.  And he's the best grandpa ever.

But as far as fashion/beauty goes, though, my idol/hero would be (after Coco Chanel, Nazi allegations nothwithstanding because that girl could DESIGN...and DVF...oh, and Steve Madden, embezzling jail time notwithstanding. What? The man started in the back of a car! Look at him now!) Bobbi Brown. Her story is phenomenal. She started off as a makeup artist barely making ends meet and then developed a line of lipsticks and worked her butt off to be one of the most reputable makeup artists who owns one of the most high end, amazing makeup lines in the world. That, and she's naturally gorgeous. With all that makeup at her fingertips, she still knows that less is more, and natural beauty shines brighter than any glitter ever could. Go, Bobbi! 

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? As a fashion student and personal stylist, you might expect me to say Milan or Paris. But honestly, family and funds permitting, I would live in either New York City or London. Ever since I was a little girl I've dreamed of going to London, shopping at Harrods (No lie, in third grade I wrote and won a speech contest and literally mentioned shopping at Harrods. Third grade. The passion runs deep, my friends.) Then, right after I graduated from High School my family went on a trip to New York City. I remember walking past 5th Avenue and feeling my endorphin level spike. I saw Saks, and Prada and Piaget. But I was with my family and high end, don't-touch-anything-and-don't-breathe-wrong type stores aren't my brothers' forte. So we didn't shop. But the bug hit me and living in a place where I could find one of a kind vintage and hand made boho style pieces as well as high end goods makes me oh-so-happy.  

4. Why did you begin blogging and who is your inspiration? I began blogging a LONG time ago, back when they were called "Online Journals". I blogged in a little space of the Internet that MSN Messenger used to record thoughts, and I blogged before I knew what blogging was. I've been journaling since I was old enough to write, and as technology evolved, so did my way of journaling. My fashion blog, however, began just about a year ago when I realized that my passion and love of clothes and beauty could be something I could expand on and develop. This blog is more than fashion. We talk makeup, families, kids, music, life...but we talk fashion. A lot of it. My inspiration is a difficult one to peg down. I've been writing for as long as I could...well...write. So my inspiration culminates from so many different places. Recently, I'm very inspired by textures and patterns as opposed to a specific person. When I first started writing I was inspired (fashion wise) by pop stars and celebrities. And I'm always inspired by Carrie Bradshaw. I mean, let's be real. I totes have a chiffon/tulle skirt. I only wish it was pink or white like hers. (Blog post? Let me know in the comments.)

5. If you could spend a day with a blogger, who would it be? I would choose to spend the day with Bethany Joy Lenz over at Wish You Were Here. She is an actress by profession but writes a blog that captivates me. Her poetry is beautiful. Her outfit choices are spot on. Her insights are poignant and thought provoking, and her push for the underdog is inspiring. She inspires and defends women without putting or "dumbing down" men, and I find that remarkable. She is most well known for her role as Haley James Scott in One Tree Hill, but as a singer and writer, I find her to be an exceptionally great person. And while you're at it listen to this song. And this cover. 

6. Who is your go-to style icon? This is a really hard question! My go-to style icon isn't something I think I can answer. I'm always pulling, loving, and being inspired by different people, be it past or present. I am anywhere from 90's grunge to old Hollywood and I love simple looks. I think that when you take a basic outfit or fashion skeleton and then make it your own, you've mastered your style. A t-shirt and jeans? Yes, everyone can pull that off. But how do you make it you? Leggings and an over sized sweater? It's been done and it'll never get old. But how do you make that become fashionable instead of just basic? That's what makes something or someone iconic, if you ask me. 

7. What inspires you? Personally and internally my inspiration comes from my beautiful children and my role as a mother and wife. But I get the feeling that this question is veering towards fashion. In that respect, I'm inspired by detail. A leather piping. A pop of color on the lower lash line. A winged liner. A violet or purple lip. A braid. A pattern. A texture. Following trends while breaking rules and not becoming a trend or being stuck in a trend. Those are the things that catch my eye and make me think. Those things inspire me. I'm inspired by prints, and textures, by breaking rules. I'm inspired by changing something if you don't like it. Don't be afraid of scissors! Don't be afraid to wear something differently than you're "supposed to." Wear white on white. Wear black with brown. Mix your prints. Wear polka dots and stripes. Wear leopard print with plaid. I'm inspired by symmetry. I'm inspired by basics and mixing high end gorgeous pieces with thrifty vintage items. Detail. Change. Breaking rules. Classics. Texture. Patterns.

8. What is your favorite time of year? My favorite time of year is usually the one that I'm in. I live for cozy sweaters and curling up with my hubby. I love dark lipstick and Winter makeup. I am so excited for Spring and floral prints and pastel colors. I love swimming suits and shimmery makeup in the Summertime. The Fall brings the same sense of newness to me as Spring does and the muted colors get my fashion wheels turning. Being a stylist and fashion lover, how could I not love every season? Each season brings on new fashion opportunities. AT THAT SAME TIME, I break rules, people! I wear my ox blood lipstick in the dead of Summer. I wear pastel pink lipstick in the Winter. I wear floral and pastel colors in Fall and I wear my plaid tunic in the Spring. 

9. If you had a second chance with one thing, what would you do over? I do not believe that everything happens for a reason. To believe such would take away our agency and I just can't stand by that. Things happen because of the choices we make. I believe in miracles, I believe in blessings and I believe in a God who would put opportunities in our path that may help us. But I believe that we have the choice whether or not to take those opportunities. And just because something sad or bad happens to us, it's not because it was meant to be. Just because we make bad choices does not mean that it's happened because it was supposed to. But I have learned from my mistakes and I live my life with thoughts of making today better than yesterday. I can't think back and wish I could have changed things. I choose not to live that way. 

10. If you had an unimaginable amount of money, which charity or non-profit organization would you donate to? I would split it up, definitely. I would make donate to some college scholarship funds that I think target kids who would otherwise not have an education. And then I would donate to my church because I have seen first hand the phenomenal impact that the humanitarian work form my church has made on not only people around the world who need it, but the people who are in our very own cities and neighborhoods who just need help getting a step up. It's pretty amazing and even a bit emotional to me to see the people that are helped this way, even the people right around us. You never know who needs a little step up. I pray that we all look for ways to help others. In turn, I think what goes around comes around and we can be helped when we need it as well.

A big thank you to Stay a Minute for the blog award. I hope those that I award participate as well. This was a really fun award and I'm proud to receive it. Thank you again! 

I nominate: 

Sealed With a Swatch

This blog is full of gorgeous makeup tips, tricks and "swatches".

Story of Your Life

This is a blog I came across and I just love her style, ideas and simplicity. She's great.

All Things Pretty 

All kinds of great tips and ideas for "all things pretty!" She's also my best friend. So, there's that.

Go ahead and answer the same questions. Please leave a link from your blog to mine and then nominate three up and coming blogs with less than 200 followers to participate. Let your winners know they've been awarded by commenting on their blog. 

Thanks again, Jaimey. It was so fun to participate! I appreciate the award! 

-L

P.S. A Happy Birthday shout out to my sweet boy, Landon! A birthday post to follow after his weekend of Birthday celebrations!

Thursday Threads {{Guest Post}} Featuring Kate

Happy Thursday! Today's Thursday Threads piece includes a guest post by none other than my baby SISTER, Kate. She's quirky, witty and gorgeous. She gets all of that from me. No really, she does.

I asked her to post about the super chic and always trendy (Is that an oxymoron? Not HERE it's not!) leather look, and she confessed that she was already hoping to do so! Thus, this post was born! Enjoy, all! Hopefully she'll be back for more Thursday Threads posts. Show her some love in our comments!

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Hello my fellow divas!

Lyss was gracious enough to let me crash the party and take over a “Thursday Threads” post.

SO! What’s up for this week? Well, get out your aviators and rev those Harley’s because LEATHER is what we are all about these days!

Leather isn’t just for bikers or pre-shaven Brittany Spears anymore.

 

I’ve compiled a few funky and flirty ways to flaunt that fabric. I’ve focused on some spring looks, as my fever won’t be breaking anytime soon! I’m loving how we can mix the edgy with the springy, girly look to create a great balance of soft and sharp in the outfit.

Firstly, we all have that black leather jacket in our closet. It’s a staple we can’t live without! And if it’s good enough for the King, it’s good enough for me.

But, getting a colored leather jacket can spice up that outfit and add a little spring flair to your wardrobe. My favorite is a pale pink or peach colored jacket, seen below. The pink adds a girly touch, and the studs and leather put a nice edge to it. It has more sweet and spicy attitude in it than Panda Express chicken.

But leather doesn’t belong on just jackets. Leather piping and sleeves on shirts are everywhere. To quiet my inner hipster- I like to take what’s popular and make it my own. One way to have a unique take on the super chic leather sleeve trend is finding something like the white leather collar shirt, seen below. This adorable shirt is so girly and gorgeous, and the leather collar adds a fun grown-up vibe to it. With some pretty pearl studs, you’ll be turning heads!

Who knew you could also rock the leather look on bottom as well? A leather pencil skirt, if done right, can look sophisticated and modern. I’m digging this subtle look with a leather skirt and a plain white tee. Adorably understated

And I mean the jewelry in this…need I say more?

As long as we are talking about leather south of the border; leather leggings have been everywhere as of late. Unless you’ve been living in Siberia, you’ve noticed these leggings have taken over the legs of twenty-something’s everywhere. Problem is, we’ve got to work the leather right, ladies! I personally think a longer top helps balance out the fact that…well…you’re wearing leather pants. Some of my favorite leather legs that have graced the streets are the leather paneled pants, or the moto style texture of these trousers. 

 

The leather-list is as long as it is lovely. The next favorite from my leather line-up is a good vest. Nothing says my guilty pleasure is punk rock quiet like a moto vest over a girly dress.

 

 Remember, with leather, less is more. It’s better to make one statement at a time then have your shiny pieces compete with each other for attention.

Contradiction is leather’s best friend. Mixing, matching and contrasting the edginess of leather with the soft side of spring will make your next leather debut worthy of the warmth it’s sure to receive! So rock it out and girl it up this spring! 

Leather paneled pants: The Nordstrom’s Rack.

Effile Tower tee: Forever 21

Black cardigan: Walmart. (Thaaaat’s right.)

Gold lightning bolt necklace: Forever 21

Xoxo,

Kate

P.S. I’m sorry, but I feel as though I need to remind everyone one last time that this happened

Simple Smokey Eye and Giveaway

Hi! Wow, it's been a few days since I've visited my corner of the triple W!

So, aside from my fashion obsession, I also love makeup. And I don't know about you, but I'm a really busy mom of two. I work a lot, I love to sleep, and I have two little people to get out the door each morning. That doesn't leave me a lot of time to get ready, and aside from all of that, even though I'm obsessed with high end makeup, I don't always have the funds for it. I'm constantly on the hunt for inexpensive dupes (see this post here) and I'm also always trying new tricks to make my morning routine fast, fast and FASTER.

I'm a sucker for a smokey eye, but I like to keep it less dramatic and a bit toned down for day to day. Thus, here are a few different smokey eye looks that you can take to the board meeting, the grocery store, or the club. They're my go-to looks. I also decided to show them to you using products that are affordable. I'm using the brand ELF that I've talked about several times (try here, here or here). I won't be going into any tutorials at all or ways that I use my brushes, but if you're interested in that, let me know!

Both looks are incredibly similar and easy to do on a day to day basis. They're both simple and non-dramatic.

Keep reading to the end to enter a fun giveaway! 

Here are the products I'm using today from ELF cosmetics.

Top Left: Elf Quad, Top Right: Elf Mineral Eyeshadow Primer, Bottom Left: Elf Palette (Colors used: White (Shimmer)  in top left corner, Brown (shimmer) third from the right on the top row, Taupe on far left second row, Pink on bottom row third from the right.), Bottom Right: Elf Brightening liner in black and Elf Eyelash curler

These are the brushes I use for both looks. I use these brushes almost every day, and I won't get into my techniques but I'll share what the brushes are used for later.

Top Left: Sedona Lace EB 13, Top Right: Sedona Lace EB 09, Middle Left: Elf Shadow Brush, Middle Right: Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush, Bottom Left: Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush, Bottom Right: Real Techniques Accent Brush

First off, here we start with no makeup at all. (Scary, but let's get through this together.)

Now the first look, I did a neutral smokey eye without much shimmer at all.

This second look may be familiar to you if you follow me on Instagram. It is a very traditional smokey eye (black and grey) utilizing only the small quad palette.

So, now I'm giving some products away to one of you! Remember if you win, I would LOVE to see the looks you create using it.

a Rafflecopter giveaway The winner will be announced next week! Good luck, and have fun!

<a id="rc-7068b11" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7068b11/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>

*This post is not sponsored by ELF Cosmetics. All opinions are my own*

Just When I Thought All Was Lost

A while ago, I blogged about the Valentino Rockstud collection here. Let's just say this.

My feelings have only intensified.

Specifically, because of these beauties. These specific ones. In pink.

But I would have been happy as a clam with these ones, too.

I sigh and I swoon. Then you look at the $900 price tag and it's like...

And then, just when I thought all was lost, I found these. 

I found them here for $35.

But they were sold out of my size, and they're on clearance so they wouldn't be getting any more in stock. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!

But then...as if parting from the clouds...

There they were. In a perfect size 9. My size. Just for me. And $35.00.

Not exactly the same, but they'll satisfy my need for pointy toe and studs. And at a grand cheaper? 

Worth the anxiety, my friends. Worth it.

-L