Purp.

Last year, on New Year's, I bleached the crap out of my brunette hair on a whim. It initially turned a horrendous shade of Magic School Bus yellow, and I had to walk around looking like a had one of Lady Gaga's reject wigs glued to my head. Thankfully, through the magic of extra bleach, neutral blonde hair dye, and purple shampoo I was able to salvage a rather pretty shade of blonde out of that mess, if I do say so myself. Anyway, while I thoroughly enjoyed being a blonde, the maintenance was a pain in the ass. So, outside of purple shampoo, I let my roots grow out, giving me a sort of two-toned, maybe-ombre-could-be-dip-dye-who-knows, type of look. Honestly, I didn't think it looked bad. But I was bored with it! I needed a new look.

So today I dyed my hair purple. Yep! Like purple purple. Like Katy Perry worthy purple. Welp, only over the blonde parts, anyway. I used a jar of Manic Panic's Purple Haze in the amplified version. I let the dye sit for about two hours before rinsing it out. And I have to say, I am pleased with the results! My roommate said I looked like a rock star. I feel like one!

It is a tad darker then I anticipated, but literally every single instruction website I visited warned that purple fades quickly, so I'm hoping it'll fade into a softer, medium, purple within a few washes. But for now, I am enjoying hella purple hurr.


                               

In other news, today is National Margarita Day, so me and my girls went out and enjoyed some tasty margaritas! If you haven't gotten one yet today....WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR. Get out there and have a drink, you deserve it!

Valentine's Day!!

Hey everyone! Here's hoping all of you had a great Valentine's day. I personally love this holiday; granted, it's a Hallmark holiday, but I love the fact of having a day to just spread some love. Even when I was single, it was a great reason to buy my best friends or family members little gifts or candy. Or even something special for myself ;) This year though, I got to spend a lovely few days with my boyfriend. He came up on Wednesday and left last night, which was very nice considering it had almost been three weeks since we had last seen each other.

We slept in late, made ourselves a big, tasty breakfast, then got dressed up before heading downtown since my boyfriend had an interview schedule. Granted, the wait was a little long, but we had plenty of time to chat. Afterwards, he surprised me by taking me to the Cheesecake Factory. Believe it or not, out of my 21 years of living in the Chicago area and Chicago itself, I had never been there. It was delicious, but the portions were enormous! We ended up just splitting an appetizer before getting huge slices of cheesecake, and it was more than enough food. We were stuffed! We then went back to my apartment to exchange gifts, nibble on candy, and cuddle until it was time to take him to his train. I got him a case and a weight for his new GPS (two things he kept talking about wanting and was thus very excited for) and he got me flowers, a Hello Kitty nightlight (an inside, but touching, joke) and a painting he did himself with a poem on the back. It was so sweet I thought I was going to cry <3

What did y'all do? Did you spend the day treating yourself or someone else? Or is Valentine's Day just not your speed? If not, let me know your favorite holiday!

Chicken Noodle Soup with a Soda on the Side...Minus the Soda.

Hello one, hello all! So I'm going to be honest. Keeping up with blogging has been harder than I expected. I thought it would be a nice thing to do in my free time, but I find myself either wanting to sleep, watch Girls, or hit the bars whenever I have a few hours to spare. This semester has already been a whirlwind - it's my second to last semester but due to availability of classes I am in all of the hardest classes offered for my major, one of them being my thesis project. So as you can imagine, there's a lot of stress and well, very limited free time. That being said, I definitely WANT to keep blogging. It's a stress relief and it feels a lot more productive than just oozing around. I need some serious blogging motivation, so if anyone has any tips, send them my way! Perhaps a schedule is in order?

Anyhoo, not much outside of reconnecting with friends and classes/homework galore has been happening, but this semester I promised myself I would start cooking more and eating healthier. I survived mostly off of frozen dinners last year, and by the time winter break hit I found myself not only a little rounder but very sluggish, which is why I think I need some changes. I'm not much of a cook, but me and my roommate have been throwing together some simple crock pot recipes for the last few weeks, but last night I tried out this Pintrest recipe for a fancy chicken noodle soup, all on my own. My version did not turn out quite as pretty as picture, but man was it tasty! And not difficult or overly expensive. I highly recommend this to other college students who want to feel like an adult, but want to exert minimal energy to do so.

Dem Glasses Though

After two weeks of excited anticipation, my new glasses have finally arrived! I love them so much more than my old ones - partially because of the style and partially because the prescription on my old pair was from almost four years ago, and were thus becoming unreliable in the vision department.

I had originally wanted something along the lines of those thick-rimmed, hipster glasses, but I am very pleased with this pair. These still have the squareish, straight-edge frames of the formerly described style, but the thinner frame and metal on the sides make them a little more mod and geek-chic, which I think will ultimately be more versatile and flattering on me.

In the Chi we've finally made our way out of the polar vortex (it was a whole whopping 30 degrees out today, practically a heat wave!) so I actually felt like I could try today. I haven't dressed particularly girly in a while, but I've been feeling that lately, so that's the route I took. Hat - loveculture.com, glasses - Prodesign Denmark, cardigan - thrift store find, dress - Ross, leggings - H&M, boots - Kohls.

I'm freezing part. 2

Today is the first day of second semester, meaning new teachers and classmates. Normally, I advocate dressing up for at least the first few days of school, because I think it makes a good first impression to your professors and colleagues; one that says you take care of yourself and are here to take things seriously.

That is how I normally feel. But today, I am caught in the polar vortex in Chiberia, in subzero temperatures and frigid wind chills. Trains have shut down, almost all flights have been cancelled at the airports, most businesses are closed (my lucky boyfriend got called off of work!), and of course, my college campus remains open. Ugh. Thus, I think I will not be judged too harshly by any of the new faces when I choose function over fashion today.

I'm keeping warm with thermal leggings and a long sleeve top under my clothes. Over them, I have on my black Old Navy skinny jeans (before you judge, Old Navy makes literally theee best cheap, skinny jeans for us tall girls, particularly for those of us who are bigger than a size 2), and an oversized grey sweater I found in the men's section at a thrift shop. I'm accessorizing with a pair of (worn) black combat boots from Charlotte Russe on top of several pairs of socks, a red scarf I made, and my new favorite shaggy, cream-colored beanie from Forever 21. When I head out, I'll be adding a large puffy coat, sunglasses, and thick gloves to the mix. Stay warm everyone!

I'M FREEZING.

Nothing to report today other than, oh, MY HEATER IS NOT WORKING. I headed back to school today, only to arrive to a furnace that will not heat my apartment above 55 degrees when it's a solid -5 degrees outside. Too cold to unpack, too cold to do anything. Thankfully, I've found a way to stay warm until someone comes to fix it tomorrow.

I hope everyone is warmer than I am, and is having a wonderful day!

Splurgeworthy

I love makeup. The only days I don't wear it are the days when I have nothing to do other than homework or becoming a human blob, absorbing only food high in saturated fats and trashy TV. And as a college student, those days are very far and few between. Also as a college student, makeup is a dangerous hobby, due to the fact that it's easy to get caught up in a vortex of expenses that could have easily been spent on multiple Chipotle dinners rather than several mascaras that I really don't need.

In order to avoid this pickle, I've trained myself to only enter Sephora or Ulta if I have a giftcard or if I am in the need of refilling something (I always walk out with a brand new item every time I try to do this). I have also, for the most part, limited myself to drugstore makeup, because I've learned that a girl can't always have her Chanel and her wine. The former I can live without. The latter, I can't.

That being said, there are just some certain higher end products that have become routine for me, and no matter how hard I search, drugstore dupes refuse to reveal themselves. Without further adieu, I give you my splurge worthy makeup products;

(Actually, a quick adieu. To some, none of these items may seem like much of splurge. But to one on a budget, they most certainly are. And all of these products have endured heavy usage and travel so their appearance may be err, less than tidy.)

The Naked Basic Palette by Urban Decay - $27

We've all heard left and right about the Naked palettes and how fantastic they are. I've been intrigued by them for a while, but considering they all seem to mostly consist of shimmery nude shades, I've managed to resist. I already have quite a few palettes with those types of eye shadows. Furthermore, I prefer matte shades for daily wear. But finding good quality matte shadows at the drugstore can be difficult, especially for us oily girls; brands carried at Target and Walmart tend to crease and lack any real pigment. Which is why I decided to give the Naked Basics palette a whirl.

If you are in need of a daily palette, look no further. The shades given are limited, but they provides for very little thought process when applying. Venus is your highlighter; either Foxy or W.O.S. for the lid; and throw Naked 2 in the crease and Faint in the outer corner and you have the perfect nude eye for school or work. And obviously, Crave makes for a good liner or turning your work eye into something more smokey for later rendezvous. The shadows are excellent quality; smooth, pigmented, and cause little, if any, fall out. On top of that, I've been using this palette daily for almost three months now, and it still looks like I've barely made a dent. Easily worth the money for daily use.

They're Real! Mascara by Benefit - $23

Another very hyped product, and I'm shocked this is on the list. I have always viewed mascaras as a makeup item that are all pretty much the same, so I don't feel the need to spend a lot on them. But come to think of it, I'm not sure why I've thought this for so long considering I've been layering two different mascaras over each other for close to a year now. I just can't explain it - I like big lashes, and without both, my eyes just looked incomplete.

They're Real! is not for the faint of heart. If you like fluttery, natural looking lashes, you'll hate this product. I know big, spidery lashes are frowned upon, but I personally love them. This makes my lashes big without making them look too fake. When it dries it becomes sort of.....hard, but I don't find this bothersome, even as a contact wearer. Also, it holds a curl real well and I've had no issues with flakes or smudging. I don't think this makes my lashes quite big enough for nights out, but for daily wear, I love it. As you can see, I currently only have a sample size, but I have every intention of getting the full size as soon as this runs out.

Mentha Lip Balm by C.O. Bigelow - $8

Does this count as a makeup product? Or high end? I don't know, I just know that it costs more than lip balm ever should and I cannot live without it. I believe this product used to be - very deservingly so - quite hyped until those eos lip balms came in and stole the show. Can we be honest for a second here? Those eos balms are nice, but after so much use, those balls of balm get pretty gross. Classic chapstick containers forever!

I'll make this short and simple. I get chapped lips very easily, and this lip balm is thick and moisturizing, and just frickin' stays puts. And it smells and tastes minty. Yes. Forever, yes.

Angel Chickstick (Lipstick) by Flirt! Cosmetics - $14

One of my most favorite products, ever. I discovered this my freshman year of high school and have worn it religiously ever since. Angel is the perfect nude lip, and requires little to no thought. It's a very very light pinky beige, mind you, so over application can cause the zombie lip. But thankfully, even if that happens, this product will fade to a much more flattering shade in under an hour, and stay there for quite some time. Plus, this product is slightly shimmery and has tiny flecks of gold in it. It won't make your lips sparkle, but it will keep them from looking too dead. My only complaint is that this lipstick is kind of drying, so lip balm underneath is sort of a requirement. But I have found no other shade like it, so it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Look of Love Eye Pencil in Brownie Points by Flirt! Cosmetics - $14

I swear I'm not trying to pimp out Flirt! but I just like their products. Anyway, this is one of my favorite pencils for my waterline. I'm not crazy about putting black liners anywhere on my lower lids - for some reason they always make my eyes look smaller and no matter what product I use or how carefully I apply, I just end up looking like some sort of crack whore - but this is theeeeee perfect brown. It's a beautiful pearly shade with gold flecks (again, not so much that it is noticeable, but just enough to give the color an eye-catching sheen) and it's dark enough to draw attention but not enough to seem like you're trying. Plus, this glides onto the waterline very smoothly. Staying power is questionable though. I have watery eyes due to contacts and find myself having to check up and reapply every few hours. But that's a small price to pay for the lovely effect that this gives.

It's only about 3 degrees in the Chicago area today, and I'm just waiting around for my boyfriend's train to come in. I'm staying warm and comfy in black skinny jeans, a tank top, and a large, colorful, blanket sweater from Forever 21. I'm keeping my hair natural today, because the cold air seems too drying to risk using any hot tools. In other news, I clearly need a tripod.