Hey friends! I'm back!

December 18, 2016


Hey there! So if you follow my blog, or even just were scrolling through my page, its pretty easy to tell that it has been quite a while since I have posted. This semester has been one of the busiest yet (I'm hoping to do a "semester in review" post in the next few days) and I guess I kinda just put blogging on the back burner, something I am hoping to avoid in the future. I just got home for my very short winter break, after a trip to Boston with the Honors College, and I leave for a semester abroad in Spain in the beginning of January. Yes, Spain! I will be living with a host family and taking classes in Malaga Spain for three months and I am so excited to share this next chapter of my life with y'all so seriously stay tuned!

Makeup Monday: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder

August 8, 2016


When I was in London I was looking for a different pressed finishing powder that I could carry in my purse to touch up my makeup throughout the day. I would be gone all day and, especially with the summer heat, I found that my makeup would start to fade throughout the day. I also really wanted to buy some Charlotte Tilbury makeup while I was abroad since it is based in London. I ended up with the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder. This finishing powder works great for keeping your makeup in place and is great for touch ups throughout the day as well. I really like it because it really does make you look airbrushed! 



Fashion Friday: Zara Jumpsuit Dress

August 5, 2016


Hey y'all! I just got this jumpsuit-dress from Zara when I was in London! I really like it because it looks sort of like a dress at first glance but its got slits down each side and shorts under it. Its super easy to throw on and would be great for an outdoor concert or a picnic! It would be great if you want to wear a dress but you don't want the hassle of wearing a dress. Also I love the color because chambray is super in right now! You could wear white tennis shoes with it to dress it down or wedges to dress it up. 

Outfit Details:
Jumpsuit-dress: Zara (Similar)
Shoes: Steve Madden











London: Week 3 Adventures

July 31, 2016




We did so much on our third and final week in the city and I am very excited to get to share it with y'all! We tried to cram so much into the last week because we wanted to make the most of it. Monday my class went on a field trip to the Museum of Brands, Packaging, and Advertising. It was actually super interesting because we were able to see notable brands through the years and see how they evolved. The museum is near Portobello Market and Notting Hill so a few of us went and had burgers from a little tent that was on the side of the street. They used an empty parking area with a multiple person lawn chair for seating and it was actually really good food, and not too expensive. After lunch I went to tour Westminster Abbey which was beautiful and is the final resting place of many historic figures (like Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots!!). They also have an area called "Poet's Corner" where many famous authors, including Charles Dickens, are buried. I went shopping at Selfridge's later and happened upon a book signing for the beauty youtuber, Fleur De Force. The next day after class I went to the Charles Dickens Museum which is in the house that he wrote Oliver Twist in! I've been in two plays based on Dickens novels, and A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorite books that I've read so I really enjoyed seeing his home. I also stopped by Borough Market and went to a farewell dinner overlooking the Thames for my ISA program and then we walked around and looked at the Tower Bridge, Big Ben, and the London eye lit up at night. The next day I made it to the Victoria and Albert Museum which had a really great exhibit on fashion that I enjoyed. Thursday we had our final exams for class then we went to the London Sky Garden which is free and you can enjoy great views of the city. Then we went to LadurĂ©e for macaroons and a cupcake place called Crumbs and Dollies, where I had a vegan vanilla cupcake that was actually really good! We had a farewell Gala for everyone who studied abroad at Westminster that evening as well. Friday was our last day so we got up early and ran to get donuts from Dum Dum Donutterie in a neat little place called Boxpark which is full of pop up shops in Shoreditch. We also did a little shopping and went back to Harrods. We spent the rest of the day wandering around the city and ended the night at the Meat Mission, a really good burger place in Shoreditch. After dinner we all had to say our goodbyes which was really hard, but as they say "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard". 

Lunch on the side of Portobello Road
Westminster Abbey

Fleur DeForce
Charles Dickens Museum


Charles Dickens' writing desk!!
Borough Market




Swimsuit at the Victoria and Albert Museum


View from the Sky Garden


The actual sky garden

Ladurée

Crumbs and Dollies cupcake shop
Westminster Farewell Gala
Dum Dum Donutterie 

Friends at Herrods! 

It says "Last Days of Shoreditch" (an area known for its fun street art)--fitting for our very last day. 

Day trip to Oxford

July 24, 2016


Today we went to Oxford! We were able to take a bus called the Oxford Tube for pretty cheap and it was super easy because it just took us straight there and it runs back and forth between London and Oxford every 30 minutes or so. We did a self-guided walking tour that we found online and it was perfect because we were just able to enjoy the city at our own pace. It was really refreshing because we didn't have any place that we had to be after Oxford so we didn't have a time constraint as we did when we went on guided tours. The tour started us out at the Carfax Tower where we were able to go up in the tower for only 2 pounds. It was a really small tower but it had great views of the city and was probably one of my favorite things we did. The rest of the tour took us around to some of the most notable colleges that are part of the University of Oxford. We tried to tour the university Library but tickets sold out before we got the chance. We walked around the grounds of Christ's Church which were beautiful and then toured the church. Some scenes from the first Harry Potter movie were filmed there and it served as the inspiration for the Great Hall in the films. We also went to a really cute little covered market























Christ's Church