Monday, June 25, 2012

Charleston

This past week I visited one of my favorite cities, Charleston. I spent my freshman year at College of Charleston and not only fell in love with the city but also met my two best friends.

Anyway I specifically went for my friends surprise birthday party. I wish I had taken pictures to share. I was preoccupied with laughing and catching up with everyone. The party ended up being really cute! We did a color scheme of yellow and white, served white sangria, boiled peanuts, fruit, and plenty of beer.

Besides my fabulous friends living there, Charleston is a wonderful city. Has the food culture of New York with more accessible but wonderful fashion community. Its small enough to not feel overwhelmed, but big enough to always find something new to do: all in a beautiful and historic city!

The food is definitely one of my favorite aspects of Charleston after the company

I had two delicious meals at Early Bird Dinner (chicken and waffles for brunch and then steak and eggs for lunch one day). Best part is nothing is over $10 there and its unbelievably good with a friendly staff, plus its open late!

The Tattooed Moose was a new one for me, but I quickly fell in love with this 'hipster' joint. Really good sandwiches that are all really unique and delicious. And get this ...they have fries fried in duck fat. SO GOOD. It also has some really good healthy choices, my friend got the gazpacho and it looked amazing. Also they do a really good happy hour 5-7 with deals on food and beer.

Barsa, Spanish tapas bar, was probably one of the fanciest places I went while I was there. Me and one of my friends went for happy hour which had an amazing deal with half-price paella. I got the seafood and it had plenty of calamari, shrimp, mussels, and clams with authentic crunchy rice. It was definitely a good deal for the amount of food and beer we.

Finally, my favorite meal ever is found at the Charleston Farmers Market. You haven't been to a farmers market till you've been to the Charleston one. Fabulous food, everything from Indian to French Crepes. Lots of vendors selling delicious looking veggies, fruits, honey, jams, nuts, everything. Plus plenty of non-food related vendors with really unique items. All of this smack dab in the middle of Downtown Charleston.

Anyway there's a food vendor called Roti Rolls and he sells these delicious sandwiches using an Indian flat bread which is fried and various fillings. My favorite is the Thurman Merman. I am not kidding when I say this is one of the best foods I've ever eaten. It has that delicious bread which is crunchy and chewy and salty. Its filled with braised beef that super tender and tasty. Topped with homemade mac and cheese and the best kimchi I've ever eaten.

I know it sounds weird but look at this...how can you deny yourself?




P.S. How adorably is this little owl I got, it doesn't hurt that it also has amazing smelling lipgloss inside! I also picked up the tastiest whipped honey I ever had at the Savannah Bee Company. I just put it on some strawberries. ALMOST died from deliciousness.


Peas and blezzins

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Posted by Lauren @ 8:10 PM :: (0) comments

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Make-Up Bag and Medicine Cabinet Favorites

I like talking about stuff...does that make me vapid? Maybe. Don't get me wrong I love discussing and debating events, people, books, and other more engaging topics, but I'm a visual person and I like shopping and finding quality things...I don't like crap and I don't want to waste my time or money buying crap so I love finding products that are really great and telling people all about them. Especially make-up and beauty products. I went through a very rough stage, physically, when I was younger. I had atrocious hair and unmanageable skin. I was just a disaster as a pre-teen into early teens. But thats okay it made me develop a personality! Being pretty is over-rated (my 13 year old self would disagree). But part of that experience led me to develop a deep fascination with make-up and other products that made me feel comfortable in my own skin and learn to work with what I got.

Any-whoo here are some products I love, that live up to their claims, and are worth every single penny


Fresh's Soy Face Cleanser is AMAZING. As a 20 something I still get breakouts occasionally, but I hate acne cleaners. My skin feels dry and the acid that is in them can even trigger breakouts. I got a sample of this from Sephora and its one of those products that you immediately see a difference. It's a very gentle but effective cleanser and all the amino acids from the soy leave my face feeling hydrated but still clean. It doesn't hurt that all of Fresh's packaging is simple and pretty and looks great in the bathroom. And it smells really good...like a vegetable garden (that may not sound appealing to some, but I love it!) Plus I get the 1.7 ounce size which $15 and it lasts me for a few months.


My hair...where to begin. I have incredibly dry and frizzy corkscrew curls. They are not cute and they are not manageable. In fact, I have always hated HATED my hair. To leave it natural I have to put on tons and products and it just gets crunchy and bleh. So I became really good with a hair dryer and flat iron. I rarely wear my hair natural unless I'm not leaving the house or it is just unbearably hot. I know this is not super healthy for my hair but it leaves me no choice! I'm good about getting trims and I can go up to 3 to 4 days without washing my hair (since its so dry it doesn't get greasy very easily). While I was browsing through some masks I found this and was instantly intrigued. Hair Smoothie, how funny. Not funny, it's amazing. When I got it home and opened it I was kinda worried it would be too much conditioner for my hair. It has a consistency denser than custard, I can't even describe it. But I put it in my hair anyway expecting a let down of greasy locks, instead it made my hair incredibly soft and shiny.  I bought some last March and still haven't used all of it (a little goes a long way) so for $20 its definitely a steal.


I love make-up. I can't deny it. I love playing with different looks and following crazy trends. Its just so fun! However, there's always been one type of make-up that I could not get the hang of/ could not stand wearing. Foundation. I hated liquid foundation. I got over the mineral foundation. Don't get me started on pressed powder foundation. I could never find a foundation that didn't cause my skin to start producing oil faster than a country in the middle east. I have incredibly oily skin that gets set off from stress, humidity, iridescent lighting, the breeze blowing... But then I saw all these incredible reviews about BB cream so I had to try it. It feels like there is nothing on your skin and it really producers a great coverage for being so light. I don't really have bad acne scars, but I do have large pores and some unevenness so I really only need light to moderate coverage. This stuff I feel makes my skin less oily, which is a miracle in itself. The price, for m, was kinda steep at $38, but it's definitely made a difference. Doesn't hurt that there's anti-aging and awesome sun protection in there to boot.

Thats all for now...Peace and Blessins

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Posted by Lauren @ 11:49 PM :: (0) comments

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Seeing Green

Dip Hemline Skirt...I've admired them for awhile. I love hoy floaty and feminine they look. First I saw it on Cupcakes and Cashmere .

I immediately put it on my spring shopping list. Only problem, I don't look at all like Emily from C and C. I'm pretty short and graciously blessed thanks to my Italian heritage with wide hips which makes it near impossible to find jeans. I thought to myself, 'I bet I could pull this off if I lose ten pounds and buy super high strappy black heels!...yes it can be done." Fast forward to now, while I have the super high heels...the ten pounds didn't come off. Well one night while I was late night browsing (because thats always good to do) I found this skirt on Dorothy Perkins. Recently they just discounted shipping to the United States. They're a British based company, very similar to Forever 21 but with slightly higher quality and more on trend. I found this...for $25.


I had to buy it. It came relatively quickly however, two sizes bigger than the size I ordered which I didn't complain about because apparently I needed the room...
I heard this has been a common complaint with U.S. so they may have some more kinks to work out. I love this skirt. Its so comfortable and moves beautifully. To be honest its not super flattering but I've come to a point where thats not my main concern if I'm in love with a piece. I plan on wearing this to my best friends birthday party with these guys...on sale at Nordstrom for $50!

I'm kinda stuck what to wear on type. I was thinking sleeveless button down in cream, black, or maybe in a faded floral pattern.

*Disclaimer: Dorothy Perkins and Nordstrom have no idea who I am, I am not paid by either of them obviously or I would have more shoes to show!

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Posted by Lauren @ 6:01 PM :: (0) comments

Saturday, June 9, 2012

What am I Doing

It is nearly 12:00 on a Saturday and I find myself drawn to not only researching fashion internships but creating a blog. However, the only problem with both of these is that they are incredibly self-indulgent. I'm enrolled in History Education graduate classes in Fall 2012 and after four years of waffling between law school and teaching...I chose teaching. Under the surface I've always wanted to be a teacher. Partly because I love History and want to share that love with other people. What's that you say, I may be in for a let down when I find myself with unwilling participants of my knowledge. I'm fully aware. But thats part of the draw. I want to make History palatable for the kids who have no interest and try, without pretentiousness, to show that history is important. Although some have tried to point me in the direction of a P.h.D, I know would be more enraged at some snotty 20 year old who has watched too much history channel trying to correct me than a 15 year old texting her boyfriend during a lecture. Also, I want to have fun in my class. And doing game show style review sessions with candy sounds so much fun than causing terror with a 20 page research paper due the Monday after Spring Break (That has happened to me. TWICE). Yet...I've always been drawn to fashion and it hasn't been recently that I've realized how entrenched fashion is in my life. Finally, I've come to a point of self-confidence in which I've really started experimenting with fashion. I love the hunt of finding new pieces, of putting together a subtly flashy outfit, the thrill of finding the perfect piece. I follow tons of fashion blogs, research trends, and like to day dream about working at Kate Spade or J. Crew or Jill Sander. But I realize I'm not cut out for that. I know I'm meant to be a teacher. I can't count the number of times people have told me I would be a good teacher. And while its terrifying to think I might be missing out on something that would make me happy, I have to trust my instincts. Long-windily,  I come to my conclusion of why I started this blog. To share my passions. To be part of the fashion world, even though its a tiny bleep, and have an outlet for my inspirations.

Among fashion, I'm a beginner gardener, a decent baker, lazy crafter, and avid reader. 

Posted by Lauren @ 11:39 PM :: (0) comments