Thigh High Socks?

I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far! I know I said I have some posts planned for this coming week but I have to post this while the idea is fresh in my  head.

I'm wearing some over the knee/thigh high socks right now that I got from Target (I think). Maybe it was Urban Outfitters. I'm just chilling in my house studying right now and when I get up to get a drink or play with Samson they start to fall down almost immediately. They are super comfortable and I plan on wearing them with a dress or boots this coming fall.

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BUT they keep falling down! They aren't tights and I am going to be wearing them with short-ish dresses and skirts so a garter belt isn't an option. They don't have that elastic band that some tights have. And even the tights I own that do have that elastic band fall down on me! I thought it was the size at first but seriously nothing seems to work, even when I've bought different sizes.

So, fashion tape? Hairspray? Share your secret, I need it!

Thank ya in advance!

Happy Friday! Again!

It's Friday again, woohoo! School is kicking my butt so far. But, I do have some posts planned for next week. I finally found a moisturizer that keeps my face nice and moisturized for winter that I'll be sharing. So be excited for that.

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Have a good weekend! Stay classy! 

Do you have any fun weekend plans? 

Color Crush: Plum

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone has had a lovely start to their week. I was browsing Pinterest the other day (avoiding studying), and I realized that I have a new color obsession: plum. My fall colors usually consist of black, grey, sometimes dark green or dark blue, boring, boring, boring. But I think I'm going to give in to my color crush and find some cute plum merch.

See what I mean? That scarf needs to be MINE. I'd rock some plum colored nail polish too, but I don't think I'm brave enough to try the lipstick. It looks fabulous but my lips are too dry to pull it off. Your chapped lips could be seen across the room if you're wearing dark lipstick. Exfoliating and moisturizing sometimes just doesn't cut it unfortunately. 

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I'm all about a lace dress or scarf in this color though. Totally perfect for fall, and it will transfer seamlessly into the winter months as well. 

Just a side note, as I was writing this I realized I've never actually eaten a plum (I may have, actually. I just don't remember). But I'm intrigued now, it's just not something I think to get when I'm at the grocery store. Maybe I'll try to make a plum pie or a plum mojito or...barbecue plum sauce...I'm looking at you, Pinterest. 

So, what do you think? What is your favorite fall color right now? Also, feel free to leave any plum recipes you have. 

Happy Saturday + September Lusts

This was supposed to be a "Happy Friday!" post but I didn't get around to posting it, so happy Saturday everyone! I hope ya'll had a good week.

It's restaurant week here in Charleston. I'm not sure if this is something that happens in other parts of the world, but it happens every year (September 9th-20th this year). Participating restaurants will create a special Restaurant Week menu which includes X amount of courses for X amount of dollars. The prices vary depend on the restaurant.

If you live in Charleston and you live under a rock and haven't heard of Restaurant Week, check out the menus here. John and I went to The Green Goat last night which has 3 courses for $25. That place is a hidden gem in West Ashley. West Ashley get a little shunned restaurant wise because all of the "good" restaurants are downtown, but there are some restaurants West Ash that are way better than downtown and cheaper.

I had:
Appetizer: Mac Balls (fried Newcastle macaroni and cheese balls drizzled with house made ranch)
Entree: Local Shrimp Scampi (onions, tomatoes, and herbs tossed with linguini in a garlic, lemon butter sauce),
Dessert: Peanut butter cup cheesecake that I haven't eaten yet. I also took John's dessert home with me because he has to avoid eating wheat, so I also have an Irish Carbomb Cake waiting for me in the fridge.
Those Mac Balls were so freaking good. 

Anyway, enough about Restaurant Week, I have created a Lust List for September because I have a couple of things that I am eying this month.

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Fur vests (faux of course) and knee-high/over-the-knee boots have been on my radar these past few weeks. I'm also going to try to perfect winged eyeliner, god knows I need the practice. A white button down shirt under a faux fur vest, and some dark green skinnies with black knee-high boots and a clean cat eye might be my fall uniform. Add a scarf in there some days, too. 

Well that's all for today. If you are in Charleston or around the Charleston area, you should check out some Restaurant Week menus and see if anything catches your eye. I hope ya'll have a good weekend! 

What's on your September Lust List right now? 

Quest for the Perfect Laptop Case

I'm currently on a search for a new laptop case/sleeve/tote, because the one I have now is about 2 or 3 inches too big. It is a pink Lacoste sleeve and very cute, so I'm sad that it isn't smaller. Right now I'm using John's, which I'm sure he's not too happy about and will be pleased when I get my own.

It's a PKG laptop sleeve - black and grey and nice and has nice soft lining on the inside.

Sorry for the awful picture, I'm in the library and it was taken on my iPad. It works well enough, I'd just like something with more pockets for chargers, credit cards, pencils and such.

Of course I'd really love to have a very stylish laptop tote bag, but they are generally more expensive and not so practical if you need to save space while you're traveling or something like that.

Kate Spade

SHARO

And I've had no luck with hard cases that you actually put on your laptop. All the ones I've used have left scratches and random ugly marks, and they also aren't too good for travel since they don't offer any real protection from water or dust. 

So I think a nice laptop sleeve will be best for me. Like I said, John wants his back and mine is too big. Having too big of a laptop sleeve doesn't sound like a big deal (and it isn't really), but if you've ever used one that's too big, you know how annoying it is. It slides around and feels like it's hitting everything because it's not stable. 

Alexander Wang

Marc Jacobs

But after much searching I think I found one that I want to purchase. I can't find any reviews online which is kind of concerning, but I can always return it if it goes to shit after a week. I'm looking at the MochiThings Better Together 13 in. Laptop Pouch for $99, on sale for $85 right now. Perfect timing! 

It has extra pockets for chargers and headphones and whatnot, and it looks like it might be able to fit my iPad as well. It seems well padded and lined and has a handle. I think this might be the one. You know how when you're trying on wedding dresses and you just know when you found the right one? Me either, but the feeling is obviously probably similar. 

My birthday is next month, so hopefully someone will get the hint :P 

What's your favorite option for laptop protection/transportation? Leave me your suggestions! 

I Want to Go to London

Good morning everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. London fashion week is coming up and it's made my desire to go even stronger. London street style is so chic I can't even handle it.

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Lily Melrose=one of my favorite fashion bloggers.

I'd make Duck & Waffle one of my first food stops. I'd go during brunch and get either the "Full Elvis" Waffle (pb&j, bananas, brûlée, chantilly cream, all the trimmings) or the English Cherries Waffle (cherry & yoghurt ice cream, white chocolate crumble). 

Duck & Waffle

And I'd probably come back with some stupid expensive yet oh so classy umbrella from London Undercover (I love this picture). 

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So if you live in London, or anywhere in the UK really, I'm coming to visit asap. 

Where have you been dying to travel to lately? 

Chanel, Cardigans, and Coloring Books!

I have one test in between me and the sweet, sweet (long!) weekend. I have another big test coming up with only 2 classes between now and that test, so I might be a little MIA while I'm studying for that.

I'm a sucker for advertising, and in this months Glamour there was a sample of Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua foundation. Good timing because I'm out of foundation so I took advantage. Damn you Chanel and Glamour! I forgot how much I liked that foundation! I really can't spend that much on foundation right now so I'm hoping I can find something similar, suggestions are encouraged.

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Ugh. School is draining all of my funds that are already limited to begin with. Yay textbooks. Yes, you can buy them used or rent them, but for some classes you have to at least buy this "connect plus access card" because you have to register it to do the homework for the class, and you can't share them because it's registered exclusively to you. The one for my psychology class was $100 for the textbook and access code, $80 for just the access code. And the one for my math class (which I haven't bought yet) is around $150 for just the code. Yuck.

Anyway, since I have no extra funds to spend on clothes, I've really been looking at deals lately. And inspired by my cold classrooms, I figured I'd share some cardigans that are under $50. 

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I'm sure you all have heard the hype about "adult coloring books". I think it probably is a good, fun thing to do when you want to give your brain a break from writing notecard after notecard after notecard. It keeps you kind of focused on something but gives you a break from cranking out numbers or whatever you're doing, and helps bring out your creative side a little bit. It's not as distracting as say, drinking a glass of wine or 5. I wouldn't call it "therapy" and I don't think you need to spend $30 on a coloring book. There are sheets you can probably print out from your home to color, or you can design your own coloring book, or do spend the $30 on a coloring book, shit, whatever you want to do! More like $8 on average actually, but still.

Hmmm, sorry this post was just me rambling. I tried to be a little helpful. Wish me luck on my psychology test! I may not be around for a week or so. Hope you all have a great labor day weekend!

Also, please recommend a foundation if you have used one that's similar to the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. What are your weekend plans?

9 Websites You Need to Bookmark

Back in 2014 I did an "11 Websites You Need to Bookmark" post, and all of those still apply by the way. But I've discovered some new websites that you should add to your list!

1. Canva.com is my favorite design website right now. They offer design templates (such as posters, Twitter header, menus, magazine covers) or you can use your own dimensions. I made that banner using Canva (the pattern is from Lilly Pulitzer though).

2. 10 Minute Mail - I wish I had known about this website a long time ago. You know those times you want to enter an email address for a coupon code and never hear from them again? Or enter an email address to get some sort of freebie sent to you? This email address will destruct within 10 minutes but you can read emails sent to that address for those 10 minutes (for confirmation codes and whatnot).

3. DaFont.com - Download any font you could ever possibly want!

4. r/WritingPrompts - I should have Reddit in general on this list, but this could be useful especially for us writers. Not that I have time to write fiction, but if I wanted to this is where I'd go for ideas!

5. What Should I Read Next? I've asked myself that question way too many times. You just type in authors or books that you like and it will give you suggestions.

6. Coursera allows you to search for free online classes to take. There are literally millions of courses to search through. There are even courses from big universities such as Yale, Princeton, Duke, etc.

7. 3-Minute Journal is a very interesting website that I have yet to try but I'm going to give it a shot this weekend. You write a brief journal entry and it tracks your emotional states, accomplishments, and a lot of other cool things. It shows you a graph over time I believe, too.

8. ListenToYouTube.com - If you do a lot of driving, it might be worthwhile to find some lectures or audiobooks or something to listen to while you're driving or walking to and from classes. John and I do a lot of driving so we listen to neurobiology lectures from Stanford.

9. Weavesilk.com is just incredibly fun to do, I've made some really cool "designs" if you want to call them that. Just try it, you'll see. It's actually kind of therapeutic.


Do you have any "must bookmark" suggestions? I'm always open to new things!

Update & How to Get Mildew Off of Your Bags/Shoes/Etc.

Good morning everyone! I'm finally caught up enough to do a blog post. I went to Imagine Music Festival in Atlanta this past weekend, way too much fun! There was a 50%-60% chance of rain both nights but lucky for us, it only seemed to rain when we were in our hotel room.

I update my "About" section and added some new buttons, so be sure to check those out because they look super cool. I got them here, it's a great website I discovered yesterday that will cover all of your icon needs. Some free, some not, but you can sort by "free" or "premium" or "all". I also updated my blog header finally but I'm not sure how I feel about it so that might be changing again soon.

I was getting my bags out of John's closet so that I could pack, and to my surprise some of them had mildew/mold on them! Some of my shoes too! Gross. I wasn't too distraught until I saw that it was on some expensive-ish pairs of shoes and my backpack for school. Here's what I did:

You need:
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
Suede brush (I didn't have one so I used an old toothbrush that I cleaned)
Petroleum jelly
Lint free cloth (I used a sponge because I didn't have that either)
Suede brush (preferable but optional)
Dryer sheet (optional)

1. Take bags and shoes outside and gently rub the moldy spots with the suede brush (tooth brush) just to get the initial nastiness off.
2. Work petroleum jelly into spots in firm, circular motions. Note: I did not use petroleum jelly on my suede shoes. Just the water/vinegar mixture (see below).
3. Mix water and vinegar in a bowl. I found that 1/2 cups of each were a bit too much, but you may need more or less depending on how many things you are cleaning. Just make sure it's 1/2 and 1/2.
4. Dip cloth or sponge in mixture and dab on petroleum jelly areas, or just the mildew areas in the case of suede.
5. Let dry naturally, outside is preferable if the weather permits it.
6. If your garments smell, rub them with a dryer sheet.

It would be ideal if you have a suede brush to get the fabric back to its original state. I don't have one so I just made sure I was extra careful when cleaning the suede and lightly brushed over it with a toothbrush once it was dry. Lucky for me the spores weren't too deep so I didn't have to work that hard to get them out.

Well I hope that never happens to you so that you'll never have to use these tips, but they're here if you need 'em.

Also, happy September!

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What have you all been up to?