NYC Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Rather than doing a blog post with pictures of New York City during Christmas time I decided it would be a lot more fun to make a video. This is the first time I have ever done this so we can only go up from here! 

I hope you all have a fantastic Holiday!

Holiday Makeup

Hey guys! So obviously it's very close to Christmas time and this has been my go to holiday/winter makeup look!

All the products above are;

Benefit The Porefessional

Rimmel True Match Foundation (I alternate this with Nars Sheer Glow)

Josie Maran Concealer 

elf eyebrow pallet

Urban Decay Primer Potion 

Sleek Rose Gold Blush (as a highlight)

Mac Dainty Blush  

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess

Benefit They're Real Gel Eyeliner 

Mac Amber Lights Eye Shadow

Lorac Mauve Eye Shadow

Bobbi Brown Tawny Pink Lipstick

What am I listening to?

Although this isn't a typical post for me, I have been buying a lot of new albums recently and just obsessing over some that I already had. I thought it would be something different to share, I don't stick to one genre of music so if you have anything you're loving feel free to send me some recommendations!

Dorm room tour

As you know I'm away at school in NYC. For me one of the best things about going away to school is being able to decorate and organize your dorm room. My roommates aren't as into as I am but I like to make my section of the room as cute, homey and functional as possible. So whether you're away at school already or going away in a few years this could be some inspiration to you. 

-this post is going to have a lot of pictures sorry about that (:-

My desk area might be my favorite thing in my room. I went a tiny bit crazy this year with different decorations that were also functional for me to organize and store things in.

Life update?

Hey guys!

So it's obviously back to school time which means I'm back to living in Manhattan! A new year means a lot of new things, for one it's the start of my senior year of college (kind of). I have 3 semesters left until I'm thrown out into the real world to find a job and be on my own, that's quite a scary thought.  Since I am so far into university at this point I'm very much in some of the hardest classes that I'll take before graduating and I'm also interning the days that I'm not in class. Although I'm so busy I do want to spend more time updating here! I have some really big plans of what I want to do and I'm hoping I'll be able to do it!

When I first stared writing this post I was sitting in one of my classes, while I should have being paying attention, I really was in the mood to write something for here. This post is honestly pointless and I'm fully aware of that but sometimes a little life update is nice. So since I have yet to post this about a week later I'll update a little further into school this semester so far.

As I said before along with the new year comes so many new things, one of those is new roommates. My roommate from last year moved back home and although we had our differences living with someone you could also consider your friend was fantastic. This year I got put into a triple meaning I'm living with two girls in a room thats not much bigger then a decent sized bedroom. I had never met either one of the girls before moving in with them, I like to go into things completely optimistic but sometimes no matter how much you try to look for the good its not possible. Living with others in a small space is always hard but when its people whom you don't really even know it can get overwhelming. 

I know that many people have started school within the last month or so, the things that I am struggling with in being away at school are things I know other people also struggle with. I wish I could say "Hey try this it'll make university better!" but everyone is completely different with different issues and solutions. For me personally I want to be able to take my stress and anxiety and put it into something useful and I'm hoping that my blog can be that thing, allowing me to escape school things for a little while.

 With that said I want to post a lot more fashion and beauty post. I have a list of different types of post I want to try out as soon as I can. I've finally gotten a MacBook (which I love as a child) so having a computer that works should help me be able to keep up so much more :)

#ootd

   

  

Parental Explicit Tank: Brandy Melville

Washed out Ripped Jeans: American Eagle 

Shoes: Superga

Bag: Kate Spade

    

OOTD

Shorts: Urban Outfitters

White Oversized tee: Pacsun

Denim Jacket: Topshop

Sunglasses: Warby Parker

Sneakers: Superga 

Bag: Kate Spade

What's in my travel bag?

Well as you guys may or may not know since being on summer break I have been doing a bit of traveling! This means deciding what are my absolute needs while in the airport or on the plane. 

Inside my travel bag is;

Urbanears headphones, I have just recently purchased these after eyeing them for awhile. For Christmas I had gotten other ones but the didn't fold up and weren't very easy for traveling. The only thing keeping me from getting these was they're $60 and I didn't have that lying around. But ill give you a cheeky secret go on amazon if you want them they're only $30 there!

Ipad, I got my ipad as a gift when I moved to Manhattan my parents thought it would be much easier for me to carry that around with online textbooks, which it is! My ipad has become my go to for just about everything except blogging and writing papers. It's great to have on the plane because I have it stocked with music, books on my kindle app, along with books on audible.

Makeup bag, which doesn't actually have any makeup in it. Inside the b&w bag is basically my go to emergency kit. I also carry this around in my large handbags. It has lip-balm, band aids, hand wipes, hand sanitizer,  girly products hair ties and bobby pins. 

Chocolate Roasted almonds, I don't know about anyone else but I get constantly hungry whilst traveling. I brought almonds with me on the plane because they aren't completely unhealthy and they are super easy to travel with because its resealable.

Wallet, because I was only going to be carrying a small bag with me while I was away I only brought a small wallet pouch. But you can't get very far into the airport without some money and your ID.

Iphone, lets be real do we go anywhere without our phones? But once again my phone is where most of my music is so when I'm not on my ipad I'm always plugged into that.

A book, in case my electronics die or if I just feel like reading from actual paper.

Powerbank charger, I have started to carry a portable charger with me almost all the time because I know my phone battery never makes it through anything.

Iphone/Ipad charger, for when you can actually find an outlet in the airport.

& lastly 

A small notebook in case I get some new blog ideas or I just think of anything I need to write down (:

The windy city

After saying in a past post how interested I am in traveling to so many different places and cities I have just gotten back from Chicago! 

Whilst in Chicago I became a major tourist so I am very sorry to every tourist I basically shove aside in New York I understand it is a little overwhelming having no idea where anything is.

We stayed a few blocks away from Navy Pier which made one of the best things the view from out our hotel window which looked over the river. The first day we went out we took the hot long terrible walk to the Shedd Aquarium, I've been to plenty aquariums before but they had beluga whales so in short I was VERY excited and there is a possibility we all stood in front of the tank singing baby beluga. The next few days we went to the skydeck (where you can see about 4 different states), we took a lake tour, hung out on the pier and OF COURSE I went shopping because whats a trip without some shopping! 

On the last full day we were there we finally went to millennium park where the bean? I'm not actually sure if that is what its called but I waited the entire trip to visit it. 

What I wore to millennium park 

Striped crop top - H&M

Black high waisted shorts - Urban Outfitters

Flannel - Thrifted

White high top converse

Sunglasses - Warby Parker 

Bag - Forever 21 

As much as I enjoyed Chicago it made me appreciate New York even more. I have such a love/hate relationship with it but its my city and I think it'll always come out being my favorite. There were so many things different about Chicago such as  the pace being slower and I found finding my way around much more difficult. I would like to go back in the future with someone from there that knows all the areas that someone just visiting would never think to go to or wouldn't be able to find. You always enjoy places like that the most because they aren't aimed to please people who are just there on vacation. If your from there let me come visit you! 

Downtown

I said I would be posting more because its summer now, I have failed. Here is boring basic outfit post from when I went to Red Bank sorry loves!

             

 What I'm wearing

Black Skater Dress; Forever 21

Long Daisy Kimono; Brandy Melville

White Sandals; Forever 21

Black Studded Handbag: Forever 21 (this is a good steal if you are in love with the Alexander Wang Rockie bag!)

Sunglasses; Warby Parker 

&

The hat in the last photo is H&M

A day in the park

I may have forgotten to post this beaut whilst dealing with finals and moving out of school and then some terrible terrible internet connection. My mom and sister decided to come visit me in the city when the  weather was finally nice enough to spend a day in the park. 

We went to the castle, if you've not been there its so pretty. We went to the top which is where we took most of the pictures. To get to the top there were these narrow spiral staircases. I wish I had more pictures of the park but my sister has them.

Other then castle we just did a lot of walking!

What I wore!

Yellow Cami -- Topshop

Denim Shirt-- Topshop

Daisy Shorts -- Topshop

Bag-- ASOS

Sneakers -- Keds

Watch -- Guess 

I got stuck on the rock I decided I should climb

I just wanted to post a outfit post, now that I'm on summer break I plan to update much more! 

Drug store vs High end

Lets face it, I always want new makeup products. The problem with this is everything I assume to be good is so much money. While I usually love everything I buy from places more "high-end" is it always actually necessary? I have been wearing the Mac Match-master foundation for about 9 months I originally bought it in the shade 1.5 because it was summer and I wasn't pale as a ghost  then went and got the shade 1.0 when I needed something lighter. Now it may just be me, because I do live in the city with not so fantastic air and dorm showers that do wonderful things for drying out your skin but I realized that no matter how much moisturizer I used the makeup was still way to dry for my skin. It got to the point where I had to take a pour eraser, which is basically grease) and cover my face in it before applying my foundation so it didn't look dry and flaky.

So being that I'm a broke college student, currently saving up for the NARS sheer glow foundation I wasn't sure what new foundation I wanted to try. Over spring break I was at the drugstore and I saw the Rimmel Match Perfection foundation. I have heard nothing but great things about all of Rimmel's products and I'm not going to lie when I say I use a lot of there other products. For $4.97 I figured it couldn't hurt to try it out, the end result? I am absolutely in love with it. It's very thin and I probably wouldn't say to use it if you have oily skin, but for someone like me whose face is the desert its perfect.

I talked about this with a friend and she claimed that she liked a lot of her drug-store primers and eye liners better also. Always keep an open mind don't worry about the label because its very rare that someone is going to come up to you and ask "oh my what are you wearing on your face?"

 Basically what I'm getting to is just because something is a high-end brand doesn't mean its going to be perfect or a good product for you. Don't put another product or brand down just because its cheaper, it may actually be fantastic and you wouldn't have known if you didn't try it!

Taking on Philly

I think one thing I have realized while living in the city is how much I really do want to travel. Regardless if its going somewhere close to home that I haven't been to before, another city or to another country there is just so much that I want to see. This past week was my spring break; my friends and I decided to take advantage of where we live and visit Philadelphia, although while being home in Jersey I am actually closer to Philly then I am to New York I have never taken a day to go explore the city. So I grabbed my best friend from home and my friend from college who lives near Philly and we decided it was the perfect time too! 

One of the places we made sure to visit whilst in Philly was the Magic Garden, this took 14 years for the artist to construct. The garden was a complete mosaic constructed of everything from glass, bottles to bike rims. Every piece you walked through was like walking through the artist mind there was no perfect theme or no perfect part, each part was unique and equally as beautiful. 

Every city you go to has a completely different feel to it, along with it comes different types of people and so much incredible history.  For me, it's one of the most enjoyable things about going to different places no matter how far from each other they are you can feel like you are somewhere so new.

-xxSamantha