California Daydreaming

With a record-breaking heat wave here in Minneapolis, I am definitely NOT complaining about the weather, but with less than two weeks to go before my California vacation, I have been daydreaming heavily about all the lovely amazing people I will get to see, food I will eat, coffee and cocktails I will drink, and of course, all the amazing California sights I will see. 

I am absolutely loving summer in Minneapolis, but part of me will always long for California. Having lived there for over 10 years, I seem to have the equivalent of phantom limb syndrome: I swear I can sometimes feel the air, the topography, the lifestyle, coursing through my veins.

I am also looking forward to being inspired by some real California style. Most other places in America (and maybe even the world) are constantly trying to emulate the "California cool" style that has become iconic. California girls really know how to do casual without looking boring. There is an ease to a lot of the fashion in California that I absolutely love. 

Unfortunately, it's not an easy place to be poor in your twenties (or any age really). With sky-high housing prices, a failing social system, and an economy based on entertainment, technological innovations, and the prison-industrial complex,  I was simply never able to get my footing there financially. And while life has been hard here, and I am still pretty damn poor, it's a lot easier to be poor in Minnesota.

But I am and always will be a California girl at heart. And for all you haters out there, I will break a fucking bottle and shiv you because "I'm from Oakland, bitch!"

And with that, I give you a pictorial translation of my California daydreamin':

                                                                             The iconic Oakland cranes at sunset

Taco trucks, quality sushi, and Peet's coffee: all of which I will be putting in my face throughout my vacation.

  While I am hoping there will not be widespread rioting with the release of the BART officer who murdered Oscar Grant, hating cops and breaking shit is one of the things Oakland does best.

Minnesota may have ten thousand lakes, but I still love Lake Merritt best. Also, strawberry mimosas at the Lake Merritt Cafe are the shit on a Sunday morning.

Pretty dresses at sunset, the Golden Gate Bridge and prison overcrowding. Get ready California, with the new Supreme Court ruling these friendly gents might soon be your new neighbors. 

Big Sur is my favorite place in the world. Hopefully, we'll be able to make a quick stop on the way to my friend's wedding in San Diego. 

This is what I think So Cal looks like.

 

The second half of our trip will be spent in San Diego for my amazing friend Nikki's wedding in Balboa Park.

I also get to see a bunch of other BFFs as a bonus.

I hope you enjoyed the pretty pictures. Unfortunately, I can't do the DIY segment this week because I am so poor that I don't even have enough $$ to purchase the materials for the DIY projects, but I promise I will do a DIY summer trends post next week after I get paid. However, there will be a post on how to decorate your apartment or house for almost no monies later this week. 

Thanks for reading!

<3- hallee

Black & White and Bright All Over

Since I am a huge fan of bright colored clothing and print mixing, I tend to keep my accessories relatively low-key, usually choosing to wear simple gold or silver earrings or necklaces and maybe one brightly colored accent. Lately, I have been a huge fan of bright colored lipstick and my new turquoise purse (last seen here). But having acquired a few new amazing, brightly colored, spring-appropriate accessories over the last few months, and not having acquired a whole lot else, I decided to put together a couple looks based around a few accessories: bright pink pumps (thrifted), yellow flower ring (Buffalo Exchange a few years ago), said turquoise purse (thrifted), and tattered multicolored pink scarf (swapped).

To highlight their colorful-awesomeness, I paired them with black and white clothes for a super casual comfy look and a slightly more dressed up summer diva look:

Dressed Down

clothing deets: white Gap t-shirt (swapped) and high-waisted black shorts (swapped)

Please enjoy a short flower intermission whilst I change clothes:

Dressed-Up (Kinda)

 Clothing Deets: black & white dress (thrifted from Buffalo Exchange in Minneapolis), sweet sunnies ($14 from Covered in Uptown Minneapolis)

Anyway, for those of you that are unable to buy an entire new summer wardrobe (or, you know, groceries and stuff), adding bright accessories to basic looks might be one way to keep things interesting. It can also be a good way to branch out if you're stuck in a bright solid color/pattern mixing rut, or if you are one of those lovely ladies that can't seem to incorporate color into your wardrobe at all.

If you're fresh out of brightly colored accessories, I would also recommend maybe trying out some bright makeup or nail polish accents. Here are some of my drugstore favorites at the moment:

1. Revlon Moon Drops in Hot Coral #712 

2. Revlon Colorburst in Fuschia

3. Covergirl Liquiline Blast Eyeliner Pencil 

4. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Color in Fairy Teal

5. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Color in Blue Calypso
6. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Color in Grass Slipper

7. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nail Color in Yellow Kitty
8. Gimme Clips - Blue Belle : Target

9. CoverGirl Smoky Shadowblast Tempest Blue 825

Well, I hope that gives you some ideas for cute spring looks. Next week: DIY feather hair extensions and how to furnish an apartment for almost free!

Thanks so much for reading!

<3-hallee

P.S. I am trying to find ways to get a little more exposure for the blog, so if you can, please HYPE me on lookbook.nu:

Summa Summa Summa Time

Now that summery weather has officially arrived here in Minneapolis, and I have found myself still gainfully employed, at least until my California vacation extravaganza at the end of the month, things are looking pretty good at the moment. Of course, I am still just scraping by financially--paying bills and scrambling to save up for said California vacation--but it's not getting to me as much as usual.
It seems like it's just that time of year: when a lot of the unproductive worry and anxiety shaking around in our brains is seamlessly replaced by a lot of unproductive (but arguably more pleasant) daydreaming.
Like when you were a kid and there were only three weeks of school left and you would be staring out the window from your desk, admiring the beautiful day outside, tuning out your teacher and thinking about summer camp and unsupervised neighborhood adventures.
Or like now, when I am a grown-up and there are only twenty days left till I leave for California, and I am scrolling through  fashion Stumblr at my desk, admiring all the swimsuits, beachy hair and exotic locations, tuning out the inane chatter around me and thinking about beach laying, lake swimming, and endless bike riding adventures. Le sigh.
Anyway, here is some fodder for your daydreaming:

Daydream away!! And get ready for an outfit post tomorrow and DIY feather hair extensions next week!

Thanks for reading, my dears!
<3-hallee

OMG Shoes!

Let me begin by apologizing for yet another unintended hiatus from the blog. Unfortunately, being poor often means that I have to work. A lot. Like, an inhuman amount of hours. Also, politicians like to hear themselves talk. A lot. So that charming combination of circumstances has prevented me from attending to normal everyday things such as sleeping, eating, knowing what day it is, and most importantly, this lovely little endeavor.

None of that means that I have forgotten about you. Or shoes. In fact, I have been noticing lately that most of my shoes are stinky, dirty, very out of fashion at the moment, or some abhorrent combination of the three. Perhaps this is also the case for you. That is why I have put together a small collection of shoes I have been daydreaming about adding to my wardrobe for the spring and summer, all of which are $30 and under. Happy shopping, my poor, stinky, ugly shoe-d compadres!!

Low heels, $20

Cooperative gladiator shoes, $20

Shoes, $25

B. Ella flat shoes, $23

Forever21 small shoes, $20

Forever21 pointy shoes, $21

Forever21 buckle shoes, $27

Women's Mossimo® Pilar Strappy Wedge Sandals - Black : Target, $30

Misbehave Daisy-5 Flower Thong Flat Sandal, $16

Bamboo Firework-49 Mesh Flat Sandal, $16

Qupid Agency-159 Rosette Flat Sandal, $13

Women's Dolce Vita for Target® Cork Wedge Sandals - Brown : Target, $30

Thanks for reading! I promise I will put more effort into my next few posts as soon as I catch up on sleep and eat a few cheeseburgers.

<3- hallee

Because I Need to Stop Hating

So I know I have done a lot of hating on Forever 21 on the blog. The truth is, Forever 21 is great for some things. When there is a super trendy item you know you want, and you're not sure you'll be able to find it at all by thrifting, let alone find it in your size, I have found that F21 is the best place to go.

Since a trip to F21 pretty much guarantees that you'll have to endure migraine-inducing pop music and throngs of bitchy teenagers that dress like baby hookers giving you dirty looks because you are over the age of 17 and aren't sporting an orange spray tan, excessive amounts of eye makeup and freshly flat-ironed fake blond hair, I find it's best to go there only when you have a specific goal in mind. That way, you can get in, and get out as quickly as humanly possible, hopefully without stabbing at random.

Anyway, on my last trip to F21 a few months ago, I was looking for a cute-patterned pair of booty shorts for the summer. Not only did I find those, but I also found an amazing cream blazer that I have been dressing up with a skinny black belt to wear at the office. However, since the weather has finally decided to stop being a total fucking jerk, I decided to pair the blazer with the booty shorts for a dressed-down summery look last week:

 

 Outfit Deets: Blazer (F21), Shorts (F21), Tank top (Thrifted, originally Abercrombie), Necklace (F21), Purse (Thrifted, originally F21), Shoes (Thrifted), Aviators (borrowed from the BF)

Here are a few other things from F21 that I peeped online that would help create the look above and lots of other cute spring outfits without bankrupting your summer vacation savings:

Forever21 flower print dress, $28

Forever21 single breasted jacket, $28

Forever21 linen jacket, $25

Forever21, $18

Forever21 floral skirt, $16

Forever21 embroidered skirt, $16

Forever21 print skirt, $15

Forever21 floral short, $14

Forever21 stripe skirt, $13

Forever21 denim short

Forever21 open toe shoes, $25

Forever21 black sunglass, $6.80

Forever21 square sunglass, $5.80

Forever21 aviator sunglass, $5.80

What do you think about F21 for disposable trend shopping? Have you gotten anything amazing from there lately?

Thanks for reading, loveys!

<3-hallee