Long Healthy Hair

I have been growing my hair forever, I only cut it every few years to donate it. I love having long hair and I love everything you can do with long hair. If you plan on growing your hair out, there are a few things you should know. 

• Don't wash your hair everyday
• Don't use heat on your hair everyday
• Let your hair air dry
• Don't brush your hair when it is wet
• Don't pull your hair into super tight updos
• Treat your hair with the right products
• Use hair masks every other week
• Trim your ends every month to keep split ends from forming
• Don't over brush your hair
• Use leave in conditioner
• Instead of putting your hair up, put it in a loose braid
• Use fabric hair ties
• Don't over process or over dye your hair

My Biggest Regret

I have always been a blonde and I have always loved being a blonde. This year, in the middle of summer, when my blonde hair was at its peak of sun kissed highlights and salty waves from the lifeguarding every day, I had the bright idea to dye it a chocolatey brunette color. The day I dyed it, I was excited for a change, my long blonde healthy hair was soon going to be brunette and I couldn't wait. 

Until I looked in the mirror after, and my hair was black. The darkest black I had ever seen, I looked like Wednesday Addams. My perfectly toned bleach blonde hair absorbed the color too quickly and too well and my hair was black. I was mortified. I didn't look like myself and I couldn't even look in the mirror without crying. 

No one recognized me and no one liked the color. The bubbly blonde I had been my whole life had been transformed into someone I didn't even know. I went to work the next day with a hat and everyone was shocked. People truly did not know who I was or what I had done to my perfect hair. I couldn't take it I had gone into a depression for 2 weeks all because of my hair. I needed to go to a good salon that could fix my hair. 

Fixing a bad color is not easy and it is not cheap either. I walked out the salon minus $300 dollars but I looked just liked I had stepped off the cast of Baywatch with my long blonde hair. It wasn't the same exact blonde I had before, but a couple days of lifeguarding and sitting in the sun, my hair went back to being a perfectly bleach blonde toned color, the color I had been my entire life. 

My promise to myself after this was to NEVER dye my hair any other color than blonde because from that experience I knew I would never be happy if I wasn't a blonde. Since then I haven't dyed my hair and I do not plan on it either. Being a blonde truly is my calling in life. 

Stickers

I love advertising my favorite brands. Everyone knows the little pink whale is Vineyard Vines and when they see that cute little smiling whale sticker on my water bottle they acknowledge it and know exactly where its from. Or when people see the mountains they know its Patagonia, and the little blue fish is Southern Tide. People recognize these brands because they are iconic, and when people see them and recognize them, they want to go home and buy things from them. The best thing a brand can do is sell stickers to gain followers and to gain popularity with their brands. My laptop is completely covered with stickers like these, and I love the way it looks and the questions I get from people about where I got all my adorable stickers. 

Target

Oh Target. I can walk in there with absolutely no intention to buy anything and leave the store with a cart and a half full of things I "just had to buy" because it was "soooooo cute" or it would "go perfectly on my desk!" This Saturday after the mall I decided to stop into Target really quickly. That quick little trip turned into an hour of getting last minute finishing touches for my Halloween costume, candles, crafting supplies, makeup, and a fur headband for skiing along with gum and a binder that I was supposed to buy in August. 

My friend and I walked out of Target and I was confused, looking down at my bill I didn't know how I spent more money in Target than at the mall. 

Then I realized that Target truly does have everything you could need and more, and honestly if I was only allowed to shop at one store for the rest of my life it would be Target!

DIY Halloween Costumes: Serena and Blair from Gossip Girl

With Halloween 5 days away and some of us still scrambling to get our costumes together, I'm going to make it easy for you. Everyones favorite TV show, Gossip Girl has easy characters to recreate because of their strong personalities and iconic looks. 

It girl, Serena Van Der Woodsen can be done with a plaid skirt, white knee socks, a button up, a loose and messy tie, and a casual boho jacket thrown over the outfit completed with booties or heels. Serena's hair is often tousled and messy and her makeup is simple and fresh faced. 

Blair Waldorf is a bit more put together than Serena is. Her hair is usually pulled away from her face with a preppy headband and is done up in clean curls. Her lips and cheeks are blushed and her eyes are soft. Her uniform is always pressed and clean, her Tory Burch ballet flats match her knee socks perfectly. Instead of a messy tie, Blair usually finishes off her uniform with a neat tie or scarf. Blair's favorite way to top off the outfit is with a peacoat, a classic and preppy look. 

So grab your best friend and your old plaid uniform skirt from middle school and you can easily throw together this cute costume. 

Social Media

Everything we do needs to be documented on social media, we Instagram what were eating for brunch followed by an OOTD. That night, we snap a picture and #latergram it before we go out for the night. Through out that night we tweet about the dirty look the tall brunette girl gave you and add snaps to your snapchat story of you and your friends singing in the car. The next day its all uploaded on Facebook into some cleverly named album for 2000 of your closet friends and family to see. 

Maybe we don't realize it while its all happening but all this time spent on social media is honestly a waste. We spend hours trying to figure out the perfect theme and we make sure not to repeat outfits on Instagram. If you don't get more than a certain number of likes you delete the picture. We are getting so caught up in scrolling through our Instagram feeds and snapping pictures of whats happening to our friends we are actually missing out on those moments because we are so caught up in trying to show everyone else how much your having fun instead of just enjoying the moment. 

I will admit that I have been a culprit of all of this until I decided to delete my Instagram and Twitter and settle for just having Snapchat and Facebook. When I first told my friends about this they got genuinely upset that they could no longer tag me in Instagram posts or mention me on Twitter. It was as if I was no longer a part of the social media world. 

But to be completely honest, deleting these apps and deleting my accounts is a great opportunity for me to focus on college applications and it also gives me a chance to create an entire new social media base in college with new and different followers. Even though I'm no longer a part of my friends social media world, I have now become a part of the real world and I think thats better than any amount of Instagram likes. 

Planning with Lilly

I have been planning with Lilly since my freshman year. I need everything in my life to be super organized, or at least I need to have it look that way.

Lilly planners come in 4 different sizes for 2 very different people. You have the smallest planner, for people who basically just want to carry around something with Lilly's name on it. You have the medium agenda for people who want to look like they have it together. You have the large agenda for overachievers, and you have to jumbo agenda for people who want to seem really really important and want to make their social calendars look better than yours. 

There really is a Lilly Pulitzer agenda out there for everyone! 

Crafting

Lately I have been obsessed with crafting, everything from painting canvases to wine glasses, Modge Podging everything in between. It all started with Pinterest of course.  Just a couple of clicks on a sorority page brought me into the world of crafting. Painted paddles, picture frames and Lilly prints are spotted all over my Pinterest. 

I started with simple signs for my room. A "no lifeguard on duty", "work like a captain party like a pirate" and "life's at ease with an ocean breeze" sign line the walls of my room. Recently I have added a painting of hydrangeas and a wooden letter E painted with a Lilly Pulitzer print to my collection. Along with these painted crafts, I have also added cork boards filled with tags and cute greeting cards like a tag from my Triangl bikini and another tag from my Pura Vida bracelets. 

Any little accessory I can add to my room I am all for. I love to add the little details that pull everything together into one common theme of everything I love. 

Fall

I am so excited for fall. I have been stocking up on italian wool sweaters, plaid mini skirts, and knee socks. Clearly all my inspiration this season has come from the iconic character Cher from Clueless. 

I have been obsessed with this movie since I was little and the fashion in it has always grabbed my attention. Yesterday I bought a red and black plaid mini skirt from Gap that will look perfect with black knee socks, boots. a white t and a black vest over it. I cannot wait for it to start getting cold out because I seriously want to break out the wool and Pendleton! Another item I have always loved are vests of course. I bought a black vest from J. Crew this year and it is perfect. It goes with everything in my closet and with it being black it instantly becomes a classic. 

And of course my bean boots that have been a classic since the 80's. I just bought a pair of tan and navy ones, but if you want these, you better buy them soon because if this season goes as well as last season, then there will be bean boots on back order until February again! 

Food on Pinterest

As I do my research on Pinterest, I sometimes wonder over to different categories other than women's fashion. I somehow usually end up in the food and drink category which is not a very good thing because in the past couple of days I have turned my kitchen inside out making Nutella crepes, chicken alfredo baked ziti, and campfire cones. All of which came out to be amazing but if I keep eating like this I may need to leave women's fashion behind and start looking at fitness and health. 

Pinterest has always been a rabbit hole for me. I can get lost on the website for hours just looking at all different kinds of recipes, outfits or planning my future wedding. Seriously Pinterest has a pin for everything. Its a great way to pass the time but its not really a great way to pass a class which is what I'm trying to do. So maybe I should block Pinterest on my computer, or at least the food pins for a little while. 

Fashion on Instagram

Everyone loves social media. Sometimes a little too much. One thing I love more than anything about social media is how easily it is to find outfit inspiration. Take Instagram for example, you have tons of beauty and fashion bloggers uploading multiple pictures daily of what they're wearing to work, coffee dates and just lounging around. The best part about this too is, the girls usually tag where they get their clothes from which helps me a lot when I go to buy everything they're wearing! The other thing too is they make all their pictures look so appealing. From the lighting to the backgrounds, the whole picture is flawlessly executed. No wonder they get 100,000+ likes on every picture they post. For some of the best bloggers on Instagram, check out @carlycristman @sarahbelle93x

Pineapples

Last year and this year again, pineapples have been a huge trend. J.Crew started putting pineapples on everything and I love it. I think they are so adorable and they look so fun and cute on clothes. Especially on rompers, pineapples are perfect for the beach.

Patriotic Apparel

Who doesn't love America? What better way to show your patriotism around the holidays like some red white and blue? Lately I've been obsessing over anything with an American flag on it. My favorite stores are Rowdy Gentlemen and Southern Proper. Worn by frat boys all across America, what better way to spread our love for America.

Sperry Top Siders

We all have that one pair of shoes that we've had way too long but we couldnt possibly throw them away because of the sentimental value they have. In my case, I have a pair of tan classic Sperry Top Sider's that have definitely seen way better days. 

I wore these everyday in the summer from going to work at the beach, to parties to sailing, these shoes went everywhere with me. I loved them to death but soon enough they started to look really dirty and they just didn't have the same physical appeal that they used to have. The comfort level only went up though. These Sperry's got to be so disgusting by the end of the summer I couldn't even bring them inside the house. I had to literally leave them outside they were just so gross. Eventually I bought a new pair, but I still have those same Sperry's in the original box they came in!

Its funny how we can get so attached to something as materialistic as a pair of shoes, but honestly I wore those everywhere and so many memories were made. Bottom line is everyone is going to have that one pair of shoes, your going to love them and your not going to want to get rid of them. My advice; keep them as long as you can then GET RID OF THEM. Its not worth keeping them, they waste space. They're a pair of shoes that you once loved, but you can throw them away, its okay, I promise. 

Classic American Style

Faded jeans and sun washed t shirts, tousled hair and natural makeup, this is the classic American look. Throw on a baseball hat from your favorite team and you've got yourself a perfect look for just about anything. American classics, like a 1964 Ford Thunderbolt never go out of style. They always look clean and classic and timeless.
These outfits can also be easily dressed up or down. A simple t shirt and jeans with a nice leather belt can be dressed down with flip flops, made a little more casual with boat shoes and then dressed all the way up with a pair of nude pumps and the bottoms of your jeans rolled up.
Add a little jewelry for some sparkle and you can make this look even more versatile. Any outfit can really be played with to make it more casual or more formal but with your classic American pieces you can go a long way.
Classic American staples can be your favorite pair of jeans that fit just right, a plain crew neck t shirt in your favorite color, a green army jacket, worn in converse Chuck Taylor's, your most comfortable pumps and a faded brown leather belt. The key to all this is comfort, you want to make sure everything your wearing looks great but is still comfortable. So your old Chuck Taylor's from high school would be perfect along with those jeans you wear every chance you can because they fit just right.
This look is so simple and easy and comfortable and is so simply achieved because its really everything you already have in your closet. You just have to play around with the pieces to create the right looks. It's all up to you. 

Hats

I've been racking up quite the collection of baseball hats lately and I love it. To cover up a bad hair day, or add a little sporty flair to an outfit, baseball hats are so cute. A striped tee, jeans, white converse and Boston Red Sox baseball hat looks so adorable and cute, but its a minimal effort outfit. I also have 2 new Southern Tide hats in pink and red that look grew paired with colored chinos and a simple tee. Not only do hats look cute but they are also protecting your face from the sun, which is just another great thing about them! As a lifeguard, in the summer I will sit in the sun for 8 hours at a time, and while this is great, its not too great for my skin. I invested in an authentic booney from a real army navy store to keep the sun off my face and neck. I think its absolutely adorable and in navy it looks great paired with my red lifeguard suits. 

Cape Cod Jewelry

Cape Cod has and always will be my favorite place in the whole world. I love everything about it from the beaches to the restaurants to the people. For my eighth grade graduation I got a Cape Cod bracelet. I have not taken it off and it has been 4 years. 4 years later, on my 17th birthday I got another little navy blue box from Lestage and there was a Cape Cod anklet. I am so in love with it and once again I have it on and I don't plan on taking it off for a long time. They are timeless pieces that are so beautiful and classic. They truly go with everything I own and they can honestly be incorporated into anyones wardrobe. 

Confidence

Being confident in what you wear is actually everything. You should always have confidence in what you wear or you shouldn't be wearing it. When you put on an outfit in the morning, make sure you love it and love the way you look in it and your wearing it for you. If you aren't confident and don't love the way you look you will not be comfortable. You can for sure gain confidence by wearing an outfit you love and I definitely advise doing that, but the main thing is do it for you. No one else needs to be impressed by you, you just need to be happy and confident and love how you look. That is what is going to keep you smiling all day and keep you confident. 

Fashion Rules

Don't wear white before Memorial Day is something I hear often but personally I do not agree with it.  I love my white pants and I start wearing them as soon as it gets warm in April. Blue jeans are a little bit too casual for me and I don't love the way they look. White pants on the other hand are a staple in my closet and I have about 12 pairs. I usually wear my white pants up until late September and then I retire them for the season. The bottom line is wear what makes you happy, you don't have to follow any certain rules. 

Belts

I have an obsession with belts. As of lately they seem to be the only thing I'm wearing obsessively everyday. They can pull together a simple t shirt and white pants and make the outfit look so much cleaner and put together. 

For my birthday I got a belt from Vineyard Vines with ocean life patchwork on it and I love the way it looks with white pants and a simple navy top. I also received a nautical flag belt that looks adorable with a red twill skit and button up paired with Jack Roger's. 

Belts overall pull outfits together, and really can make something so simple look so much better. I absolutely love how classic and timeless they can be as well. 

My Current Stack #2

After I had a bad shopping day, I went to my favorite little gift shop, The Red Owl, to treat myself with some jewelry. Two new bracelets later I was feeling a little better.

The strength bracelet was a gift from my dad. It is by Lenny and Eva and it was purchased from Marie's Jewelry. Sometimes you just need a little reminder to be strong just to get through the day and this motivating bracelet does just that. The band of the bracelet is interchangeable but I kept the blue bubbles on it to keep along with the water theme. There is also a little tiny goldfish charm dangling off the left side of it. 

The teal bracelet is by chavez for charity. Part of the proceeds go to the water.org organization which I really love supporting clean water and specifically that organization. This one also has a fish charm on it, which I really love as well.
The second to last bracelet is a lokai which everyone has been raving about for almost a year now. They just recently came out with a blue one, which the proceeds also go to the water.org organization. I really like the blue color better than the simple clear one.
My last bracelet which I haven't taken off in almost 4 years is my Cape Cod bracelet. Cape Cod is honestly my favorite place in the world and I have summered there since I was just a baby.
My style in general is very nautical and preppy and I keep that style evident with my jewelry especially. I love the fact too that two of these support clean water and they are cute. 

Bad Shopping Days

You walk into a store hopeful and excited about the new clothes that just came in. You've been scoping them out online but the pictures don't do justice and your just so excited to finally see them in person. You do a lap around the store and by the time you commit to a dressing room, your arms are full of clothes. 

The first thing you try on, in my case, a cute navy and white striped wrap around romper, looks not as good as you thought it would. Still hopeful, you move onto the next item. A white lace cold shoulder crop top that would look adorable with high waisted jeans. It does absolutely nothing for your body and you move on to the next thing. High waisted jeans that say I'm a mom from the 70's more than they say boho chic. At this point your disgusted with yourself and decide its time to lose 30 pounds.

You leave everything in the dressing room and walk out of the store upset and disgusted. Feeling defeated, you go home and eat a whole pizza by yourself to eat your feelings.  

Shopping

I love shopping; I mean really that’s an understatement. But I’ve gotten so addicted to it, that I get a high just from swiping a credit card. Sometimes I get the urge just to spend money, I don’t even care what it’s on. Is that an addiction? Oops. I honestly can’t help it; I just really love the feeling of bags full of new clothes, new outfits, a magic plastic card and 7-hour trips to the mall. Shopping is a full day experience with me and you usually start preparing a few days ahead of time just to get an idea in your mind of the items you must buy. Now when I get to the mall its kind of like when I go to a party, you take a lap before committing to a location. So I take a lap around the mall before committing to one store. Committing to a store is really based on shop windows or something I saw online that I had to have right away. If I’m going to make a big purchase I might also put the item on hold just to shop around a little bit more before so that I don’t have buyers remorse.

Black and Blue, Gold or White or Just Ugly

The dress is what everyones been talking about for the last 12 hours, debating whether its black and blue or gold and white but I think we can all agree on one thing is that its really ugly. First of all, body con dresses have been out since the Jersey Shore was a thing and it looked like a kindergarten art class glued lace strips around the dress here and there. I wouldn't be surprised if the dress is being sold for less than $30. 

Kendra Scott

I’ve raved about her before and I’m about to do it again. Kendra Scott knows how to make jewelry. From her pendant necklaces to gorgeous drop earrings, she makes it all and she makes it well. For my birthday I am asking for the Hayden Pendant in turquoise.

White Pants

White pants look so classic and timeless. They always have ever since our First Lady, Jackie Kennedy, wore them with Jack Roger’s they have been an American classic.

Paired with a navy and white boat tee and Sperry Top-Siders, you have yourself a perfectly preppy outfit.  They look very crisp and clean; they can clean up any outfit. They can also look more formal paired with a cute blouse and wedges. White pants are an American staple every woman should have in their wardrobe.

Investments

Spending a lot of money on something that is going to last is totally worth it.  You can buy three pairs of cheap shoes but for the price of those three pairs of shoes you can buy one good pair of shoes that are going to last years.

I’ve had one pair of Jack Rogers sandals for three years now and they look just as good as they did when I first bought them. I wear them religiously in the summer, to the beach, to barbeques and they’ve held up these three years.

Investing your money into good quality timeless pieces in the long run is going to save you money.  You are going to be able to buy more for your money and in return save money.