Outfit For Outfit

image via http://tasteofcountry.com/2011-cma-awards-performance-pictures/

I have always adored Taylor Swift for her music... and style. At the CMA Awards earlier this week, she performed 'Ours' in a cozy cable knit sweater, jeans, and oxford shoes. I tracked down where she got her sweater from, and found that it was by Ralph Lauren (click on the link if you dare to see the price tag on that baby).

This blog started on the foundation of trying to save college students, like myself, a little bit of money. I thought I'd go back to my roots, by putting together a "look for less" replica of Taylor's outfit from that night.

sweater (link here): J.Crew $80 //jeggings (link here): AE $45 (Kind of pricey for AE, but they have sales all the time. I got my pair for $20) //oxfords: F21 $25

Fremont Farmer's Market

Seattle is really lucky to have a lot of things: the Space needle, Kerry Park (as seen on Grey's Anatomy), The Original Starbucks, and amazing farmer's markets. This past weekend, I was able to visit the Fremont Farmer's Market for the first time. I couldn't have chosen a better way to spend my afternoon with friendly people, fresh flowers, vintage treasures, and the aroma of brick oven pizza and gyros.

XO, SWEATshirt DRESSshirt

P.S. A big congratulations to Taylor Swift for winning CMA Entertainer of the Year, for the 2nd time!

Sparks Fly: A Nail Tutorial

While thinking about new ideas for this blog, I decided to combine what I do best, with what I love the most: painting my nails, and Taylor Swift. One of my favorite songs of hers is called 'Sparks Fly'. According to Taylor, it's about a forbidden love, with a whole lot of chemistry.

After seeing her on tour, and listening to her songs more times than I can count (only because I love them so much!), I thought about how I could most accurately translate this song into nail art. This is what I came up with.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: Nail polish in gold, glitter, and black. The black nail polish should have a thin brush.

STEPS:
1. Paint your nails gold.

2. For extra pizazz, add a coat of glitter polish. I used 'Only Gold For Me' from SEPHORA by OPI.

3. Now for the fun part: the starbursts. Pick a point you want the lines to come out of. Similar to how you would draw the tail part of a check mark, with a quick swiping motion, make a hash mark. Tip: use minimal nail polish, as you want the tips of each line to be pointy and kind of faded.

XO, SWEATshirt DRESSshirt

Click here for the 'Better Than Revenge' nail tutorial.

Chocolate Factory

I've decided to start a sight seeing guide for Seattle. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the first post:

My boyfriend's birthday was earlier this week. He has a big sweet tooth, so I knew there would be no better place to take him than to Theo Chocolate: a fair trade, organic chocolate factory. We spent time hearing about how Theo came to be, saw the premises, and of course, sampled a bunch of chocolate. Tasting the chocolate was probably our favorite part, because they had so many different kinds to offer: 91% dark (not my favorite), 70% dark, milk, peppermint-toffee, chili, coconut curry, mint, and a ton more. My favorite was probably the burnt sugar confection.

The tour was pretty cheap for what it was ($6 a person). I would give it 4 out of 5 stars, because we didn't get to see the entire factory (a portion of it was under construction), and our tour guide seemed impatient with us at times. But overall, it was a good experience.

10 Shoes Every Woman Should Own

image via http://endless-harmony.blogspot.com/2011/06/danke_03.html

I've never been much of a shoe person. But my BFF, R? She is. While on the phone with her the other night, she told me about a cool shoe article that was on Yahoo. I just had to share it with you guys.

• 10 Shoes Every Woman Should Own

Tribal Nails Tutorial

Something I haven't done in a while is nail art. I wanted to try something new, so I decided to browse the internet for ideas. After a while, I found myself on Refinery29.com. They had a slideshow with nail art from around LA that contained several inspiring looks. I couldn't help but to recreate one of my favorites.

YOU WILL NEED: White, coral, and black nail polish

STEPS:

1. Paint your nails white.

2. Using a coral nail polish, paint horizontal lines close your cuticle, leaving a section of white polish visible.

3. Using a black polish with a brush designed for nail art, paint 3 dots on to the lower white half of your nails.

4. Finish the design by painting 3 thick vertical stripes on to each of the upper white sections.

Dr. Master Bachelor

While procrastinating my 12 page paper today, I decided to research the salaries of professionals who are currently in the field that I want to be in (you know, for inspiration). I came across a website that allows you to type in a profession, along with a city of your choice, to generate the average income for that career (along with job openings).

One of my favorites parts of this website, though, is the diagram showing a clear comparison between the "average salaries for jobs containing the keyword of Bachelor's, Master's, Ph.D. or MBA" It gives me hope that being in school forever will soon pay off...literally! Oh, and they even have a section for bloggers! Ch-ch check it out:

• Job Search
• Bachelors, Masters, PhD, MBA Salary
• blog writer, Journalist, Reporter Salary

I know that money isn't everything, but sometimes, knowing how much you're going to make, along with how much fun you're going to have doing what you love, makes school that much easier to get through.

*No, I was not asked by this website to mention them on my blog, nor am I being paid to mention them.

P.S. I hope everyone had a great Halloween!