You're all invited to my summer arm party!

I am all about lots and lots of bracelets this summer! Depending on my mood I may wear 1 or 2, but I am frequently guilty of stacking them halfway up my arm. My favorite part of creating my outfit for the day is picking out which bracelets to pair with what I'm wearing, so here are some of my current favorites!

Bracelets are from Jewelmint, H&M, Forever 21, Juicy Couture, House of Harlow, and EBay.

Summer Superlatives

I know I've been gone for another obscene amount of time. I'm sorry. My sister went back to school which cut off my supply of viable Internet source, but enough excuses! I'm back now so that's really all that matters!

My birthday was on September 22nd so I finally got my beloved iPad, which I am loving so far and explains my sudden appearance back in this wonderful community. So I hope you will all accept my apology! I've missed my lovely little blog and all of you!

Summer is now officially over and despite what the weather might be here (my car said 92 this morning!) I know it is getting colder in most parts of the country. So I thought today I would do Summer Superlatives, my favorite and must have items from the past few months. Feel free to do your own version of this if you'd like, I think it's a fun and different alternative to monthly favorites!

I will add more on and photos a little later. I'm still trying to get a hang of everything on my iPad!

Must have beach/pool reads: Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block I want to wear feather headdresses and name my daughter Cherokee and believe there is magic everywhere like Weetzie and her friends. You'll love this book if you like sort of out there realities. It's really bohemian, set in LA, and one of those stories that I would love my life to be like!

Favorite Stores and brands: I've said before that I frequent different places based on the seasons. This was the summer of PacSun and American Eagle for sure. Crop tops and excessively large tanks were my uniform for the summer. As for brands, I fell in love with Wildfox this summer and I don't see that changing anytime soon!

Must have skincare product: I have never been one for having tons of skincare items, but this summer my sister introduced me to astringent and I've been using it like it's going out of style! And the best part is it has kept my oily skin clear all summer!

Ridiculous obsession: TV on DVD. Enough said. My sister and I watched without a doubt more tv shows on DVD this summer than is necessary for anyone in 3 years. I think it's safe to say that I can tell you exactly what episode of Season 1 of The Vampire Dairies is on within the first thirty seconds of the show. Some would call it a sickness, I would say it's more of a Stefan and Damon obsession.

The other obsession was without a doubt Harry Potter. I don't think I even need to explain that one. Thankfully I think I'm beginning to recover.

Necessary makeup: I am pleased to say I had a summer of drugstore makeup. Partly because I didn't want to waste the expensive stuff since it was just going to sweat off anyway, and partly because I actually enjoyed the products, but I haven't used a majority of drugstore products in a while and it felt really good.

Weird Obsession: Talon Earrings

So. . .what do you think? My sister flat out told me she absolutely hates them and I totally understand how a lot of people will, but I find them so interesting and I am beyond in love with them! They are from Topshop and called the Oval Claw Stud Earrings, if by chance there is any other crazy lady like me out there who wants to find them! I saw them in the September issue of People Style Watch last night and haven't been able to stop thinking about them since. The color is really pretty for the upcoming fall months as well.

Have you done any shopping on the Topshop website before? When I first started looking I was on the UK site and was told I had to switch over to the American site to buy anything. When I got to the American site however, the prices weren't comparable. In pounds the price on the UK site would work out to about $20, but they are $28 on the US site. I don't care I'm still buying them, but I found that kind of annoying.

Any fashion or beauty items you've found lately that are a bit out there like my earrings? I would probably like those too, let me know!

Photo from Topshop.com

Birthday week! (And yes still more Harry Potter!)

My sister's birthday was yesterday July 22nd, so these are just a few photos from the week we've had so far!

The cupcakes I made for her. This photo was taken on my phone so the colors aren't coming out at all!

Her stack of gifts. . .it ended up being a pink theme without even trying to!

As you all know we have a huge Harry Potter obsession. A few days ago Alana (my sister) decided she wanted to go to Universal Citywalk to get some Harry Potter candy and some other stuff. We did go to Citywalk, but we ended up going into the park, Islands of Adventure also. The beauty of living in Central Florida. . .this is my backyard!

Alana by the Hogwarts Express

Me in front of Zonko's shop and the Puking Pastilles. This was deemed the best photo of the night!

my OOTD: crop top is Lucie Rose, shorts are Abercrombie and Fitch

Alana with her Peppermint Toads outside of Honeydukes.

Alana's OOTD: all Gilly Hicks tank, crochet crop, and shorts

Us in our Slytherin robes. Alana has always liked Slytherin just because she likes Draco Malfoy, but I kept telling her you can't choose which house you're in. So I found a sorter and we both actually did get Slytherin. Alana is holding Voldemort's wand, I have Hermione's.

Another gem of a photo. It's sad that I'm better at taking weird photos than normal ones.

Our photo shoot before we found the nice Universal shop keeper to take our picture together.

I bought Pumpkin Juice and Peppermint Toads. The Pumpkin Juice is amazing, sort of Apple Cider with pumpkin pie spice in it or something. Tastes like fall. The Peppermint Toads are just mint chocolate which is always good! We've tried a lot of the other candy as well, the chocolate frogs are really good, The Bertie Botts Beans are gross, and the frozen Butterbeer is one of the best things I've ever had. I did have it in December when it was freezing out though, so it would probably be even better now!

And the Fizzing Whizbees were our favorite so we don't have anything left but the tag! We've been to Harry Potter World a few times now and this was the first time we've seen these. They're bee shaped chocolates with pop rocks in them. They were delicious!

Jewelmint jewelry haul and review!

I honestly don't think I've ever been so excited about jewelry before! I'm not sure why all of a sudden I became so obsessed with Jewelmint, but all of my favorite things are of some sort of obsessive nature so it's totally normal, right? I've always been a big necklace person, but I'm trying really hard to get into bracelets as well. So I picked out a necklace, bracelet and a pair of earrings. I've had them for about a week now and have worn them all multiple times. I can honestly say they are all of great quality and seem really sturdy. Here's what I think. . .

The Encore Necklaces I was the most excited about. I have a weird obsession with going to Coachella some year soon and I saw pictures of Kate Bosworth wearing these necklaces at the festival so naturally I had to have them. They are amazing I have to say. I love the coral tassel and the gold chain tassel even more, but I do have a problem with this necklace. The chain tassel isn't secured down to the necklace so every time I wear it the knot comes undone more and more. It's to the point where I'm losing individual chains because the knot is coming undone. I've emailed customer care about it and am hoping to exchange it for a new one as I haven't heard of anyone else having this problem with the necklace. This necklace is probably the least sturdy one, but only because it's supposed to be. The necklace is made out of wrapped thread almost like a friendship bracelet. These necklaces are still available and you can see the professional photos here.
This is the For Keeps bracelet and this one is my favorite piece I have right now. I read on the website that the colored rows were metal and I really was unsure of how that was going to be put together. They are long metal beads with a hole on each end where the thread goes through. I love that this bracelet looks like a homemade friendship bracelet but when you get up close it's a lot more substantial than you think. The colors they chose are perfect as well. The blue shades and orange together make it summery, but some of the blues and the gray are dark enough that it will work all year round. The gold beads dress it up as well which I love. The only bad thing I can say about this bracelet is that one of my gold beads was poured funny and it has a little bit extra on one end like a seam. . .if that makes sense. It's nothing I would send it back for though and I don't even really mind it. This bracelet is also still available. Check it out here.
I wasn't wearing the Sea Breeze Earrings today so I just took a flat picture of them. Excuse my leg and hair, I used the Macbook to take the photo so I was trying to see if it was even in the shot. I've never worn dangly earrings but to fancy events before. Partly because of the ease of studs, partly because different jobs I've had won't allow them, partly because they sometimes just annoy me. I thought these would be light enough for my first casual pair though and I do really love them. I probably should have taken a photo with them on anyway, but they're super long, like past my shoulder. I've wanted feather extensions all summer but can't have those at work either so I thought maybe I would fake it with earrings. Kind of like how Aria in Pretty Little Liars wears one statement earring, usually of feathers. So that was my inspiration for these, and they really just make me want to commandeer a boat and go sailing or something. Probably a bad idea. These earrings sadly aren't available anymore, but if you like them Jewelmint has re-stocks pretty often so check back!

outfit: bandeau-Victoria's Secret Pink, tank-Urban Outfitters, skirt-Old Navy

These are 100% my own opinions and I paid for these items with my own money. Jewelmint is not giving me anything for this review.

Weekend Review

Just a little bit of a weekend update. . .

I found these amazing works of art just browsing on Hautelook by a woman named Lisa Weedn. The event is called Hippie Chic and that's pretty much all you need to say to draw me in! They're wood panel signs with all kind of inspirational quotes and sayings on them. Some of way more boho/hippie than others, but I just find them all to be really beautiful and they're affordable too, the smallest size is just $18. You can check them out on Hautelook here if you're interested!

Harry Potter was absolutely amazing. I highly suggest seeing it if you follow the series. It was definitely a lot of war so I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but I couldn't believe how fast the movie went by. Everyone around me was crying for pretty much the entire movie and I cry at the drop of a hat so there were a few parts when I was like why am I not sad right now? I didn't cry through the whole movie but as soon as the end of the epilogue started to pan out I burst into tears because it was all over. I have to say though it's really inspiring how well all of the actors have grown up. They've been in the spotlight for so many years and seasoned actors have crumbled under less pressure.

Weird topic switching I know. . .Florida has become a dark and dreary place to call home. It's that time of year when it rains every single day for at least part of the day, sometimes all of it. Having come to Florida from Arizona I am not accustomed to rain and in fact really despise it. Here's to hoping that this rainy season comes to a quick end. We've gotten new costumes (uniforms) at work and trying to get used to them plus being soaked for at least half the day and spending most of that time in 60 degree air conditioning does nothing for mood improvement.

Last but not least, has anyone ever had to experience what life is like without a computer? It's becoming more and more apparent to me how disgustingly addicted to it that I and everyone around me is. At this point I'm kind of just stalling buying my new one so it's my own fault I don't have one, but seriously I need to remember to stop and take a walk in the fresh air once in a while when I get my new one. The growing downside to your computer exploding is realizing everything you've lost. Pretty much daily I think of something that I won't easily be able to get back. This weekend's loss: all of my resumes. I'm beginning to apply for some new jobs and I have to re-write as many as I'm going to need for the different jobs I'm applying for. This is actually a pretty good thing though because I wrote most of mine when I was younger and re-formatting was never the most interesting thing to me over the years so with all the additions they were becoming sort of messy, but it's kind of annoying still to lose them. So I'll be spending my days off this week surrounded by piles of resume books that I carted home from the library today. Great fun!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend, and I hope it's sunny where you are!

Easy, Breezy, Potter, Weasley

Easy, Breezy Summery Knits by LaurenL0vesL0ve featuring a cropped vest

Maybe it's my love for everything bohemian or my wish to have been in my teens or twenties during the 60s, but I am obsessed with crocheted vests this summer! I love all of these designs, but I sadly haven't found the perfect one in real life yet. Summer isn't even half over for me yet, so I'm desperately hoping that by my birthday (September) there will be a haul containing one of these awesome outfit sprucer-uppers!

I am impressed by how many stores do have these vests, even if I can't find one I like. At least there are choices out there! How cute would one of these be with a fedora and cut off shorts or a maxi dress! I love how versatile it can be! Bonus points for fringe!

My sister and I are going to see midnight Harry Potter tonight. Neither one of us can believe it's over, I honestly can't really remember a time when Harry Potter wasn't a big part of my life. It's very strange how entertainment media becomes so very real these days. This is so completely nerdy but I would say that 75% of our conversations within the last few days have been Harry Potter related. . .remembering which character did what, when people got killed and who's controlling who. There has also of course been a lot of spell casting going on and mediocre British, Irish and Scottish accents along with trip planning to Universal within the next few weeks to go to Harry Potter World. We've watched movies 4-7.1 in the last 2 days and I guess you could say we're a bit obsessed, but my mom gave me the first book when I was probably in 5th grade, which would have made me 11. That's 13 years of my life. . .more than half! That's a huge amount of time to invest in a series! Probably strange midnight photos to come. . .