new year's eve outfit ideas for every occasion

There are so many different ways to spend New Year’s Eve night, all of which require a variety of dress codes. From inviting friends and family over to watch the ball drop on TV to dancing the night away at a NYE bash and counting down to midnight, you can incorporate some serious statement into any look. 

The first outfit choice for NYE that pops into my mind is anything covered in silver sequins. Cliche, I know… but they are pretty much quintessential for this particular holiday. Here are my favorite ways to rock some serious sequins for any type of occasion!

Casual Night In/Out:

Seeing as my wardrobe consists of items in mostly solid colors and some statement jewelry, sequins are not a pattern that I frequently incorporate into my everyday style. I've always thought of them as slightly gaudy and uncomfortable to wear on a day-to-day basis, but seeing them styled casually (through Pinterest ;) has changed my mind.

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This red sequined tank from J.Crew proves to be the focal point of the outfit. What I love about J.Crew's sequins is how they lay upon wear; they remain flat throughout the night and don't scratch or poke your skin while moving around. The navy cardigan or blazer (whichever you prefer), neutral shoes, and gold accessories really complement the main feature, as well as tone down the dressy nature of sequins to a much more wearable look.

Dressy Evening:

New Year's Eve is most definitely the night to go a little crazy with the bling ;). But, it's important to remember that just because it is a holiday, that is not a free pass to wear bedazzled everything! Go for a sequined dress and simple shoes/accessories or a solid colored dress with bold shoes OR accessories (this can be broken if carefully styled!). 

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As I said before, I think that sequins can be a little gaudy if overdone. So, I love that this dress from Modcloth has a panel of black sequins, which give the dress a more elegant aesthetic. The Kate Spade pearl set with gold bows (SO CUTE <3), the black patent t-strap heels, and the black sequined clutch all emphasize the classic and feminine appeal of this outfit.

What are your plans (and more importantly wearing) for NYE? Let me know in the comments! Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day!

Christmas Cheer with Shop Fierce Pineapple!

Hello, everyone! I know that I've taken a long hiatus from blogging, but I'm determined to get back on schedule following the holidays. Today, I'm here to share with you all the outfit I wore for dinner on Christmas night. My family has a tradition to host dinner at my grandparent's house every year. After we feast on all kinds of treats, everyone finds a corner of the room to dub their own, and we sort all the Christmas presents by person and dig in! I always feel so blessed looking around the room at my entire family talking, joking, and unwrapping gifts. 

Anywho, before we left, I took some pictures of my outfit with my main Christmas present, a new Nikon DSLR camera!! I've loved photography for a long time now, and starting a fashion blog has given me the perfect excuse to invest in a nicer camera. 

My plaid dress from Shop Fierce Pineapple is the perfect piece to reflect the holiday spirit during Christmas. The neckline complements one's decollate, and the shift silhouette + sash flatters every body shape in a subtle manner. Plus, the plaid pattern is SO adorable! To spruce up this holiday look, I added some rose gold jewels and a pair of gray, cable-knit tights. Lastly, gray pumps polished off this outfit quite nicely.

Dress: Shop Fierce Pineapple c/o

Tights: Target

Necklaces: J.Crew, Moose and Nigel c/o

Watch: Michael Kors

Bracelets: J.Crew Factory

Please check out Shop Fierce Pineapple for their adorable preppy clothing and jewelry. You can also follow them on Instagram (@shopfiercepineapple), as well as like them on Facebook. Thanks so much for reading, and have a great day! Let me know what your favorite Christmas gift and/or memory is  from this year in the comments!

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P.S. So sorry for the delayed post schedule- finals can be brutal! The regular posting schedule will be up and running again this weekend!

walkin' in a rainy wonderland

 Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow (and please stop the rain!!). For the past week, it has been gray, gloomy, and raining. Every. Single. Day. At least today we've moved on to the cloudy, white-gray sky. A glimpse of blue sky is all I need to make my spirits merry and bright.

Another tried-and-true way to boost my spirits on dreary days is to wear a perfectly coutured outfit that makes me feel polished and feminine. The black and white striped top brings a certain mix of casual, due to its cotton material, and elegance because of the wide and flattering neckline. Paired with the blush pink ruffled skirt, the look is perfect for any aspiring ballerina (or any girly-girl for that matter!).

Adding the black tights kept me legs from turing into icicles! My well-loved metallic flats provided new texture to the outfit, while my tortoise-shell monogrammed necklace and tortoise watch added dimension. Lastly, to ward off the light showers, I chose my brown, white, and pink Henri Bendel umbrella.  This outfit is the epitome of elegance and grace, and it will certainly boost your spirits any day!

Top: ??? (love this one!)

Skirt: Target (similar)

Flats: Target

Watch: Michael Kors

Necklace: Personalized From Me to You

Umbrella: Henri Bendel

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know how you keep your spirits up on rainy days in the comments. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram (where I recently reached 1,000 followers :)! I hope that each of you has a great day and a fabulous holiday season!

easy and budget friendly holiday gifts: for relatives

Hello again! Today, I'm coming to you with gift ideas for any and all relatives. Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents can all be tricky to buy for during the holiday season, if you're not sure what they'd like. It can be difficult to pick out exactly what your 10-year old niece, 35-year old uncle, or 70-year old grandmother might love to receive this Christmas. Here are a few tips that will hopefully take the headache out of your shopping trip!

Kids (Elementary Schoolers):

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Teenagers (Middle and High Schoolers):

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Adults (20's and above):

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Thanks so much for checking out this segment of my 2013 holiday gift guide! There is one more feature coming out soon next week, so stay tuned. I hope to see you then, and have a lovely holiday season!

easy and budget-friendly holiday gifts: for your gal pals!

During the holiday season, life gets especially hectic. I don't have the time or money to go out and pick a custom and expensive gift for everyone on my list. This is the beginning of a series of innovative and inexpensive holidays gifts and treats to surprise everyone from your girlfriends to little brother to professors and co-workers to Great Aunt Gertrude with :) Today, we're going to focus on a couple of fun ideas just for the ladies!

For the Girls:

1. Mini Candles

   Last year, I bought some of the mini Bath and Body Works candles for holiday gifts for all of my gal pals. During the holiday season, B&BW has great deals on many of their products, especially the candles! Right now, they're on sale for 2 for $5 and 3 for $10. I really enjoyed selecting a specific scent that I hoped knew they would love!

   To put a personal twist on this gift idea, I used some excess fabric from re-covering the chaise in my bedroom to wrap around each one in a bow. This gift is a great option, if you have many friends on your list and not enough cash in your pocket. Plus, your friends will think of you every time they burn their yummy-smelling candle!

P.S. My current fave is 'Vanilla Bean Noel'!

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2. Pampering Spa Goodies Basket

   If you're a girl with a few very special friends on her list, a fabulous gift idea is to wrap a collection of fun products that will ensure a night of giggles and relaxation.

   A great place to start is at the drugstore. You can get so many coupons online and in stores at places, like CVS and Rite Aid. Check out Tati, or GlamLifeGuru on YouTube, for the right way to utilize coupons and shop the drugstore like a pro. I find her shopping tips super helpful!

   Essential items to include in the basket of goodies are a clarifying face mask, a deep conditioning hair mask, some pore strips, fun and festive nail polish colors, and your fave chocolate (of course! ;)

   This gift so fun to give and receive! It will remind your friend of you and the fun times you've shared, as well as create new ones when you have spa nights at each other's houses.  

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3. Customized M&M's

Another super fun gift idea for your friends is to design a bag of customized M&M's to share with everyone! While this gift is worth a little more moola, but it is such a fun and unique idea! You can choose the color scheme, images, and text that appear on the face of the M&M's, as well as the container in which they are stored and displayed.

This a perfect solution for any social butterfly who feels the need to give a gift to everyone, as to avoid hurting someone's feelings (ahem, me…). Just make the message and pictures universally applicable to all your friends. Because this gift is a bit pricier, you can get a great deal by ordering the bulk pack and sorting them out into little gift bags for each of your friends. This allows you to tailor the gift of M&M's to the number of people you want to treat this year without breaking bank!

I have personally received this gift in the past and loved it! It made me think of my fabulous friend every time I opened the bag to sneak a treat (which was very often :). It's such a fun and quirky gift to give, and it leaves the recipient with a yummy treat that lasts a very long time!

P.S. This gift becomes even funnier when you see your friends' and family's heads on the M&M's! I enjoyed those M&M's the most!!

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Thanks so much for checking out this holiday gift guide for your gal pals! There will be more up in the future, so keep checking back for more holiday fun. Let me know what you are giving your friends for Christmas in the comments below. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

cozy in cable knit

Racing my brother to see who can wrap the garland around the staircase the fastest. Baking Christmas cookies (which are oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip in my house :) at home with my Mom and scolding Dad for snagging a few. Hanging ornaments on the Christmas tree and erecting the nativity scene with holiday songs playing softly in the background.

These are all essential moments that make up the holiday season for me each year. These are the moments that I look back on and cherish year after year.

To work like busy bees decorating the house all day, you have to be comfy and cozy. This cable knit sweater with velvet elbow patches is the perfect solution to looking stylish but being able to move. I paired it with jeans and metallic ballet flats.

For accessories, I wore a pair of simple pearl studs and a plaid, retro-inspired purse. Lastly, I just had to add my orange pea coat (featured in this post) because the colors coordinated so perfectly with my purse.

Sweater (similar): TJ Maxx

Tank Top: Target

Jeans: Madewell

Ballet Flats: Target

Purse (can find on Pinterest): Target

(can you tell that I have a wee obsession with target?)

Tell me in the comments section what your favorite winter fashion essential is, and how you would style it! Thanks so much for taking time to read this blog post, and I hope you have a great rest of your day!

how to: wear eye makeup with glasses

Four eyes. Specks. Google-eyed. If you wear glasses, you've probably heard any or all of those nicknames at some point in your life. Whether they were meant jokingly or not, here's your chance to prove how you can rock glasses any day using these tips to coordinate them with your eye makeup!

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Before we get specific, here are some general tips for all glasses-wearers:

1. Define Your Brows
Defined brows are a key element of making your glasses really pop. The eyebrows provide a frame for your frames (see what I did there ;) and can really affect how pulled together your face appears. Filling them in lightly with a brow powder, like the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo (currently on a great deal!), is the best and most natural option. Using brow powder allows you much more control over the amount of product (and the resulting intensity of color) being applied.

*Quick Tip: For brunettes, pick a brow powder that is 1-2 shades lighter than your hair color. For blondes, choose a shade that is 1-2 shades darker than your hair color. This will ensure the best match!

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2. Use Highlighting to Your Advantage
By adding a cream or champagne shimmery shade right below your eyebrows, they will appear so much more prominent and defined looking on your face. My favorite highlighting shade is 'Bootycall' from the Naked 2 palette.

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3. Get Rid of Under-Eye Shadows
Glasses' frames and lenses can cast shadows down your face, particularly under your eyes. Make sure to use a brightening under-eye concealer, like the Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer Pen, to make sure everything is flawless and radiant. That being said, make sure that you don't add too much concealer because the lenses will magnify everything, and make it look extra cakey.

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Now, for the specifics:

First, put on your glasses, and look in the mirror. Do your glasses have thick frames or thin ones? Are they circular, or are they more angular? What color are the frames? These will all affect the shape and style of the eye look that will best suit you.

Thick Frames: 

-Look good with neutral or smokey eyes (choose shadows that work with the frame color!)
-Use a thin swipe of eyeliner to avoid it blending with glasses' frames.
-Super polished brows look killer with these frames.
-Keep the rest of the face even and neutral when rocking thick-framed glasses.
-Look fabulous with a bold lip color.

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Thin Frames: 

-Look best with neutral eye makeup, as to not overwhelm the delicate-looking frames.

-Again, thin eyeliner is the way to go with this look!

-Playing up your blush while wearing thin frames gives you a more innocent and youthful look.

-As with thick frames, wearing a bold lip color with your slender glasses help balance the look a bit.

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I hope that this post was helpful to all of your glasses-wearers out there, like myself! Please let me know what you think in the comments below, as well as what type/brand of glasses are your favorites! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

P.S. Don't forget to check out my giveaway of Moose and Nigel's Rose Gold 'LOVE' Necklace! It ends TONIGHT at 11:30 PM EST!

what's black, white, and pink all over?

A slightly sunburned penguin who's been out in the sun a little too long…. or me!

It's starting to feel a lot like winter (except for today's 80 degrees…what?). I've finally had to start wearing tights with skirts and dresses, seeing as it is December.

Yesterday's outfit was very Kate Spade inspired. The black and white color blocked sweater coordinated perfectly with this feminine, pink skirt. Add black tights and flats, and voila!

Sweater (similar): Madewell

Skirt: J.Crew

Tights: Target 

Ballet Flats: Wanted 

Watch: Michael Kors

Necklace: Stella and Dot (old)

Thanks so much for reading! Make sure to check out my giveaway of the Moose and Nigel Roe Gold 'LOVE' Necklace! Have a great day!

a natural beauty

"No matter how plain a woman may be, if truth and honesty are written across her face, she will be beautiful."  -Eleanor Roosevelt

I need an iPhone reminder with this quote like 25 times a day. Today, many women base their own self worth on their physical appearance, and we need to remember that we are so much more than our dress size, that big zit on our foreheads, or the muffin top poking over our jeans. Today, I wanted to show you the type of makeup look that I wear on a daily basis: au natural (or as close as you can get with makeup :). I think it's very important to utilize makeup in a way that will enhance your own facial features, instead of masking your face to paint on another one. The goal of this look is to bring attention to you glowing, healthy skin and your bright and shining eyes. So, without further ado, here's my natural makeup look: 

I go through phases where I like really perfected and flawless makeup looks, and then times where I swoon over naturally enhanced stunners as well. Here are some of my recent favorites via Pinterest (by the way, follow my on Pinterest at Poised and Preppy!).

How to achieve the best "no makeup" makeup look:

1. Use a thin base of tinted moisturizer or powder foundation on your face just where you need coverage. For me, that's in my T-Zone and under my eyes.

2. Apply a peachy or rosy blush color (whichever suits your complexion the best) NOT to the apples of your cheeks. I repeat, not on the apples of your cheeks. A person does not naturally blush on the tops of their cheeks; the natural flush appears more in the middle of your cheek just under the cheekbone. Just tap your blush there and sweep it backwards for a bit of natural-looking contouring.

**Optional step: Adding a swipe of of a gold or rosy-toned highlighter on the top of your cheekbone brings the youthful glow back into your skin and makes you look like you've been drinking enough water and sleeping enough ;)

3. Lightly fill in your eyebrows. I like to use an eyeshadow because I think it gives a more natural looking effect, but using an eyebrow pencil with a light hand is fine. Eyebrow shape can truly change your face, so make sure to follow the natural arch of your brow to keep this makeup look minimal.

3. Apply a shimmery, champagne shadow to the inner corners of your eyes. The trick is to make sure that the shadow is not too frosty looking, which would defeat the purpose of "natural." The goal is to bring the focus to your eyes, while making them look wider and brighter.

4. Lastly, whip out your good ol' mascara. I can't not put on mascara… it's an addiction! I use my regular black mascara for this step, but to make it even more natural, you could opt for a mascara with a brown tint.

*Any of these steps are optional. Don't feel like you haaave to do this, if you don't think it makes you look your most beautiful.

TA-DA! You're finished!

P.S. Don't forget to check out my giveaway of Moose and Nigel's Rose Gold 'LOVE' Necklace!!

my favorite makeup products!

Over the years, I've accumulated a fairly large collection of makeup (in my mind…). However, I only use about 25% of the products that I have, simply because after a while, the other 75% of products seem to just stop working as well. Today, I'm going to share with you the products that have all continued to work for me and perform beautifully every time. If you want a more in-depth review on any of the products listed below, please let me know in the comments section!

bareMinerals Customizable Get Started Kit

-1 bareMinerals READY SPF 20 Foundation, ORIGINAL SPF 15 Foundation(size: large), or MATTE SPF 15 Foundation(size: large) 

-1 Mini Prime Time Original Foundation Primer 

-1 Warmth All-Over Face Color (size: medium)

-1 Mineral Veil finishing powder (size: medium)

-1 Full Flawless Face Brush

-1 Flawless Application Face Brush

-1 Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush

Photo: 1

Nars Blush in Deep Throat

Photos: 1, 2

NYC Smooth Bronzer in Sunny
Photos: 1, 2

Sonia Kashuk Instructional Eye Palette in 02 Eye on Neutral
Photos: 1, 2, 3

Lancome Hypnose Drama Instant Full Body Volume Mascara in Excessive Black

Lancome Cils Booster XL Super-Enhancing Mascara Base

Photos: 1, 2

P.S. Here are a few Makeup Cyber Monday Deals:

        -Sephora: Free shipping on orders over $50 with code SHIPNOW and 5 free samples with every order (online only) with code SUSPENSE

        -Ulta: Free shipping on any $25 purchase with the code JINGLE13, Free 18-piece beauty bag with any purchase of $40 or over, CHI hair tools on major sale + free gift, 30% of all Real Techniques, 25% off Pur Minerals, 2 for $18 Butter London nail polishes, free luxury robe with any purchase of a $40 fragrance 

        -Beauty.com: Up to 25% off prestige brands (ends 12-4-13)

Don't forget to check out my giveaway with Moose and Nigel of their Rose Gold 'LOVE' Necklace!!