DIY QUOTE SCARF: as seen on Pinterest and also by We Are Owls

Hi my wonderful little halcyons, today I'm DIYing it out for you guys by showing how to make this quote scarf. It's cute and adds originality to a basic closet staple. P.S. It makes a really good gift for all those book worms out there; just pick a quote from a favorite book and you're good to go!

Okay what'll you need:
1. A scarf (well duh. I got mine for like $5.)
2. Fabric markers (I used the Stained by Sharpie kind. Around $7 for four.)
3. Some sort of surface to work on as well as something to put under the scarf so the marker doesn't bleed through.
4. An iron

Let's go to work!
So first you should pick a quote to write on the scarf and scarves are quite large or small depending on what you buy so keep that in mind. I chose one from The Book Thief because this is a gift for someone (PROCRASTINATOR ALERT!) It's "He was the one who painted himself black and defeated the world. She was the book thief without the words. Trust me, though, the words were on their way and when they arrived, Liesel would hold them in her hands like the clouds, and she would wring them out like rain."
Alright so get out your fabric markers, and test them with a few words just in case. I did like the Stained by Sharpie ones if you need some. Put the scarf on the surface and start writing! It may take a few tries for it to be truly dark. After you're done, wait for it to dry and then iron on low to set the ink. And voila, done!
Have fun looking chic and warm this winter! Happy New Year!

Let's Talk: Beachy Hair and How to Kinda Get it!

Hello my beautifuls! So as a lazy teenager,I know firsthand that quick, effortless looking, and cute are three words I like to hear about ways to do my hair. I don't even know anyone who actually goes to the effort of straightening/curling their hair on a daily basis, probably because I'm a nerd but anyway.
So let's talk beachy hair. It's glamorously messy and bed-heady and everyone rocks it from celebs to well, students. It looks effortless and a tad of unkempt, but still under control. Okay so how do we get it?
There are a few factors first..
1. Your natural hair. If it's already curly, kudos to you! I'm so madly jealous. I, on the other hand, have semi-straight hair with occasional kinks and waves. Crazy right? The only Asian who doesn't have super curly hair or pin straight hair.
2. Frizz
Agh the dreaded F word. It can really mess up a good hair day. But if your hair is super frizzy and you can tame it with some serum, you're good to go my friend!
3. Holdability?
How well your hair can hold waves or products is pretty big, at least for us straight hair people. Within a few hours, my hair straightens back out, and it just doesn't look as good.

Okay so let's get the hair going!
This is what I do, you don't have to do it this way!
So usually I have a couple ways of getting beachy hair.
1. Wake up with Pre-washed hair. Spray in Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Spray (Smells so yummy!) and scrunch. After, get a little of FX's Surf Head paste and scrunch that through too. Bam! Done. This is what I do when I run super super late.
2. Wave your hair with a curling wand loosely and then spray the same sea salt spray and then scrunch and go!
3. The night before after washing your hair (NOTE: NO DIRTY HAIR. It doesn't turn out well. At least not for me.) dry it to semi-dry, and then split hair in half. Twist away from your face and then twist it into a little bun. The next morning, take the ponytail holders out and shake out the waves!
4. The finger curl method. So start with washed dry hair(I usually put in some of John Frieda's Curl Enhancing mousse) and take two fingers and wrap about an one inch section of hair around it and then secure with a bobby pin. Repeat around your head until all hair is up. The next morning, take the bobby pins out and voila! I usually sleep on my hair like this but the curls end up being crazy! If you like it like that, go for it! I usually take them out and then fishtail my hair. After a few hours I take the braid out and it looks so pretty!

Okay so those were some ideas of mine, I hope you liked them! Tell me if they worked! Until next time!

DIY Galaxy Vans

Hey hey, what's cooking good-looking? Haha anyway, today I'm going to show/tell you how I made galaxy Vans.
Quick note, does it bother anyone that most people don't use actual Vans? I used my actual ones, carpe diem. (No YOLO's here.)

BEFORE: So my vans are just normal ones, black with blue lining. And now it's time for the magic.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED: 1. Blue, purple, and pink acrylic paint
2. Tape, preferably duck or masking.
3. A paintbrush
4. Silver/white paint for the stars (optional)
5. Glitter glue (also optional)
Let's get down to business!

So first I taped the white plastic-y parts of my Vans, and any other areas I didn't want the paint to get on. I would recommend this so your shoes don't look super paint splattered after.
Then the painting started. I painted with blue first and covered every part with blue since it's like my "main" color for the shoes. Then I sponged until I found the optimal effect/texture I liked. And then I added pink and purple but just in concentrated areas like clouds almost., and sponged and faded accordingly. One bit of advice: don't layer on a bunch at once! It'll be hard to remove the paint once it's dried on, and acrylic dries pretty fast on Vans. Unless you like that kinda thick all-over color. I don't know, that's just what I try to avoid.
Okay so the painting is done, and I set them over an air conditioning vent in my house but you can leave them anywhere to dry. Afterwards when they were dry, I restrung the shoelaces and then I got the glitter glue and just painted it on (not in thick layers) just here and there. And then I waited again. Bam! Now white/silver paint time. You can use either or neither depending on what you like. I painted some spots just dots and others, thin "addition" signs and then I waited for it to dry. And there you have, diy galaxy vans! I'll upload the finished picture later, I'm out and about right now.

Thanks loves! Have fun!

Christmas Wish List

Hollaaaaaa, we didn't die! Anyway, this is my ideal wish list for Christmas which is Monday! Yay! If you guys have already gotten gifts, be sure to tell me what you got and what holiday you celebrate! Okay on with the list already.

1. Lollapalooza tickets
Okay I'm seriously a big music festival go-er. I love the rush of lots of people and Chicago is my home away from home, so this would just be ideal. I also heard that Lady Gaga and/or Coldplay are going this year which is the greatest thing I've heard all year. I missed my Florence year which bums me out but that's okay. Seeing Gaga or Coldplay would DEFINITELY make up for it.

2. Michael Kors Chromatograph Watch
All of the watches in this collection are super gorgeous and I've seen it raved about for ages on YouTube, Influenster, blogs, etc. I really have a soft spot for rose gold and I love love love the rose gold one so much. Getting one of these would be the best thing in the whole entire world, after Lollapalooza. Big watch comes second to big music festival. Sorry Michael.

3. Starbucks cards
Cafes generally are pretty attractive places to hang out in my opinion, and Starbucks just tops all. I go there to meet up with friends, have a study group, or just grab a cuppa of White Chocolate Mocha. Call me addicted but Starbucks is the happiest place on Earth to me. Sorry Disney, you've been defeated in my opinion.

4. Frozen yogurt
This is heavenly. I could inhale this and basically I do whenever I'm in the vicinity of a Red Mango or Jamba Juice. Actually I really like to run one, I feel like that would be very entrepreneur-y and interesting. I don't know, I really have a thing for coffee and fro-yo. Those are the only two things in my food pyramid besides copious amounts of salad.

5. A Baby Grand
Okay, all you piano people out there probably already have them, but I have a really nice upright Perzina which is great but doesn't compare to a baby grand. The quality between them are just not comparable and I just want to buy all the baby grands I see whenever I go to the music store.

Okay, so that's my short little list of things I would really like. Some of them are dumb, some of them I actually want. Happy Holidays and tell me what you want!

Oxblood and Oxfords: This Season's Trends

Hi! So I don't usually do fashion blogs but I decided "Eh, what the heck." Especially since the supposed apocalypse is supposed to happen tomorrow. If that does happen and it ends being like The Host, and I'm left, I want to be left with someone hot like Ryan Reynolds. Or Bradley Cooper. Just putting it out there. Anyway I just wanted to talk about this winter's trends and my yay/nay on them. 

1. Oxblood

Okay so first off the name is weird, which I automatically like, but after a few minutes of googling, it doesn't seem to be the actual color of ox blood like from the cow-like animals. So I think dark colors like burgundy, gray, and dark purple are always "in" for the fall/winter season, but this is the ideal color for now at least. It's a wine-y, burgundy-maroon fusion and seems to match well with, well, everything. I've seen it as the hot new shade for riding boots/booties, scarves, blouses, jeans, EVERYTHING. I actually really like it though, especially as a scarf maybe with a slouchy, oversized cream sweater and leggings. Anyway, onto the next trend..

2. Oxfords

So I really really love these. These are a must-have for any woman with class, and I am a total sucker for these. Something about the clean-cut feeling and girly classiness of them just draws me in. I really like the ones from Delia's and just about any other non-chunky pair. The patterned ones with the slight colorblock are really nice, and I've seen a lot of people with them. And the heels are always a plus too. 

3. Booties

I didn't know for a long time what booties really were, but now I think I have a pretty good general idea to go off of. They're the short boots, usually go up to your ankles and sometimes have a little roll-over thingy on them. Anyway, they are really cute and go with generally everything from what I've seen. I should really consider getting a pair; I have been eyeing a pair from Zappos that are black with a paisley pattern on the folded over side. They really need a common name for that. 

4. Crewnecks

COMFORT IS IDEAL IN MY CLOSET. SO IS LOOKING CUTE. And crewnecks are the closest solution I have for this. They're warm, go well with jeans, and can elevate you from bum status to casually cute effortlessly. Needless to say, they are my winter staple. Actually my all-year staple. And the ones from Forever and American Apparel are on point. 

5. Cardigans

You can never have enough of these, they're like the basic but best layering piece in the whole entire world. Stick a button-down and one of these babies together and bam! You're ready to head out and look chic at the same time. Bam! Cue my cheesy confession time: I actually really like Old Navy and Gap for cardigans even though Old Navy is full of preteen girls and Gap is on the verge of closing in my town. I don't know, cardigans can be found everywhere just like if you're a nurse looking for a job. Just saying. 

6. Chambray

Okay this is the last one because I want to go watch Elf.These denim-y button down shirts are PERFECT. I don't know what else to say about them because they are so great. Grrrrrr-eat. Like that one cereal with the tiger, corn flakes or something like that? 

Okay so I hope you've enjoyed reading this. If not, cool. If so, yay! Yeah I just realized I have nothing I don't like on this list. Sorry! Anyway, I hope the world doesn't end, if it doesn't it's not the end of the world (HAHA! Punny, see what I did there?) and travel safe and have a good holiday season. Merry Christmas/Happy Hannukah/Happy Kwanza. 

Mistletoe, Gifts, and Snow: Christmas Time is Here!

So Christmas is officially in full swing and people are already sending invitations for holiday parties and stores are blasting Mariah Carey or the Biebs. Yay. I don't really care for the over-cheerfulness, but the two weeks of normal amounts of sleep is greatly appreciated. And I really like the peppermint and gingerbread frappes at Starbucks too. Anyway, I just wanted to wish you all a good Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa or whatever holiday you celebrate! Be safe and have fun!