On Nnenna's Needles #11

Camera Case

Just a quick post to show you the little camera case I made a few years back.  I sized the case to fit my little point-and-shoot and I followed a chart to make the star pattern on both sides. 

Tell me: How do you store your camera?

Also, I'm going to see Cynthia Leive, Editor-in-Chief of Glamour, this afternoon at a Master's Tea!  I don't often hear about a lot of fashion-related events happening in my area, so I'm really excited for this one!

spring shopping begins

As I mentioned yesterday, I've already started shopping for spring styles online and in stores, so I thought I would share with you what I have bought so far!

Forever 21:

$11.50

I included this romper in my spring picks in this post and I talked about how it's taken me a little while to jump onto the romper bandwagon.  However, I think with the right fit and color/pattern, they can look super stylish, so I picked up this one!  The price is hard to beat and I love the combination of gray and yellow, especially considering that my closet is lacking a lot of yellow pieces.

$22.80

You can't quite tell in this picture, but all of these little dots are stars.  You guys know how much I regretted not buying the last star-print dress that I saw on the Forever 21 website, so I made up for that by buying this one!  I mean, how perfect is this dress for me, seriously?!  It has stars and a pretty classic silhouette- both qualities are more than enough to convince me!

$14.80

This is another item that I spotted online, but I hadn't seen in stores until I visited my local Forever 21 back home.  I thought this print was just too adorable to pass up!

$9.80

So I am finally ready to try the maxi trend.  I have seen many petite girls rocking them and there was a good article by Rachel Zoe in Glamour about how to wear the trend, so I'm excited!  I think this neutral one is a good place to start.

$13.99

Even though the weather was quite warm when I bought this, I couldn't leave behind this sweater on sale.  I love the creamy color and cable knit, it has the perfect slouchy/relaxed fit, and it's so soft!

Goodwill:

$3.95

I couldn't resist sharing this skirt again because I love it so much!  The color is perfect and the way it flows is dreamy.  Chelsea wrote a great post about transitioning pieces between the seasons and I can't wait to wear this skirt and try her tip of wearing longer skirts in bright spring colors!

 Target:

Dolce Vita for Target Rope Wedge Sandals

Xhilaration Tawny Wedge Sandals
*last two images from Target.com

Last week, I got an email form Target that said that they were having a 'Buy One- Get One 50%' sale on shoes and purses, so I knew I had to take advantage of the sale!  I've seen wedges popping up everywhere and I've been obsessing over finding some new spring wedges, so I decided to purchase these two pairs.  With the discount and free shipping, my total cost ended up being around $42 which I thought was pretty awesome!  I think the first pair will be super versatile and once again I'm trying to branch out from only buying black shoes.  However, I couldn't resist grabbing the Tawny Wedges, which I've loved ever since I saw them on Kenzie!

Tell me: What trends are you excited to try this spring?

a pearl tee please

Did you guys have a nice weekend?  I certainly could have spent my weekend more productively, but I did have a good time with friends, as well as applied to a couple more jobs.  As graduation gets closer and closer, I get more and more nervous about finding a job!  But really, what I want right now is for this weather to make up its mind so that spring can come and stay!

cardigan, skirt, shoes- forever 21, tee- charlotte russe, tights- target

Since the warmer weather is not cooperating here, I had to wear tights with this outfit.  I got this t-shirt with the pearly neckline on sale at Charlotte Russe for $10 and I absolutely love it!  It gives the outfit a dressy feel and matches perfectly with my earrings.  Also, this skirt was a steal at Forever 21 for $6.80 and because of the waistband, I can easily fold it and wear it at different lengths.

Also, I ordered some things earlier in the week and these packages should be arriving tomorrow so I am quite excited!  No more shopping for a little while though as I need to earn back all the moola that I spent over spring break!  Has anybody else been doing some online shopping recently?  If so, what did you buy?

Send me a little hello on twitter- I'd love to chat with you! :D

a little birdie told me

cardigan, cami, belt, shoes- forever 21, skirt- H&M

my little tattoo

handmade for me by my friend

Hope you all are having a lovely weekend! =)

On Nnenna's Needles #10

1st Cabled

This is the first cabled item that I knitted and also one of the first projects that I made.  I made this purse a few years ago, when I was just starting to branch out from knitting scarves.  This purse was given to my best friend for her birthday.  I chose black so it would complement different outfits and turquoise as an accent because it is her favorite color.

The lining was a little difficult for me to do because I had never sewn anything like that before and I'm certainly not an expert seamstress!  However, after a bit of fiddling I was able to work it out.  I really love the cables on this purse and the way that they criss-cross and intertwine.  My best friend loved the purse too- she's so great to knit things for because she is so proud of what I make =)

What sort of gifts do you all like to give your best friend?

Guest Post over at Jeanette the Jongleur!

Hey guys! Today I'm guest posting about my thrifty finds over at Janette the Jongleur!

That was a sneak peek- now go check out the rest of my finds! =)

denim in the springtime

dress- Orchid Grey's blog shop, necklace- Kitty Cait's etsy shop, flats and cardigan- forever 21

It has been a busy two weeks for me friends!  I have yet to upload my pictures from spring break, but as I was going through them I realized I was a very poor blogger in terms of documenting my travels!  Not only did I not take any pictures while I was in San Francisco/Bay Area, I also didn't take any outfit pictures!  I guess I was just having so much fun that it just slipped my mind! :D  However, the weather was gorgeous the day before I left home to go back to school, so I convinced my sister to take a few pictures so that I would have at least one outfit post from spring break.

Thanks to my sis Nikki for taking these pictures!

When I purchased this dress from Julie's blog shop, I definitely had spring on the mind!  I bought it right before spring break and I couldn't wait to where it exactly like I've done here- with bare legs!  I think this dress is really versatile though and I can't wait to style it up a bunch of different ways.

Also, you may have noticed that things look different around here- that's because I changed about the layout again!  I needed to bring some color, something lighter to the page.  And I've added easy navigation buttons to the top of the page, as well as an about me page.  I would love to hear what you guys think! =)

Hope everyone has a marvelous Sunday!

Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips Review

Poof!  Two weeks just passed in the blink of an eye! I certainly didn't mean to take a two-week hiatus, but a few things kept me away from the blog, some good and some not so good.  I can't wait to share my spring break adventures with you guys, but in the meantime I thought I'd just pop in to show you that I'm alive and leave you with this little product review.

sorry for the blurry iPhone pic, it's the only one I took!

I saw the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in a magazine a couple of weeks back and dogeared the page as a reminder to give them a try sometime.  Then, when I was visiting a friend in the Bay Area, we popped in to a local Walgreens and saw these sets, so I decided to pick one up.  The store I went to didn't have much selection but I eventually settled on this pattern, which is called Misbehaved.

Pros:

- really easy to apply.  It took me a little while the first time, but that's just because I was following the instructions to the letter.  Basically, you select the strip that best matches the shape of your nail, peel of the back and apply, and file off the part that hangs past your nail. Easy peasy!

- looks professionally done.  I got so many compliments on these nails and people asked me where I got them done.  They were really surprised when I told them I did them myself in a bedroom in about 15 minutes!

- so many awesome patterns and no dry time needed.  I don't have the skill to draw these patterns myself, so it's really cool that I can apply these strips instead.  There is actually quite a bit of selection if you look on their website and I really love the patterns as well as the glittery polishes.  And it doesn't have to dry!  Perfect way to avoid all the times that I've spent an hour doing my nails only to mess it up in one minute!

- lasts the amount of time it says it will.  I would say that my nails looked pretty good up until the 7th day or so and this is with normal wear and tear.  I wasn't delicate with these and did everything I would normally do in my daily activities.

Cons:

- cost.  I bought my set for $9.99, which is pretty steep for the girl that only likes to buy the cheap 99-cent polishes.

Bottom Line: I would buy them again and recommend them to other people!  I don't regret my purchase at all and got what I expected out of them!  Maybe the next time I buy them though, I might wait until my local drugstore is having a sale or I believe I have read that they are slightly cheaper at Walmart.

Tell me- have any of you guys tried these nail polish strips?  If so, what was your experience?

P.S. I'm planning on slowly catching up on all the comments and such that I missed while I was gone, but I am currently trying to knock out a draft for one of my senior theses, so that certainly takes priority.  That means I probably won't be able to post again until I get back to school on Monday.  I'm going to get back on twitter though (I've been away too long and I've missed you guys!) so if you want to chat, hit me up there!  Seriously, it will be a welcome distraction for me :D

the process of packing

As I type this up, I'm sitting on a plane to San Francisco enjoying the benefits of in-flight wi-fi.  Since I knew that my Spring Break itinerary includes 4 flights, my goal was to avoid checking any luggage during this trip.  Normally I bring at least one suitcase, which I can fill to my heart's content, but this time around I knew that wasn't going to be the case.  My challenge: could I fit all I needed for two weeks in three different locations (San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Bakersfield) into one carry-on and one "personal item"?  The answer is yes and I figured I would share with you guys my packing process!

Step 1:

On my bed, I lay out all of the clothes that I think I want to take on my trip- this part looks like a hot mess!

Not all of these will make the final cut!

Step 2:

Separate clothing into piles by category (such as dresses, cardigans, pants) and eliminate any redundancies.  For example, sometimes I'll see that I've pulled out 4 pairs of jeans for a short trip, in which case I'll eliminate a couple because I know I won't wear all of them!  Also, at this point, I can see the sort of color scheme that I have and bring in more color/patterns if I want- I gravitate towards black and then I self-correct!

Here are the basics, including some camisoles, regular tees and tunics and pajamas.  I have basics in so many colors, but I only selected the ones that were complementary to the tops I brought.

I have some silky and sheer shirts that I can wear to go clubbing in Vegas as well as some more interesting tops that are still casual enough for daytime.

Shorts and skirts! In the back are the nighttime skirts (all black- see what I mean?) and towards the front are more daytime appropriate skirts- a few with prints and a few solids so that I can remix them.

I limited myself to three pairs of pants- a black pair of jeggings that can work for day
or night, and a light and darker pair of skinny jeans.

Dresses:  All of the ones I selected have spaghetti straps or are strapless, so I can wear them as is if it's delightfully sunny or layer a cardigan over them if it's a little chillier.  I didn't want to bring any of my thick sweater dresses because I figured it would be too warm for those!

Step 3:

Gather the jewelry and shoes!  Looking at the outfits I made up, I grabbed matching earrings from my jewelry frame, as well as necklaces from my revolving stand.  Then I also grabbed the pairs of shoes that I thought would be most versatile- one pair of flats, one pair of wedges, one pair of boots (which I'm wearing on the plane because they're the bulkiest), and what my friends have termed "the stripper shoes" for Vegas.  And of course, they're all black! :D

like you saw yesterday, but filled up with most of my earrings!

Step 4:

Pack everything into the carry-on.  I put the shoes on bottom and wrapped them up in plastic bags so that they don't get my clothes dirty.  Then the rest is like putting together a puzzle- I roll them up as small as I can and I fit them together in layers in my duffel.  This involves a lot of moving things around as I discover that something fits better elsewhere.

things that are too bulky when rolled go on top, layed out as flat as possible

Other things that I packed that aren't picture here are outerwear (faux leather jacket and trench), toiletries, homework, makeup, and computer, all of which went into my other bag- my "personal item."

And there you have it- that's how I pack!  I'm definitely not saying that this is the best method out there, but I do I know that I am able to fit a great deal of things into a small amount of space and packing only carry-on items for a two-week trip is definitely an accomplishment for me (my roommates almost made a bet that I wouldn't be able to do it because they know how I am)!

So tell me, what's your packing process?  Do you use any of the techniques that I mentioned?

On Nnenna's Needles #9

Jewelry Frame

Knitted lace + Ikea Fabric + Ikea Frame= Jewelry Frame

I'm gearing up for spring break and busily making arrangements, so this is just a little teaser for my next post- check back tomorrow for a post about my packing process!  Also, I've been behind on responding to comments, but I hope to catch up on reading all your lovely blogs in the next few days! =)

cardigan and flats- forever 21, dress- target, tights- old, earrings- gift

And, in case you missed it yesterday, check out my guest post on The Closet Narcissist!