Style [+] Life [+] Fashion by [@kwest1908]
Flower crowns are growing their way into high fashion and everyday street wear. Rock these big, bold blooms in the day and at night with four different light settings. Perfect for frolicking in warm weather, the Mia Beauty Flashion Flowers make the perfect spring/summer statement.
Mia Beauty Flashion Flowers are available at CVS and Target stores for $19.99
This year, Carrington Farms is celebrating springtime by encouraging everyone to keep healthy items on hand at all times, made possible by Carrington’s new line of portable, on-the-go products.
As you already know from this blog, I am a fan of the Carrington Farms product line. They’re quick, healthy and an easy way to incorporate certain vitamins and nutrients in your diet. The company has also taken this concept a step further with the creation of Flax Chia, Coconut Oil, and Flax Hemp Paks.
We often overlook breakfast but it’s a very important start to our day! The proper (breakfast) dish can jumpstart your energy and metabolism. I wanted to share a recipe with the use of Flax Hemp Paks.
Kale Omelette Recipe:
To follow Carrington Farms on social media:
Facebook page www.facebook.com/
Thrift shopping has become “the cool kids” way of updating their wardrobe and I have always adored thrifting. It’s one of my favorite hobbies since the age of 15 and allowed me to express my individual style.
My dad could never understand my obsession with consignment/thrift shops. He gave me money for clothing but instead of spending it at McCraes (which is now Belks) I would ask my mom to drive me to the thrift shop.
I think it was the experience of understanding clothing construction that attracted me to this hobby. In the process of shopping, I learned a lot about fabrics and fixtures. I also learned how to properly care for clothing because some items need to be dry cleaned while others required fabric softener.
Thankfully my mom never rejected my obsession because she also enjoys thrifting. To this day we call it “the closet” and when I visit my parents we turn this into a major event. For us, it’s a bonding activity and a perfect opportunity to neglect the budget planner for a little while, and still somehow save money!
I do recognize that thrifting’s not for everyone but I think it’s about strategy. There’s an art to thrifting that many may not understand and some of us have the true knack of finding a good deal. I want to help those who may not understand how to thrift and share in this experience.
Step Number One: I read fashion magazines like Instyle or People StyleWatch to recognize what’s fashionable for the season. When I’m shopping, I will instantly gravitate towards that trendy pair of white seersucker pants hanging on the rack.
Step Number Two: Know your body type before shopping consignment/thrift stores. Entering a thrift store can be overwhelming because there’s so much merchandise. You want to select items that compliment your figure and NOT because it’s a designer blouse. Nothing’s worse than paying $12 dollars for something that doesn’t work and you can NOT take back to the store.
Step Number Three: Search for quality fabrics or what I like to call (this is my fashion degree moment) natural fibers. They tend to hold up well in the course of wearing and look chic.
Step Number Four: Always, Always, Always, Always, overlook the garment. Do not purchase anything without searching the garment from top to bottom. For example, if you have a blazer in your basket search the pockets for tears, look at the buttons to see if one’s missing, or whether there’s a hole in the fabric. This is a very important step to thrifting.
Step Number Five: This may come as a surprise but thrift shops actually have sale days. Check with the sales associates or look around the store for sales. Also, keep up with the store discounts; for example, if a ticket has a red sticker your item could be 50% off.
You’re probably asking what type of items have I found while thrifting? Well, you’ve actually seen a few of the items on this site but I’ve purchased a fur coat (my first one in graduate school) Louis Vuitton wallet, Ralph Lauren sweaters, BCBG pumps, vintage sunglasses and clutch purses, denim jeans, wool plaid swing coat (my favorite in college) knee boots, and the list goes on!
Nothing says “chic” better than mixing vintage couture and fabulous accessories.
Whether you cook everyday or stop to grab a cereal bar, we all have a home kitchen. It’s the second most important area of our home (other than the bathroom) because it’s closely related to health, nutrition, and beauty. We eat there, drink water there, and store our food there.
Do we consider how important it is to properly set up our kitchen? Are we prepping this area according to our lifestyle? In college, the process began and ended with grocery shopping, dropping off food, and then eating. Now we have matured into adults and these things matter to be productive in our daily lives.
To get started, I like to look at the kitchen layout and see what’s available to me. Do I have an island…is there a bar area…what’s the counter and cabinet space…where are the appliances located? If I’m really meticulous I will analyze the floor type and whether the counters are granite but that’s related to interior design.
The next step is to start laying out kitchen tools, pots, and pans. Place those items near the areas they will be used. For example, olive oil, spices, and cutting boards can be stored near the stove. You will more than likely use those items while cooking. Scrubing brush, dish liquid, and dishwasher pods near the sink.
Baskets are perfect for cabinet storage because they help to eliminate lose items or (crumbs.) It’s also easier to grab a basket when you’re on the go versus searching through a dark space. It’s all about saving time and practicing cleanliness.
Consider a hanging rack for your pots and pans; I need to purchase one for my own kitchen but when preparing a meal you can visualize if you own a frying pan. Nothing’s worse than starting a meal only to find out you don’t have all of the supplies needed to complete the dish.
Special touches include purchasing a wine rack (near the refridgerator) and setting up a correspondence area. In terms of kitchen size, the correspondence area can include stationery and a mason jar filled with pens. This is not your home office but a place for reminders.
Setting up a kitchen can be fun for any modern girl (or guy) but remember we’re striving to create an efficient space! Read more at Real Simple Magazine.
The links in this post contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.
Moms deserve all the pampering in the world, and with Mother’s Day approaching, you might be interested in an inexpensive way to create an at-home spa for mom.
Just get some Epsom salt, and it will help give Mom a well-deserved break. Doctors say it might even improve her health!
Here’s how:
For pampering
Epsom Salt can be used to create the ultimate at-home spa, and it’s something several experts and celebrities recommend to help look and feel better. A relaxing bath or exfoliating treatment will leave your skin radiant and glowing.
Tips include:
After Exercising/Boosting Magnesium Levels
Tips include:
Those soaks could also boost your body’s level of magnesium – a nutrient that experts say helps your body produce its main source of energy and impacts at least 300 enzyme systems. Over the past century, experts say the amount of magnesium we consume in our diets has dropped by about 60 percent, but here are some tips from doctors and researchers who say soaking in Epsom salt can increase your body’s level of magnesium:
You can get Epsom salt at most pharmacies and supermarkets. You can learn more at www.epsomsaltcouncil.org or www.facebook.com/epsomsalt
Don’t forget to purchase a nice mother’s day gift from www.stelladot.com
How many times have you been invited to someone’s home and asked yourself, “what should I give the hostess?” Proper etiquette states that we should gift something that “evokes a memory” but we want to be creative and thoughtful.
My first suggestion would be to consider the occassion. Is this a housewarming party or game night? Next, take inventory of small trinkets you already own. Have you purchased a beautiful basket or set of mason jars? Also, try to think of the interests or hobbies of the hostess. Does she enjoy cooking or gardening?
Ultimately, giving the perfect gift can be delightful for both you and the hostess. You’re adding a special touch to sincerely say, “thank you for having me at your home!”
Photos can be found from Pinterest.com
My mother and I have been obsessing (all week) over Apothecary jars. We’ve shared creative ideas for decorating and organizing with these clear, glass jars.
Apothecary jars are beautiful to the eyes and can be used in a variety of ways. For example, one can organize a bathroom with these jars by filling with cotton balls or bath soaps.
A decorative use for the jars includes using as an accent object on a table; filled with lemons or flowers. I’ve discovered on Pinterest that one can make Apothecary jars with a simple vase, candle holder, and super glue. I love this idea because I’m a sucker for a DIY project!
These sophisticated jars can also showcase the change of seasons (or holiday) with candy, ribbon, or even decor. The perfect place to display an Apothecary jar is on the fireplace mantle, kitchen bar, accent table, or bath tub. If you want to add a touch of elegance, place a silver tray underneath the jar. This can take your jar from ordinary standards to ultra unique in minutes.
If you’re asking yourself, “where can I purchase a set of these jars?” Apothecary jars can be found at Pier 1 Imports, Pottery Barn, and Hobby Lobby.
The month of March has been very busy for Style + Life + Fashion. Aside from sharing great information for readers, I have hosted three lifestyle segments on WBAFF Fox 45 News Station.
The segment topics were: Ultimate Sick Day Survival Kit, St. Patrick’s Day Green Kitchen Products, and Easter Brunch Quick Recipes. I always enjoy hosting lifestyle segments because it allows me to share new products and information with viewers in the Baltimore area.
Most importantly, Style + Life + Fashion’s an extension of me but the (primary) focus is my audience!
Ultimate Sick Day Survival Kit – Rowenta Humidifer, Cold – EEZE Cold & Flu, Carrington Organics Tea
Green Kitchen Products – TFal Cookware, IMUSA Juicer, Cookina Cooking Sheets, GAEA Olive Oil
Easter Brunch Quick Recipes – Carrington Farms Coconut Oil and Milled Flax Seed, Gaea Olive Oil, Coleman’s Prepared Mustard
Catch me next month on (again) Fox 45 News sharing a round up of monthly subscription boxes and WBAL TV discussing trends for the home and housewares.
In the new book The Art of Having It All – A Woman’s Guide to Unlimited Abundance (due out January 31, 2015), Christy Whitman offers up a modern strategy for women who want to “have it all”. She lays out a path forward that shows people how to feel thankful, hopeful, and healthy all at the same time, all the time.
The ideas she shares can not only be used to chart a course to greater abundance and success, but to a deeper connection with yourself and an increased ability to enjoy all that you are and all that you have created and have yet to create. Here are some of the steps she recommends women take.
Define Your “It” and Your “All”
The first step is to become profoundly connected to yourself. No two women have the same life experiences, the same perspectives, the same goals, preferences, beliefs or ideals… and for this reason, no two women define having it all in exactly the same ways. Each and every one of us is a unique expression of the Divine, and – despite what we may have been socialized to believe – we don’t all want the same things.
Give yourself permission to envision what having it all means to you in each important area of your life. Let your imagination expand to create a vision of all that you desire to create – physically, emotionally, socially, financially, and spiritually. Visualize a reality in which your desires manifest naturally and easily, and in which you experience all the joy, health, success, abundance and fulfillment that you desire.
Define the things that truly bring you happiness. Identify the conditions or experiences you have always wanted to create. Design your life to be amazing beyond your wildest
Imagination. What would it look like? How would it feel? Are you financially abundant and debt free? Is your body a certain size or weight? Do you feel more rewarded in your career? Are your relationships more intimate and satisfying? Allow yourself to dream about what having it all means to you. Don’t worry about how it will happen.
“Having it all simply means having access to all
of yourself, in any moment you choose it, and in every
aspect of life that is important to you.”
Create From the Inside Out
Identify a specific area in your life – your finances, your career, relationships with others, for example – where you feel discontent, frustrated or unfulfilled; an aspect of your life where you
do not yet feel you have it all. Identify the dominant emotion or vibration that you are emitting
in response to it. Do you feel resentment? Disappointment? Resignation?
Allow yourself to feel this emotion in your body. Where is the feeling located? How large of an area does it cover? Connect with this emotion. Notice if it is familiar to you. Think back to the past, to relationships or circumstances where you experienced it? Notice the feelings in your body as you consider this.
Acknowledge that you – and no one else – are the sole generator of your vibration. Ask yourself if there is anything you have to give up in order to shift your attitude. Do you need to release some old resentment? Do you have to give up being a victim? Do you have to let go of being right? Identify what you have been holding on to, see if you can give it up, and notice what happens to how you feel as you do. Liberate yourself. Connect with the feeling you want. Allow it to become your new center and your new point of attraction.
“Nothing can happen until you start paying attention to you,
and this means listening to your emotions rather than
trying to resist, suppress, ignore or deny them.”
Be Open to Receiving
Call to mind any area of your life where you are in a state of resistance – some place where you have a chronic complaint or where your viewpoint is one of “It shouldn’t be like this.” Try to see if you can allow yourself to accept it exactly as it is. Accepting a situation does not mean that you approve of it, or that you don’t want it to change. It simply means accepting what is at
this moment. Give yourself permission to think and feel about it the way that you do, without trying to minimize your feelings or pretend to feel any differently.
Pay closer attention to the way you feel about this situation. Allow yourself to receive whatever information your emotions are trying to convey to you. What is the message your feelings are giving you about you? Allow yourself to feel the intensity of your emotions fully and completely, without describing or labeling them. Simply be with them with all of your attention, and feel the power of their vibration.
Embrace them rather than resist them. And notice that they begin to dissipate and release. From this new level of awareness, allow yourself to connect with what you really do want to experience in this area of your life. How do you want to feel in relation to this situation? What is one action you could take – be it an inner action or an outer action – to change your set point about this issue? How can you allow in more of what you are wanting? Go for it. Bring it on. Make it happen.
“Give yourself permission to have. Give yourself permission to be.
Give yourself permission to need. Give yourself permission to let go.”
Clarity + Alignment + Action = Manifestation
Clarity about the exact nature of what you want builds intensity and distinguishes the unique
vibration of your desire. Maintaining a feeling allowing and non-resistance draws it towards us. The combination of feeling good, excited and content with what is, while at the same time being clear about what more we want, that opens the door for more to come into our lives. Intending and allowing are equally important in the manifestation equation, but every situation calls for a different degree of each. The bigger our goal and the clearer our intention, the more we need to allow.
When you then add physical action into this equation, you summon the power to manifest anything you desire. Whether you experience this creative process as spontaneous and easy or as slow and difficult depends on how much of a balance you are able to strike between these inner and outer forces.
“There is a deep place within your system
where there is complete alignment and infinite capacity.”
You Can Have it All
Kristy says “By allowing yourself to swell up with that gratitude, you open up doorways along your path. Synchronicity comes into play and people show up in your life, that bring you to places that are truly unimaginable to you in the present moment.”
Life really happens. Dreams really can come true.
Any woman who sees herself as being at the height of style and sophistication is sure to want her wedding day to be just as stylish as the rest of her life. In fact, it should be even more fashionable because it’s one of the biggest days of her life. But when you have so much to plan, the finer details can get lost when you’re busy organizing the big things. If you want your wedding to go off without a hitch and for everything to look fabulous while it happens, you should pick a theme and run with it. Of course, the big day is all about commitment, but that doesn’t mean that one of these ultra-stylish theme ideas wouldn’t be the icing on the cake.
1950s Hollywood
If you want real style and sophistication, you only need to look at the past. We have plenty of incredible fashion now, of course, but there’s something captivating about a vintage look. There are lots of different routes you can take if you want to have a vintage wedding, but the glamor of a 1950s Hollywood is irresistible. For the dress, take inspiration from classic movies, as well as the gowns worn by actresses at the Oscars and their own weddings. Go for a black tie affair, with gloves and evening gowns for the ladies.
Pick a Pattern
Sometimes there are so many ideas, you just don’t know what to choose. Or you have the opposite problem, and you’re completely stuck for inspiration. One of the easiest ways to pick a theme is to choose a pattern or motif that you like. It could be stripes or polka dots, a flower motif or a fleur-de-lis. Don’t go overboard with applying your choice to every single thing you come across, or it will turn into a stripy nightmare. Use it as a starting point to access your designs, from the invitations to the cake.
Monograms and Lettering
Anyone who’s a sucker for a beautiful typeface will love using stylish lettering as the basis for their wedding theme. You can use lovely scripts on the save the date cards, invitations, name cards and more. And you can also use your initials to monogram different aspects of the party, from a handkerchief in the groom’s breast pocket to the cake. It’s an excellent way to add small and subtle details to every part of your wedding and put a little bit of you and your partner into the designs. You can even get your monogram nicely crafted on a custom neon wedding sign, just upload a picture of the logo and pick a color to match your décor. These new LED neon lights glow gently and bright, and will look great on your wedding pictures.
Flowers
Flowers are one of those things that can be sophisticated if you get it right, but horribly tacky if you get it wrong. Too many flowers could tip your theme over the edge into dangerous territory, so be careful with this one. But if you’re a flower lover, you can have success by carefully choosing what to use and where to use it.
You can put together the stylish wedding of your dreams if you pick the right theme. Decide on one in the beginning, and you can keep it in mind as you plan everything for the big day.
For couples who march to the beat of a different drum, a wedding theme inspired by rock and metal can bring a unique and edgy elegance to your special day. Think leather accents, dark florals, and bold metallic details. Incorporate the rebellious spirit of rock into your attire, and let your wedding playlist reflect your love for the genre. For those seeking the perfect distortion pedal to infuse your celebration with the right amount of sonic fury, check out https://www.singularsound.com/blogs/news/the-best-distortion-pedal-for-tube-amps-in-2023.
