Musings from 11 Year Old Me

{This is all made up from my depressing 11 year old mind.}

I sat on the studio floor, tears dripping down my face, with a scratchy lace dress on my back.  It was terrible, part of the reason I was crying was because of my dress.  No it’s not my dress.  It’s my mother’s dress.  My caring, loving mother.  The dress only reminds me of being a flower girl.  Toddling around the aisle, laughing and throwing little rose petals.  Then I heard a “boom” sounds and my butt started hurting.  Tears came out of my eyes, and I couldn’t stop them from falling.  My tears were thick, and I couldn’t see, but none of that mattered.  I wanted to get up but no one was paying any attention to me, they were all staring at my mom.  I wanted my mom to carry me, or at the very least pick me up.  “Mama, Mama,” I cried.  She broke free of the crowd and ran to me, picking me up, and spinning me around the room.  Then the dream ended and I was torn away from my mother.

The cracked lipstick sat on the floor, but some was smeared on the broken mirrors and windows.  My mom would have snapped her fingers and people would line up the sweep floors, donate glass, and clean up tutus and tap shoes.  I crumpled to the floor so that my face was inches away from scuff marks and rat poop.  I sobbed heavily, with short breaths in between each one.

The door swung open and a scary, red face appeared.  Dressed in a black trench coat and a knit cap was my dad.  His clothes were drenched.  And even though I knew he was my dad, I couldn’t help but think he was a different person altogether.  His happy eyes were gone, lost in…

{That is when  I got bored and stopped writing.}

I can finish this if you want, just leave a comment below.

OOTD: Flowers Blooming

Hello my little lovelies.  It is very wonderful outside today.  The flowers are blooming and the sun is out.  And not to toot my own horn, but I think my outfits just look all the better in the summer light.

Apparently I am very bad with electronics because I am not allowed to use my washing machine.  And I will not resort to hand washing.  So while my parents are out of town I am waiting for clothes to be washed.

Not having a lot of options in your closet makes dressing up very hard.  In fact, I am surprised I came up with anything to wear.  I could have just put on pajamas and called it a day.  Or night.

{Excuse my hair.  The no-heat waves are falling out.}

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Hat: Forever 21//Necklace: Forever 21//Shoes: Nordstrom (similar here)// Skirt: Target//Shirt: Old

I personally think I look like a scarecrow in this picture.  With the barely wavy falling out hair, the plants, and the arms, I could be a couture Halloween decoration.

Salted Caramel Gelato & Majestic Owls

I had to get all fancy this weekend.  My dad won some really big national award, so I wore a dress and painted my nails and everything.  With fancy clothes and fancy shoes comes fancy hair.

Fancy hair gets a lot of compliments.  Vintage hair gets a lot of compliments.  Complicated braids get a lot of compliments.  When you put all that fancy complicated nostalgia together you get a lot more compliments than usual.  So much you start making automated responses and your eyes glaze over.

It looked like that. (via)

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I enjoyed some fancy desserts at Standard Market.  Namely salted caramel gelato that tasted like summer and happiness.  But I couldn’t resist embracing my inner baker and taking pictures of this cake.

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Plus I adored the way these fake flowers looked in the  empty vase next to that majestic owl statue so I stuck them there and took pictures like I was some fancy photographer.  You know you do it too.

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I enjoyed smelling like cucumbers.

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I got frustrated trying to find something to wear and ripped all my dresses out of my closet.

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Summer Night In: Create, Read, Apply, and Wear

Hiya!

I was reading one of my favorite blogs and I saw a post that was really cool and fun to read as a viewer and a blogger.  It seemed like a lot of fun, but finding the time to do it was very hard.  I know it’s summer and I should have all the time in the world, but I just don’t.  Anyway, the post was a “Girls’/Summer Night In,”  which could easily be a tag, as it’s very fun to do and customize.  So I present to you…  My summer night in!

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To Wear: PJ Top (Forever 21 Girls)//PJ Bottoms (xhilaration)

Forget That!

Hello people of the world!

I am back with yet another non-fashion related post, and it’s a big one!  Thanks to the fact I will not be blogging about only fashion anymore I have decided to change my site’s name.  XO Style Stalker is no longer… Relevant.  I have decided that from now on this site will be known as XO Style Stalker, but it will be self-hosted from now on. So don’t add any .wordpress to my URL.

If you’ve decided to stop calling me Style Stalker I guess you can call me Nyah.

-Nyah

Midnight Hot Chocolate Runs

Somehow every night I end up the last one awake, and it makes no sense, because I can go to bed at 1:30 (thanks to watching my new favorite 8-season TV show Bones, on Netflix) and still get up at 9:30.  Which is really weird because it’s summer and I don’t have to wake up early, but I did anyway.

That’s pretty off topic.  So I go downstairs, running as fast as I can, because I watch so many murder investigation shows, that walking alone at night scares me.  Especially since the ceiling lights went out in my room, so I have to get that fixed.
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And I don’t know how to use my mom’s K-cup, fancy coffee machine, you know what I’m talking, about, the one everyone has.  Well she didn’t teach me how to use that, and I would get in a lot of trouble if I broke it, so I use the old-fashioned method, of a microwave, and some water, and a little package of powdered hot chocolate that you rip open.

Then you’re gonna think I’m weird if you don’t already, but I put cinnamon in my hot chocolate, because it just smells like Christmas. And yes, I know Christmas doesn’t have a set smell, but it just smells like really wintery, and Christmassy, and holiday timey.

Sometimes when I wanna get really fancy I’ll sneak around like a ninja in the kitchen, to find cinnamon sticks.  I don’t do it too often, because I don’t really end up doing anything with them.  They kinda just sit there for photo taking opportunities, to make me look all fancy smancy.  Also, it wasn’t really midnight, it was like 10 o’clock, but midnight hot chocolate sounds a lot better than 10 o’ clock hot chocolate runs.  So…  Um…. I kinda lied, but 10:30ish is around midnight.  Not really, but whatever.
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So yeah, it always starts out like that, with me just sitting in my bed reading a book, or watching Netflix, wondering how I’m ever going to get through 8 seasons of 45 minute episodes before the summer is over.  And that was the book I just got that day, “Paper Towns” by John Green, he’s
also the guy that wrote the “Fault in Our Stars,” which was totally over-rated, but that’s for another time.

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So I just keep drinking and drinking, because I’m not one of those people who likes ‘cold chocolate.’  Yet, I really hate burning my tongue, so I get some crushed ice out of our water, ice, fridge, dispenser thing, and dump that in the mug before I drink it.  That’s so I can repeatedly sip, without repeatedly burning my tongue.

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And by the end of the night, there’s always a ton of marshmallows left because instead of getting the mini fake marshmallow things my dad brings home from work, I get real marshmallows, and they don’t really dissolve in warm beverages, like the fake ones do.

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I quite enjoy my bug mowl, mowl bug, mug bowl, I can’t talk today, it has little dogs on it, and I have ones with cats too.  It’s really big and shallow, but it’s really wide, so it’s like a combination 2-in-1 thing.  So tell me if you have midnight snacks, or hot chocolate runs, or coffee runs.  They’re probably really bad  unless you need to stay awake.  Tell me what you are doing at midnight or right before you go to bed.

-XO Style Stalker

 

 

Important Update! Warning: This Contains a Lot of Rambling, and Teen (?!?!) Angst

Right now I’m sitting in my closet, on the floor, half in tears, because I can not figure out what to wear, or what to write, and that is LITERALLY the most stressful thing in the world for a TECHNICALLY-NOT-A-TEENAGER with a blog.  Oh, and guess what else?!?!  To add to all that, IT’S ALL MY FAULT!

Steal her Style Ariana Grande pt. 2

Last summer I was introduced to a darling little site called ‘Steal her Style.’  It’s pretty much what’d you’d expect, so there’s no need to explain.  But it’s really fun to look at when you’re crushing on a celebrities wardrobe.

That’s when Ariana Grande comes in.  While she also has some ridiculously crazy outfits, which celebrities don’t?  But most of the time her clothes are actually quite cute.  So, I tried to pick out some pictures you can actually try to recreate.  Not her footy pajamas ( which you should honestly never wear out the house), and other things like that.

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All photos came from Steal her Style.  I don’t own any of the pictures above or below.

Ariana has somewhat lost the nerdy style she had last summer, but she’s a LOT more famous now, so it make sense.  I really do love the dress, which seems just a teeny weeny bit geeky, and the simplicity, yet creativeness of this outfit.

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Usually I’ve been told to never wear all black.  I do it anyway, but usually I add colorful jewelry to tone it down.  Or is it up?  Back to the point, I didn’t think it was possible to look girly in all black, but apparently it is.

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Instead of nerdy, I think Ariana Grande has a more vintage/retro style going on.  In black and white this whole thing seems to be happening in the poodle skirt time period. And if you know even the slightest things about me, you’d know I love and cannot resist polka dots.  So that pretty much explains just about everything.

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Once again, more nostalgia for me.  I’ve always loved platform boots, but I would have never thought of wearing it with a sweater.  Let alone a sweater dress.  But I guess that’s Ariana Grande for you.  She must think pants are over-rated.

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This shirt is perfect for me.  If you ask anyone I know, you’d find out that I almost never stop talking.  But if  had to give out 2nd place to nything in the outfit, it would have to be the bag.  I’d like it more in a darker pink color, instead of the almost cream, but overall it’s a really nice bag which would fit all the many things I ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO CARRY AROUND;)

-XO Style Stalker

Au Revoir,

Style Stalker

Bonobos Menswear*

So… My first brand collaboration… Not exactly what I expected, but I’ll go with the flow. Recently Bonobos, a men’s apparel brand contacted me and asked me to do a Summer Style post working around their newest collection of suits. At first I was hesitant, because this is primarily a girl’s blog, me being a girl and all, but I was so excited to finally get to work with a brand I agreed.

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I wasn’t quite sure what to do for this post, but I do love the Spangled brand, so I know I had to incorporate something from their collection in here too.  I present to you the “his and hers summer collection” featuring some jewelry from Tory Burch

How to Find the Perfect Fit

  • The shoulders should fit snuggly but not be too tight
  • If the shoulders fit anything else can be fixed
  • Cup the bottom of the suit with your arms at your side
  • Have a 1/4 of an inch of your shirt cuff showing

Limited Time Offer

If you know anyone who’s birthday is coming up, or you’re one of those early Christmas shoppers use the COUPON CODE NEWCUSTOMER20! 

-XO Style Stalker

10 Creative Things to Do With Extra or Unwanted Hangers You Never Would Have Thought Of

I know it may seem crazy you can have too many hangers and not enough clothes, because that rarely happens to me.  In fact, quite often it is the other way around, where I have too many clothes and not enough hangers or room in my closet.

But because there are some people who only buy the necessary, there might be a lot of extra plastic, wire, or maybe even for the luxurious fabric covered wire in your closet.  And since I’m always looking for DIYs, I thought I’d show you a few of the uses I’ve found for spare hangers.

1. Display Your Favorite Magazines

I know I have magazines I’ve love to have hanging in my room or maybe even in my closet.  This is especially helpful if you leave them open to your favorite outfit or makeup tutorials for when you just don’t have ANYTHING to wear (even when you most definitely do) for easy access and instant inspiration.

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Courtesy of myidealhome on Tumblr

2. Make a Scarf Display

I know they make hangers just for this, but who wants to spend money when you can make one yourself?!  These are cute, affordable, and nice enough to hang out in the open.

Courtesy of meetmakelaugh.blogspot.com

Courtesy of meetmakelaugh.blogspot.com

3. Make a Jewelry Tree

I have a jewelry cake tier for rings and bracelets, and hooks on wooden letter spelling out my name for necklaces, but I certainly don’t have this.  Easy as pie, and as shown here, ready in 60 seconds, this is an easy project, for the “artistically challenged.”

Courtesy of scraphacker.com

Courtesy of scraphacker.com

 4. Display your Photos

This is another easy solution for your spare hangers.  This looks pretty minimalistic in the picture but depending on the hanger, pictures, and binder clips you use, you can make this as creative, or plain as you want.

Courtesy of janmarcel.com

Courtesy of janmarcel.com

5. Make a Coat Rack

Another creative use from scraphacker.com, only this one is slightly more challenging (ok, a lot more challenging).  This is perfect for renovating your mudroom on a budget, and it looks really nice too.

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6.  Embrace your Inner Bookworm

Not everyone wants to take up tons of space with a fat, clunky bookcase, unlike me.  But there is a way to keep books in your life, and your room, long after school is out.  This easy book rack looks easy, and fun, perfect for me, because I have too many books, and not enough bookshelves.

Courtesy of scraphacker.com

Courtesy of scraphacker.com

7.  Organize your Shoe Collection

If you don’t already have your shoes on display like me, and really don’t have the space for it, then this may be the project for you.  From now on you can keep those skinny shoes (flats and flip flops) hanging on your extra hangers.

Courtesy of usefuldiy.com

Courtesy of usefuldiy.com

8. Make a Chandelier

While I do not need a chandelier, nor do I particularly want one, you might.  So enjoy this complex DIY for the experienced from scraphacker.com.

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9. Hang your Glasses

I can’t see well without glasses, which is the understatement of the year, so I guess you could say I have a lot.  Well, I used to.  But getting your prescription changed every time your vision gets worse I expensive, so I donated 3 pairs of glasses to children in need.  Now I have my nerdy glasses from Ray Ban, and some smaller ones from Converse.  But I’d love for everyone to see them while I sleep at night, because that’s pretty much the only time I take them off.  Don’t want to crash into walls or anything.

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Courtesy of scraphacker.com

10. Make a Ribbon Rack

I have lots of craft materials and ribbon is one of them.  I’d love the be able to take them out of the box I stuff them in.  Don’t worry, it’s a pretty fabric box.  Now I finally can.

Courtesy of scraphacker.com

Courtesy of scraphacker.com

I really don’t have room for all this on my walls, but I can’t choose just one.  Can you?  Tell me in the comments your favorite, or favorites;)

-XO Style Stalker