Happy Birthday!

You know how much I adore Out Of Print,  and today the company celebrates its 4th Birthday with a 20% off sale:

Happy Birthday! 

This might be the perfect time to finally get that Gatsby Sweater: 

See more on Out of Print Clothing

Peace, Love, and Sparkles
Laura

Have a Heart (or 35)

I was looking for simple Valentine's Day nail tutorials when I stumbled across this...

pictures via TEEN VOGUE

A Burberry inspired heart manicure? YES PLEASE!  

All you need is a burgundy nailpolish (Essie's Wicked can't be beat), a white nail art pen, and a steady hand to draw the hearts on.

Check out the full tutorial on Teenvogue.com, 

and don't forget tweet me pics if you try it!

Peace, Love, and Sparkles

Laura

Good News

1) I got a summer internship at a newspaper  (how very Rory Gilmore of me)

2) Kate Spade's Greatest Hits Sale is on for another 13 hours

3) See 1) and 2) and make a deduction

Newspaper Clutch

Peace, Love, and Sparkles
Laura

Cheap and Chic

I have a strict no splurging on trendy pieces rule,  which is why I love places like Ahai shopping.  Ever since I discovered the site last spring it's  been one of my favorite places to find cheap and trendy pieces, or well...

Ahai Rabbit Cardigan

How perfect is this Fifi Lapin inspired cardigan?  

I might have squealed when I saw this.

What's your favorite place to shop for trendy pieces?

Peace, Love, and Sparkles

Laura

Reading List

I really want to do more "fun reading".  I am studying literature, and the reading I have to do for school can be overwhelming at times, and barely leaves room for books that aren't part of a reading list. So I figured that putting together my own reading list, might just be the extra motivation I need. 

This is, however, still  supposed to be a fun thing, so I'm not going to be too ambitious. I chose

 four titles (some by recomendation), that I plan to finish by the end of my break in April: 

 Everything's Eventual // I adore Stephen King, and nothing beats an eerie (or gruesome) short story before bed.

Pink Smog // I've been dying to read this prequel to the whisical Weetzie Bat series, which happens to be my favorite book series of all time.

The Yonahlossee Riding Camp For Girls // Judging by the title I would have never considered this, but  someone who knows my taste rather well recomended this to me, and after reding several reviews I found myself rather intrigued by this scadalous coming of age story.

Mastermind // It's a book that explains how to think like Sherlock Holmes. I have a feeling that this might become a permanent companion.

 

What's on your reading List?

Peace, Love, and Sparkles

Laura

Stylish Girls Love Baker Boys

I've been wanting a Baker Boy Cap for the longest time. I've never been big on base-caps, they're just too sporty for my style, and as much as I love real hats, they can be a pain to carry around at school. But the Baker Boy Cap is the perfect medium, it's structured enough to look good with a nice coat, but will survive being shoved into a bag. So naturally I didn't think twice when I saw one on ASOS:

And it looks like I'm not the only one who's loving them:

Emma Watson

Cara Delevingne

Chelsea Kane

What's your favorite type of hat?

Peace, Love, and Sparkles
Laura

Clean Slate

After two months of shiny reds and glittery golds I always find myself missing my favorite neutral nail polishes. And for me that usually means sheer baby pink, and black.

My go to sheer polish has always been Essie's Mademoiselle.

 I know that many swear on the brand's "Ballet Slippers" when it comes to sheer pink, but (and maybe I just had a bad bottle) I always found that one a little hard to apply, while Mademoiselle is an absolute dream. It literally takes me about a minute to do my nails with it, and get that perfect porcelain finish.

On the other end of the spectrum we have OPI's Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees:

Unless you're going for a grungy look, you have to be have rather careful with black nailpolish. And I won't deny that this one is not the easiest to apply, it takes a good three coats to be opaque, it's rather runny, and takes forever to dry... but once it is actually on it's one of the nicest shades of black I ever tried, which definitely makes up for the complicated application.

What are your go to neutrals?

Peace, Love, and Sparkles

Laura

Style Superhero

Growing up, capes (often made out of towels or sheets) stood for superpowers, today they stand for style. There's just something very glamorous about throwing on a cape, and my favorite Pretty Little Liar Spencer (Troian Bellisario) is the perfect example for this:

source

In this still from an upcoming episode Spencer pairs a trench cape with boyfriend jeans and a simple tee.  If the cape was a jacket, this outfit would be as blah as it gets, but it isn't all thanks to the poewer of the cape.

Here are some of my personal favorites:

 Cooper & Stollbrand Trench Cape (this might actually be the one Troian is wearing, but I can't confirm it until I have a better picture)

 A duffle coat inspired version from ASOS

Or how about this tweed cape from Jack Wills, if you're going for that classic Sherlock Holmes look. 

 Would your wear a cape?

Peace, Love, and Sparkles
Laura

To New Beginnings

Happy New Year! 

I hope you had a great New Year's Eve and have an even greater year ahead of you!

I'm usually not one to make New Year's resolutions, it's not because I can't stick to them, I simply don't believe in loosing bad habits over night. If your goal is to work out more, fine, but  don't put on your running shoes on January first and loose momentum by the third. Baby steps.  

I do, however, have one goal, and that is to be more consistent with blogging. Last year I had the very ambitious plan to post every second day, which actually worked for a while.  But then I started grad school, and that was that...

I'm not gonna set a set schedule, or promise three posts a week, because that would  just lead to uninspired content, and turn my favorite past-time into a chore. But I will try to avoid slumps, by planing ahead - and maybe that'll lead to the perfect schedule.  Anything's possible. 

Peace, Love, and  Sparkles

Laura

...oh an don't forget that everyone's favorite Detective is back tonight!  Who's excited?