May Birchbox!

I got my very first Birchbox the other day! If you’ve never heard of a Birchbox, it’s little box that gets shipped to you every month with a bunch of samples of beauty products. It’s a mystery every month, so you don’t know what you’re getting until it comes!

Mine wasn’t scheduled to arrive until the 15th, but it came early! Usually they will post your box on the website a couple days after shipping it, but I refused to go look because I wanted it to be a complete surprise.

I knew this month was going to be “Gossip Girl” themed, possibly because the show is ending soon (?) Now, I don’t watch Gossip Girl, but I wasn’t about to complain when they said they had been working with brands like Stila and Dior this month to keep up with the show’s theme of luxury.

Inside the box it had this little card explaining the Gossip Girl themed box. Now, here’s the strange thing—it said I got the “Hamptons Beach Party” box, but none of the products listed on the back of the card were in my box. My guess is they slipped the wrong card in my box, so I’m not sure which box theme I actually got.

 
First up was this Beauty Balm from Dr. Jart+. From what I understand, it’s supposed to be like a tinted moisturizer, except…fancier. Now, I’m not a fan of tinted moisturizers for a couple reasons: they don’t have very good coverage, and they tend to leave my face looking shiny and oily. I tried this stuff yesterday and it seemed to be the same as any other tinted moisturizer I’ve tried—except with a much steeper price tag. Good to know!

 

Next up was this perfume. It smells amazing. It’s like warm vanilla—and really, is there any smell in the world better than warm vanilla? It lasts forever, too. It’s not like some perfumes that vanish after a while—you can smell it all day, but it’s not too overpowering.

I got a blank card…not entirely sure what I need this for, but that’s okay I guess!

This is called a Twist Band…it’s basically a regular hair tie, except it’s supposed to be non-snagging and more comfortable. I haven’t tried this one yet because I have been wearing my hair down. My sister got the headband version of this in her Birchbox, though, and she loves it—she said it doesn’t slide around on her head like elastic headbands usually do.

 
The nail polish I got was Color Club in “Disco Nap”…I’m really fascinated by that name. Disco and naps…two things I didn’t think really went together. It’s a nice color, although I already have a similar gold polish by OPI. I do like that it’s more metallic than my OPI, rather than just a shimmery gold.

I saved the best for last, of course! I got the Sugar Rosé lip treatment! I’ve wanted to try this for a few years, but I just never wanted to shell out $22 for it. It goes on really smooth, lasts a long time, and it’s such a pretty sheer rose color. I love it!

Caps and Gowns and Caps and Gowns

Friday was a very busy day for me! I had not one, but two graduations to attend. First, my best friend graduated with her BA in Sociology from Arizona State University. That was at 8, and then immediately after that I headed straight for Grand Canyon University, where my mom graduated with her Master of Nursing Leadership. My grandparents are in town from Washington to celebrate with us, so we had a long family lunch afterwards. Oh, and did I mention I was running on zero sleep? I chose instead to see The Avengers at midnight with my sister. So yeah, needless to say I was a little exhausted. I went home after lunch and took a lovely 3-hour nap!

 

I wanted to be dressy but comfortable, so I picked this lovely little summery dress and flat sandals, since there was a lot of walking from parking lots to ceremonies and restaurants. It was a really nice warm day out, so I didn’t need a sweater! PS—how terrible is my farmer’s tan?! My work uniform consists of a polo with sleeves that hit at the elbow, which means that I desperately need to even out my arms!

Dress: Gap Outlet. Shoes: Target.

Earrings: Target.

Here’s our little family after my mom graduated! Look at my cute scholarly mom with her cap and gown…and her honors cord! Smart lady.

Almost-Summer Stripes

Two posts in one day?! I know, I am totally trying to make up for not updating over the past couple of weeks. Plus, I have spent the entire day working on my final paper for my history of photography class, and I decided to take a long break—for my sanity—and do a couple posts!

It’s already heating up in Arizona, which means that this summer’s going to be a hot one. A week and a half ago we were experiencing temperatures around 105 degrees. Although it has settled back down to the high 80’s since then, it’s supposed to get hot again this weekend. I’ve got family coming into town from Washington, which means there will hopefully be lots of time spent by the pools drinking my parents’ delicious margaritas. And, of course, wearing this comfy summer dress!

Dress: Target. Cardigan: Old Navy. Sandals: Target.

This dress is really thin cotton, which means it’s perfect for hot days. It’s a quick and comfortable outfit to throw on for just about any summertime activity. Of course, the cardigan will go as soon as it gets hot again, but for now it’s just right!

The pool is almost at the perfect temperature to start swimming—not too cold, but not bathwater like it gets in the middle of summer. As soon as school and finals are done, I’ve decided I’m coming home from work every night and going straight into the pool!

 

Also, I have summer nails!! I want to wear bright colors all the time now. On my fingers I used Essie Bachelorette Bash, Ulta Sweetheart Pink, and an orange OPI that I’m not sure of the name of, and on my toes I used OPI Mermaid Tears.

 
Check out my previous post for how I curled my hair with a curling wand!

And of course, here’s my smart cat—hiding from the heat in the shade.

AND WE’RE BACK!

As you may have noticed, sometimes I fail at updating my blog in a timely manner. It’s been over 2 weeks, in fact. I’ve been so caught up with my new job, studying for finals, and my booming social life (One of these is a lie. Can you guess which?!) that I have been putting this blog on the back burner. But no more, I promise! In fact, I’ve decided to sort of shift the focus of the blog so that, rather than just being outfit posts, it will be a little bit of everything. Crafts, recipes, tutorials, whatever I feel like. This will hopefully mean that I can update a bit more. It will especially be helpful in about a month when temperatures reach 115 degrees and the last thing I want to do is dress up and go outside to take pictures.

So to kick things off, I thought I would do a tutorial! Okay, it was more of an experiment than a tutorial. My sister and I went splitsies on one of those curling wands (sort of like a curling iron, but without the clamp) because we wanted to give it a shot. I’ve never used one before—in fact, I usually curl my hair with a flat iron (hey, maybe there will be a tutorial for that next!)—so I figured I would document it!

 
I started out with straight(ish) hair. This is what my hair does if I just comb it out and let it air dry. The only thing I put in it was a bit of Moroccan Oil.

 

 
I always start by sectioning my hair. I try to do it in thirds, because I have a whole lot of hair and it’s impossible to do it all at once. So i clipped the top two-thirds of my hair up.

 
Make sure your tool is heated up. I used a Conair YouCurl, which was only $30 at Target. Bonus, my sister and I split it so it was only 15 bucks each!

It came with this strange little three-finger heat protective glove. Most curling wands come with a full glove, which would be ideal, because it’s super easy to burn your last two fingers if you’re not careful. I tried using the glove, though, and ended up taking it off because it was a little too bulky and cumbersome.

 
Holding the wand upside down (so the widest part is at the top) I wrapped my hair around the stick. I held it there for about 7 seconds before releasing the curl. If you hold if for more time, you will get a tighter curl; less time will give you a loose curl. PS—this is my ‘super focused’ serious face.

 

As you can see, some curls are tight and some are loose. This is because I was experimenting with how long to hold the curl on the barrel of the iron. If this happens to you, don’t worry—you can go back and fix it when you’re finished!

 
After I finished curling my hair all over, I spritzed it with Blow Texturizing Mist and used my fingers to tousle my hair a bit so it was less curly and more beachy.

 
And here’s the result! In total it probably took me about a half hour, but I’m sure once I get used to using the wand I’ll be able to cut my styling time down.

So in review, I’m still iffy on whether I prefer this over flat iron curls. It gives a different look for sure, but I am still much more comfortable with using my flat iron to curl my hair. I always know it will turn out how I want it, and I feel like I have a little more control that way. Still, this method is fun and pretty simple!

The Hills Are Alive

Last night I went to see The Sound of Music at the Biltmore Fashion Park’s Spring Movies in the Park with my friend Liz. The weather has been perfect lately, with highs in the mid-70’s and a light breeze. Well, last night was a little more than a light breeze. In fact, it got pretty windy, and I found myself wishing I was wearing more substantial shoes and a warm jacket. Needless to say, I wrapped up in a blanket the whole time, and the second I got in my car, I turned the heater on for the first time since February!

I love The Sound of Music…it’s one of those movies that will never get old. I think Fraulein Maria and I have a lot in common, actually. You know when they sing the song, “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” Well, you could easily switch that to “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Kellie?” Now, I don’t exactly see myself falling in love with a naval captain with seven children, all of whom have perfect pitch (you really never know, though…) However, I can promise you that if I ever make it to the Austrian countryside, I will definitely twirl about and sing at the top of my lungs. You can count on it!

 
Lace top: Thrifted. Cardigan: Gap. Skirt: Old Navy. Leggings: Target. Sandals: Target

Necklace: DIY {Tutorial found HERE!}

Ring: Charlotte Russe

Don’t mind the band-aid…I got in a fight with my car door last week and it definitely won :/

Sister Friends!

I wore this outfit to the Good Friday service at my church tonight. I had spent most of the morning and early afternoon helping my mom paint our living room (I’m helping her redecorate for the first time in 12 years!) so I wanted to wear something easy but cute. Luckily I have my trusty triple-barrel curler which is perfect for day-two (and sometimes even day-three!) hair.

 
Top: eci New York via Macy’s. Jeans: Old Navy. Shoes: Target.

I love how flowy this top is, and the cute floral detail, too. Plus, you really can’t beat this pretty berry color.

Oh, and look who stopped by! My sister, Megan. I have tried to get her into my blog post once before, but she refused. But this time I made her, because you just can’t miss those fantastic pants she’s wearing. I swear, I’m going to steal them out of her closet when she’s not looking.

 
Here we are being clever and silly…

Megan’s outfit: Top: Old Navy. Jeans: Vera Wang for Kohl’s. Sandals: Steve Madden via DSW.

Fancy Pants

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m currently jobless. It has actually been pretty nice not working all semester, but recently I’ve been getting a little worried, as I’ve had zero luck with the job search. So the other day when I got a call about a job interview, I was ecstatic! The interview was this morning at one of Arizona’s most well-known luxury resorts (We’re talking about the place where the president stays when he visits Arizona!) so I knew I had to dress to impress! I wanted to go in and say, “Luxury? Yeah? Look up the word ‘luxury’ in the dictionary and you’ll see a picture of me in this outfit!”
I didn’t say that, in case you were wondering… :)

I was meeting my interviewers in the spa, which is located right next to the pool, so it felt pretty strange click-clacking by the pool in my heels where most people were in bathing suits and sandals. The funniest part was when I showed up in my fancy-schmancy ensemble, and the guys that were interviewing me were wearing polos and cargo shorts. That is actually pretty exciting to me, because it’s been a long time since I’ve had a job where I can be casual like that! Most of my job experience is in the beauty industry, where I had to show up everyday with my hair and makeup looking perfect, which means that the moment I stopped working in the industry, I pretty much cut down to wearing serious makeup (the kind that takes more than 10 minutes to apply) for only special occasions!

Top: Charlotte Russe. Skirt: Thrifted.
Technically the skirt was a hand-me-down from my sister, but I’ll qualify that as thrifting :)
Watch: Guess (a gift from my parents). Ring: Target.
I got this ring about 5 years ago at Target. It was one of their “nicer” jewelry pieces (the kind that doesn’t turn your finger green and change to copper after a while) and I wear it almost daily. Pretty impressive for something I got on clearance for about 10 bucks!
Shoes: Madeline Stuart (via Ross).
By the way—apparently this outfit did the trick…I got a call about two minutes after I left the interview from the HR department offering me the job! Success!!

Blue and Grey!

I love showers. Not wash-your-hair showers or rain showers (although I do love those, too!) but baby showers and bridal showers! I like them for two reasons: 1. You get to celebrate a new bundle of joy or marriage with your friends, and 2. You get to dress up! An all-female event like a shower is bound to be a girly occasion, so naturally I get excited. I mean, I am the girl who named her blog “Dresses and Curls”, after all!

Today I got to celebrate my friend Niki at her bridal shower. I’m also excited for NIki’s wedding, because wedding dancing is my #1 favorite thing in the entire world (that may be a bit of an overstatement.) Her wedding is in the end of May—a little less than two months away—but I already have my outfit planned. There will be a blog post, of course—and I’ve already promised the bride she gets to be a guest star in that post!

 
Top: Old Navy. Skirt: Old Navy.

I’ve had this top for ages, and it’s one of those trusty ones that you don’t ever want to get rid of. It’s a bit big on me, but tucked into this skirt it’s kind of perfect, because it billows a little at the top!

And the skirt…I am in love with it! This baby was only $4.97 on clearance at Old Navy. I’ve had my eye on it for quite a while, and I’ve watched it drop from $20 to $10, but I kept putting it back on the rack. When I went there the other night and saw the price tag, I knew it was meant to be! Sorry I ever doubted you, you beautiful skirt!

Shoes: Thrifted.

Girls, What’s My Weakness?

I like to pretend that I’m a classy lady. I can dress up in pretty floral skirts and put flowers in my hair all I want, though. It doesn’t change the fact that when all is said and done, the chances are pretty high that I will dance around my house rapping Salt-N-Pepa’s “Shoop” Ellen Degeneres Style at the top of my lungs.

You might recognize this skirt from a previous post…this is my example of dressing it down! I love how versatile it is. [Also: my next-door neighbors had construction workers on their roof, hence the change of scenery!]

 
Cardigan: Old Navy. Top: Target. Skirt: Old Navy.Shoes: Target.

Necklace: Forever 21.

And there’s the aforementioned flower in my hair! I can’t remember where I got this, because I’ve had it for years…but it made my day-two, slightly greasy hair a little better :)