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Life Lately | November Edition

Posted in Beauty, Fashion, Lifestyle
on 11/30/2016

Honestly surprised I made it to the end of this month (lol). With computer problems out the wahzoo, semi, projects + some family issues – it’s no surprise this month was a rough one. December is here, which means I can finally start decorating for Christmas! But before that, I’ll give y’all a little run down of my November…

nov-life-lately-1Ah, the best way to start the month is with a fresh new monthly view in the agenda. My planner is my literal saving grace. I would be running around like a chicken with my head cut off if it weren’t for it.

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Who’s fun + brunette? That’s me! This MuMu tee has easily become a throw on and go for the month. Jeans, skirts, leggings – you name it, I’ve worn it with this shirt. MuMu has a fantastic line of graphic tees, but they can be pricey so if you’re looking into one, I would recommend getting something you’ll be able to re wear time + time again.

some mu for you

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Football season has come to a close this month. I have to say, I am really going to miss heading over to Tiger Stadium to cheer on my boys. Picking out an outfit every weekend – that’s something I won’t miss. There’s a first time for everything + this was mine with the jersey. Let’s just say I looked more sporty than I am.

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Back and better than ever! Serving on exec has been one of my best memories in Alpha Phi. This year I have been elected to be our VP of Chapter Operations. With our brand new home, there is so much to be done (we are still getting the hang of things over here). I am looking forward to working with my girls to have a year to remember!

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Catherine (my sweet roomie + bff) turned 20 this month! The weekend was jam-packed. Semi took place Friday night + following that was the Alabama game. I snagged these gold foil balloons from Amazon for $5 each (talk about a bargain)! Her little gift from moi included, a sweet note (feat Harry Styles), kit kats, a choker, and a framed picture of us.

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Semi was where it was at!! I can’t even begin to describe how much fun we all had! The night started hectically (what’s new), but once we got to the venue all was well. Bag of Donuts was our entertainment + I swear to you, they are one of the best cover bands of all time! Shout out to my best friend Brooks for tagging along with me ;-)

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Alpha Phi took us to the Pelicans game + boy was it fun! Not only did I spend $16 on food, ride a bus from BR to NOLA for 3 hours, but I also got to go on the court + snap some pictures! My outfit was a total seventies vibe from the flares to the bodysuit to the hoops.  

70s fever

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A successful friendsgiving was had! We chowed on some delicious food + caught up like old times. Seeing my high school friends is one of the best parts about going home. Did I mention how freaking cute our little photo shoot turned out?

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Thanksgiving this year was quite an odd one. I was all over the place (NOLA, Mandeville, BR) + didn’t get much of a break. Louisiana weather still has not cooled down enough for a jeans, boots, and sweater look so I opted for a sweater + skirt combo.

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My music favorites for this month:

Love on the weekend by John Mayer

Blue ain’t your color by Keith Urban

Make your mind up by Moon Taxi

The chain by Fleetwood Mac

My beauty favorites for this month:

My daily routine for work has been pretty simple. CC cream, blush, brows, and then mascara.

Articles I’ve been reading this month:

Winter wedges by Lonestar Southern

One Direction update by Billboard

4 ways to add holiday glam to any outfit by A Pinch of Lovely

Michelle Obama’s final White House Christmas decor by Vogue

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How has everyone’s November been? Give me some feedback in the comments!

madison-bronze-foil

DIY Choker tutorial

Posted in Fashion
on 11/04/2016

Chokers are currently my go-to accessory for any outfit. I love the simplicity of them + the edgy vibe they have. Prices can range for chokers, depending on what you’re getting. Making chokers is such a fun little DIY + not to mention — it’s super cheap! Let’s get into it, y’all….

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You’ll need…

Ribbon (pick whatever your heart desires — velvet, sparkly, faux snakeskin, lace (the options are endless))

A few inches of chain (gold or silver)

Jump rings (gold or silver to match your chain)

Ribbon crimps (to match chain and jump rings)

Clasps (to match all of the above)

Scissors

Pliers

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The easiest DIY you’ll ever do…

Alright, alright, alright — here we go! First step is to take your ribbon and cut it to size for your neck. You’ll want to make it about a 1/2 inch shorter so you can hook it on the chain and not have it be too big. Take your ribbon crimps, put one on each side of the ribbon and use your pliers to close it onto your ribbon. With jump rings, take your chain and attach it to one ribbon crimp + then attach your clasp to the other (honestly this is the hardest part). *cue the oohs and aaahhhs* You’re done!

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See? I told y’all this is the easiest DIY you’ll ever do. Now go out there and wear that choker with some pride! When people ask you where you got it, you can proudly tell them “I made this with my own two hands” *hair flip*

If any of y’all try this out, please send me pictures of your finished product! I would love to see it!

Until next time….

madison-bronze-foil

 

 

Life lately | October edition

Posted in Uncategorized
on 10/26/2016

What’s good y’all?! October was a pretty good month! Here’s my recap…

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So I’ve been working a research paper for my stage makeup class + I have to say it’s honestly the most fun paper I’ve ever written. The 1920s are such an intriguing time and so much action was happening in the world and the cosmetic industry. I’ve been doing loads of research and that may or may not have included a trip to my favorite destination, Barnes and Noble… #oops

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I’ve been on the hunt for a job for as long as I can remember (honestly about 4 months y’all… this ain’t no joke). But…. I’m over the moon to announce I’ve finally got one!! Come visit me at Hemline Towne Center! Working for Hemline is something that I believe will really help me with my future career in the fashion industry so I cannot wait to start getting into the swing of things!

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My #OOTD post this month featured this adorable (and affordable) tunic sweater. I paired it with some jeans + lace up chunky heels to dress it up. The perfect fall outfit!! Now if I could just get some cooler weather down here…

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Alpha Phi had our family weekend when we played Southern Miss so naturally my family came down to see me. Spending some much-needed time with them was just what I needed to finish this semester strong! Shouts to them for coming tailgating on the Parade Grounds with me! #myparentsarecoolerthanme

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Another family day picture of my #girlgang. I love these ladies with all my heart! They make life so much more lively!!

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My fall lip guide is up featuring my picks for perfect lips this season. Matte + neutral colors are my everything.

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My monthly dose of inspiration comes from this ole thing. Thank you Vogue. Lupita is slaying as always!

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FIRST PLACE NEVER FELT SO GOOD! Alpha Phi placed first place this year in our homecoming structures!!! They were Duck Dynasty themed and turned out so great! Peep me and Leonard (with the Duck Dynasty beard)!

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Our fall philanthropy event, Alpha Phifa, which is a soccer tournament with the fraternities was a #success! The team I was coaching won the whole thing so you could say I was proud :-)

My music favorites for this month:

Clocks go forward by James Bay

September Song by JP Cooper

Scars to your beautiful by Alessia Cara

Mad about you by Belinda Carlisle

My beauty favorites for this month:

Remington wand

Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer

Burts bees classic minty chapstick

Articles I’ve been reading this month:

Anything Mackenzie Kendall (love love love her photos)

5 things to know about this weekend by A Pinch of Lovely (I met her… can you say fangirl?!)

Rare photos of Audrey Hepburn 

90’s Halloween costume ideas 

What have my peeps been up to this month? Comment below!

madison-bronze-foil

My favorite fall lip products

Posted in Uncategorized
on 10/19/2016

In honor of my favorite trend for fall, I took it upon myself to set out on a mission: find the best fall lip products for under $20. I’d like to think I’m somewhat of a lipstick connoisseur. Not as knowledgeable as those who know every single shade to ever come out of the hands of Nars, Annatasia Beverly Hills or Bobbi Brown — but one of those who has about 11 different lip products in my arsenal. Knowing a thing or two about lipstick, I rummaged though the internet and complied this list… Here we go!

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THE BREAKDOWN

the matte nude | anatasia beverly hills liquid lipstick in stripped

Matte is all the rage this year + I have to say I was super reluctant to jump on the bandwagon but I did it. A matte nude lip is perfect for any outfit, casual or dressy. This liquid lipstick comes in at $18, so it is on the pricey side, but it won’t break the bank.

the deep purple red | revlon just bitten lip balm + stain in crush

I’ve talked about this one probably 5000 times, but it’s just because I love it. When you first put it on, it’s a deep purply-looking red but then as it wears off and leaves the stain it becomes a hot pink color. Formals, weddings, or a night out are my favorite places to wear this one!

the rosy pink | revlon lip butter in pink truffle

The most easy to wear color there is. Pair it with anything + it’ll go perfect. I just found out today that this specific color is discontinued, but I would recommend any color Revlon lip butter, especially the color Juicy Papaya.

the grape | clique different lipstick in a different grape

Here’s a great statement fall color that is easy to wear too! Great for casual outings, but I feel like I could wear this one for a dressy occasion as well. Clique lipsticks are the bomb, so check this out

 

shop the products

madison-bronze-foil

Life Lately | September Edition

Posted in Uncategorized
on 10/09/2016

October here I come! September was mostly me getting back into the swing of things with school and such, so not too many exciting things happened.. (oops!) I will say that you can expect less lifestyle sort of posts from me from now on — I’m aiming to post more fashion related things on LGIP now. With that being said, let’s get on with it!

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Oh, what a night this was… Known as none other than Boys Bid Night (aka LSU Greek Life’s favorite night of the year). Our new members came to join us in getting dressed up + having the first night of fun with their new sissies!

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Gameday is back + better than ever!! I’ve struggled each weekend finding an outfit considering I own nothing purple or gold. It’s been hot as hades for each game so far, so jeans have not been an option for me. I’m awaiting the cooler weather as patiently as possible.

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If you haven’t read my most recent post, go ahead and click here! My pledge class + I got our littles this month! We had such a fantastic time crafting for them + reveal was the icing on the cake! In all honestly, I was totally suffocating being wrapped up in this get up for twenty long minutes.

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Fall Grub was a success!! The theme was ESPhiN, so pretty much anything sports-related went! My date and I went as Tom Brady + Gisele, so I donned a VS robe for the night! Creativity levels were at an all time high that night as I saw some corn dogs (LSU fans are known as corn dogs, so we love to poke fun at it), field goals, famous basketball players, football players + a few WAGS.

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We had our very first Taco night in our new house this month! All of the proceeds go to the Alpha Phi Foundation, and we opened our beautiful new home up and served some tacos. These Alpha Phi baseball tees are my favorite shirt from this year so far!! It goes great with some jean shorts, athletic shorts, or yoga pants!

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If you follow me on my personal Instagram, or just know me in real life, you would know my unfailing love for One Direction. Niall’s new song is the sweetest thing I’ve ever listened to and I swear to y’all, I actually cried while listening to it #noshame.

See, I told y’all my September was boring… I can’t wait for y’all see some new fashion posts coming to LGIP this month!!

madison-bronze-foil

How to create the perfect Big Little Week | LGIP Blabbers

Posted in Lifestyle
on 09/28/2016

IMG_8987-editedIMG_8975-editedIMG_8989-editedIMG_8978-editedIMG_8990-editedIMG_8993-editedIMG_8994-editedSo…. I’m now a big!! Last week was so stressful (leading to no blog post) but I wouldn’t change a thing. Creating a lifelong friendship with my littles is going to be the most rewarding thing! To break things down, I’ll go through a bit of what I ended up giving my little bits each day. Hopefully this can help y’all if you are going through Big Little week!

DAY ONE 

The first themed day was paintings. I had been scrolling through Pinterest since I joined last year, repining an assortment of crafts to make for my littles. Most of the paintings I saw were cheesy, and had bright colors and cheeky phrases on them. We all know that paintings of that sort aren’t going to be displayed for long, considering they don’t match much. My goal for the paintings day was essentially to create a few basic things that would go with any sort of color scheme or room.

Sticking to a warm/cool color scheme (each little liked something different), I made some watercolor prints on card stock. This was honestly one of the most simple crafts I had ever done, and super relaxing too. Water color and card stock can be purchased anywhere (for cheap), so this did not break the bank! I made two watercolor prints for each of my littles by simply free handing the background and the wording. To dress things up, I framed one print in a frame from Hobby Lobby (only my favorite store ever) that I spray painted gold and left the other one not framed.

I knew I wanted to include canvases as well in the baskets, so I made two. The first was a plain white canvas with the saying “let it be — Alpha Phi.” Again, I free-handed the “let it be” and I typed up “Alpha Phi” in one of my favorite fonts (download it here) to trace onto the canvas with a sharpie. Canvas number two was based on a pin from Pinterest of a gold ivy leaf print with our public motto “union hand in hand.” I mimicked that font onto a plain black canvas with some white acrylic paint (I totally free-handed it and just went with it).

For kicks, I made some tumblers with a gold “cheers!” sticker to add the basket as well.

Rounding out this basket was a simple hanging mini bulletin board. I painted one black with some acrylic paint and sanded it down to look distressed and the other I left its original beige-ish color. With metallic paint pens, I wrote “sweet home Alpha Phi” and added some ivy-like branches to the corners. They turned out so cute, and were easily one of my favorite pieces.

DAY TWO

The second day was hand-me-down themed. I gifted some t-shirts I gained throughout the year, an Alpha Phi hat, coozies, game day pins, and each little’s favorite candy. All around an extremely simple day.

DAY THREE

My last and final day of big little week was ivy themed (aka anything Alpha Phi). I themed my baskets black and white with some pops of red. At Hobby Lobby, I scooped up these amazing metal bins which inspired the days theme. I made a square canvas with “xoxo” on it (freehand) and that anchored the basket.

Square jewelry bowls with their initials, as well as a set of stadium cups with ‘Alpha Phi,’ ‘envy the ivy,’ and ‘a phi’ were made super simple by my Silhouette Cameo machine. I made some stickers as well with my Silhouette Cameo — one in a script font and one in a greek font.

I found some gold and white frames at Wal-Mart and put a super girly eyelash print in them. A little black and white makeup bag finished off the basket!

SHOPPING LIST

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Big little shopping

Do y’all have big little week coming up in your chapter? I want to hear what you’re making (or have made) for your littles!

madison

DIY gallery wall to jazz up any space

Posted in Lifestyle
on 09/07/2016

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Happy hump day! I’m sending well wishes to y’all, considering my week has already been long and it’s only Wednesday. Juggling school and sorority has me stressin! In an attempt to take a break from all the madness, I wanted to share a fun DIY with y’all! In my last post, y’all saw a picture of one of the DIY gallery walls in my room this year. Here’s how to create your own gallery wall on a budget!

If you have been alive for the past 5 years, you know gallery walls are all the rage. I could scroll infinitely on Pinterest through pictures of gallery walls, costing anywhere from $20-$500. As a college student, I strive to ball on a budget, hence this tutorial for those of you who want to jazz up your room without spending a lot of money!

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 First step is to start off with a statement piece. For my room, it was the golden deer head. After hanging that up first, we could get a feel for the arrangement of the two sides. Catherine and I had started off with some canvases that we knew we wanted to hang diagonally by each other (they spell out “alpha fleek”). We pretty much hung all of the big items first – the “alpha fleek” canvases, the abstract canvas, the arrowhead, the pineapple and the starbursts. Pro tip: draw out how you want to arrange the gallery wall first, lay out all of your pieces on the floor, and then you can hang.

Secondly, we hung up some square photos to add some color and fill in the gaps. The square prints are from Walgreens. They are a bit more pricey than 4×6 prints, but I love the uniformity that goes with them. Sticky tack (which will run you about $5) was a lifesaver! We stuck two pieces of tack to the back of each photo and they’re still up, two weeks later!

Lastly I would just check to make sure you’ve achieved what you wanted. We wanted something a little busy, but with lots of texture and keeping with our color scheme. I think we achieved it on our first wall, what do y’all say?

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For the wall above my bed, we wanted to display some photos. After seeing the square pictures, I quickly came up with this grid-looking idea. There really was no step by step process I took to create this wall, but I’ll give y’all somewhat of a run down of how this went!

I started on one side (at the bottom picture) and worked my way over. Varying the amount of pictures across and adding quotes we printed from Pinterest and Tumblr mixed the composition up a bit. Basically just eye ball it out. I didn’t want to make a perfect square of photos and quotes, so I made sure to scatter the mix of the two.

To top it off, I added this string of tassels, which I handmade for my dorm last year. It tied the wall together and added a pop color against the white wall and quotes on white paper.

Have y’all made gallery walls for your room? If so, how did you do it?

madison

Life lately | August edition

Posted in Uncategorized
on 09/04/2016

August was by far one of my craziest months I have experienced this year. It was a  whirlwind of things – including moving into my sorority house, 4 week long recruitment/polish week, and so so much more.

Processed with VSCO with c1 presetSeeking some off time, my family and I headed to beach the first week of August. We explored Grayton Beach, Watercolor, and Seaside. In dire need of some outfit photos, I made my sister help me shoot this OOTD. I did a post on it here.

IMG_9370My sisters and I moved into our brand new house this month! Although our move in date was pushed back a week, I can say that the wait was well worth it. Walking into our permanent home for the first time is something I will never forget.

Processed with VSCO with c1 presetIn the weeklong break between the flood and rush, we didn’t have much to do. One night we ended up going out to dinner and I shot an OOTD. These white flare jeans are my favorite for any fun dinner or night out! Here’s the post.

IMG_9339The gallery wall in my room was a labor of love. It took me about 45 minutes to get the entire wall planned out and executed. A room tour will be coming soon, but for now I’ll just leave y’all with this as a sneak peek!

Processed with VSCO with c1 presetHappy first day of 14th grade from Catherine and I! An obligatory first day of school picture was taken with coffee in hand and our favorite tees on. My school uniform consists of a big tee and athletic shorts (these forever 21 shorts are my fave).

Processed with VSCO with c1 presetMeet my roomies! Kayla is in the middle and Catherine on the right. We are having such an amazing time living in the house so far! I’m so happy they are able to put up with my excessive need to clean the room every single day.

Processed with VSCO with c1 presetRush lasted for about four weeks for us this year. Due to the flood, we ended up having to push everything back two weeks. On our first day of ice water (finally), my CHOPS gals and I had to take a picture. My dress is from American Apparel, and necklace is from stella & dot.

Processed with VSCO with c1 presetRoomies that match together, stay together. Catherine and I ended up having the same romper for sisterhood round, so a picture was in order. Sisterhood round was by far my favorite of all the rounds because I think it’s one of our chapter’s strong suits.

IMG_9483MAMA WE MADE IT! Bid day 2016 was honestly the best day we’ve had this year. Being on the other side of things is so much more enjoyable. Our theme was the Color Run, so pink, blue and yellow were our colors. We covered ourselves in glitter, jewels, and wore candy chokers — and got prepared to welcome all of our new babies (115 of them) into this amazing sisterhood!

With all that being said, September here I come!

madison