Spring Trends Part 2: Nautical Stripes (plus DIY!)

Nautical styles have been in season for awhile now. I especially love the stripes because they just have a classic feel to them. Below are some various ways to wear nautical stripes this season, just incase you don't already incorporate them into your wardrobe. 

Here's a DIY that I made last summer and never posted. All you need is a plain t shirt (I used an old gray V-neck from Urban Outfitters, some masking tape, acrylic paint in a color of your choice (I used mint green), a foam paint brush, and a piece of cardboard or foam that can fit inside your shirt. This DIY couldn't be easier. First, apply strips of masking tape. I chose to keep the stripes around the middle of the shirt and only on the front.

 Next, place the foam or cardboard inside your shirt so no paint bleeds through. Next, simply use your foam paintbrush to paint in between the tape stripes! Be careful not to add too much paint though, because the more you add, the stiffer the stripes will feel when it's dry. Once you're done painting peel off the paint and you'll have something like the picture below! Make sure you let it dry at least 24 hours before wearing it, although I recommend washing it before you do that to help get rid of some of the stiffness!

I hope you enjoy this DIY! I just wore mine the other day and got so many compliments. I have to say I really enjoy DIYs because not only is it cheaper most of the time, but you get a completely unique item that no one else will have! It feels good to tell someone you made it :) 

How will you being wearing nautical stripes this spring and summer? Also, please let me know if you try the DIY! 

Have a LALAlovely day!

-Andrea :)

Yum Yum!

I wasn't planning on posting today but then I was eating my lunch and figured others out there might be interested in it. I've recently become vegetarian so for my lunches I've been making a lot of tomato sandwiches. I thought I'd include how I make it since I know many of you are interested in eating healthy. Let me preface the recipe though by saying that I am in no way a dietitian or health expert. I simply love eating healthy because I can honestly see a difference in the way I feel.

Tomato Sandwich
1-sliced tomato
1-slice of reduced fat Provolone Cheese
lettuce
100-calorie whole wheat sandwich thin (I like the Arnold brand)
A squeeze of light mayo
A sprinkle of oregano

I personally love the taste of tomatoes so I don't add much mayo or oregano, but you could easily add some other flavors to this combination to excite your taste buds. Overall the sandwich is only about 212 calories. I used my favorite website Calorie King to calculate the nutritional information. They have thousands of different brands so it's really easy to track what nutrients you're putting into your body. There's also 8.4g of fat (12.9% DV), 11.5g of protein (23% DV), and 27.8g of carbohydrates (9.3% DV). (The percent daily values are based off a 2,000 calorie diet.) I normally also have a nutri-grain bar or a yogurt with my sandwich to complete my meal.

I hope you try this yummy lunch and if you do please let me know what you think of it! What do you like to eat for lunch that's healthy?

-Andrea

Spring Trends Part 1: Neon & Nude

A huge trend that I'm noticing is the combination of neons and nudes. It's such a fun look for spring because you can add bright pieces to the neutral ones that you already have. Here are some of my recommendations for incorporating this fun spring look into your wardrobe!

 Your nails are the perfect way to try new trends since they're less obvious than something you are wearing. Try painting all of your nails nude and then painting an accent nail a bright neon color. If you're really daring paint all of your nails a neon color to go with a neutral outfit.

    

One of the easiest ways to wear this trend is to wear a neutral outfit and add a bright neon scarf. I personally love my neon yellow scarf because it looks great with a black t shirt, a pair of dark wash skinny jeans, and a summer tan. As you can see above, plenty of brands are designing scarves that incorporate the neon and nude trend.    

Another simple way to wear neon and nude is with your purse. You could either add a bright purse to a nude outfit, like the pink and green ones above, or wear one that combines the trend, like the tan and neon yellow ones above.

   

Colored denim is absolutely huge right now and is a great way to wear neon and nude. Simply wear a pair of bright jeans like the ones above and make the rest of your outfit extremely neutral and nude and you'll look great! I'd personally pair a loose blouse and nude sandals with the pants. 

So what are your thoughts? Are you going to be trying this spring trend? You don't have to be an expert fashionista to try it. Start small with the nails maybe and work your way up to the colored denim. What other ways do you think you could incorporate this neon and nude into your outfits?

Stay LALAlovely,

Andrea :)

Atlantic-Pacific

Happy Weekend LALAlovelies,

So it's Saturday morning and I'm doing my usual of drinking coffee and catching up on my Bloglovin' from the week and I came across a post from one of my favorite fashion bloggers. I had to look through my entire blog because I couldn't believe that I haven't featured her yet. Her blog is titled Atlantic-Pacific and I love her style. She's not afraid to take risks and pairs items that I would never dream of. 

Here's the picture that gave me my aha! moment this morning.

Source: Atlantic-Pacific

That purple skirt kills me. The color and flow are to die for. This week I'm going to be featuring a mini series of posts featuring trends for spring in beauty and fashion, so look for that to start tomorrow!

-Andrea

St. Patty's Day!

Who's excited for St. Patty's Day? I know we sure are even though I'm the farthest thing from Irish. Although everyone's Irish on March 17th right?

Here's a little list of festive things you can do to get you in the spirit!

1: Paint your nails green.
2: Try some green eyeshadow. If that's too bold for you, try green eyeliner.
3: Wear green socks.
4: Irish Creamer in your coffee anyone?
5: Lucky Charms for breakfast (There's no way I'm skipping this)
6: Buy some Pot O' Gold chocolates and spread the Irish love.
7: Don't forget to dress head to toe in Green! (Ok maybe not head to toe, but you know what I mean)
8: And if all else fails, wear some green underwear!

How are you celebrating the holiday this week/weekend? Come back later in the week where I'll show you what I'm making to wear for festivities on Saturday!!

-Andrea

Four Random Beauty Tips

Tip #1: If I'm looking for some color on my lips but don't want anything too intense I put my chapstick on and immediately follow up with a lipstick before letting the chapstick soak in. This way it acts as a barrier on my lips and the color isn't too dark. My current favorites to this with are the Maybelline Baby Lips Chapstick and the Revlon Lip Butters.


Tip #2: If you get mascara anywhere around your eyes accidentally while trying to apply it, resist the urge to wipe it off right away! If you let it dry, you can use a Q-tip to easily flake it off. 


Tip #3: Don't move your mascara wand in and out of the tube tons of times trying to coat it well. Only do it once. Every time you do it you're bringing air into the product, causing the mascara to dry up quicker!


Tip #4: To add extra shine to your hair, after you're done rinsing it in the shower, rinse it really quickly with some cold water. Also blasting some cold air on it with your blow dryer will help. Doing these two things will help the cuticle lie flatter, creating a shinier and healthier appearance!


Happy Monday! Stay LALAlovely :)


-Andrea

I'll Cover You

I love when someone can pull off a really original and great cover so I thought for this playlist I'd share some of my favorite covers. What are some of your favorites?

Have a good week!
-Andrea

Top 12 Trends for 2012

According to People StyleWatch the Top 12 Fashion Trends for 2012 are:

1. Pleated Skirts
2. Little Red Dresses
3. Embellished Sweatshirts
4. Maxi Skirts and Button Downs
5. Nautical Stripes
6. Lemony Yellow
7. One-Shoulder Dresses
8. Green Leather
9. Multilength Skirts
10. Animal-Print Leggins
11. Sheer Skirts
12. Bright Tights

What are your thoughts? Which are your favorites that you think you'll try? I personally know I'll be incorporating at least 5 of these trends into my spring and summer wardrobes, so look for some upcoming posts regarding those and some other trends I'm seeing in recent fashion.

-Andrea

Two Steps to a Longer Lasting Manicure

To say that I have a nail polish obession would be quite an understatement. My nails are generally always painted and I love to experiment with whatever colors are on trend. Since I like to try new shades of polish, I don't like spending a lot of money on it. This leads to today's post. With my two tricks, I can make even cheap nail polish last a full week without having to change it. Do yourself a favor and go out and buy a nail buffer. I bought one from Revlon pretty inexpensively that has six different steps all on one tool. The first three are for filing and shaping your nails and the other three are for buffing them. After cutting your nails and pushing back your cuticles, follow the six steps and you will have gorgeous, shiny nails. For some reason when the nail polish likes to stick better to buffed nails, even though this seems crazy to me. Tip number two would be to use a good base coat on your nail prior to applying polish. This will help the polish adhere better and allow it to stay put longer. While this may make painting your nails take longer, you'll find that your nails don't chip as fast, so you'll apply polish less frequently. I personally love taking a break from my studying every Sunday just to do my nails. It makes Monday a little bit easier to get through when I see a pretty manicure on my fingers. :)

-Andrea

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it."

We're currently on spring break right now and if you're school is anything like ours, this meant there was a stressful week of papers, exams and projects that led up to it. What did you do to combat the stress? My personal favorite is yoga. Sometimes it can be hard to wind down after a long and busy day, but I find that yoga helps me de-stress when I need to. I simply light a candle, turn off all the lights in my room, silence my phone and devote 20 to 30 minutes to calming myself. I personally love PM yoga by Gaiam. I used to use it at my parents' house when I was in high school and I've recently fallen back in love with it. To me, it's the perfect combination of stretching and meditating. After I'm done I make sure to have a cup of tea and I'm all relaxed and ready for a good night of sleep.

What are your favorite ways to de-stress?

-Andrea