Double Mirrors

Look into your eyes

Like I'm looking into double mirrors

Could you make it any clearer

Everything's such a blur

It's not my turn

It's hers to get hurt

-Ed Sheeran

25 Facts About Me

   Recently I have seen this post turn up on a few blogs. Even before that though I thought that I should probably do some sort of get to know me introductory post. So here it is!

1. I wear contacts.

2. I have had my own sewing machine since I was in 4th grade.

3. If I were to be a fashion designer, I could design a whole collection based around THE COLOR.

4. One day I am going to write/produce/direct a TV show. It will be a real and raw depiction of what growing up is really like.

5. My nails are painted sky blue right now.

6. I am falling in love with Downtown Abbey.

7. Seven is my favorite number, and not just because it is everyone's favorite number.

8. Earrings are my favorite accessories.

9. If I was going to marry anyone, it would be Ed Sheeran's voice.

10. I have 2 cats, 3 dogs, and 1 horse.

11. One day I will have a fat orange cat named Olaf. I'll also have a Himalayan cat, but I'm still debating between the names Ludovic, Hanzila, Hector, and Xenophilius.

12. I'm very open and outspoken about my views.

13. Sometimes I'm a little too loud.

15. I'm craving sushi and a burger right now.

16. I want to attend Barnard, NYU, or Columbia. Maybe Berkeley.

17. When I'm in the car or watching TV I can never have the volume on 13. It's just too much like tempting fate.

18. I believe that editorials in fashion magazines are so much more than pictures of clothes. The clothes bring a thousand words to life, they help to portray so many emotions.

19. My favorite animal is a Tiger and I was born in the year of the Tiger.

20. I'd much rather shop at thrift stores.

21. I'm a Sagittarius.

22. My favorite movies are Grease, Fried Green Tomatoes, Practical Magic, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and The Lion King.

23. I want to live to see 3 centuries: the 20th, 21st, and 22nd. I'll have to be at least 101.

24. I'm getting my hair cut on Thursday.

25. I am almost 5'9"

So, Sew, So

   So....inspirational struck this past weekend. Sometime probably in November I went into Salvo for a little peruse as I often do. I came out with a nice little peachy dress which at the time my family hated. I have to admit, it did resemble something a 50 year old housewife from 50 years ago would wear. However, Saturday I decided that needed to change.

   On Monday i had the day off school so I went to work. Snip, snip, snip and away went the flow-y cap sleeves, soon to re-purposed. I took about 5 inches off the bottom of the skirt, cut that fabric apart, added the fabric from the sleeves into it re-sewed it back to the hem, and viola! 

(Excuse the superwomen pose and the adorable Harvey)

   The not so great thrift store find was transformed into something wearable, and now it comes along with bragging rights. 

Maybe this post will inspire someone out there to do something about that so-so article of clothing in the back of their closet that they always wish they could find a way to make it work. I can only wish.

Love, 

Chloe

Wake Up, Spring

Dear Spring,

   I enjoyed the initial excitement of snow, but this winter just seemed to come too soon, and it isn't leaving fast enough.  

Please come visit early this year because I miss the flowers. I can also deal with the showers. 

Love,

Chloe

Those Brits: Part Two

   Part two of my little love affair. Let's start of with a lesson in my music history. I started off middle school as one of those children who listens to all of the catchy and terrible pop songs of the month. That's not to say that I didn't listen to other music, but I did look down upon country. Now and again I do turn on the radio and admit to finding myself singing along to Pitbull(ick) but everybody has those days, especially in a town with 5 radio stations.

   Now a days I listen to what I'd like to call a diverse assortment of music....sort of. I have taken to really liking Indie music which really isn't too different from country. My taste is basically alternative. One of my favorite things is to randomly come across new artists that none of my friends know and feel like I discovered them.

   Here are a few of the British musicians that I know are popular in England but that I obnoxiously feel like I was the first person to have ever heard of them and my favorite song of theirs:

Ed Sheeran

Just every word his voice has ever sang.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AllThingsEd/videos?view=0

(not his official channel but it has all of the songs including his various demos)

Paloma Faith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvXeUqlfxhY

Eliza Doolittle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxqtnWwLxYI

Birdy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlaeJ6k75cY

Kate Nash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYWv_NSBZQI

Florence and the Machine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN0nX61rIs

Ben Howard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADP65wbBUpc 

    I won't list Mumford & Sons because I know they are popular and I'm not even sure why Florence and the Machine is in there. Anyways, here is my playlist of sorts!

Love,

Chloe

My Hair

   As the case is with most girls and woman, I have a love hate relationship with my hair. These photographs are landing on the love side of things. I  have been attributing that to a few new products I've been testing out. 

   i might as well say that I was gifted with my hair. Or so many people would think. It is naturaly almost stick straight with luckily a bit of volume. This means that there is never a good reason to get a straightening iron, but it is very easy to curl. 

    This isn't a shampoo or conditioner but I got it over a month ago for my birthday and use it about once a week. It's the Remington Pearl Curling Wand. It makes stunning ringlets or beachy waves and all I can do is praise it. 

   In the pictures of me above, you can see reddish-blondish highlights. I can't get over how good my hair looks in those pictures! I have only gotten a highlight once. That's right, singular. Oh how I love you 6th grade judgement. Now a days though, I have been getting into the Shikai shampoos and conditioners. They use natural Henna to add lustrous light reflective highlights. You can judge for yourself if you think these products have been working are working. 

   Now this next little bottle is my favorite. I'm sure you've heard of it, but another review never hurts. Organix Renewing Moroccan Argan Oil, Penetrating Oil. It lives up to everything it claims to do: it reduces loads of frizz and makes my hair so soft and look even better super straight. More than that though, it has been healing my ends which is all I really want in life. Not really, but my ends. End of story. They are the terrors I can't bring myself to get rid of even though I know that cutting off a few useless inches of dead cells is better in the long run. Oh well. I'll stick it out and see if this little dreamboat will be able to improve anything for me. 

Have you been trying any new great products lately?

Love,

Chloe

  

Those Brits

   One of my slight addictions.....is watching the videos of British Youtubers. That's not weird at all.  Tons of my "valuable" time is wasted watching these people with gorgeous accents. I am forever jealous of them. Forever. Ever. 

 My Favorites!

(In no particular order because all of them have a special place in my heart)

Zoella: http://www.youtube.com/user/zoella280390/featured

Louise: http://www.youtube.com/user/Sprinkleofglitter

Alfie: http://www.youtube.com/Alfie

Caspar: http://www.youtube.com/caspar

Marcus: http://www.youtube.com/user/MarcusButlerTV

Sam Pepper: http://www.youtube.com/sam

Fleur: http://www.youtube.com/user/FleurDeForce

Jim: http://www.youtube.com/jimchapman

Sammi: http://www.youtube.com/user/beautycrush

Tanya: http://www.youtube.com/TanyaBurr

And......

Jack: http://www.youtube.com/user/JacksGap

   I am going to marry Jack one day. 

Soon I'll be posting my favorite British musicians!

Love,

Chloe

(My goodbye is a perfume! That's pretty darn cool.)

Those Negative People

   You know those people that just seem to make everything into something negative? Not just complaining about the normal little things, but complaining to the extent that I cringe every time they start talking. Of course I have those days where I feel some excessive negativity. These people though will go around turning everyday occurrences into things worthy of cynical words.

   The worst part of this type of mindset is when it is used in a way that is disrespectful. Alright, you have to read a book for English. Fine. I get that it isn't your favorite thing to do. Neverless, openly grumblings and saying that you hate this book and that you hate English altogether isn't alright. This teacher has to deal with annoying kids all day. I know you'd rather be in a different situation, but honestly, you haven't even read the damn book yet. Stop the irritating hate. Please.

   I am a grumbler when I start getting annoyed. It puts me in a such a bad mood for the rest of the day. That is why a start writing rants like this one in my head and eventually just have to get it all out. Really, I shouldn't let people like this mess with me. The hard part though is that I know that the person is above the negativity. They don't know how much they can affect others so much that they become stressed.

Just a venting session,
Chloe

"Size Matters"

      OhMyGosh.....Just stop talking and breath in the toxic fumes. As long as we are being ridiculously dramatic here, this little bottle has become my life. Having just bought it 2 hours ago, there are no other words to describe my love for this nail polish than infatuation and admiration.

   Essie's "Size Matters", haha funny name,  is the perfect example of "The Color"(aka Maroo-ink-ta, aka burgundy). Be warned though, it goes on darker than it looks in the bottle, so make sure you love a vampy or dark look.

   Somehow perfectly, this color is the matchless match for my new Nine West bag. This is the ideal bag. I got it at T.J. Maxx for $30. Such a bargain considering it was originally $70. The color is one a love year round, and the pattern is almost Coach-esque. Nine West very cleverly maybe the heart shaped pattern out of "9"s. My hat is off to you Fred Allard. Since we are on the topic of size mattering, it fits everything I could every want.....well not really. It is kind of small, but perfect for those girls that carry way too much and need to learn what a light load is. 

   I use the front compartment as a makeup case, but if you don't carry all that much makeup it works great for holding your phone, camera, iPod, etc. Inside is a usually slightly crammed. It definitely won't fit a huge wallet, but my little burnt orange Liz Claiborne is living in the lap of luxury. Snuggled in next to my wallet is a "Lola" by Marc Jacobs pouch. I received an adorable set for Christmas which consisted of this case and two carry-on sized tubes of "Lola" perfume and a vessel, capsule thing to protect the glass tube and keep it looking snazzy. Inside that I also have a Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer in "Sweet Pea" and and Burt's Bees hand salve.

    In the very bottom I stash my house keys that keep my flash drives attached to, and a travel sized electric toothbrush(zebra print cylinder). On the inside side there are two pockets. One hold leftover receipts and my backup saltines in case I'm ever stranded, and the other has my iPod Shuffle and a pen with the quote "Fashion Has To Be About What Is" -Carrie Donovan. 

   One added perk is that the front part with the pouch that I hold makeup in lifts up to reveal a place to hold an iPad. Not being an Apple girl, I have a Nexus 7 tablet. My baby is too small to fit securely because there is no cover to keep it safe, so I don't have use for this part most of the time although I do thing it's a touch. When I do want to bring my tablet places with me I just carry it in the bigger pocket. 

   Just a few recent loves of mine. I hope your year has started off fabulously!

Xxoo,

Chloe

Tracing Back Tradition.

   I just used this title for an essay. Reduce, reuse, and recycle is what I say! No, just no. Well yes, but no. The essay was about "The Lottery", which if I may say, is so fucking messed up. Pardon my French, s'il vous plait. The story got me worked all up into a stress. So did that obnoxious essay. In most respects I am usually quite the little essay-ist(warning: not a real word). As long as I like the topic and feel inspired, I can crack out 5 paragraphs in a jiffy. Not this time though. I have been so unfocused recently. My mind has been thinking all sorts of thoughts that are unfortunately all unrelated to English. Hopefully this paper will turn out ok. My sentences seemed to turn out like my thoughts: disconnected and incomplete. Oops.

   My English teacher is constantly saying"Don't skip spaces between paragraphs!" I not really concerned about his preferences right now though because I enjoy the way it looks with gaps. Like my two front teeth. I'm off topic yet again though. I started this paragraph to move on to what I really came here to write about.  "Tracing Back Tradition." Am I being sponsored by ancestry.com? Noooo. I am being sponsored by my parents.

   Traditions are one of those things that don't necessarily have an origin. Somewhere down the line they developed. Whether your great aunts came up with the idea to deep fry the green beans at Thanksgiving or it took several generations to work out the kinks in your family's guidebook to traditional lobster boating, you usually don't know how the thought found its way into the brain. The brain is a crazy, mixed up, mashed and smashed, pasta salad of randomness. Every once in a while you have a breakthrough and win a noble peace prize but more often than not you're just proud of yourself for figuring out that your pink shirt looks super-duper cute with your navy and floral skirt.

   This post seems to have taken the shape of an eclectic pot of thoughts that are "Essentially Chloe". That worked perfectly! If I could I would pat myself on the back right now. Ha! I just made you all worry. Don't you fret, I am perfectly capable of patting myself on the back. Tell me if your family has any crazy traditions!

Let it snow(man)!

Love,
Chloe

Winter Must Haves

   During the winter I am often caught hauling around quite a few necessities. When I am caught between places in the blustering flurries of New York, these items aren't quite life-savers. They are however, very available to my skin and various body parts.

   I have become close to obsessed with my black Steve Madden "Troopa" boots. I am so grateful I was lucky enough to receive these for Christmas. In the past two weeks they have my go to boot for comfort and all around awe worthy-ness. Extremely versatile, I can't get enough of these cuties.

   Knit hats elude cool. My cute little friend is obviously models that statement perfectly. My ears need to be toasty!

   Have you ever heard of a girl who has never really worn leggings until after the marking of her14th year out of the uterus....? Eh, well I'm that girl. This past December has been a turning point in my little world of fashion. Leggings have been added into the mix. Joyyyyy ohhhh joyyyyy! Congrats girlie, if I do say so myself! Quite the little turning point. Accomplishment achieved.

   I would say it is about time that I let you in on a teensy secret. I have a huge dislike of One Direction. Just kidding! That isn't a the secret, silly! I do dislike them but Pandora had to go and get me distracted with their lack of knowledge of my musical taste. That's better. Ed Sheeran has saved the day. I am soothed. The secret is actually that I told you a little white lie. I previously said that none of these were live-savers, but to be truthful, Burt is constantly coming to my rescue.

   Good old Burt! I love him. Burt's Bees is one of my favorite brands. What better brand to trust than one with all natural nourishment of every kind? That is a question I definitely can not answer. Never have a ever...trick. We aren't playing that game. Never have I ever felt as committed to skincare as I have when using Burt's products. The love affair has officially begone. You are all invited to the wedding.

   What have your must haves been this season? I'd love to hear your recommendations!

Barrels of good old Xs and Os,
Chloe

Living Life

   Well, it's now officially 2013. Woohoo!!! We have survived a presidential election, a super storm(for those of us on the east coast),and an apocolpyse. Eveh through recent tragedy we have kept going.
   Living every day to the fullest is something that I have always liked to say. I haven't ever really taken that to heart as much as I am realizing I might want to. It is scary to think that I could be done in a split second without having experienced so many things. Thinking about things like this is depressing but I believe that it is something that everyone should realize.
   Life can not be taken for granted. As humans we will go through things that will forever be altering our personal outlooks on life. I hope that I will always be enabled to take my tough and intolerable times and grow from them. More than that though, I want to be able to live. Live a life of my own. My rules, my happiness.

Hope that was slightly inspiring,

Chloe