My Favorite Salad

"Salad". The word sometimes makes you cringe, why eat a load of vegetables when you can have a hefty sandwich for lunch? Or a boat load of pasta for dinner? So needless to say I feel obligated to share a good salad when I find one. My recent favorite: Kale Apple Salad

It doesn't have anything too crazy in it which is always nice. It's just a mix of kale and lettuce. The other toppings include walnuts, raisins, goat cheese, and apples... yum?! Alongside it has a honey poppy seed dressing. The dressing can't normally be found in store but I think it would go well with any salad, a recipe for it can be found here. The proportions are about 1/2 cup of "toppings" to every 3 cups of greens. Aside from the goat cheese, which is probably about a 1/4 cup. Hope you love it as much as I do!

The Most Versatile Shoe In Your Wardrobe

A couple months ago it was the Roche, but now Nike has come out with it's next biggest thing: Air Max Thea. These shoes are amazing, relatively affordable ($90 for Thea, $120 for The Premium), and so so stylish. They come in loads of colors to match every possible outfit you might have, and not to mention they are extremely comfortable. I ordered my pair about a week ago (cue Bobby Shmurda song) and just got them in last night. 

I am beyond happy with them, and after getting them I started looking for styling ideas on Pinterest; and let me tell you... they have endless possibilities. I've seen them paired with athletic leggings, jeans, dresses, and even a business casual look. They are the shoes you NEED in your closet to transition from winter to summer. Here are some of my favorite looks:

Look 1 via Katherina

Katherina styles her Theas with distressed denim, a plain white T, and a leather jacket making for an edgy, neutral toned look broken up by the blue jeans. 

Look 2 via Hailey Baldwin

Hailey sports the tan Theas with a pair of boyfriend jeans and a comfy white sweater for a great travel outfit. 

Look 3 via Lucy Williams

Lucy goes for the sophisticated winter chic look dressed nearly head to toe in J Crew, but the shoes give it a more casual touch for a day on the town rather than a day of business

Look 4 via Iris Gravemaker

Iris gives her Theas a fresh look with monotone blacks and whites that match her shoes. The outfit is casual, but well thought out. 

My New Haircut!

It's true what they say; once you go short, you never go back. I had long hair for my entire middle school and high school life. Then I felt like I needed change at the end of my senior year because my freshman year in college was coming up. So I asked to cut it all off, then a month later, I got it colored 'sombre' style. Although the color was pricey, it came out very natural, and I still have the same color in my hair 4 months later. I guess thats why they call it the 6 month color. 

After much contemplation and 'Pinterest-ing', I decided I wanted to take it even shorter. So today I asked for an above the shoulder look. But of course being a broke college student, I couldn't afford another 200$ touch up for my color but I managed to keep a fair amount of it. 

A lot of my inspiration came from beauty bloggers, Youtubers, and just the recent trends. My main inspiration was Sage Coralli. I have recently been obsessed with her style and everything else. I also loved the way Rosie Huntington styles her lob. And if you're in to balayage or sombré, you will love Anh Co Tran's work. That's where I got the idea for my color, which is not nonexistent :( . Needless to say, I am in love with my cut and so happy that I still have my color. Maybe the expense was worth it (welcome to the penny pincher life). 

Spring Colors Have Sprung

Pantone has recently come out with the spring colors for 2016. The colors consist of pinks, blues, and a few other vibrant colors. My 3 favorite colors are Rose Quartz, Serenity, and Lilac Grey. Buying new clothes for spring always makes it more justifiable if you get an early jump on it to make your investment last as long as possible. So I've compiled my favorites for Spring 2016

1. Silence and Noise Oversized Tote 2. Opaline Pendant Necklace  3. BDG Double Flap Cross Body Bag 4. Greylin Kasper Pant 5. Lovers + Friends x Revolve Midnight Run Coat 6. American Needle Washed Canvas Baseball Hat 7. House of Harlow Phone Case 8. Eugenia Kim Lula Headwrap

Your Perfect Overall

Image via WhoWhatWear

Recently overalls have been making a comeback, which I love. And of course Selena rocks them like an old pro even though we all know they were never really during her era. But the only problem is finding the perfect pair. Especially when there's so many to choose from. After scouring the internet, I picked my top favorites:

The Classic $210

I love the crop on this pair and the light wash. It gives you the option to dress it up with a pair of heels to make it a bit more sophisticated, or throw a tee and sneakers on to dress it down. 

The Cheap Alternative $28

Not sure about the overall trend yet? Maybe you think it won't work for you? Well you can order this pair of Zaful for one of the cheapest prices around so you're not taking too much of a risk. And they have the generic overall look so it's nothing too crazy to get used to. 

The Edgy Pair $79

At a somewhat reasonable price of $80, NastyGal has a unique pair of overalls that can make a statement but also blend into a casual day outfit. 

The Tighter Fit $65

Sometimes the boyfriend look isn't for all of us. PacSun's overalls have a relaxed fit but are tighter on the bum area to give you some shape if you feel like you're drowning in denim. 

Wake-Up Shake

I love smoothies, I feel like they are probably the easiest way to get vegetables in your body without tasting them, as long as you pile on the fruit. Recently I've found one smoothie that really kills the veggie game and the best part is you barely taste it!

Ingredients:

• 40 grams low fat yogurt
• 2 cups of any greens of your choice (I use spinach and kale)
• 1 banana
• 1 cup of mixed fruit

And blend!! Try to put the yogurt on the bottom and the greens after because it helps things blend better. 

Resolutions... ugh

I have never had an actual New Years Resolution that I can remember. Or maybe I just forget about them by some time in the first week of January and block them out. Who knows. But this year I don't exactly have a resolution. but more of a plan.

Two weeks ago I started Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide. #KaylasArmy here I come...
For those of you who don't know what "BBG" is, it is a 12 week plan formulated by Australian personal trainer Kayla Itsines. It consists of two guides, the eating plan and the workout plan. The plan costs about $70 for the most basic package, but I was lucky enough to have a friend loan it to me. THANK GOD. Again, broke college student over here.

The eating plan is based off set servings of each food group, and the workout plan involves 3 resistance workouts a week formulated by Kayla, and some forms of required cardio as well. I don't want to go in to too much detail but I will link reviews that do below.

Kayla Itsines may be a marketing genius. Her Instagram is full of relatable transformations that are the result of her workout guide. She rarely posts pictures of herself because she is aware that women from New York cannot relate to some fit Australian wonder woman. Heres an example of a transformation -

Pretty impressive huh? And persuasive. Especially the fact that there's thousands more posts like this one. Makes you start to think, maybe it really does work.

So far, I'm not seeing much change in my body and its a little bit disappointing. Also getting up the motivation to go to the gym for just a 40 minute cardio session is not the easiest. But on the other hand, the eating plan is much easier. First there's a week of planned meals to get you used to the serving sizes and foods you will be eating. And I have to mention, I am never left hungry, in fact sometimes I don't eat it all because I'm so full. But she gives substitution examples for the picky eaters out there as well!

Overall, the guides are keeping me occupied and active or I would honestly be sitting on the couch all vacation. Actually, I still do that.. But I think it has made me more conscious of how many empty calories I used to eat, as well as the fact that I drink no water. Just coffee. Whoops. I'll do a quick update by Week 4 to inform you on any progress made.

Megan's Review on Kayla Itsines Bikini Body GuideBikini Body Workout - Try Kayla Itsines 12 Week Program‎

Athleisure and Gigi Hadid

So the latest trend will obviously be in relation to Gigi Hadid because she is a fashion goddess. Seriously though, all hail Gigi. And what is Gigi Hadid interested in these days you ask? Athleisure.

Athleisure, according to InStyle, is "clothing that fits a somewhat broad category of being appropriate for either athletic or leisure pursuits, or both." Well doesn't that sound like the lazy girls dream come true. So basically, throw on a pair of trendy sneakers, comfortable Lululemon leggings, and a basic sweater or T-shirt and you're set for your day.

Here are some examples from the athleisure expert herself:

Now I'm not entirely sure about the middle one. I feel like it's possibly pushing it but then again, Gigi knows all. I'm not gonna question it any further. If I had Yeezy's like hers I would probably rock a variation of the left look every day. Also, if I had abs like hers I wouldn't wear a shirt either. Even if it is probably 20 degrees in New York...

So will the athleisure trend prevail? Only time will tell, but my guess is yes. Who in their right mind is gonna fight a comfortable trend?? I would rock it any day. Those are rarities.

Finals Insanity

The week before finals is an obviously stressful time for students. Even the most sane and docile students sometime come to the brink of a psychotic break when they realize they will be tested on a semester of information in 2 hours. Sounds pretty intense, there’s no getting around it.

I consider the majority of students at my school to be considerate, helpful, and overall genuinely nice people. So the weekend before my first finals week came as a shock to me. I was at the final party of the semester; my friends and I were all having a great time, meeting new people, and blowing off some steam before we were slammed with studying. Next thing I knew, all chaos ensued.

I ran to the stairs to see what the cause of the war cry I heard was, only to see a mosh put fight of about 15 boys in the living room below the stairs. Next thing I know, more boys jumped from the second floor staircase to join in on the mosh pit. It was honestly like a scene out of a movie, never before had I seen a fight at my school, people always seem to get along. I later learned the fight was a result of classic male territorial insecurities, but normally it would never escalate to such a brawl. There was only one explanation: Finals Frenzy.

Needless to say, stress gets to everyone. After experiencing my first finals week with relatively low stress and good results, I feel it is my civic duty to share any advice I have to keeping you from the point of psychotic break. I have complied the following DO’s and DONT’s:

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1. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL LAST MINUTE

Waiting until the last minute is detrimental! You cannot cram a semester of information in to one day of studying. And even if you decide to spend your whole day studying, there is no way you will be able to retain all the previously misunderstood information

2. DO TAKE STUDY BREAKS 

Burning yourself out helps nobody!! Take a break every time you start to feel yourself just mindlessly reading flashcards. My favorite breaks are ones that involve food of course, I liked to take breaks to go to the dining hall, get coffee, or take a drive to the town over and grab a cheap dinner with friends before going back to my notes.

3. DO GO TO REVIEW SESSIONS

Review sessions are your professor’s gift to you!! Wether it’s a TA or your professor running it, they can often hint as to major points that will be on the test, or provide a form of a study guide if they did not provide a physical copy. And it’s a better resource to get your questions answered than Google, because then you know the answer your teacher wants to hear!

4. DO NOT DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF SLEEP

Sleepless nights will only result in exhaustion, causing you to take in information less efficiently. And as much as I am a major believer in caffeine, it can’t change the natural function of your brains ability to retain information better when well rested.

5. DO GO OVER OLD NOTES AND TESTS

Holy crap this was probably the best thing I did for myself. I rewrote old notes that were difficult for me to understand and it helped me memorize the information so much better. And old tests showed me major concepts I didn’t understand with my TA’s corrections, which helped my understanding of it for the exam.

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I hope I can be your Advice Angie for the day and that although winter finals are over, you have a better idea of how to study for your spring finals. Sorry, don’t mean to remind you that those are looming as well…

May the odds be ever in your favor