I’m Finally a Senior!

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After three interesting years of high school, I am quickly approaching my final year at a pace I’m not too comfortable with. With being a senior comes a lot of responsibilities and tasks that need to be checked off the to-do list. There are campus tours that need to be done, capstone projects that need to be started, SATs to study for as well as take, applications to send off to colleges, senior dues to pay off, a GPA to keep up, a show choir to lead now that I’ve been appointed captain (I’m super stoked about this), and on top of all that, balance a job on my plate. I will say that trying to write this list down got me breathing a little heavier, but every senior has to go through this. I should be able to do it too.

From the list, I’ve started campus tours. I visited Kennesaw State University a few weeks ago. I didn’t take any pictures, which I currently regret, because I was like a kid in a candy store. The campus is super cool and KSU seemed technologically advanced and offers good programs. In a few days I will be visiting the University of Georgia and I’m quite excited to see what’s in store. Another exciting milestone is that I started working. My first official job! I work as a cashier at a local pizza restaurant and I’ve been loving it. I’m the kind of person who will take working over sitting at home watching TV any day! Plus as a cashier I also take in orders, so it’s been definitely helping me build confidence when speaking to new people and enhancing my customer service skills.

A project that I’ve recently started is starting to take my senior pictures. I still have yet to sign up with a studio to get both my yearbook and cap and gown pictures. When it comes to the scenes my mom and I decided to do our own, ones that catered more to who I am and backgrounds that express the real Allyson. Like everything I do, I like to add a bit of a twist. My mom and I thought it would be a good idea to do some pictures at home since it’s where I live and spent my entire high school life in. We decided to do more of a high fashion shoot for my pictures, so we waited on a rainy day to take some cool shots. What I like about the pictures is that they have a range from almost playful to something a little gothic. I look like one of those chicks from horror movies who’s about to haunt someone (honestly those shots were my personal favorite). The rest of my senior picture scenes are still yet to be taken and ideas are still being brought to the table. Honestly, I think I need a scene surrounded by Disney characters. Those who know me will tell you that Disney movies make up my life. What can I say? I’m still a five year old at heart, despite the fact, I may need to face some responsibilities that require a tad bit of growing up.

Teen Fashion Blog: A Confidence Booster

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teen fashion blog little black dressRecently I have been looking at the outfits I have posted in the past and realized that I tend to stick to the cutesy dresses, bright colors, and comfortable shoes that minimize my height as much as possible. For years I have stuck to playing it safe in the clothes that make me feel comfortable and better about myself but I have never tried to expand my horizons in clothes that may push me to reach new levels of confidence. Ever since middle school hit, my confidence started to deteriorate (as any typical middle schooler’s would). I always tried to avoid making myself look any taller because I felt weird being taller than more than half of the boys in my class. I have been quite shy with my appearance and confidence from the very beginning of middle school to the beginning of junior year.

I don’t exactly know what happened but I just remember looking at myself in the mirror one day and finally telling myself to stop caring about what others would think. I finally wanted to wear heels like every other girl could despite the fact that it could make me taller than everyone in the room. I was more comfortable with wearing crop tops despite the fact that it may show a little bit of my tummy (which is weird because I’ve worn bikinis for years when I go swimming). I was ready to mature my taste in clothing and be proud of what I’m wearing.

The reason I’m sharing this is because I know that there are some girls who read my blog who are either in middle school or high school who probably feel the same way I used to feel. This is more of a reminder that this is just a small period of time before you truly gain the confidence to look the way you want without being scared or shy about it.

I can tell you when it comes to this outfit, I wouldn’t have even thought about wearing it two years ago. I would freak out about the fact that some of the skin in my stomach is being shown or that I’m wearing heels that will make me look taller than all of the guys I passed by. I wore this outfit to a friend’s birthday party and I’m 99.9% sure that I was taller than everyone at that party in those heels, but it didn’t even faze me, I was more concerned that the shoes would keep me from dancing the entire night (but word of advice, always bring comfortable shoes that match the outfit just in case your feet can’t take it anymore :).

You Wanna Be On Top?

you wanna be on top? teen fashion blog

A few weekends ago my mom told me about this modeling call that was happening in Atlanta and we both decided it would be a good idea to hit it up. I have never been to an actual modeling call before so I will admit to being a bit nervous. I have practiced my model walk for the longest time and watched enough episodes of America’s Next Top Model to know how to smize. What is a smize you ask? Well my friends, it’s when you use your eyes to brighten up your face the way smiles do, the only trick is that you can’t use your mouth to smile. It took a lot of funny faces in front of the bathroom mirror before I could actually get it. The reason my mom took me to the modeling call was that I could gain some experience and learn how the modeling industry works.

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The model call was for a fashion show for a non-profit organization and was held at a small boutique in Atlanta. My mom and I made sure to get there an hour early so we could look around the store and do any last-minute practicing that was necessary. We ended up waiting there for nearly two hours because the people who were in charge of the modeling calls were about an hour late. I thought that was quite unprofessional, especially without a heads up. When she finally came in she handed some papers to my mom to sign since I’m still a minor.  There were only two other girls at the modeling call and they were also starting out their modeling career. The woman had me walk first and I made sure to put on the most confident look I could give and I never forgot to smize. As I walked I kept thinking “right, left, right, left. Stop! Pose, pose! you go girl! Smize and flaunt it!” I needed a bit of a confidence booster as I was doing it so it would make the walk easier on myself. The other girls went and did their walks, but they didn’t know what to do. One of them forgot to stop at the end and do a little pose and the other over did her pose. I’m sure mine wasn’t the best out there either because I am just starting out. What I did learn was that practicing and research goes a long ways. While I was there the woman also took some of my measurements to make sure I can fit into the clothes I would have to be modeling. I wasn’t too convinced with the modeling job over all because the people in charge of the model call didn’t seem to have their act together. At the end of the day, even though I am looking to enter the field I am not willing to do it with people who are not professional. I told them I would think about it but after discussing it further with my mom we decided that we would pass. The right opportunity will come, this one was just not it. Anyway, I figured you would still want to see some of the pictures from my very first model call.

you wanna be on top? teen fashion blog modeling

Now if you are also a teenage girl who is looking to land a modeling gig, then I am here to give you a few tips I have learned through my experience and the research I did.

When going to meet people, always have a smile on your face. You want to show them you are human and not some robot without emotions

Make sure that when you walk in you are fully groomed (nails are clean, hair is washed and styled well, personal hygiene is good, and the clothes chosen are nice).

Best thing to wear to a modeling casting call is a tank top to show your bone structure, skinny jeans to show off them legs, and heels to add some height and make your legs look nice as well.

If you decide to do makeup, keep it natural. Don’t go crazy with odd eye shadows and bold lipsticks. Highlight facial features and add definition to your face.

Comp cards are necessary to some modeling agencies or modeling calls so make sure to always have those in hand . These do cost money and can be expensive so before spending money make sure that modeling is really what you want.

Say you’re doing practice shoots or they are observing your walk and you make a mistake. Don’t point out the mistake and stop because they already saw it, it’s pointless to tell them something they already know. If you make a mistake just laugh it off and keep going. Laughing it off will also show the people who are hiring that you are more human and that you understand that you can make mistakes.

Teen Fashion: BETA Induction: Beautiful, Elegant, Tasteful, and Authentic Outift

teen fashion blog beta club ootd

So I know it’s been a while but… I GOT INTO THE BETA CLUB!!!. When I first got the letter I was way excited and humbled because only a selected few get chosen. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was (I know, what rock do I live under), but I’ve always heard about how great it is for college applications so I knew this was going to be a great opportunity for me. I read the long and somewhat boring letter to find out more about the club but the gist of it is that it is an educational youth organization that encourages academic achievement, character, leadership, and service so it requires students to do work around the community. You earn points based on the service you do and for how long you do it. I was pumped when I heard about this because I’ve wanted to do community service for a while now but I’ve never seemed to get around to it. The best part is that I’m doing community service with some of my other friends so we get to be able to share these experiences with each other. They give you a certain amount of points that you must withhold in order to stay in the club as well as keeping up a 3.5 average or higher.  When you sign up for BETA, you are given the option to attend the induction. At the BETA induction they talk about what you do in the club, a bit about its history, who are the officers, we pledged to stay pure (ok, that is not what we pledged), and induct new members into the club (I know, it sounds like a huge snooze fest). We had a dress code to go by, which they basically described to us as:  “dress as you would if your grandmother was going to church”. To them that meant no jeans, t-shirts, tennis shoes, and any other informal wear of the sort. Wouldn’t have been easier to just say casual elegant?

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Before the induction ceremony started my mom and I went through the halls of the school and took some pictures of the outfit. I also caught up with a few of my friends that I had not talked to since school started because we no longer have classes together. There were over 170 new sophomores being inducted that night and it was a long process. Trying to line up 170 chatty teenagers in alphabetical order was difficult and no one seemed to want to pay attention to the poor teacher who kept yelling over us to get our attention. I will say that he was not the man for the job, most of the students were taller than him and to top it all of he was sick, so yelling was difficult for him. They should have had some of the cheerleaders bring out their megaphones and allow the man to use it. The induction process was longer than I expected and it got sort of boring, then finally they started pinning kids and giving out certificates. Of course as the socially awkward person I am I went out there walking as if I was the tin man from the Wizard of Oz and needed oil in my joints. I thought I did completely fine just walking and smiling, in fact in my head the walk went down as if I was walking a catwalk or something… and then I saw my mom’s pictures. I wasn’t really smiling, and my walking was stiff and all over the place! But what can I say, at least my outfit looked good and took some attention away from my actions or at least I hope it did.

teen fashion blog beta club ootd

teen fashion blog beta club ootd

What I wore was a navy blue dress that had an open back which was covered with lace. I also wore a pearl necklace that had different subtle colors such as a pearl white, light grey, and a soft gold. The bracelet was pearl white as well as my earrings. My shoes were a nude color and brown to go along with the necklace. I made sure to keep the outfit more on the simple side because it was a semi formal event and I didn’t want to wear a color that wasn’t appropriate for the setting. The dress was very comfortable, especially since we were there for more than two hours. I started looking around at what some of the other girls were wearing and I saw a lot of the same things. I saw a lot of maxi and skater dresses paired up with long over sized cover ups. I also saw a lot of girls wearing sandals, I understand it’s still hot outside but this is a semi formal event people! I don’t know about you but when I think semi formal, sandals are definitely not the first thing that comes to mind. Yep! I’m up to a good start this year.

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Loved the back of the dress!

Top 5 DIY Politically Incorrect Halloween Costumes

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I guess I should start by saying that if you are the kind of person that gets easily offended this post is NOT for you and you should NOT read this post.

Before you leave your comments know that I’m a lover. I love everybody independent of race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation. This is an artistic and creative way of expressing my beliefs to criticize other people’s intolerant and judgmental views. Peace!

Anyway, I was thinking that we are almost in September and for many people this is usually the time that they start looking for costumes if they are ordering online. I am a worrier, so if I’m going to order something online I try to do it with plenty of anticipation so I can sleep at night without worrying that it will not get here on time. The do-it-yourselfers also start looking for ideas with plenty of anticipation as they have to buy materials, build, glue, sew, paint, etc, etc. FUN! In my opinion the DIY are always the best costumes.

Last year Miley Cyrus and her wrecking ball video inspired a ton of costumes so I started wondering about this year’s costumes. I have no idea what will inspire people this year, but based on recent events these are my top 5 do-it-yourself and  totally mean and politically incorrect costumes. I can guarantee you will be the talk of the town. They are all fairly easy to create but the question remains: would you wear them? I can tell you I would not. It is kind of embarrassing to even think that I could come up with some of these twisted ideas.

#5 Basic White Girl

Did I say stereotype? Tease your hair, rub your hands on your eyes to smear your mascara and voilà. Basic white girl frazzled because her Starbucks cup is empty.

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#4 Asian Hot Dog Eating Contest Champion

Totally stereotypical! Use a box as a tray if you don’t have a real tray at home. This costume should cost you almost no money to create.

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#3 Solange Knowles in an Elevator

Almost like Jason in Friday the 13th or Michael Myers in Halloween. Scary! You can do an elevator fascinator or make and wear an elevator out of a cardboard box.

Solange Knowles in an Elevator politically incorrect  halloween costumes

#2 Russian Bigot at the Sochi Olympics

It has to be very scary to be gay and have to walk among these haters. Note: I said bigot, not all Russians! 🙂 Russian hat with a gay pride pin or sash. Skinny jeans and boots and a Sochi Olympics t-shirt. You can also do your own t-shirt with a plain white t-shirt.

Russian bigot at the Sochi Olympics politically incorrect  halloween costumes

#1 Ebola Virus

Need I say more? It doesn’t get any scarier than that. You can get some of your friends together and say that you are the Ebola outbreak. These Tyvek suits and masks are not that expensive. Buy a couple of Sharpies and draw the virus on them.

Ebola virus politically incorrect  halloween costumes

There you have it! What do you think? Would you wear one of these?

 

The Purse that Traveled the World

purse flea market find teen fashion blog 80's

purse flea market find teen fashion blog 80's

Every once in a while when the weather is nice outside and I have a craving for tacos, (there is a Mexican food truck there with yummy tacos and tortas) I will go to the flea market with my parents.  My mom and dad have creative minds and love to build, refurbish, and create things, so a visit to the flea market allows them to treasure hunt, let their imagination go, and bounce ideas off each other (like the show Flea Market Flip). I have to admit I don’t get too involved when it comes to their projects, but do enjoy looking at the clothes racks and accessories. In the past I have been able to buy things, like a super cute Halloween fairy costume for $5.00, so I never know what I can find. A girl is ALWAYS hopeful.

This past Sunday as my mom looked for crystal (one of her favorite things to look for), I spotted laying down on a box this awesome purse. I could not believe what my eyes were seeing! It was instant attraction! I imagined Carrie Bradshaw in one of the episodes of The Carrie Diaries strolling around Manhattan with it. And then it hit me, “No! What has my mom done to me?”.  All the memories of the past summer came rolling down on me as I remembered the never ending art lectures from my mom. I realized the attraction was coming from an even deeper place. The purse reminded me of art pieces I had studied, it reminded me of Mondrian’s work. The 2013 summer of art appreciation had changed me forever!!!

As I held on to the purse I let my imagination go. In a matter of minutes I thought of the purse’s story and its previous owners. I thought of the era: “the 80’s? It looks like it but I’m not sure”. I imagined the outfits that I could create with it. I imagined a really pale brunette top model in an all white background and clothing admiring the purse. The purse had finally made it to the cover of Vogue. I thought of how awesome it would be to be able to own something that nobody else would have or maybe even feel confident enough to wear. Yep! That was not me, I was certainly confident enough to wear it everywhere. Why not? And then the doubt, really are you going to wear it? Or is it too bright?

I convinced myself it was probably more money than I could afford at the time for a purse that I really didn’t need it, but I decided to ask for the price anyway. I was now way too curious to know how much value would somebody else give to a purse that had clearly been around the world and owned by celebrities and eccentrics alike (at least in my imagination).  As I braced myself to hear the lady spell out the exorbitant price… she said: “3 dollars”. What??? Lady!!! You clearly don’t know what you are talking about! She probably was, but I didn’t want her to devalue my find, to devalue the connection that I now had with it. So I replied to her: “Ok, thank you”. I put the purse down and walked away.

I left her booth, confident that I had done the right thing. I didn’t needed the purse anyway. All of a sudden I heard my inner voice talking to me: “You don’t like it? The price is really good for something so different!”. It was not my inner voice anymore, it was my mom. She then proceeded to give me great advice: “If you like it but don’t need it offer her $2.00, if she accepts you leave with a great bargain, if she says no you were going to leave it anyway. Win-win.”  In a second she had shared a very important lesson, a lesson I will never forget, a lesson about the power of asking. You’ll never know what you can get if you don’t ask. The rest is history, the very nice lady agreed to give it to me for $2.00 and I came home with a purse to play with!

Do you have dreams like these when you go shopping or is it just the delusions of an utterly hormonal and dramatic teenager? 🙂

Teen Fashion: First Impressions: Open House Outfit

Back to School Outfit teen fashion

Back to School Outfit teen fashion

Back to School Outfit teen fashion

Every year when I go to Open House I always make sure to dress up. Just like when going to an interview for a job, you make sure to look good because it’s all about first impressions. I like my teachers to think that I am well put together and organized because that is what they are going to think of me when I walk into school on the first day. I enjoy getting ready for something since the whole summer I stayed in shorts and a t-shirt most of the time. What I like most about the outfit is the pastel colors paired up with the darker colors. I love the light pink and gold color and how it contrasted so well with each other. I also loved the long striped cardigan over the outfit, it added visual interest.

How do you guys like my hair? I cut it a few weeks back, but it’s a lot shorter now. I have to admit I get frustrated sometimes when trying to style it, but it looks good in the end. It feels so good not having to manage so much hair. 🙂 Besides a change now and then is not bad. What do you think?

Back to School Geek Style: The Walking Dead

MissMotleys, sacchetto, NovelCreations, BucktoothedBunny

MissMotleys, sacchetto, NovelCreations, BucktoothedBunny

A show that has a lot of people raving about it is The Walking Dead. The show has more followers than I ever thought it would get considering it is after all a cliché end of the world show. I will give it to them, it is one of my favorite shows of all time. If I miss a show, then a fit is thrown! I’ve watched it since it came out and I’ve seen every single episode (more than once). Every time a Walking Dead marathon comes on, I’m on top of it with a bowl of popcorn in my hand and my undivided attention. I will say that I love The Walking Dead more than Doctor Who, you can’t go wrong with zombies. If you give a me a really good show/movie with zombies in it, then I am hooked and watching it.

This show doesn’t need very much explaining since it’s taking place during the zombie apocalypse. Pretty much the whole time all they’re trying to do is survive from both the dead and the living. There is always lots of drama and action in this series which makes for a really entertaining hour. There have been many times where I would be watching and then suddenly, boom! Something super epic happens and it leaves me in shock for the rest of the night. I really recommend this show unless you’re not good with gruesome things or scared of zombies, because then you’ll have nightmares. It’s actually really odd for me to love this show so much because I don’t take the sight of blood well, I always feel dizzy when I see it. I have actually fainted at the sight of blood in the past (but that is another story). When it comes to The Walking Dead I don’t mind it at all and sort of like seeing the blood everywhere, adds to the action.

My favorite character in this show and my favorite character of all time is Daryl Dixon. He’s a butt kicking redneck that has confidence and bravery, yet still has the sweetest and softest side to him. I’ve stuck by Daryl since the beginning but as episodes went on, I started to fall in love with him. When I tell you that Norman Reedus is my celebrity crush, I truly mean it. He’s just so amazing and if he ever dies it will be the end of my heart. I swear that if they kill Daryl I will revolt, start a riot, and stop watching the show. Well maybe I won’t stop watching, but I won’t enjoy it without him. I’m not ever going to be emotionally prepared if they do decide to kill him. I will be a sobbing mess and it will not be pretty. Plus, that will ruin my whole year because they decided to kill my favorite character of all time and I will never forgive the writers of The Walking Dead. Fangirling much!!!!?

wildwestjewelryshop, SpoonChick, MauveMagpie, wholesalejewelrysale,TheGeekStop, ICEMILWAUKEE, TheZombieShoppe, CreationsbyAccident

wildwestjewelryshop, SpoonChick, MauveMagpie, wholesalejewelrysale,TheGeekStop, ICEMILWAUKEE, TheZombieShoppe, CreationsbyAccident

ScavengedVintage, Studio867, EmbellishedWhimsy, figure8lasers, sacerandsavive

ScavengedVintage, Studio867, EmbellishedWhimsy, figure8lasers, sacerandsavive

I’ve added some Walking Dead bags, clothes, jewelry, and cases for those of you who feel like zombies when walking into school (do you see what I did there?). I have to admit that finding zombie pieces that are wearable and stylish was really difficult. As you can imagine a zombie theme does not scream style but I did manage to find some that I would totally wear and style in a chic way. Like I’ve mentioned before, the key to wearing your favorite geeky clothing and looking stylish at the same time is moderation. Walking in with Walking Dead everything is not going to look all that great and it may seem a bit weird for others. If I had to choose something from all of this merchandise, it would be the Team Daryl T-shirt. Looks like Edward and Jacob are going to have to move aside, there’s a new team in town and he’s locked and loaded.

Make sure to leave comments on your favorite fandoms and what you personally fangirl about. It can be about any book, show, or movie. Let your true geek colors show and write it down. I enjoy reading all of your comments and I’ll make sure to comment back.

Most of the items selected are from etsy which is a super awesome source to find weird and unique items that not everybody is going to already own. Give some love to the etsy featured stores below.

sacchetto 

BucktoothedBunny

NovelCreations

MissMotleys

MauveMagpie

wholesalejewelrysale

ICEMILWAUKEE

SpoonChick

TheZombieShoppe

wildwestjewelryshop

TheGeekStop

CreationsbyAccident

sacerandsavive

ScavengedVintage

Studio867

figure8lasers

EmbellishedWhimsy

I’ve Got Your Back… Pack: Patriotic Sentiments

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So I’ve done some back to school shopping lately and I’ve noticed that they have put out a lot of clothing, shoes, and accessories that has the american flag on it. I’ve seen many times before some clothes that had american flags on them at stores but now it seems like everywhere I go, it is the ideal choice. Every time my family sees the american flag we shout “Merica!” just for fun (you have to imagine it with a red neck enunciation!). I don’t mind the style at all, I actually think it’s really cute! I even own a shirt with the American flag on it. I bought it for fourth of July but it’s so cute that I wear it any other day of the year.

I decided that today’s post was going to be about backpacks with the american flag on it because I want it to show you that you can do the american flag in a stylish way. Flag apparel does not necessarily have to be tacky, as with pretty much everything moderation is key. I found many cute styles from all sort of stores, price ranges, and designers. I’ve found many bags from designers such as Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs. I made sure to use all sort of backpack shapes so that you guys can get a taste of the style with each shape. I must admit that the American flag will look pretty good on one’s back.

What do you think? Could these be a trend?