what i'm wearin: coachella 2017

I've been to plenty music festivals before, but Coachella is different than most of them. I'm typically worried about how much I drink and how silly I get... but at Coachella, it's about how you look and who you're with.

Before I share all of the things that I saw, let's get to the important stuff, shall we?!

DAY ONE: 
I ordered these pieces while drunkenly going through ASOS clearance one night... knowing they were "Coachella-y" but having no idea what I'd do with them. The night I was packing I accidentally threw them on together and was real into it.

-velvet crop top: ASOS

-lace tie skirt: ASOS

-combat boots: JustFab

-shapers undies: Target

-peekaboo tat: Amazon

-necklace: F21

-heart sunglasses from Santa "Because love, elizabethany!"

For my make-up, I wanted to go real metallic-y. I found the eyeshadow with the most glitter and did a silver/blue smokey eye, with silver and black liquid eyeliner, and blue shadow on the bottom lash. I saw on Pinterest that "everyone at Coachella would have the lip line" and thought it was ridiculous, but ended up loving it. That's the same eyeliner that is on my eyes. 

-eyeshadow: Urban Decay

-eyeliners: NYX

-mascara I swear by: Stila Extreme Lash

-lipstick: NYX Liquid Suede in Amethyst

DAY TWO: 
This was my "basic Coachella" outfit, but I loved it. It's a little bit sexy, a little bit grunge, and another excuse to not wear a bra.

-bodysuit: ASOS

-jorts: Express [I had to order two sizes up from my usual jean size]

-belt: Boohoo

-booties: I forget. Probably JustFab or Target

-necklaces: F21 and Amazon

My make-up was a lot darker than Friday because in my mind it made sense for Saturday to be for the sultry. Also, rhinestones were a must each night. I thought I would like putting more on... over my eyebrows, in a design, who knows... but ended up keeping them simple.

-Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes

-rhinestones from Amazon

-blue mascara

-NYX lingerie in Embellishment 

DAY THREE

I planned all of my outfits ahead of time, but brought a few extras just in case. This top was an extra, but I liked it with the bandana, which I learned by day two that unless you want painful lungs the next morning, you should have a bandana handy. 

-patched jorts from Forever21

-top from F21

-combat boots from JustFab

-bandana from Amazon

No matter what, I wanted a LOT of color for Sunday. We'd only be there during the day, it was Easter... color was needed. I used my Alice in Wonderland Urban Decay palette for a teal and purple eyeball, and eventually did a semi-ombre lip with two different Liquid Suedes from NYX. 

A lot of people ask me how I do my eye make-up, and honestly, it's ALWAYS the same formula... normally 3-4 colors... I put a dark one above the crease, a bright one inside the corners of my eyes, a medium shade on the outside corners, and then one final color to blend it all. No real science to it... and most of the time I use my fingers until the blending color.

After MONTHS of looking for ideas on Pinterest and shopping and ordering and returning, I'm pretty proud to say I only copied one outfit, and I probably only spent about... $150ish on everything. I also gained a new love of bandanas.... it's gonna become a regular thing for me, I think.

love,
elizabethany

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27 fall looks i'm loving

I'm constantly on the 'gram taking screenshots of outfits I love and then doing nothing with them.... so I figured, why not gather them all on one fabulous post? That way, not only do I have a more convenient place to find them, but you can see too!

Most of them come from the @liketoknow.it account because, duh, it's a gathering of all the best bloggers. 

Dressing down all that glitter- yes. 

Surely you already know these button down suede skirts are EVERYWHERE.

So many colors and patterns in one!

Sometimes looks are so simple and effortless and I swoon.

How come I don't look this cool when I throw a jacket over my shoulder?

Plaid, camel, booties. There ya go, fall! 

Hopefully we all have the striped dress, army jacket, and booties staples in our closets already.

Okay these over the knee boots and the vest and the fringe... a lot of pieces coming together flawlessly.

Note to self: Folded over socks are cool again. This is literally the easiest outfit ever.

All black everything, and a navy purse?! The hat, the vest... I want it all.

Turns out grey and camel/brown can actually work together in beautiful harmony.

Dear Santa, can I have this skirt that matches my hair?!

Turtleneck gets surprisingly more sexy when you pair it with over the knee boots. 

I think I'll always love an outfit with a hat... and/or a skater skirt.

Everyone's talking about gold make-up... and this is the simplest and best version I've seen.

I'm also a pretty big fan of Jacy Overstreet's simple style. 

The black/white/grey/denim= must do.

How come the shirt around the waist doesn't work this well for me?

And props to @fashionablykay as well

I've learned that ripped black jeans are all an outfit needs right now.

And my girl Kendi

A reason to stock up on graphic tees? Darn.

Some celebs also know how to help a girl out... 

Zendaya just rolled out of bed and looks amazing. Sigh.

Hi Redskins colors on my girl Melissa Rycroft.

Ali Fedotowski also combining a bunch of trendy pieces for that basic but great look.

So when you see me post an outfit, it's probably a total copycat. I'd check one of those accounts for the real credit. I'm just keeping it real, duh.

love,
elizabethany


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bachelorette party DIYs

This past weekend I took my monthly trip to my old home of Morgantown, WV for my girl's bachelorette party! It was the first time I've been to a bachelorette since college, so I wanted to actually help out this time. I decided to take it upon myself to create some bar fun. 

A couple years back I remember someone asking me to help them with a photo hunt of sorts. They had a list of things they had to complete that sounded so fun! That was a must. 

I created this one. Each color was a different number of points, from 1-4, in order of black, pink, silver and gold. Some were generic and some were personal to the couple.

It's kind of plain, but I printed them out on sparkly paper that I got at Michael's and they looked perfect. The prize was a simple martini glass filled with condoms and airplane bottles. That's what's important for such parties, right?!?

Unfortunately, everyone was drunk enough by the time we got out that I was the only one that really went for it. Got a lot of the items, got on the mic to do a toast and ask for more.... basically called game over from the beginning.

I should learn to be less intense sometimes.... maybe.

On Pinterest, I saw these personalized tats that were perfect. They said you had to order them from Etsy, but I decided to research a DIY version. Turns out, all you need to do is order tattoo paper for like $3 a sheet and, as the bride said, YOU HAVE ENDLESS FUN! 

They printed out kinda blurry because I didn't make the Photoshop file big enough, but they still looked great once they were transferred on!

With the other sheet, I made some fun ones to define us in a way. For the bride, the bridesmaids, and the single people who can do all the real penis activities that night. [If you ever want to print these out yourself, you have to use the backwards one.. which is why I'm sharing it.]

Because I'm classy, I put mine on my neck. 

They came right off the next morning, almost like a sticker. Pretty sweet. I think I'll be ordering more of this paper. All you do is print it out, put the adhesive on, and BAM! PARTY TIME, YO!

It was a prettyyyy solid weekend that made me feel like a cougar around all the younger college kids but also like I can still hang with all of them.

What I've needed to come to terms with is that you keep your damn mouth shut when it's the Bachelorette's weekend. What she wants to do, you do. Whether that be raging, napping, eating all the things, etc etc. I'm so used to planning activities that sometimes it's hard for me not to suggest things.

I'm growing up..... like .02% a day.

love,
elizabethany

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i got a big girl living room

For the first time in literally a decade, I plan on hope to be living in the same place for more than a year. There's always the chance I could move to a new place, but that's not looking likely, so it's time to invest in some things to make my apartment a little more legit.

Step 1: The living room.

I've shown you some of my decorations, and now I've finally gotten my first ever big girl furniture pieces! Thanks to President's Day, I got a sleeper sofa and love seat combo at 50% off. [Let's be real... even if I wanna invest in things, I'm still gonna need a good deal.]

[I should probably straighten things out before taking pictures, huh?]

I also got that new rug. Because of Slutty Cat clawing at them, I felt like I needed to get a shag one. I wanted something with design but the comfort of this one makes it all worth it. My only issue is that I have no idea where the perfect placement is. After Pinteresting ideas, I realized I probably got the wrong size or may have to get creative. 

There are still a lot of little touches I want to do. What should I put on the coffee tables? I think I still want new curtains. My papasan chair needs to be painted. [I'm not grown enough to get rid of that, let's be real.] I probably need another source of light somewhere, too. 

I've had these colors since college, but most of the stuff is new at this point. I found this Pinspiration and I'm liking the idea of the peacock feathers... somehow. 

Your ideas always welcome! Slow and steady growth wins, right?! I think..

love,

elizabethany

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recipe: baked salmon with avocado salsa

It's not often I get to make a solid dinner. 75% of the time, I'm making dinner at 1pm to eat in the studio at 8. Last night I decided to actually make something delicious. 

Some salmon, spices, and a simple salsa... the flavor only got better in the hours I impatiently waited to eat it. 

For the salmon: 

Mix equal parts of salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onion powder, and black pepper. Rub it into the salmon with olive oil and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. 

Avocado salsa: 

Cut small slices of avocado, red pepper, red onion, and a spicier pepper if you'd like. [I used a potato peeler to make all the slices super thin and easy to soak in the flavors of the "sauce." Mix in juice from two limes, 3 tbs of olive oil, 2 tbs of chopped fresh cilantro, and salt to taste. 

Voila! It was light and healthy-ish and the spices on the salmon were perfect. 

If you wanna see the original recipe I was Pinspired by, click here!

love,

elizabethany

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my dinner: chili-garlic shrimp and quinoa

One look at Pinterest and you'd think the entire world is eating quinoa every night of their life. [BTW... if you're not familiar... it's pronounced keen-wah, which I embarrasingly learned after casually asking someone about kin-oh-uh.]

I decided to finally give it a whirl. I really should have come up with an easy dish to try first, but that's not my style. I had never even cooked raw shrimp before, but it was hella easy. So I found some plain quinoa [found by the rice, not the pasta] and this delicious recipe and went to work on a dinner for one.

Because I was too excited [/extremely flustered because reading and cooking is hard], I didn't get process-photos. Here's a look at the final dish, though!

The quinoa was a little undercooked but also burnt on the bottom of my pan, so I clearly need to read up on the proper ways to cook it, but the flavor was amazing! I didn't even use 1/4 of the butter sauce they recommended, and it was still one of the most flavorful things I've ever cooked.

Here is Pinch of Yum's recipe that feeds four, and a much better picture of a full dish.

YOU NEED: 

-1 tbs olive oil

-1 lb of raw shrimp [I used Nature's Promise frozen shrimp]. Leave only the tails on

-1/2 cup finely chopped onion

-5 teaspoons of minced garlic

-2 cups of uncooked quinoa

-4 cups of vegetable or chicken broth

-6 tbs butter [they recommended salted, but I used unsalted and thought it was almost too salty]

-2 tsp chili powder

-fresh parsley for garnishing

-I also added 2 sliced green onions

YOU DO: 

1. Heat the oil and saute your onions until soft, about 3-5 minutes

2. Add in 2 tsp of garlic and saute for about a minute. 

3. Add in the uncooked quinoa, 1 tbs of chili power, salt and pepper [to taste] and stir for about a minute so the flavor really gets in there. 

4. Now add the broth and bring to a boil. Bring down the heat and cover... cook for 15 minutes stirring regularly. [And keep and eye on it... mine burnt pretty quickly after the broth was dried up.]

5. While the quinoa is cooking, cook the shrimp. Melt 1 tbs of butter in a skillet then add the shrimp. Sprinkle with 1 tbs of chili powder and saute until slightly browned. [When almost done, add 1 tsp of garlic to the pan.]

6. Melt 5 tbsp of butter and 2 tsp of garlic in the microwave. This will be drizzled on top. [Like I said, you could use about 1/2 of this and be good]

7. Put the shrimp on the quinoa, and drizzle the sauce on top and VOILA! 

When I made this, I thought the calorie count was going to be through the roof, but it's only 330 calories per serving! Take out some of that butter sauce and it's actually a pretty healthy meal! 

If you have any tips for cooking quinoa to perfection, I'd pay you in love for them!

love,
elizabethany

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most desirable men's winter fashion

I got a message from Aaron on Facebook asking if I could put together a post with examples of guy's fashion that I/other betches like me might enjoy.

Thing is... as simple as it could be for guys to get dressed every day, there really are a lot of different styles/trends that look different on everyone... so you have to go with what's you. Also... I'm still nowhere near being a fashion guru. I'm still struggling to figure out my own way through that world, let alone give tips for dudes... but here we are.

I will say that the absolute most important thing, no matter what a guy is wearing, is the way it fits. There is absolutely nothing sexier than a man in a good pair of jeans [or pants in general]. Oh, and a good walk.... there's something about a good, confident walk...

I looked to my BFF Pinterest to come up with some examples of outfits/looks that did something to me..

I'm still not sure how I feel about the rolled jeans trend... but sometimes they work. With this outfit, I'm mostly liking the shoes and shirt and the ease of it all.

Pretty sure I would immediately hump someone wearing this. It's good and casual but seems like there's some effort involved.

Again, I'm not sure all guys can pull off a cardigan... but if you make it look laid back and not too prepster, I'm into it.

I just started noticing this style of sweater. It's almost like a modern turtleneck, right? Well, probably not... but it's a good thing to pick up if you see one on clearance these days [cuz the seasons are changing, fellas... so sales are everywhere!]

I enjoy the mix of patterns/fabric of these if you're getting a little more fancy. Especially that tie/jacket up there... and paisley ties.. yes please!

This is my BFF DanChiz. He rocks the rolled jeans, but especially the sweaters. Also... he knows his ties and has a lot of giveaways of all kinds on his blog.

Also... tWitch, who has been Ellen's "guest DJ" quite a bit this season and was on SYTYCD and had the most adorable wedding ever, has a really laid back but fun style that I always enjoy. [Unless it's the overall personality/gyration that I'm constantly enjoying... hard to say.] She has a whole board dedicated to her DJ's style!

Fashion is always about your personality, but this is just some examples of what my personality would be attracted to... and I think a solid amount of girls would agree with me. Just make sure it fits you... your body and who you are.

love,
elizabethany

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