Holiday Outfit - From Work to Holiday Party

Hello!
It's been a crazy couple of weeks and I am finally back with some outfit posts that I have been working on! Last week was rather stressful and I was pulling some late nights in lab so I can finish everything up before I headed to the east coast for the holidays. It is rather nice to relax and shut my brain off from work, and not have to think about anything "complicated" other than what I am going to eat and do that day! It is really nice. My headaches have started to go away and I realized they are all caused by stress! I am also trying to catch up on my sleep, something I got very little of this past quarter and had never been able to catch up on!
This last week was full of various holiday parties after work, so I decided to wear some cute transitional outfits that were appropriate to wear to work and also could easily transition to a holiday party later in the evening!
I have been posting this latest outfit on Instagram, if you haven't caught my sneak peak, here is the outfit! I am obsessed with wearing red this holiday season! My mom sent me this red lace top that is perfect for the holiday season, that I believe is from Target (Shop similar here). I also paired it with these black leggings that are super comfortable, and they are actually my workout pants from Fabletics, but I have been wearing them to work and outings because they are so cute and simple! No one can tell they are workout pants! For work/lab, I wore my hair up in a pony tail so it would be out of my way and these black hidden heeled sneakers from Sketchers, that give a little length to my legs, and then before I left for the holiday party, I just let my hair down and changed into these knee-high leather heeled boots that I have had in my closet for about 3 years now -- I bought these from Ross/TJ Maxx (Search Similar Here) a while ago and never wore them! I have been doing "shopping" in my closet and finding pieces that I haven't worn in a long time, like these boots and also this really pretty red jacket from Forever 21! (Shop Similar Here). It is kind of nice to find these old/new pieces because I was starting to get really bored with my wardrobe and been itching to go shopping, even though I don't have money! Accessories I pulled together this gold bracelet from Charlotte Russe, a neutral tassel bracelet from the Yayoi Collection at Boyajian Trend Gallery, and some earrings also from Charlotte Russe.

Daytime/Work:

Happy December - Fall Tribal Print Dress

Happy December!
I can't believe it is almost the end of 2015! Time is really flying!

I have been struggling these last couple of months with work and school, and the stress just really got to me. I have mentioned stress in my previous posts, but I have figured out the headaches I was getting every day were from a combination of stress, not sleeping enough or resting enough, and actually I think it was a migraine that remained during the last couple of weeks, which sucks.
Thanksgiving break came and I had a 4 day long weekend where I didn't think about work at all, hung out with different groups of friends, and relaxed. It was a great way to reset and my headache is gone! My baseline stress level is down, and again, it could be that I actually had a chronic migraine but I'm going to assume relaxing during thanksgiving did the body good!

I also found out I wasted three months of my research because things didn't work/had some fatal flaws where the protein I was working with wasn't what I thought it was... so that was pretty discouraging as well.

My goals for December, as it is a short month (with all the holidays), is to not stress out! to be happy in the moment, and to just take every task and every thing one step at a time! What are your goals for this month and into the new year?

Well, anyway, onto the fashion. I wore this really cute Tribal Print Dress I bought from Target a few weeks ago (Dress Similar Here) - and it was only $20! I loved the skater style of the dress, as it was flattering on my figure, and I really liked the lace pieces up by the top of the dress! I accessorized with some simple bangles and a statement necklace from Charlotte Russe (Similar Here) and a pair of simple black heels that I have styled before from Nine West (See Black Heels Similar Here). Also, I'm sporting the Apple Watch that I won, I have mixed feelings about it but it is cool to have a smart watch nonetheless!

How to Style an Elegant Dress - LURAP Gown

Greetings!
The science gods are smiling at me and are bringing good research vibes to me, finally, after toiling and stressing about experiments not working all last month! So I am in a pretty good mood after a successful hump day :)
Today I bring you another outfit post on how I styled an elegant dress I received from LURAP.com - that stands for L-ove UR AP-pearance, which I think is pretty clever! It is a customizable outfit site, similarly to other sites I've come across and worked with, like eShakti. They have so many cute elegant and stylish dresses, and I was very pleased with the price range! I had a really hard time deciding what piece to review, because there were so many options! Since it is fall (although in LA it still feels like summer), I decided to go with a wine colored dress. I picked this "My All Time Fav Gown," (which you can check out HERE) that was originally displayed as a royal blue (which is gorgeous!!), but I already have a couple of blue dresses. I was really digging the high neck and sleeveless gathered bodice look of the dress, as it looks so flattering on the site. As you can see, the high neck has pleats that fall into a gathered waist bodice, and the rest of the dress just falls flowingly and beautiful! This dress and the gathered waist really accentuates my curves and I am in love!
Since I could customize the dress, I picked my size based on my measurements (they have a handy size guide), and I decided to not go with a floor length gown, but instead go for knee length style and gave them my height (5' 2") so they could more exactly tailor it to my height (which is awesome! YAY!). If you read my last post about maxi dresses for petite girls, you can tell I'm a little nervous to wear floor length dresses, at least elegant fancy dresses, so this dress length was just perfect! (Anyway, I don't think I would have anywhere fancy enough to wear a floor length gown, so the knee length is perfect to wear for a special occasion or a wedding!
The back of the dress zipped up all the way to the neck and can be hard to zip depending on the type of bra you are wearing. I was wearing a more padded Victoria's Secret Bra at first and realized it wouldn't zip up, but I switched to a normal type bra and it was completely fine! So as with all pieces of clothing, test them out with different types of bras! That's my one tip!

Lurap.com is a great site, and they have various deals like Buy two dresses get one free site wide, which is awesome! If you have a special event to go to definitely check out their dresses as you can get a great deal on a custom piece!

Summer Shoe Picks - Wear to...

Hi lovelies!
With summer basically here (depending on where you live, but in LA it is summer already!), ever wonder what shoes to wear? I love shoes, but working (or basically living) in the lab really limits what kinds of shoes I can wear... must be closed-toed shoes, but on the weekends/evenings I branch out and wear a pair of my cute shoes (my closet is full of shoes!!).
Here are some picks for this summer, with selections to wear for various places.

Summer Shoe Picks - Wear to... by andreah227 

Geometric Prints and Summer in LA!

Hello loves,
Summer has officially arrived in LA (along with the official June gloom weather), but there are days in between where the sun is shining and it hits 90 degrees! Amazing beach weather, but alas, being a grad student, I am stuck in the lab while I see facebook posts about friends being poolside or at the beach! It's ok, there are some nice weather days on the weekends where I am trying to not be at work and enjoying a nice dose of Vitamin D (with some sun protection of course!)
Here is an outfit I wore out with some friends to enjoy the day! I wore this cute geometric print romper from Kaitlyn Clothing, a small boutique here in LA near UCLA, and I haven't worn it out yet, until now. And I am showing my LEGS! something that is rare nowadays because of how much I wear pants and leggings in the lab! I am a little insecure about my legs, but pairing this romper with these chunky heels, I think the look pulls together well! When I first bought the romper I didn't think it was the most flattering thing but I think it looks ok!
What do you think?

Exp Bio Day 4 - #ExpBioFashion

Hi everyone!

Today's post comes to you with some awesome fashion from people who have been attending the conference! I met a lot of great, interesting people at various networking events, and while I felt a little shy to pop out my camera and ask to take photos of people's fabulous outfits, the topic of being a fashion blogger for the conference came up - and I got a lot of positive feed back! 

Being the only one at the conference from my lab and not knowing anyone else attending, I had throw myself out there and just meet others, start conversations, and have a good time. I met a lot of great students presenting their research, not only graduate students but also some undergraduates, in addition to professors and recruiters.

Each night of the conference there was some kind of networking event hosted by various committees, and I made sure to make an effort to attend as many as I could. Not only were there free drinks, but  some good food and company. Worst thing that can happen is I get bored and I can leave. I ended up staying the whole time to each event I went to and had a great time with the people I had met!

I was able to take photos from a couple of fashionable people I had the pleasure of meeting, and they were more than willing to let me take their photo! 

It's my Birthday! Celebratory Outfit!

Hello loves!
It is my birthday today! I am officially closer to 30 than 20 now :( Granted, I'm still young and no complaints here, but here I am sitting thinking about how much I've grown in the last 5-6 years! Not only have I changed coasts (West coast vs East coast), but I feel so much happier at this point in my life! For once I feel like I have things under control, both life-wise, school-wise, project/research-wise, and now blogging-wise! It's a good feeling to start off this next year, with many more changes and opportunities in the next year!

Valentine's Day Outfit - Bring back body-con

Hello loves!
With Valentine's day in a few days, I thought to show you all what I'm wearing this Valentine's day! I have plans with the boyfriend for a quiet night in (which includes cooking dinner), but that doesn't mean I can't dress for the occasion!

I have recently been wearing flow-y dresses, but back in my early 20s I was a huge fan of the body-con dress! I have since gotten a little more conscious of my body when wearing a tight fitting dress, but I thought why not. After cleaning my room this weekend and finally putting away all my clothes, I rediscovered an old favorite, this black textured body-con style dress from TopShop, that I bought in London back in 2010! Since I went with a black dress, I decided to accessorize with some pops of color, red, gold, and white! I used a red bow clutch I bought last year from The Limited, a white drop statement necklace from Charlotte Russe, a pink/rose gold cocktail ring from the Ona Chan Collection from Boyajian Trend Gallery, and some black and gold bracelets. I also used a red lipstick from Rimmel London. which I have been itching to wear! For shoes, I decided to wear my red strappy heels, I don't remember where I got them from, but they were perfect for this outfit!

This outfit was the perfect combination of romantic and also a little sexy. Paired with big curls (which lasted for hours by the way, uncommon for my hair!), a smile, and a relaxing night, makes for the perfect Valentine's day!

Greek Festival fashions

This past weekend I attended the Greek Festival at the Greek Church in Koreatown/Downtown LA! In past years I have volunteered to help out but this year I was quite busy so I just headed there to enjoy the festival and food. I headed there with some friends and got a Gyro pita and a frappe! (pictured below) I also bought some yummy greek pastries that I devoured throughout the week! It was great, although I did get a little homesick! It was also rather hot in LA that day, so I wore a coral sun dress from H&M. Did I say I got it on sale for $5?!?!?! Such a steal! And it is easily converted to lab wear by adding some black leggings and boots! Can't wait to wear it to the lab! An easy outfit to go from day to night -- lab with leggings and boots to night with legging removal and heels/sandals!

What I'm wearing right now!

I wore this dress on a night out to a club in Downtown LA! I originally bought this dress to wear to a wedding in August but then realized you shouldn't wear black to a wedding! So it just sat in my closet. This was the perfect occasion to wear it! You can't see in the picture (I didn't get a good pic, I tried) but in the back of the dress there is a little cut out so you can see some of my back.

What do you think?

Dress - Guess
Necklace - New York and Co.
Belt - Kaitlyn Clothing
Shoes - Charlotte Russe
Purse - Aldo

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1gm7yms April 12, 2014 at 01:45PM

Summer holidays in Cyprus!

So for the last 3 weeks I have been on holidays in Cyprus visiting family and friends!! Reason for my lack of updates this month! I have been able to wear a lot of new clothes and shoes that I haven't been able to because of work! (YES no lab coat and gloves and goggles!) Here is a small snapshot of my many outfits and hairstyles!

Here I got my hair done at DryBar in Brentwood (still in LA) the day of my 20 hour trip. I fell in LOVE with my hair! I felt so fabulous at the airport, and It was the start of my vacation so I decided to pamper myself. At only 35$ for a styling, it was great! I walked in a few minutes early to my appointment, they made me coffee, washed my hair, blow dried it, and then curled! All in about 45 minutes! It was great! Sadly my hair didn't last my entire trip, but it was very understandable seeing as I was sitting on a plane for 10 hrs and was dead tired by the end of it. Nevermind the fact that when I finally got off the plane in Cyprus I had walked in to the land of humidity. My hair still had some curl in it though, and right after my cousin picked me up at the airport we went out in Limassol!

Dress and shoes!

Hi everyone.
I've been super busy with work and moving! I finally have moved in and settled into my new apartment, but I have been out and about buying things! Mostly furniture and decorations, but I bought some new shoes that I think are super cute.
Two of my friends have very similar shoes that they bought from Zappos, Sam Edelman booties that are 130 dollars. These I found at this little boutique in Westwood called Kaitlyn Clothing (Kaitlynclothing.com) for 25 dollars! I tried them on and fell in love! They are comfy and cute with skinny jeans!

Spring Fling

Spring Fling by andreah227 featuring butterfly sunglasses

Spring 2013 Florals!

Spring 2013 Florals! by andreah227 featuring a flower print dress

New pumps! Sky high

I was in Santa Monica last night walking around the downtown promenade. It was around 11 pm and I was surprised that there were still some stores open so late on a Friday night. I walked by several window displays and the sparkly shoes on display at Steve Madden drew me in. They had some sparkled sandals on display which looked so pretty but came with a hefty price tag. I kept looking in the store and went towards the back where they had extra sale on their boots. I looked through their boots but couldn't decide which ones I could see myself in, when I spotted these heels among the boots. Black leather sky-high pumps with gold studs on the front! I fell in love. They have about a 6.5" heel with a platform, and they are comfortable to walk in! I tried them on and the sales lady told me they were the last pair and surprisingly (and my luck!) they were in my size! I decided to get them! They were originally $149.95....and then on sale for $59.99, and guess how much I got them for?! 60% off that last price! such a steal! :D I was so excited, I walked out of the store at 11:30pm with a new pair of Steve Madden Heels!
Can't wait to wear them out!
xoxo A

Healthy goals!

So today marks the start of week 10 of my 12 week workout challenge I set up for myself. I just completed 9 weeks of working out 5 days a week, 2 days rest! It is amazing how you can start good habits! It started out only as a 6 week thing I wanted to do for myself, but since it became a habit, I decided to continue it for another 6 weeks. What I do is I log the workouts I do every day, it just makes it easier! Just writing it out on a piece of paper really helps! And knowing that if I don't work out today I will have to write "Rest day" on it, makes me work out so I can take another day off. :) I also started "eating clean," or more simply, eating healthy. I allow one "cheat" meal a week, so I can still indulge in unhealthy stuff every once in a while! I started packing my own lunches, making chicken for extra protein and veggies!! Healthy snacks with protein and fiber that will fill you up and avoid junk food! When I go grocery shopping I try not to buy chocolate or other unhealthy stuff; if its not available to you, you won't eat it! :D I've been trying to eat healthier for the last 2 weeks and I feel so much better, and I can tell it is helping my body out. I want my abs to come in, but no amount of ab exercises will do that.... abs are made in the kitchen, i.e. eat healthy and decrease body fat percentage! Sorry to go on my healthy exercise rant, but I wanted to write a post about it. Anyway, I received my new Nike Free TR III running sneakers in the post yesterday!! They are so cute! They are good for working out and running, minimal support so you can feel your lunges and squats better! I might still need support for running because of my knee, but I have another pair of sneakers I can wear for that. And they are so cute! And really comfortable! I love them! I can't wait to work out in them!

Shoes shoes shoes!

Ok so I went on a little bit of a shopping spree this weekend and I bought 2 new pairs of shoes... one pair for the gym, and one pair for every day.
A lot of people I know and my friends who go to the gym wear these Nike Free sneakers, and they say they are really comfortable for working out such as running and doing squats/lunges. There is minimal support and gives you a flat fit so you can feel your squats and various workouts in your legs better :)
I spotted these cute patterned Nikes, and they were on "sale" for 100 dollars... Worth it! So I ordered them from nike.com, and if you join their NikeID, you can get free shipping! Which was great. What wasn't great was the 9 dollars taxes I paid, thanks California! :(
These are the Nike Free TR III in White/Polarized Pink-Black-Atomic Teal :D
I got an email saying they were shipped today. :D can't wait to try them on and work out!

New goodies

Happy February everyone!
I have been meaning to post sooner but got really busy with work!
I received some goodies in the post recently, that I had ordered from CharlotteRusse.com. So excited! I bought this crocheted white scarf, which is really pretty! I love it!
And the second item I received were these awesome heel-less heels!!! They look so cool! I tried them on and they are surprisingly easy to walk in, for looking like there is nothing to support you! They are a cheaper version of Jeffrey Campbell's Nightwalk shoes. Granted they probably aren't of the same quality, but maybe when I save up one day I can buy the legit J. Campbell ones!
I can't wait to wear these out! I have the perfect outfit idea too, and it involves my motelrocks blue/black lace dress!!

          

Happy Monday!

Goodmorning all!
It's a very chilly morning here in LA... Brrrr
And I'm from Boston so for me to say its cold says something!
I got an email saying my first Ipsy glam bag should be arriving today! I'm so excited! I will write a review of the items I receive!!
Here is a picture of the cute scarf I'm wearing today. It's reversible, the other side has flowers!
Also, the next pic is a pair of heels that I am just in love with right now!! They are identical to Jeffrey Campbell's night walk... But more affordable. I was just admiring them at this little boutique near UCLA. Ahhh shoes...
Anyway, I'll post more later, just checking in while I have some time on the bus to work!
A xxx

Holiday Party outfits!

Holiday Party outfits! by andreah227 featuring a black gold necklace