Whimsical Ugly Sweater - Dreams and Flying with an old Top Shop Sweater

Hi everyone!
Sorry for lack of posts last week!
I have been super busy with work and working on keeping my stress level low - trying to work until normal people times and not stay in lab late unless absolutely necessary - and I think I was good about that! I am trying to not take any unplanned breaks throughout the day (unplanned as in getting sucked into my phone scrolling on instagram or facebook), and just getting everything done that I need to and not stress out about not finishing everything. I'm only human!
I have also started a workout and nutrition plan, called the 21 day fix, and I am using it as a platform to just get myself back into shape and back into the routine of working out and I can do the work outs at home (it beats going to the crowded gym right now) and also eating healthy (I noticed it has improved my headaches!). So I will probably post an update about my progress in 2 weeks (one week down, two more to go!). If you are interested in talking about your health goals, send me an email!
Well anyway, back to fashion. I thought this was a fun outfit that I decided to wear and the photoshoot was rather fun and silly. I bought this oversized rainbow sweater from Topshop when I was studying abroad in the UK like 5 years ago (another piece of clothing I haven't worn and has been sitting in my closet! I'm shopping for new outfits in my own closet!). It was super comfy and retained the warmth! I wore a plain black tank top underneath, and some black leggings along with my black Sketchers heeled sneakers, and it was the perfect outfit for chilling in lab and then just chilling at home while keeping warm during these chilly LA days!
I originally was going to wear this to an ugly sweater party, as it is kinda ugly, but it is still a little chic I think, if styled correctly!

New Year's Eve intentions - Setting goals for the New Year

Hi loves!

I can't believe it is the last day of 2015! This year has flown by! I had one of the best years but also one of the hardest of grad school I think, caused hitting a slump and really struggling to get thru the last couple of months because of stress and experiments gone wrong.

I traveled a lot this last year, I got to go to Boston for an amazing conference, Barcelona for another amazing conference and further growing my network, Cyprus to visit family, sequoia national park with the boy to relax and enjoy nature, and back to Boston to spend the holidays with family.

I am going to be sappy and say that I really struggled with stress the last 6 months. If I'm real with myself, it started in June when I really started to put a lot of pressure on myself to finish and advance two projects faster, and beating myself up when those projects didn't go as planned. I then went on my trip and didn't give myself any time to actually relax, as I felt I had to be productive every single day. And then when I got back, I went straight back into work mode and I was so stressed when many things went wrong (thanks, science!), my anxiety kicked in and I had lots of headaches, month long migraines, and weight gain (anxiety and stress kicks cortisol production into overdrive, leading to weight gain, in addition to working long hours, not making time for myself to work out which I love and not having time to cook healthy food). While I'm in no means fat or anything, I am unhappy with myself when I look in the mirror, and I think it stems from me not taking care of myself and not taking time to relax. I went to a neurologist and they gave me drugs for migraines, but after just resting during thanksgiving and Christmas, I noticed my migraines and headaches went away! For real! The second I started feeling stressed again I felt a headache coming on. That made me immediately tell myself relax etc. and it helped! It really shows that you have to take care of yourself! That is my number one goal and resolution this year!!!

Holiday Work to Party look - Part 2!

Hi guys!
I have had a relaxing time in Boston visiting my parents for the holiday and today I am flying back to LA. My boyfriend came along for a couple of days too which was great, and we had a good time going into the city and exploring!
Here's another holiday outfit I wore to a holiday party/out for drinks right after. I did wear this to lab also but without the leather boots, haha! but I loved playing with a light scarf and a moto faux leather jacket! My mom got me this blue lace top as well, that I don't remember where it is from, but you can find similar Here. I then wore my black Fabletics Leggings that I have literally been wearing every day since I have been home because they are so COMFY and WARM! I subscribed to fabletics a while ago to get a cheap outfit and I stayed subscribed but just make sure I skip the month every month, which can be annoying but I avoid getting charged 50$. I would cancel but I like seeing the monthly selections and the clothes are actually super comfortable and stylish! So I really don't mind it, even though some people have complained that it is a scam. Want to know a secret that I do tho? When I enter my credit card info I use Bank of America's shopsafe feature which gives me a limit to how much can charge on a generated number so even if i forget I wont get overcharged because it will get declined if I forget to skip the month! Shhh don't tell anyone I told you that! If you want to check out Fabletics you can see their selections Here!
I then rewore my black leather boots that I hadn't worn in a while but now started wearing them to more and more events. You can see Amazon's selection of boots Here, as I can't remember the brand!
The moto jacket I am wearing is from Express that I bought last year and I love how "bad-ass" it makes outfits look! The scarf I borrowed from a friend and it was perfect to cover up when it wasn't too cold (before I left LA it was rather warm during the day).

Day time / Work/Lab Look:

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:

Makeup Tutorial - Urban Decay Vice 3 Festive Holiday Look

Happy Friday!
I am so so glad it is the weekend. It has been a crazy few weeks in this December with long hours in the lab so I am happy it is finally holiday time and things are starting to wind down and celebrations are starting with office holiday parties!
Today my department is having an "Ugly Sweater" Holiday Party, and I decided to do festive eye makeup to match my ugly sweater (see my instagram @phd_fashionista for a peak at my cool science-y ugly sweater! lol!)

I broke out my Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette that I have been in love with for the past year because of the great pigmented colors, but I haven't used it in a while. Since I knew it had a vivid green and red, I decided to use them to create a holiday look! See the look and take a look at the tutorial below!