gift guide: cheap gifts that look expensive

There is nothing I despise more than clicking on a "Gifts Under $100" link only to find that everything is exactly $99.99. That in no way helps me. I am a poor college student working part-time to pay rent. I want cheap gifts that look expensive, not gifts that actually are expensive. So in effort to combat the extremely misleading "gift guide" posts who promise you nothing but inexpensive glory only to swallow your bank account whole in one swift swoop, I present to you an actual, legitimate inexpensive gift guide. Everything shown above is under $50. Seriously.

• Flat shoes
• $40modcloth.com

• Old Navy vegan boots
• $37oldnavy.gap.com

• Miss selfridge
• $50missselfridge.com

• Forever 21 crossbody purse
• $20forever21.com

• Asos watch
• $39asos.com

• Forever 21 snapback hat
• $11forever21.com

• TOKYOMILK body moisturizer
• $17sourpussclothing.com

• RGB beauty product
• $16beckleyboutique.com

• Primitives By Kathy scented candle
• $16nordstrom.com

• H&M Jacquard-weave cushion cover
• $16hm.com

• Field Notes Original 3-Pack Pocket Ruled Paper
• $10hypebeast.com

xo Susie

"you are always wearing floral"

I'm always told that I wear a lot of floral, and I'm starting to see the truth in that statement.  But I think it helps balance out the ridiculous amounts of black & white I generally wear.
I'm really into skater skirts right now, and I've finally caved and purchased one (in a floral print, no less) from ASOS, and I love it! I definitely recommend them- they're comfy & flatter any figure.

• Tank- c/o Nowistyle Japan
• Skirt- ASOS
• Shoes- Michael Kors
• Necklace- Uptown Cheapskate

xo Susie

b&w obsession + recent purchases

It still holds true to me that black and white never goes out of style. I've never been able to get into the "neon" trends or any of that. Black and white pieces are timeless and it's always those pieces that I find myself wearing year after year until I've worn them to death.
I've recently gone a bit crazy with my online shopping, and found all of these in my ASOS shopping cart (and now en route to my doorstep!). It wasn't until after I'd finished shopping that I realized every piece was either black, white, floral, or striped. Pretty much all of my wardrobe could fit under one of those categories.
Can't wait to style these and put 'em on the blog soon!

What's your favorite style/trend that you can't seem to get over?

xo Susie

PS- I'm in Colorado right now (and will be until Thursday morning) so I apologize for not having posted much lately! I'll have some outfit posts up within the next few days :')

baby, put on heart-shaped sunglasses

I swear I'm going crazy with the weather going from 80 to 40 to 60 every single day. I never know when it's appropriate to put away all of my sweaters and winter coats, and I'm glad I haven't, because it got super cold and rainy for a few days this week. It's supposed to be sunny and warm again tomorrow, but today was very in-between, so I opted for a huge, cozy grandpa cardigan and drop-waist dress.
I spent the evening running around Hobby Lobby with my little sister grabbing supplies for "Craft Night." I ended up very happy with what I made, which I'll be posting about soon :')

• Polka dot drop-waist dress: ASOS
• Men's cardigan- Thrifted
• Booties/Feather necklace- Forever21
• Watch- Target
• Sunglasses- Ebay

Happy weekend!
xo Susie

beanie baby

 I don't know about you, but I know that when I used to see anyone wearing a beanie, I would often associate it with being homeless. Not only have I seen quite a few homeless men wearing beanies in my day, but I think it's also just a widely accepted image of the homeless person: beanie, lots of baggy layers, big beard, shopping cart. This past year, though, I've seen beanies trending like crazy. Suddenly they were on half of the fashion blogs I follow, all over my tumblr feed....everywhere.
So I decided I'd try them out for myself! I got this extremely comfy-cozy wine colored Alpaca knit beanie from MySocialOutlet and I am so head-over-heels for it!
I also can't get over the print on this dress. I'm not a big bodycon dress fan, but the smoke and crystal pattern on this is so mesmerizing. When it first arrived in the mail, I just stared at it for probably 10 minutes admiring the intricate detail.
I'd also like to note that it was nearly 70 degrees and sunny today and it was so nice!!

• Beanie- c/o My Social Outlet
• Dress- ASOS
• Clutch- Marc Jacobs
• Booties- Forever21

xo Susie

leopard & lulu

This sweet girl, Lulu, was my dog for many years, until my older sister moved out and my parents had Lulu go with her. She is such a sweetheart and I love her to pieces.
And sheesh, look at her...she's grown to be the same size as me! I was going to take some outfit photos, but we wound up just lovin' on each other instead.
The back of this tank is SO pretty, I wish I had gotten some photos of it! Perhaps another time.
In other news, it's Friday FINALLY and all I want to do is sleep. And sleep.
............and then sleep some more.
Hello, weekend.

• Top: PacSun
• Leggings/pants: ASOS
• Boots: Target

leaves

.....awkwardly trying to throw leaves in the air and be cute. Didn't work.

My super cute pup wanted in on all the photo action, too.

 Although it may not feel like autumn yet, it sure looks like it in my backyard!
Supposedly we'll be down to 48 degrees on Monday, though, and I can't wait :')
Happy it's-almost-Friday! xo

• Top- ASOS
• Skirt- Wet Seal
• Boots- Thrifted
• Socks- Forever21

photos by Becky Gibson 

Heads up: Cyber Monday deals you should be taking advantage of!

If you're like me, you decided to skip out on the craziness of Black Friday shopping, and hold out until Cyber Monday.
I dragged my lifeless body out of bed at 5:30 am to try and get clothes in my size (small ALWAYS sells out first) and thus my CM was a success!
Here's a list I made of places with incredible savings today!

• Forever21 up to 70% off sale items + free shipping
• Urban Outfitters $15 off orders of $75 or more
• Brandy Melville 30% off sitewide
• Delias sitewide sale + free shipping
• ELF cosmetics 50% off orders of $25 or more
• Tobi Clothing 40% off sitewide
• Old Navy 30% off sitewide
• Charlotte Russe everything 20-50% off + $10 off & free shipping on orders $50 or more
• Anthropologie free shipping
• Free People additional 20% off sale items
• Miss KL 30% off + free shipping
• ASOS 30% off everything including sale
• Gap 30% off
• J Crew 25% off +free shipping
• Madewell 25% off + free shipping
• Modcloth up to 50% off sale items
• Payless 30% off sitewide
• PacSun 30% off $50 or more + free shipping
• Piperlime 20% off sitewide
• Aerie 25% off + free shipping
• American Eagle 25% off + free shippingNasty Gal 25% off
• American Apparel 20% off

instagram: a sad, lousy excuse of a blog post

So many fun things to come home to today! After spending 9 hours babysitting, finding a few things laying on the bed (that I wanted to collapse on) when I finally got home wasn't so bad. (I also have a bad habit with ASOS- they have free shipping w/ no minimum so I find myself just going back for more even after I tell myself to stop!)

I've been in the market for a pair of simple leopard flats, and Target (my savior) happened to have them on sale for $12 and my kind mother brought them home for me. Thanks, Mom :')

Wearing sweaters and drinking hot beverages in bed while I cry because it's not anywhere near cold-weather season has become very habitual. I'm not a fan of the 110+ degree weather.

Best. Purchase. Ever. I love this swim top!!

Needed something to put in the cover of my binder, and I'm really super obnoxiously obsessed with skulls, so I printed out a picture of one and doodled on it and glued some flowers over the eyes, and voila! DIY binder cover. I love it.

Obnoxious mirror selfie. W/e.

A.M.E.N.

Seeing as how I have absolutely no idea how to do my makeup, I refuse to spend absurd amounts of money on it. I am a long-standing customer of ELF and will be for years to come, I'm sure. The studio line is really good (essentials line is pretty shady sometimes, ngl) and dirt cheap. I got all of this for under $30. Baaaaargaaaaaain. Pretty much the only makeup product I don't use from ELF is my foundation. I just got all of those products shown above in the mail the other day, and they all work really well! I'll try and do a proper review of each item soon!

I haven't updated my blog in forever. I'm sorry. Forgive me. No one noticed. That's ok.
I was wanting to do an outfit post the other day, but my sister took my camera with her on a little trip she took. She's back now, though, so hopefully I'll get one done soon!
Although the heat is making me want to do nothing but lay around and sleep. It's been almost 110 degrees all week. Someone let me move in with them, preferably somewhere with lots of rain.

Always making polyvore sets for things I want to buy but probably never will

My ASOS package arrived today, and in it was the sheer pink collared drape back blouse, and the canvas strap bag.
Sadly, I was not satisfied with either and will probably be returning both. The blouse was much larger than expected, there were strings of thread hanging off all over the place, the color was different than pictured, and it just did not look flattering on me.
The bag was what I was most excited to receive, but the color shown online was a cream color, and it turned out to be an awful olive green color (more so than you can tell in the photo above) and I'm really not happy with it.
ASOS usually impresses me, but unfortunately not today!