Little Girl All Grown Up

I'm back! After a 10 month hiatus from blogging! Mostly due to throwing my entire self into wedding planning, honeymoon and now moving, I forgot how much I loved blogging! As a kid, I always kept a written journal (something sadly outdated.. Everything sure is convenient online, but nothing like pulling out an old, worn out book covered in magazine tear outs and lipstick kisses from some old dusty box and rediscovering the kid in you). But, times have changed and now this shall serve as that old worn out book. It is such an outlet..a way to keep the creative juices flowing and something to do in your spare time. A way for us gals to bond over makeup, fashion, travel and whatever our little hearts' desire.

So where did I leave off last? I went to San Francisco in December (which was an awesome trip!). So much has happened since then! 2013 has been quite the year. My sister got married, I got married, my best friend got married... My husband (oooo first time writing husband) landed an amazing new dream job and we decided to leave our dear city life behind for the burbs. We move one week from today! (I will do a separate blog on that).

The day to day things have not changed though...still work at a law firm, still buy too much makeup and still dream over designer fashion. Still go out with the girls and still go on dates with the hubs. Still come home everyday and pick up my little doggy for kisses.. still watch Bravo and browse online... Still go to the same Starbuck's every morning and pour the same cup of green tea every night.

Isn't it funny how much really stays the same throughout these major life changes? All these key, life altering moments and milestones that you dream about as a little girl,...Moments where life just feels MAGIC.. Graduating college, finding the man of your dreams, finding the dog of your dreams, living life to the utmost fullest in your twenties, living in a teeny, tiny apartment on the beach and in a teeny, tiny apartment in the city and not caring that it is a shoe box because you are where you wanted to be for so long...getting married, being a maid of honor in your best friend's wedding... And now... caring that you do live in a teeny, tiny, shoe box apartment and moving into a beautiful house in the burbs.

I think if someone had told me when I was younger all this would happen by the time I hit 28, I would have thought you were confusing me with one of those "lucky" people..those "it" girls. That life did not have all this amazing stuff in store for me..I wasn't deserving of it. But, somehow, it all happened...Without me even realizing it. Funny how life does that.

So as I move into the next chapter of my life (literally), I am bringing this little, humble blog along for the little, humble ride.

The Fine Line

I am going on a trip up to San Francisco with James right after Christmas through NYE. I could not be more excited to get a taste of the city during the holidays all lit up and pretty!! And cold! I have plenty of scarves and beanies and over the knee socks and stuff to layer and be cozy with, but I'm lacking in the dressier pant department a little bit.

This morning, I stopped in Nordstrom and picked up this pair of faux leather leggings. I would have liked to have picked up a real leather pair from BCBG, but for something so trendy, I refuse to drop major money for ultimately the same effect. I trust Nordstrom's version. Now..I think there is a very fine line of how one can pull these off by looking classy and chic vs tacky and cheap! We are talking Lauren Conrad/ Kardashian styled vs. Jersey Shore. Butt cheeks and crotch area must be covered. Also a looser top is a must. I plan on wearing mine with a flat material on top (non shiny). Balance balance and more balance. I plan on wearing them with suede black wedge booties and a black (or off white) top and a white loosely structured blazer. Insta-glam! 

Classy and Chic: 

Tacky and Cheap: 

Sorry Snooks! This just doesn't work!!!

I think they can look so glam and edgy, but still classy if styled properly. Some people though, just don't get this. But if they don't care, why should we! It is just fashion after all. 

Voyeur See Voyeur Do

I think there is no denying in this technology driven world, we are all voyeurs to a certain extent.

Hi my name is Katie and I'm addicted to Instagram. I just love it. Move over facebook and your dumb dramatic posts that no one cares about. Hello photos that do the speaking for us. It's so fun getting a glimpse into other peoples' lives all from the comfort of your phone. (Kind of creepy too). I love going under "tags" of certain products or purchases I am interested in making, and seeing "real" photos of how they actually look on a "real" person. I keep my phone on my office desk all day listening to pandora and pretty much between every few assignments, I take a moment to scroll through Instagram. It's become quite the habit. I will be on some fab outing with James and am just snapping away on the phone...(which really annoys him). Helloooooo! Everyone else needs to see this too!  ;)

Feel about it how you may. It's a mindless... fun..innocent habit and it makes me happy. The end.   

Here are some recent photos from my Instagram:

 James and I have officially been engaged for 1 year. 

My hairdresser snapped this after she lightly highlighted and trimmed my hair. That is her dog Tyson sitting in my lap :) 

Photo of my hair salon. They obviously are dog friendly and for a dog obsessed person, this works just great for me! Jordan (cross eyed little pug on the top right) and Tyson (smashed face little griffon on the bottom left). Tyson is the homie. He sits in my lap the entire time I am there..even during the wash, he will follow me over and jump up while I'm laying down. 

This past weekend, I went to my hometown and went wine tasting with my best friend. We had some very yummy sangria and enjoyed the view. :) 

Outfit posts. Not much to say about these. LOL

James, Oreo and I went for a stroll around Little Italy last Saturday morning. 

Shopping at Forever 21. Those maroon booties I am holding were a definite NO! Cheap in price and comfort! 

Possible NYE outfit..although..that skirt I'm not a fan of the fit. It is a size too big and it just doesn't hang right. I have another sparkly option I might go with instead. I love that white blazer and have it on today. I don't think I want to risk wearing it around a bunch of drunkies carrying around red wine and vadka cranberries though! So probably will pass on wearing this one.

This candle smells exactly like a xmas tree! Perfect since we didn't get one this year!

Do you have Instagram? If so, what is your user name? You can find me at: hollygoglam (recently changed my name on there) :) 

Tis the Season

Fa la la la la..la la la parttieeessssss! Tis the season where it seems like every weekend, a new invite pops up to some form of holiday party! Every month, a group of us gals gets together for "Girl's Night". We rotate who hosts each month. This past Saturday, my friend April hosted a holiday style, secret santa girl's night at her Mom's amazing loft in downtown San Diego. It was beautiful! Just absolutely gorgeous! Straight out of a magazine. It was very Sex and the City. Chic, classy, elegant and just right for the holiday feel. We chatted, drank, ate an organic dinner, exchanged gifts, then hit the town to dance the night away! It was the perfect girl's night out.

Tonight, is my work's holiday dinner party. They are throwing it on a Monday this year because we have multiple employees leaving town and this was the only night we could all get together. We are going to this quaint little downtown Italian restaurant. It is decorated exactly as if the store, Anthropology had a restaurant. Today, I am all decked out in red and green. This is the most Christmas-y I have ever dressed...ever. In past years, since my Dad died, I have been Miss Grinch come Christmas time. I just dreaded it. A blaring reminder that he is no longer here. When all the family gets together, it just doesn't feel the same anymore. Just feels like something is missing..even though we could all guarantee on him to be grumpy by the end of the night and ready to drive home early. ;) But that was my Dad and I miss him. I remember his last Christmas with us. I remember staring at him and my Mom on the couch in front of the tree just knowing that was going to be his last one. I studied that day and paid attention to every moment. I can still picture mental photographs I took in my head. All the other Christmases don't stand out to me like that one.

I chat with my sister and cousin on facebook messaging pretty much every day for the past several years. We always joke we should one day publish our conversations. They cover everything from women's issues, politics, the men in our life, health, drama, family gossip, and the everyday chit chat. I was telling them last week, that this year, I feel different about the holidays. Maybe it's because I'm getting older. Maybe it's because I have so much to be thankful for and look forward to this coming year. Maybe it's because we are flying up to San Francisco right after Christmas and we have a vacation to look forward to. Maybe it's because my Mom recently moved in with a good girlfriend and I am relived that she is no longer alone. And maybe, I am coming to peace within myself that Christmas will always be different with his absence as I knew and was familiar with as a kid. We have to create new traditions and just simply enjoy it for what it is. :) Live in the moment and cherish it. I am trying to do that more and keep myself grounded and not get too caught up in what happened in the past and what could happen in the future.

I feel a little elf like today in my green blazer and green tights, black suede booties and wine colored lips. But why not? It's festive! 

 The loft. It was on the 17th floor and had a 360 degree view of the downtown skyline. I took a photo of the view but it was rather foggy that night so it didn't do it justice. Just breathtaking. It was huge too! Everywhere I looked, there was another room with more luxury! 

I snapped this before I cleaned up the edges. My best friend gave me this idea for the nails. She had a similar combo on last time she came to visit. I used OPI for Sephora "I'm with Brad" and layered Essie's "Leading Lady" on top. That is my green tights in the background. 

A close up of the jewelry I have on today that I picked up this weekend. Love love love love!! I couldn't find them available online, but check out the store in person! This is my go to store for jewelry!

And this is in no relation to the rest of this post, but I am so obsessed with my new iphone cover. It is by BCBGMaxazria. Oreo already ate the tail! 

Do you have any fun holiday parties to go to this year? 

Happy Holidays my friends! 

The Face You Present to the World

I am going on three hours of sleep after pulling an almost all nighter due to a deadline that was due today at work. I brought my work home with me last night (literally) and sat on the couch, under a blanket, papers spread everywhere, laptop on and TV blaring. So do excuse the photos today. They are blurry, out of focus and the lighting is terrible..pretty synonymous with how I feel. I still need to hang a giant mirror (I recently bought for our wedding decor) at home so I can start having better lighting and background than my hideous office bathroom..but this works for now. I was going to wait until tomorrow to take a photo of the bag because I happen to be wearing pretty much the same outfit I had on in last posts, but I figured screw it! We all wear the same outfits over and over again anyways! (well us normal folk do).

I have been lusting after the Michael Kors Hamilton Large Tote for years..literally years..years people! But for some reason, I just can't bring myself to spend the money on it. I was bidding on one yesterday on ebay, but got outbid and I was almost relieved in a way. It would be stupid for me to spend that much money on a single, frivolous item months before our wedding. I always get a decent Christmas bonus at work and every year I contemplate getting a designer bag and every year..I back out. Maybe next year once all the wedding dust settles. This year I am putting that bonus towards a much needed vacation to San Francisco with my fiance. My sister lives up there and is letting us crash at her studio which has an awesome panoramic view of the city. So, onto the next best thing: The Law Bag by Just Fab.com.

I am not a person that gets sucked into those subscription services and I generally write them off as being cheap and a waste of time, but I did my research on this one and watched a lot of YouTube reviews on the Law Bag before purchasing it. It was only..get this $20.00!!! (Normally $40.00, but since I was new to the website, they gave me 50% off the first item). That is cheaper than two cocktails downtown! It arrived this morning and I am thoroughly impressed. It is good quality, good structure, beautiful color and I think it pretty much speaks for itself. Again, no one has to know how much it cost you. It's none of their beeezzznusss (as my Russian friend Kristina pronounces business). It's all about how you present yourself to the world. It's an illusion. A shell to be judged by. 

A couple years ago, I was in New York and ventured into China Town and came out with a Fouis Vuitton. (Fake LV). I went out that night dressed to the nines, flaunting my bag like I had money to blow. Well the jig was up the next day when we went to lunch in SoHo. I went to pay the cashier at this quaint little coffee shop and "Oh No!" "Oh No!" The zipper was stuck. I was fumbling with it for minutes and couldn't get to my wallet while she just stood there, staring with a smirk on her face. The line was building behind me. A trickle of sweat started to pour from my forehead. My friend Leonel, amused at my situation, kindly paid for my lunch to avoid further embarrassment. The cashier knew my secret. I was a phony! My bag was a phony! But who cares! I never saw her again. 

My best friend and I have a term for these type of bags. (Large, structured, clean lines, classic)."Corporate Bitch"! And we mean that in a good way. Being that I work for a law firm, I found the name of this bag quite suiting for its purpose. I plan on ordering another bag from that website in the next few days. I can't speak for all items on there, but I can speak for this one. It is guilt-free-money-well-spent! Amen to that sista!

One day soon, I will fulfill my indulgence and get a good designer bag. They last for years and years and don't fall apart. Just right now..isn't the right time.

VICE for VICE

We all have our vices, right? One of mine is certainly spending money on cosmetics that I don't need. But, it is my hobby. It makes me happy. It keeps me occupied in down time either browsing blogs or YouTube videos looking for new ideas on how to wear it. It's an indulgence that I make no qualms about pretending like I don't have an issue with spending too much money on makeup. I think Urban Decay nailed the head on the coffin when naming this palette.

In my opinion, UD has the best eye shadows hands down over any other makeup company- and I have tried them all throughout the years! If you need a blackest black eye shadow that doesn't streak and comes off the same color as it looks in the pan, U.D. is your new best friend. They never fail to have the smoothest, most pigmented, powder but creamy to apply eye shadows. I think that is what their brand is primarily known for and marketed towards. I haven't ventured into their other makeup such as foundations and blushes. At Sephora they always have the eye products at eye level because they know that is what keeps their business afloat. I have had many an UD palette over the years..my favorites being the Naked Palettes. A lot of them I skip and don't spend my money on that I know I would never use. That is one thing I can say..all the makeup I own, I do use it til it hits pan. I tend to buy the same products over and over while branching out some here and there.

When I saw this palette, I knew I had to have it! It has some amazing colors that branch out of the nude/neutral range while still offering the majority of neutrals. The primary colors that drew me in are: Junkie (gorgeous emerald green that looks great as eyeliner); Provocateur: (The perfect rose gold); Chaos: (I think that blue will look so so pretty as an eyeliner, especially with a tan during the hot summer months) and Penny Lane: (Such a pretty gold color and it has a deeper tone than their other golds they have come out with in the past). I haven't found a gold quite like it elsewhere. Occupy is also an awesome slate color that reminds me of Graphite polish by Chanel. It's pretty much that in an eye shadow form. I actually used this palette today and did a purple and rose gold eye using Provocateur on the lid and inner corners, Rapture in the crease, Vice in the outer v corner and under the water line and a tiny bit of Black to accentuate a cat eye. It still came out neutral and soft for work. If it was for a night out, I would have used a heavier hand to apply and thrown on some falsies. I have created a few different neutral smokey eyes with this palette too and they came out great! Jagged is a great army green/olive color that goes perfectly on top of an olive green urban decay eyeliner I already own. Anonymous and Lace are great mattes that work good as an under-brow highlighter/all over color.

I also love how they included a double edge brush. It is good quality and one that I actually always use! This is where our friend Chanel can't come close to comparing. I have a four eye shadow quad from them that also costs $60.00 and it came with one of those cheapie, non usable sponges that you would find at the drugstore in a kids makeup palette. Come on ..you are Chanel! You are known for quality. For paying $20.00 per eye shadow, you can include a usable brush! Or just leave it out altogether. It's like tipping a waiter $1.00. It's more insulting to include something like that than to just leave it out altogether. It cheapens the palette! I digress.

Does your everyday gal that wears makeup, but isn't crazy about it need to drop $60.00 on this one? I don't think so. You do get a lot of quality eye shadows for the price. There are twenty eye shadows in this palette, so that breaks down to $3.00 per eye shadow plus a nice brush! When you compare that to $20.00 for a Chanel eye shadow and a crappy brush, $60.00 starts to sound real good for this one!This palette is good for the makeup junkies/artists or as beauty guru/YouTuber Sonia Castaneda puts it "us half drag queens!" Which is why Vice just fed right into my makeup vice!

Are you a fan of Urban Decay? Any other brand makeup eye shadow palettes that you recommend to give a try?

A Bordeaux Affair

I think that Bordeaux (or some variation of it) is the color of the season! It is perfect for the holidays..so rich and an updated version of 1950s' stark red. I have been mixing it into my wardrobe in accessories, clothing, nails and lips! It has always been one of my favorite colors and what a great time to showcase it when the weather is chilly out -(well some days here in San Diego)..Come on winter! Get here already!

Lips: Media by MAC (layered over a nude lipstick..it went on way too dark on my lips for my liking on it's own); Blazer: Gibson (Nordstrom/Nordstrom Rack)-I have three of the same blazer in varying colors and plan to get more! I sometimes dress this blazer up with a bold statement necklace and a skirt and some heels- yes I'm finally getting back into heels, but for this particular day, I got ready quickly for work and threw on some skinnys and over the knee boots and an infinity scarf to keep it casual. 

OPI Red..Can't go wrong with basic old fashioned red for the holiday season!

OPI Casino Royal. This is from the James Bond Skyfall Collection, which I am obsessed with! It is the only OPI line that has come out that I want all the colors! I layered the ring finger with a multi colored glitter polish by OPI for Sephora. I also think this would look gorgeous with a gold accent nail or a half moon manicure! The best plum polish I have ever used hands down! Goes on opaque in one coat. It is also the exact color of the purse below. ;)

Jacket: Express; White Skirt: BCBGMaxAzria; Flats: Forever21; Bag: ??? I recently purchased this bag on a night out with the fiance. As we were walking the downtown Gaslamp streets heading from dinner to a bar, a small hole in the wall boutique was still open. It's like dangling meat in front of a starving lion! I can't help it! I told the fiance.."just give me a minute". Per usual, he rolled his eyes and went next door to grab a drink. This beauty caught my eye right away! I quickly paid and thew in my clutch I was already carrying. 

I had on these royal blue, jeweled flats (Forever 21) in the photo above, but due to the lighting, it didn't really show the true color. I love them! Being that both of these items are on the cheaper end, I don't expect them to last past this season. One scratch on that glossy bag and it would cheapen the entire look, so I am only carrying it once in a while. But for the price and the overall look, you just can't beat it! And no one has to know they are cheap! They look expensive to me and it's all about dressing for what you can afford while feeling like a million bucks! Coworkers were surprised by both items when I told them how much they were and where they were from.

My good friend, Nicole and I used to always joke in our poor days of college, "Well we may be broke, but we look like we have money and that is all that matters!" ..oh college!

What is your favorite color of this season?