Night Lights

In the midst of work and family, I got a chance to visit one of my best friends, Nicole. And of course, we took this opportunity to eat boiling crab, empty our wallets at the mall, and force her brother, Justin, to take photos for ~blogging~. 

So we all dragged our asses out at 9 PM at night to take ~*luxurious*~ photos with Justin's amazing camera and his professional photography skills. With the pain of changing outfits in public bathrooms and facing cold northern California winds, we got a couple of shots and required the crew of us 3 to Pinkberry (a.k.a. Justin paid. Thanks!)

| here is to a throw at 

Nicole's personal style of 

bohemian cuts and earthy colors |

Beauty Queen of Only 18

Flowers blooming, bees buzzing, and finals right around the corner; let me welcome you to the spring semester of my freshman year. During that time, Nicole and I were bored out of our minds studying for midterms and trying to cram everything into our brains. All of the things that we were learning started to sound like "blah, blah, blah, blah". And like usual, I came into Nicole's room to bother her as she clicked away at her Tumblr. I had this grand announcement of a contest that I wanted us to enter where the grand prize was an Ipad. She was like, "Ipad!?" and I nodded a satisfied "yes!!!" We were totally in. 

The contest was for an up and coming online clothing store. The only rules for the contest were to take a photo of yourself with a product from their store or to dress fashionable with the store in mind. And of course, harass your dorm building mates to vote for you.  I thought to myself, "How hard could that be?" 

So with a borrowed camera and with amateur camera-woman/stylist skills, we crammed a photo shoot on our campus within a span of 3 hours. Not too shabby for beginners at all! 

The next step was pleading and begging for votes, which we did for a month straight. Constantly parading around each dorm that we had access too and asking (forcing) our fellow freshman to vote for us.

So you're probably wondering if we won or not. We didn't. BUT my excuse is that we had finals to study for and got super lazy about asking for votes. But nonetheless, here are the leftovers from the days that we were 18 years old. 

Making Hips Stir Since 2010

I basically took my inner hipster and threw it up on Nicole. That poor girl. But here were the results of what I would like to call "not appropriate for school or work"; complete with the hipster trademark at the time, the beanie, while paired with upcoming trend of corsets.

Child's Play
I aimed for something a little more whimsical with this outfit. I wanted a touch of childhood with an Alice in Wonderland feel and a dash of a modern touch. Thinking about it now, it would be a perfect outfit for a music festival or a carnival! 

Sasha Not-So-Fierce
I believe this is when I started to experiment more with more "hardcore" & "edgy" pieces. Me? Hardcore? Ha! The pleather jacket definitely toughens up the look, along with Nicole's expressions of "take me seriously."With the tank top and heels, the outfit still remains girly and feminine. 

The Starlet
This has to be my absolutely favorite look. The lighting was awesome. The poses were awesome. The entire composition, I feel like, really draws you in. And of course, the awkwardness of taking these photos were awesome as well.

For you guys that attend the same university as Nicole and I, you may recognize the location to be the bathroom of the cafeteria. I have no shame in picking this place, seeing that it is the most beautiful bathroom in the entire campus. I have no doubts that the mood lighting, clean stalls, fancy sinks are all apart of the university's scheme to lure naive potential students and parents alike to pay thousands of dollars for an education here. 

I hope that you guys enjoyed this throwback into our past of when we thought we were so cool for being the dynamic duo that strutted around campus, lugging around accessories and clothes with a huge camera; cause nothing says "cool freshman" like two science majors running around like we worked for Vogue.

Thrills to Kill

As one of my professors likes to put it, "November is the month of hell." Papers and exams have had me all bogged down. I used to know what the outside world was like, but at the moment, all I know is the confines of my desk. But it's cool! Winter break is just right around the corner (after finals of course... sigh)! Even with this month being super busy, I managed to style Nicole before our anatomy class and click a few pictures. So here is my best cat friend at her finest. 

Purple Plaid Button Up - Costco

Barcode Tank - Forever 21

Tights - Forever 21

Platform Shoes - Nordstrom Rack

How to Style Greek Letters

With just about 50% of the school population being in a fraternity or sorority at the university I attend (including myself), there has always been a large majority of students sporting their Greek letters on a daily basis. Often printed or sewn plainly onto t-shirts, tank tops, & hoodies, this item can come off as plain piece. But you can do so much with it by just mixing and matching different items of your wardrobe to accentuate these letters. It definitely adds personal style and makes you stand out! Here are some of the ways that Nicole, Janette, and I played around with our fraternity's letters. 

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Ele-phunky

I'm belong to the organization, Alpha Phi Omega, a fraternity with the main goal of providing service to the community. I have absolutely no regrets in joining APO at all! From this fraternity, I learned a lot about myself, got to help people, and made friendships that are unbreakable. It is definitely one of the highlights of my college experience. (Cough, cough, come to our rushes!)

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5 Minutes Left of Class

Janette is apart of two organizations! Being a member of Delta Nu Tau, a professional dental fraternity, and Alpha Phi, a social sorority, she definitely bursting with school spirit. Constantly running to and from classes, studying, and being active in these organizations, Janette always manages to style her letters to perfection.

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On Her A Game

Nicole is in the same professional dental fraternity as Janette (brothers for life, word). And because she is so awesome, she styled two sets of her letters in different outfits! The first outfit is definitely gives an ode to street style while the second shouts out "proper lady". You go Glen Coco. 

But in all honesty, my favorite way 

to wear letters is the

janky way.

[insert picture of APO Sweatshirt + Sweats]

Seasoned Traveler

I have always admired Grace's style from afar. She has always looked polish and put together. And she mixes patterns and basics to give off a sophisticated vibe. I would definitely say that she has a Persian touch when it comes to her clothes. Grace always styles herself as vibrant, fun, and put-together. I was lucky enough to finally got a chance to take pictures of her. So here are my amateur photography skills at work!