NYC Will Always Have My Heart

I cannot believe it, but my NYC summer experience has come to an end. Unbelievable, right?

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New York City became my home this summer and I feel like I legitimately left a piece of my heart there. When I first arrived in the city, I kept saying “I think I am going to have a great summer but I definitely do not see myself here after graduation.” WELL, I WAS WRONG. This summer my heart grew fonder as the days went on.

From learning the subway to mastering the different areas of Manhattan, to becoming closer with girls in the classes and internship to discovering so many amazing restaurants, my summer in NYC is one I will never forget.

I lived in the Upper West Side, which I always compared to the suburbs of the city. My internship was in the Flatiron District and my classes were in Midtown. I loved my classes and I definitely learned a lot of about myself and what I want out of my future at my internship.

I interned at a fashion PR firm, which was definitely an experience I always dreamed about. For the past three years I have said my dream was to work in fashion PR, but after interning in a fashion PR firm, I learned that I LIKE fashion PR, but I don’t LOVE it. I am so grateful for the experience I had at the agency I interned for. I was able to work at both New York Men’s Day (the opening event for NYFW) and at New York Men’s Fashion Week.

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This summer was amazing, and I think one of my absolute favorite things was getting to try all the different trendy foods that were all over Facebook and the internet this summer. For example, Frosé, the roll-up ice cream and I went to the bakery , Union Fare, which sells the rainbow croissants, but they were sold out by the time I got there so I tried their cookies and cream croissant, which was just as fabulous!

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Exploring was also amazing. You would think in the eight weeks I was there, I would have been able to do everything I wanted to, but I didn’t. If I did not have class or my internship, I probably could have, but I know that I will definitely have to do the things I wanted to do this summer first as soon as I am back in the city!

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Another thing I loved about being in NYC, everyone wants to come and visit! My sister, Payton and best friend, Amanda came twice, my friend Mary came with Payton and Amanda on their second trip and my friend Erin came up for a weekend trip. The FUNNIEST thing was Erin and I sleeping in my twin sized bed in my dorm room, haha!

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During my friend’s visits we explored all around Manhattan and went to Brooklyn! In Brooklyn, we adventured in Williamsburg and DUMBO, which is in the picture below.

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DUMBO: Down Under the Manhattan Brooklyn Overpass 

Dumbo was gorgeous! The architecture, the view of the Manhattan Skyline and the view of the Brooklyn bridge are out of this world. The area is located right in the middle of the Manhattan bridge and the Brooklyn bridge.

This summer also included going to Her Conference. Her Conference is a conference hosted by Her Campus, an online magazine for women in college. I am a writer for Her Campus Kent State and I am also in their blogging network! They hosted a kick-off event, hosted by Rebecca Minkoff. I attended the event and had the chance to meet her. I fan-girled so hard! She was so sweet and even signed the inside of the bag I purchased that evening.

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I cannot believe all of the things I did within these past eight weeks. These were just a few highlights from my summer. I truly cannot believe this summer is almost over. Summer 2016 is definitely my favorite summer yet!

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Thrifty Thursday: Getting Ready for Vacation!

I cannot believe I have not done a Thrifty Thursday in over two months! To be honest, I had to take a break because at school my closet was overflowing with the awesome deals I was finding! This week I decided I would head over to my favorite consignment store, Oh My Darling in Annapolis, Md. to see what deals they had going on.

They recently posted on Instagram a photo of a few pairs of pineapple earrings and I knew that I had to have these for the summer!

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Amy, the owner of Oh My Darling also posted today about a sale she had today if you mentioned you saw it on her Instagram.

Even though I originally went to the store for just the earrings, I knew I would not only be leaving with just one thing… I also found the perfect dress for a trip I have coming up this weekend to the Bahamas!

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The dress is made by Just Be… I tried to find how much the dress was sold for originally, but I was unable to find it. I can tell the dress is made with a quality cotton though, so I am guessing it was definitely sold for more than I bought it. I purchased this dress for $16!

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The lightweight cotton will be perfect for the hot weather in the Bahamas!

Out of the two things I purchased today, I would definitely say the earrings would be my favorite. I am in love with the pineapples. I am currently obsessing over anything pineapple related!

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I also love the earrings because they were made by a local jewelry designer! Here is her information if you are interested in purchasing this pair of earrings or looking to see if she sells something similar:

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I left the store today only spending a total of $45!

For all of my Annapolis area readers, Oh My Darling is having their biggest shopping event yet that you will not want to miss! Coming up on June 20, they are hosting an event called The Longest Day, which is raising money for Alzheimer’s awareness.

Leading up to the event, they will be having their #30DaysofDresses fundraiser. For every dress sold from May 21-June 20, Oh My Darling will donate 10 percent of the sale to their Longest Day team. If you go into the store and try on a dress and use the hashtags #30DaysofDresses and #THELONGESTDAY, they will donate $1 to their team.

 

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If this didn’t sound intriguing enough for you… on June 20 if you make a $5 or $10 donation to their team, you will receive an empty Oh My Darling shopping bag, which you can fill with anything you can fit into the bag and receive 10 percent or 20 percent off of the items in the bag!

For more information about the event you can contact Oh My Darling’s owner, Amy Darling at amy@shopohmydarling.com!

It felt so great to thrift again! I am glad that I broke my thrifting drought at Oh My Darling!

XODanieSparkle

 

 

My Guilty Pleasure… Getting my hair washed and blow dried each week

Want to know my guilty pleasure?

It’s most definitely getting my hair washed and blow dried once a week. I really hate washing my own hair for it just look awful after I attempt to blow dry it and then straighten it.

Before you think I am a diva (well TOO much of a diva), it is not as costly as you might be thinking it is! I have found Rush salon in Kent, Ohio that is honestly just PERFECT.

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I used to go and get my hair washed and blow dried before a big event, but this school year I started doing this on the first day of the school year. I called two weeks before school started and told them I needed their first appointment that day because I didn’t want to stress about my hair the first day of school, plus I wanted to look great after coming back from the summer!

HOW DO THEY MAKE MY HAIR FEEL SO SOFT AND LUSCIOUS? 

So now you may be asking yourself…”Does Danie only wash her hair once a week?” and to answer this question, yes I do only wash it once a week unless there is a reason that I MUST wash it. I have truly “trained” my hair to not get oily.

I started only washing it once a week when I had red in my hair because each time I would wash it, the red dye would come out and I was getting more annoyed each time I washed my hair. After researching what I would do to slow down the red washing out of my hair, I found out how awful washing your hair too often is actually for you. So even before getting it washed, I only washed it once a week. If learning how to get down to washing your hair once-twice a week, check out my previous post: here.

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But to get back to my guilty pleasure… I know it sounds ridiculous, but I honestly crave that hour on Tuesdays (the day I get my hair done!). That time I take for myself and I don’t check my phone or think about anything else that I have going on during that time. I focus on myself, which I do not do a lot. It is a stress reliever for me.

I get a lot of criticism from people who do not agree with my choices about me getting my hair done once a week- and what I want to say to those people is: How I spend my money is my choice, and I appreciate you looking out for my budget, but I will continue to get my hair washed each week.

Trust me…if I could make my hair the way that my favorite stylists, Skye and Allison, make it look, I would do it myself! 

To maintain my hair looking good the rest of the week, I wear a shower cap while I shower and I do not put any extra products in my hair the rest of the week.
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The only time I really touch my hair is when I straighten a few pieces that may have gotten curly throughout the week and when I pull my hair in my favorite hairstyle, the half up half down style!

 

I know all of you divas out there will feel my pain out there! I know that not everyone’s budget each week can fit $18 for you to get your hair washed, but definitely think about cutting down on how many times a week you wash your hair!

Let me know what you think of this idea!

XODanieSparkle

 

 

 

Halloween Makeup Look + Giveaway!

Can you all believe it is already Halloween? I can’t! At Kent State, Halloween is HUGE. Kent, Ohio goes crazy for Halloween…but this year I am not feeling great so I have decided that tonight I will definitely be staying in and watching Halloween movies (Disney Channel ones, of course!).

I decided that this year I wanted to attempt a fun Halloween makeup look!

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I have always loved when I see people do their makeup as a baby deer, or also known as a fawn!

What do you all think? I had so much fun doing this makeup look. I have some other things to do today, or I honestly would have left this look on all day!

Now time for the GIVEAWAY!

As a part of this look, I used one of my favorite bronzers, Hoola by Benefit!

I am giving away this ‘Do the Hoola’ kit! Now that it is slowly becoming colder, we are all loosing that bronzed-glow that we all love to have so much!

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Want to know what’s inside of the box? I know you do…

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So as you can see there is a lipgloss, mascara, lip tint, the Hoola Bronzer in a liquid and a Hoola Bronzer in powder!

I cannot even express how much I love these items. When I purchased this kit, I also purchased myself one and I have been obsessed with it since then. The mascara is crazy! Any time I wear it, people ask me if I am wearing false eye lashes.

Want to win this giveaway? 

You have to follow me social media and share this post with all of your friends and make sure to tag me in your post so I know that you shared it! 🙂

Instagram: @Danieminor13

Twitter: @Danieminor13 

You have until November November 5th to follow me and share this post because on November 6th, I am sharing who the winner is!

Happy Halloween!

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Thrifty Thursday Fall Fashion!

Fall is more than football games, pumpkin spice lattes and leaves changing. Although I love all three of those things, just like most, my favorite thing about fall is the fashion. I love vests, knee high boots and feeling a little chilly.

On Sunday, I went to Value Discount Outlet in Akron, Ohio and they were having the best deals! Just like Goodwill, Value Discount Outlet has various color tags attached to the clothing, which lets the store’s staff know when the clothing came into the store. …This also allows for fun things like having certain color tags be a certain price that day!

For example, this Sunday was any green-tagged item was only $1, yellow-tagged items were 50% off and I also received 20% off because I had my student ID! It was a really good thrifting day.

Lets see what I bought!

Right as I walked into Value Discount Outlet (VDO), this yellow vest popped out at me from the 1000s of racks of clothing! My absolute favorite color is yellow.

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The vest had a small patch that was sewn on it, but I knew it wouldn’t be an issue to remove it with a seam ripper! This vest is honestly perfect for Kent State football games. I paired the vest with one of my favorite Kent State shirts!

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I then found this gorgeous pink shirt! This shirt can totally be work with jeans, as pictured or I can definitely wear this to my sorority’s chapter meetings, where we have to dress up. I love to thrift things that can work in my wardrobe for many occasions.

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I was a little worried that this shirt was a little too much of a summer color, but then I just said “ehh, I’ll make up my own rules!” and bought it anyways. 🙂 This shirt only cost me $8, and it was brand new with tags on it! It was originally around $35!

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This next outfit features two purchases! I bought both of these times for only $1!

ttleafsweater1The dress shirt was being sold because it had a small stain on it, but I washed it as soon as I got home and it came right out! I pared it with this sweater that has leaves all over it. The sweater is a yellow-green!

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I can definitely see this sweater becoming a staple in my wardrobe! I cannot wait to wear it with my black vest and pearls, which will make for a super fall outfit!

I love fall so much! I cannot wait for later October when it comes time for Halloween outfit shopping. Keep your eyes out for upcoming Halloween thrifting adventures! Happy fall!

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P.S.: My amazing friend, Mara did an awesome job taking these photos for me this week! Thanks you so much!

Thrifty Thursday: Summer to Fall Bag!

So, Defining Danie reader’s, it’s been a while. I’ve missed you all! School has been more than hectic, which is why I haven’t blogged in what feels like a lifetime.

Look at this amazing purchase that I found. The bag was originally $45 and at Goodwill it was being sold for $17, and then I got the student discount and ended up getting the bag for $15!

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This week’s Thrifty Thursday is based on a bag I found a few weeks ago that was originally from Target. Orange can go for either summer or fall, but adding this scarf definitely adds more a fall-feel. The bag was brand new and I bought it from Goodwill in Kent, Ohio. Goodwill and Target have a partnership where the Goodwill sells the clothing/accessories not sold during the time that they were being sold in Target so they have another chance to be sold again. The clothing/accessories are sold for a cheaper price than they would be sold in Target.

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Although the oranges are not the same, the scarf and bag still complement one-another. The bag has more of a coral undertone and the scarf has a darker orange, magenta, yellow and various colors of taupe! I love the scarf, which I got for only $1.00!

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Take a look inside this bag! It even has the perfect compartment for pencils and lipstick. 😉 And the polka dots are a lovely touch.

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Incorporating thrifted items into your daily outfits is not hard at all! It was a coincidence that I was actually wearing was thrifted over the summer.

I hope everyone is having a lovely start to fall!

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Favorite Day of the Year!

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Yes, you read that correct It is National Thrift Store Day! To any of thrifting queens and kings out there, you understand my excitement. This day can beat any of the major holidays for me. I have never told anyone why I love thrifting so much so I am going to do my Top 5 Reasons Why I LOVE Thrifting and you can also check out my top favorite thrifting finds of the year below!

TOP 5: 

1) The amazing deals that you can get. As all of you know, I am a college student and as a college student, I do not have a lot of money to spend on clothes! There are great clothes that people just giveaway…hoping that you will buy them! Go when they have 50% off certain color tags, meaning that it will be 50% off of the already low prices!

2) The hunt is FUN. This is something that I have mastered. A lot of people do not like the “hunting” part of thirsting, which is why Goodwill’s across the nation have created Goodwill Boutiques, which are also near and dear to my heart! But… I love it when I am searching around the store and I can’t seem find anything worth buying that day and then all of the sudden that one piece of clothing just POPS out to you! It is seriously magical.

3) I know when I shop at a thrift store, that I am doing good for the community. An example is by shopping at Goodwill, you are helping them succeed at their mission, which is to provide work for people who may not be able to find it somewhere else!

4) You never know what you will find. There are so many odd pieces that you will find in a thrift/consignment store! There will be things in there that you did not even know existed but that is what makes it so fun! I think you can also learn a lot about history. Walking into an older thrift/consignment store and it is like walking into the past! Go in and see what you can find/learn.

5) Great for DIY. Whether you want to revamp your house or you’re moving into a new apartment, there are great deals you can find on furniture, kitchen supplies (plates and even kitchen tables/chairs!) and bedroom furniture. There is nothing a little TLC and some paint cannot fix! I always see great dining room furniture that just makes me so excited to have my first apartment!

Top Thrifting Finds: 

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I would love to hear everyones reasons why YOU love thrifting! Also, I never noticed I always pose the same way in all of my photos, haha!

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Who doesn’t love a Nordstrom Giveaway?

Hi ladies and gents!

I have teamed up with some fellow bloggers/shops for one lucky person to win a $700 GIFT CARD TO NORDSTROM (aka my favorite place in this entire world)!

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To enter to win the gift card check out my Instagram at 8 p.m. EST. for the rules! The giveaway will run for 4 days (August 13th-August 16th at 8 p.m. EST.) The winner will be announced within 48 hours of the giveaway closing time.

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I am so excited to be one of the bloggers hosting this giveaway! I decided to be apart of this giveaway because I truly love every single one of my followers! I cannot wait to see who the winner will be. GOOD LUCK!

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Traveling made easy to NYC!

So as many of you know that follow me on social media (if you don’t follow your girl @danieminor13!), this past weekend I went to Her Conference!

Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies; going to events is another favorite of mine. This past weekend, I took an Amtrak Train to NYC where the conference was being held. Amtrak allowed me to combine my two favorite things! 

Her Conference is a conference put together by the staff at Her Campus. Her Campus is an online magazine for “collegiette” women! Along with being an online magazine, they also have a blogger network, which I’m apart of.

So, when they announced the dates for the conference, which is held in NYC, I immediately purchased a two-day ticket. At the time it didn’t matter to me how I got to NYC, where I was staying or if anyone I knew was also going to the conference that I knew;I knew I was going! 

A month before the conference I had the place to stay, but still hadn’t locked down how I was getting to NYC… then Amtrak popped into the equation!  Continue reading

Thirfty Thursday! 

Happy Thursday! I hope everyone had a safe holiday this past weekend. This Thursday I found a few amazing pieces that I mixed and matched with pieces of clothing that I already owned! 

 This outfit is super summery. I paired the coral skirt, which I got for $8, with a navy tank top that I had in my closet! I love pairing these two colors together. I think they work so nicely together. 

 Adding my favorite black hat to this look gave outfit a whole new look! 

 I went to Goodwill this morning, just to look around and found this shirt and these pants. I am obsessed with this outfit! It’s like they were made for each other.  

The pants were originally $50 from JcPenny! I bought them for $5. I purchased the shirt for $3.50. Togeher this outfit only cost me $8.50. #LiveloveThrifting, right? 

 

I also found this adorable green jacket that is perfect for summer nights or the fall. The jacket was only $3, because I bought it on a Wednesday, which is when my Goodwill provides a student discount! 

I am in love with my purchases! I hope my purchases are proving to you that there are a lot of awesome finds!