4 ways to rock this 4th

I don't know about you all, but every year I start getting as giddy as a kid on their birthday right about now. Not that my birthday is anywhere near close to now (guessing contest anyone?), but you know who's birthday IS?!? If not that is kind of pathetic. just going to be honest here. 

Our good ole land of the free and home of the brave is turning 236 this Independence Day, and I can hardly wait :) Every year since my siblings and I were little enough to run the beaches bare-assed and carefree, my family has spent the 4th of July on Block Island. Since then, I never cease to grow tired of the great parade leaving streets strewn about with candy, the perfect beach breeze and the delicious smells of a nearby barbecue wafting in every direction. Can you tell I am itching to return?

In attempt to control my excitement this year, I decided to put together a little mix of outfits for the occasion. Whether you will be spending your Independence Day in the city, on a beach, at a family BBQ or even on a date, here are a few chic&cheap ideas to inspire your 4th of July attire! 

(click to expand)

striped tee - Urban Outfitters
white floral shorts, red blazer, fedora, red skirt - Forever 21
DIY denim cutoffs
white crop top - Free People
striped romper - birthday gift :)
red clutch, navy purse, black flats, white heels - Marshall's
cheetah pumps, floral flats - Target

xoxo Mer

Easy Peasy Updo? Yes Pleasy!

Happy Friday everyone! 

For some of us, it has been quite a tough week. For others, not so much. But regardless of how these past couple of days have gone for you, the weekend has arrived and the view from Boston is glorious. So sit back, relax by the pool, and party your purtty little peplum skirts off when nighttime rolls in! Here is a simple braided updo that is perfect for going from day to night, for any occasion under the hot summah sun! enjoy!

xoxo Mer 

Teal Time

hello, beauts! 

Most of you have probably noticed that it has been some time since my last post, but only because I have been so busy with graduation! That's right, I am officially a high school graduate and I could not be more thrilled. Despite being out of school for a week now, it has yet to truly feel like summer-- one reason being that the weather has been rather bipolar lately. But also because I jumped right into work the day after graduation! And let me tell you, I would hardly call this work... its my passion.

For my senior project, I interned at a free bimonthly magazine in Boston called The Improper Bostonian (Like their facebook page!). For two and a half weeks I worked in their downtown office as a marketing and advertising intern, learning all sorts of things from how to courrier a package to how to make an ad deal for appealing to local businesses. While that was all good and interesting, my main goal in interning for The Improper was to get a glimpse into the overall lifestyle of working for a magazine, and not just the advertising side of things. So, as it turned out, I eventually met with the magazine's contributing fashion editor Lydia Santangelo, who--for lack of better term--stole me right from the office to be her own intern! Right away she had me working on a photo shoot for the upcoming issue, and now I am assisting for my very first fashion show for Clark's shoes! Yes, yes, it is all very exciting indeed, and I cannot wait to tell you all more about it. Stay tuned as the summer goes on (check my blog, twitter, facebook page)-- I'm sure I will have much to tell. 

In the mean time my weekends have been full with grad parties. I went to three just today! Going from one party to the next, I needed an outfit that would be comfy enough to be in all day, yet scream that I am fully aware of the latest summer must-haves. I wore these teal lace shorts from Forever 21 with a blue tee from LF that I received for my birthday a couple years ago. Paired with two necklaces made by my darling mother (craft runs in the family) and a tan sandal heel. 

Happy Friday, my lovelies!

xo Mer

DIY Wall Art - Reuse, Recycle, Recreate!

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! I hope your weekend was as relaxing and positively gorgeous as mine was. With three straight days of sun, warm breezes, and nothing but time, it's these moments that remind me why I love New England.

Naturally I have been soaking up as much sun as I can, but of course, I can only take so much of it before the voice in my head tells me I should probably take a break--if not for sun damage, at least for an icy cup of fresh lemonade :)

During one of my breaks I decided I had collected enough paper towel rolls to take a crack at my DIY wall art project. I had seen a picture on pinterest, and it looked simple enough. After cutting up about 4 wrapping paper rolls, 3 paper towel rolls, 4 toilet paper rolls, and glueing the pieces together with mother's hot glue gun, this is what I produced in my artsy hour:

Cute, huh?! I am totally pleased with how it turned out! The best part is, there are so many ways to make it your own, from simply adding on to make it any size, any shape, or by adding hints of color, etc. So simple, so easy, and so worth those 60 minutes (especially when you can multitask by knocking out a few episodes on Hulu).

Never hurts to know you can get something out of being resourceful. How have you been spending your red, white and blue (and green!) weekend??

xoxo Mer

a day like today calls for crochet

sometimes just a little crochet is all you need

Colorblock nails

Today was yet another gorgeous almost-summer day, so I decided to take full advantage of the outdoors and start my morning with some tennis. Afterwards I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather do then sit outside with a good magazine and soak up the warm rays--until I noticed my nails. They needed some work. But who's to say I can't do my nails AND enjoy the sunshine?! no one, that's who.

I have seen and heard a lot about the different nail art you can create with some simple scotch tape, but I never had the time or patience to wait for the multiple layers of polish to dry. But actually, doing this outside was the perfect place to try it out! Not only did the sun dry my nails twice as fast, but I could simply kick back with my latest Vogue issue whilst waiting for the fresh coat to dry. 

The style I went for was the simple colorblock, and this whole tape technique turned out to indeed be just as easy as they say!

I first painted my nails a solid color (I chose Essie's Turquoise and Caicos). After they dried completely, I laid a piece of tape across each nail at a diagonal. Then just apply a second color!

my second color was Essie's Size Matters.

Finish with a top coat and voila!

If I can do this, anyone can. 

Happy Saturday :)

xoxo Mer

sweet and girly braid hairstyle

This style takes less than a minute and can be dressed up by curling the rest of your hair, or leave as is for a unique beachy boho look. Do with it what you will (and comment with pictures of your gorgeous new style!)

xoxo Mer

Day 1 - complete!

After a long and tough AP Biology exam, I was glad to be able to walk right out those heavy classroom building doors to head to the train rather than my next class. That's right, I am officially DONE with high school work. Well, other than writing the occasional blog post about my new internship at the Improper Bostonian-- something I can totally handle at this point.

Safe to say my first day on the job was a success. Besides only coming in for a half day due to my exam, I was welcomed by the smiling, friendly faces of two other interns (also my age) and the other staff members. To make things even better? Muffins and coffee were of abundance in the kitchen area, and all the latest magazine issues waiting at my desk. I knew I was in the right place. 

Anywho, more on that later. After work I got to attend the premier of Crooked Arrows, a new lacrosse movie about an underdog Native American team getting back in touch with the game's roots to come back and defeat the rich prep school champs. The real appeal though is that my brother Andy is in movie as a player for the prep school team Coventry (look for number 5)! Oh and, not that it's a big deal, but I am in the movie as well. That's right. For a whole 3 SECONDS I am smack dab in the middle of the right of the screen, a focused observer of the intense game that takes place. My Oscar nomination should come any day now.

After the movie everyone went on over to Gypsy Bar in Boston for the after party. Couldn't stay too late, though, I didn't want to look tired for my second day at my internship. But I didn't leave before snagging a picture or two with Brandon Routh, the star of the film, alias Superman. 

me, Brandon (we are on a first name basis), and my sister Katie

me and Katie

The blonde boy is my neighbor Jack Vandervelde, who stars as Toby. He already has fans!

xoxo Mer

Voluptuous Hair

This is a video a made a while ago for my friend Ellie, who would ask me nearly everyday to show her how I curled my hair. Finally I made this tutorial video! I thought you all might enjoy it, considering it is prom season after all!

Feel free to leave comments and SUBSCRIBE!

xoxo Mer

New Feature - Shop my style!

Like what you see on the pages of my blog? Curious about the trends I find thrilling? Do you have spare change in your pocket? look no further! I have just added a link to my very own online shop, ModeLa (check the panel on the right of my home screen)! Here I will be adding new products and merchandise daily that I find totally chic and trends I am dying to try! However, I will admit that the products in my shop are pretty high end. If those prices are for you, then shop away, you lucky dog! If you are like me, a college-age girl with a sales associate paycheck who likes to gawk at all the pretty clothes, perhaps visit ModeLa for inspiration, then check out my favorite stores for the best steals on the latest trends: H&M, Forever21, Urban Outfitters, Zara, Thread Sence, 2020 Ave

stay tuned for my next post coming later this week: my all-time spring must-haves, found at all the stores listed above :)

xoxo Mer

OOTD - Lazy day

top & belt - Forever 21

jeans - Converse One Star, Target

shoes - Daniel Green

Today is much like my typical Sunday: go to bed at 1:00 am, wake up at 10:30, eat, have my one-hour tennis lesson (I have very much improved over these first 4 lessons), play with my hair, eat, blog, eat, procrastinate/eat, you get the idea. In other words, my Sundays often involve lots of sitting around the house and very little going anywhere. Resultantly, I thought I'd post a comfy lazy-chic outfit for days just like today. I have to say, I do love spending the day in my pjs from time to time, but I often fill my boredom with trying on cute outfits. Besides, I may not be going out, but I still gotta look good for my dog.

PS - I apologize for the awk bedroom mirror shots. As this blog is still in its enfant stage, I have no really good, artsy photographer to capture all my killer outfits. My iphone selfies will have to do for now.

xo Mer

Fringe T-Shirt DIY

Here are the quick and easy steps, as promised, to take a plain old tee into a fun fringe tee! this look is very in this season-- very 90's grunge but can easily be girlied up by pairing it with cute jewelry or colored denim, like in my video.

All you need is an old tshirt and scissors.

1) try on your tshirt. mark the height where you want your fringe to start by make a small snip, then take off the shirt.

2) cut off the bottom hem.

3) make your first vertical cuts on the two sides of the shirt, cutting up to the point you snipped earlier.

4) starting from left to right, make slits of equal height all along the shirt (cutting through both layers). you can make them as wide as your little heart desires. i made mine about .5 to 1.0 inch wide.

 5) slightly pull apart each fringe piece at the top

 6) cut off the sleeves of your shirt. try it on to see how you like it. if the shoulders are too wide, just keep  trimming until you love it!

enjoy!
xo mer

F21 haul and DIYs!

First Video Ever!! intro to MyGlam

Hey guys! I decided to be bold and try posting a video today. Hope you like it!

xo mer

Colors abound!

I just made a one-day trip to North Carolina, and on my flights I was catching up on all the magazines that came to my mailbox over the past week that I hadn't yet read-- very exciting! One page i stumbled across had an advertisement for a hair chalk product, an easy and non-permanent way to add colorful streaks to your hair! I immediately wanted to get me some of that chalk, so i perused the interweb (internet + web. new word. spread it) and learned that I could save my money by getting soft pastelle artist's chalk in a bunch of colors. It was so easy and super fun to do with my friend Katie! Here are the simple steps to this awesome project for spring:

you need:
artists chalk (SOFT pastel, NOT OIL)
water (spray bottle optional)
an old towel you don't care about (or two)

steps:
1) take a one-inch strand of hair, wetting the tips or whichever part you want to color
2) simply rub the chalk vigorously onto the strand until you get the desired pigment (you may want to keep a towel over your shoulders to guard your clothes, or just wear clothes you dont care about).
3) repeat with other strands as you like, using as few or as many colors as you like (i did 3 colors)
4) let strands air dry
5) use either a straightener or flat iron to set the color. i recommend NOT brushing your hair first, as it will cause the colored hairs to separate and dilute the color. i made this mistake.)

and voila!

it will come out after one or two showers, depending your base hair color and how hard you shampoo.
enjoy!

xo mer

Cute and Easy bun

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! It was wonderful weather here in Boston, and I was inspired by the spring blooming in our back yard. So I came up with a super easy bun that is so cute and fast, and perfect for girls with lots of hair (like me-- most buns fall out so easily!)

Simply separate your hair into two sections, top and bottom. but the top part in a small bun. you can use a simple hair elastic, bobby pins, or i like to use the cork screw spin pins by Goody.
separate the bottom section into two smaller sections, a left and right section.
wrap the left section over to the right and around the bun. pin in place. repeat with the other section.
add a cute hair accessory and voila!

Happy Easter!

OOTD- the transition

I have just returned from a wonderful 2 weeks in sun sun sun, first in the Bahamas and then in Florida. I can now officially flaunt a decent tan, and i could not be more proud of it. Oddly enough, despite departing from beantown with temperatures in the 50's, my widget displayed temperatures of 80's in Boston the entire week I was in Florida. GLORIOUS!--you would think. but naturally, I returned home at the same time as winter returned. Back to 50 degree weather and rain and wind. just peachy. This unfortunate situation forced me to put away my cute dresses and shorts from Florida for the time being and pile on the sweaters and jeans once more. But that is not to say I can't start integrating the Spring styles in with my buh-bye winter blue jeans. What better way than to incorporate a hint of white (to accentuate the tan) and a floral/lace pattern on a newly purchased body suit! I can't wait to pair it with more springtime pieces, but for now I am just marveling at the versatility!

Jeans- Lulu*s
Cardi- Madewell
Bodysuit- Bebe
Loafers- Daniel Green
Bag- Shoedazzle

Alright. So I know I have been really lazy with this, and it is only my third post. But in all honesty, it is hard to keep up a blog when you are a high school senior in the dead of winter. And it is even harder to keep a blog as a high school senior on spring break in Atlantis and Florida-- let me tell you! But, alas, my spring break has (oh so sadly) come to an end, and it will be back to work for me. On a good note, it will be the infamous senior spring for me, and I am taking the trimester off from sports. This means a ménage of things:
1. More time to devote to shopping, DIYs, and this very blog!
2. I will start my senior project in mid May, and I will be working in Boston as an intern at a magazine. Safe to say I am über excited.. Yes. Über.
3. I will already be into college (hopefully-fingers crossed) thus my grades mean about as much as the color of my hair.
I take that back. My hair color is more important.
4. I will be on the hunt for an actual after school job, ideally in retail. Free People- hiring please?

So, as I said, I plan to spend much more time on my blog now that I have high school pretty much out of the way :) till my next post, stay tuned for a pic of my DIY dyed denim shorts, also inspired by LF. They didn't turn out quite as planned, more of an orange than a brown, but hey, I still got compliments on them and one girl even asked if I got them at LF. Now THAT means I must be doing something right!

xo Mer

Success numbah one!

Like I said I would do Sunday morn, I scurried my butt to Savers and got some crazy good steals! One of which was this wool sweater, which I painted to make my own DIY version of the LF sweater, with a slight twist a la moi. Who says you can't get designer for less than a horse's worth?

Sweater - Savers, $10
Fabric paint - Michael's, $2
Joy of knowing I made this for $12 instead of spending $60 - priceless.

Sunday DIY itinerary

One of my favorite stores LF is having their huge season sale right now, 60% their entire fall collection. despite being one of the "members" given an invitation to shop the sale a day early and get an additional 10% off, i still cannot afford a single pair of shorts from them. Instead, I have officially been inspired to recreate a few of the items I wanted but could not have. But oh, you wait and see. I WILL have them. Tune in soon for my LF done DIY style for these looks

and so it begins

Rarely do I find myself not thinking about clothing. My mornings seem to consist of the same basic routine: stare at drawer full of sweaters, pick through wardrobe piled with jeans, dig through depths of closet, and put on everything I have thrown into the middle of my room. Finally I am left to either admire or shutter at my creation in the mirror. More often than not, I have managed to throw together something rather cute and original (or, as we like to say at my all-girls, sweatpants-every-day high school, something "fancy"). But occasionally a big fashion police no-no slips in--not to worry, I can just wear sweatpants :)
On the days I am satisfied with my outfit, it doesn't take long for me to begin plotting my next look, whether it be for school, lunch with Matt, or a night out with my girlfriends. Fashion blog posts and online boutique events flood my email, and I am only inspired by the outfits of others. It would hardly be an overstatement to say that I consume, and am consumed by, fashion. This realization that I more or less live and breathe in a world of couture has prompted me to write this blog.
So for those of you who are wondering, this will basically be the place where I spill all the general wonderingments that come to my stylish senses, as well as an attempt at offering advice on various fashion topics. For those who find this whole thing to be rubbish, I apologize in advance. For those who share my passion and choose to follow, thank you kindly and enjoy :)