What's In My Beach Bag?

I know, I know, I need to stop raving about summer. But I can't! Summer is one of my favorite seasons of the year (partly because I shop more than during any other season :p)! And I am so excited to share what's in my beach bag with you guys in this post! Anyways, without further ado, here it is!

1. My Beach Towel Not really sure where these are from... Pretty sure it's from Target from a long time ago, but I'm not sure... Yeah, nothing special.

2. Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Oil SPF 8 LOVE THIS. I will not go out of the house to tan without this. No. Way. First of all, it smells amazing -- like coconuts and tropical goodness, and it makes you all nice and bronzy-shiny, and it makes you tan faster! What not to love?

3. Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Targeted Sun Defense Stick SPF 50 Just picked this up in Duty Free on the way to Spain because I didn't have any face sunscreen... So far, I like it a lot -- it's not greasy or oily and it works! I'd definitely recommend it!

4. Victoria's Secret "Blossoming Romance" Fragrance Mist I carry this in my bag just because it feels really nice to spritz it on when I'm all hot and sweaty (I know, ew, it was 40 degrees Celsius in Madrid today!) by the pool. The smell is nice, I like it. The only thing is, is that this only lasts on me for about 20-30 minutes.

5. Avène Thermal Spring Water This is such a lifesaver on those blazing hot days when you feel like dying or when your makeup looks too cakey! When spritzing it on after you do your makeup it leaves you with a flawless natural glow that I love, and when you spritz it on outside it feels like a cold shower! Plus, it manages to stay magically cool in the bottle even if it's really hot out!

6. Set Of Keys These are just the keys from our apartment in Madrid -- nothing special, not a necessity, I just had to take them with me to the pool.

7. YSL Rouge Volupté Perle in the shade 114 I've talked about this in my What's In My Travel Makeup Bag? post. Nothing much I can add! I carry it around with me because it's sheer enough that you can apply it without looking in a mirror but it goes you the perfect hint of color!

8. ChapStick Lip Shield 365 lip balm with SPF 50 Nothing special, just a lip balm with high SPF. SPF is very important not only on your body and face, but on your lips too! Believe me, you do not want to get your lips sun burned! It hurts so bad and it looks bad too.

9. Head Pillow This is the randomest thing. It's actually my Grandma's, not mine, but it's so worn out and cozy-looking (and PINK), I love it! I use it to rest my head on when I'm laying out, because there aren't any places to sit by the pool when I get there, so I have to lay on the ground :p (on my towel, of course)

10. New Wayfarer RayBans The exact model number is RB2132, if you were wondering. These are just the sunglasses that I wore today, so that's why they're in my bag. I absolutely love these -- they are so lightweight you can't even feel them!

11. Hair Clip This one is neon yellow and I got it at H&M about 2-3 weeks ago, so they probably still have it there. I really like it, I just use it to pin my hair back when I'm lying down so it won't bother me.

12. EOS Lip Balm in Summer Fruit Just another lip balm I carry around with me... Nothing much. I love it though, it works really good for me, and I know a lot of people love it too!

13. Hair Ties Sometimes I don't feel like clipping my hair back with the clip, so I just make a pony or a bun instead. And plus, someone always needs hair ties, so you can never have enough!

14. A Bottle Of Water Gotta stay hydrated with that sun shining all over you! When it's hotter you tend to get dehydrated faster, so it's very important to drink lots of water!

15. Lucky July 2012 Magazine This is hands-down my favorite magazine. I even like it more than Seventeen, no joke. It just totally absorbs me every time I read it and the way it's all put together and collaged is so totally me! Plus, Leighton Meester is on the cover of this one!

16. Kindle Touch I've always got to have reading material everywhere I go, because if I don't, I guarantee you, there will be that horrible moment of boredom where there's nothing to do and you don't even have a book.

17. Nature Valley Granola Bar This is my recent addiction. It's the peanut butter one -- it tastes so good! This one is almost melted, so I think I'm going to eat it right now :p

18. Cable Knit Cover Up This one is from H&M and it's NEON PINK. Oh my gosh, can it get any better? Yes, it can. It's high-low. This is definitely my favorite cover-up out of all, I just got it about a week ago and I've been obsessing over it like crazy ever since! Because it's knit it keeps you warm from the wind but is also cool enough not to make you hot from the sun.

19. Longchamp Le Pliage Tote in Large I just got this a couple of days ago and I LOVE IT. I've been carrying it with me everywhere and I can't wait to use it for school! It's the perfect size and color, and it's a classic -- you just can't go wrong with this one!

Hope you guys enjoyed!

xoxo,
Liz

My Pinkberry

Seven years ago two wonderful women created a frozen yogurt shop. Called Pinkberry. May God bless those two women.

Everyone loves frozen yogurt. I mean, I don't know anyone who doesn't. And what is there not to love?! It's low-calorie, not as bad for you as ice cream, but tastes just as good (if not better!). I absolutely adore froyo. Like, no joke, I think my life depends on it. Anyways, enough about froyo, let's talk toppings.

This blog post is going to be about how I eat...my Pinkberry.

There are so many different froyo (yes, I will be referring to frozen yogurt as froyo from now on :p) flavors to choose from in Pinkberry! I prefer the Original or the Coconut flavor, though. Sometimes I go out from my comfort zone and try other flavors, but most of the time I stick with the Original.

Because I try to be healthy when it comes to froyo, when it comes to toppings I mainly just get the fruits. I usually like the strawberries, kiwis, watermelons, mangoes, and the blueberries. Then I get the granola top topping (top topping...hehe). Sooooooometimes I give myself a treat and get the little yogurt chips (so. friggin. good.) instead of the granola :p

My mouth is watering right now. Oh gosh. I think I need to go get some Pinkberry now! ;D

I hope you guys found this somewhat enjoyable and helpful! I'd love to know what you get on your froyo, so let me know by commenting below!

xoxo,
Liz

Travel Savvy: Packing

I've just finished packing my clothes for Spain and decided to type up this quick post (including some pictures of my suitcase and how I packed). I don't really feel like typing a lot right now, so I'll just get to the point of this ;)

Packing Tip #1: Know the weather.  This one doesn't need much explanation, you've gotta know what you're packing for! Just look up the weather for the time period you're going to spend in the certain place -- it'll only take you a couple of minutes and save you a ton of hassle and luggage space.

Packing Tip #2: Make A List. I love making lists for a reason -- they can help you so much! Just make a list of the things you think you'll need for your trip (including the number of things). The number of clothing items as well as the clothing items themselves that you pack will differ, depending on the time you spend in the certain place. For example, if I'm going to Spain for a month and I plan to swim, hike, and walk around the city, my list will look somewhat like this:

• 10-13 t-shirts
• 2 pairs of jeans
• 3-4 pairs of shorts
• 3-4 skirts
• 2-3 dresses
• 2-3 swimsuit cover-ups
• 2 pajamas
• 2-3 cardigans/sweaters
• 2 pairs of socks
• 2 pairs of tennis shoes
• 1-2 pairs of flip-flops
• 1 pair of flats
• 3-4 bikinis
• 1-2 hats
• *underwear*

Packing Tip #3: Fold. Or roll. Or fold. When it comes to the actual packing process I prefer to fold my clothes. Everyone says how it saves space and time to roll your clothes but, honestly, it never worked for me, so I just fold them -- that way they don't wrinkle and are neatly packed away. I like to lay out all of my clothes that I'm taking on my bed first, then fold them, then pack them away.

Packing Tip #4: Categorize. When you arrange your clothes in your suitcase according to the purpose of the clothing, it is much more comfortable and convenient to unpack when you get to your destination. For example, if you have all of you tops in one stack, all of your bottoms and dresses in another stack, and all of your sweaters/scarfs in a third stack it will be much (and I mean much) easier to unpack or quickly find a clothing piece if needed.

Packing Tip #5: Leave your carry-on...empty. Okay. I'm just gonna put this out there. I love shopping. And, yes, I shop. A lot. So whenever I go somewhere I need extra space in my suitcase and preferably in my carry-on. As you can see by the picture my carry-on is practically empty. Well, on the way back, I can assure you, it will be jam-packed full. So if you're a girl who loves shopping (like moi) make sure to have tons of extra space.

xoxo,

Liz

pics from here ;)

My 10 Summer Essentials

I am totally and utterly obsessed with summer (if you couldn't tell yet). I love it. I look forward to summer all year long -- just everything about it is fun, sunny and hot. And here I came up with yet another list, this time talking about my 10 summer essentials. So, without further ado, I'd like to start.

To kick off the list,

#1: Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Oil SPF 8 Yes, I know, I know, tanning oil is bad for you, skin cancer and yadayadayada. Well, I want to be tan, and this is the only way I can get that tan. I do use sunscreen before I put on the tanning oil, but oh my gosh, let's take a minute to swoon over the wonderful smell of  the product. LOVE. LOVELOVELOVE.

#2: Sunscreen Any kind of sunscreen. I just get any kind that I see first on the rack in Target -- they all work fine for me. I prefer the spray-on kind, though, I find it easier to apply and it dries faster.

#3: White Short Shorts White A&F shorts for the summer are definitely a must-have for me! They accentuate your tan and they are perfect for the hot weather and comfy to run around in!

#4: EOS Lip Balm Chapped lips is the worst thing that can happen to me in the summer. Or any time of the year for that matter. I just hate the feeling of that dry skin on my lips! So I make sure to always keep them nice and moisturized with lip balm. I don't really have a preference, any kind will work for me, but the EOS lip balms are definitely my favorite.

#5: Neon Swimsuit I have 3 letters for this one. O. M. G. Okay, first of all, they're neon. And who doesn't love neon?! And neon is always trendy for the spring and summer. And neon shows of your tan. And neon looks like it's glow-in-the-dark. And...oh, this can go on forever!

#6: A Book While laying out on the beach or by the pool, or on a road trip with your friends the one thing you cannot leave the house without is a book. Well, at least I can't. So this one is definitely an essential for me -- will not go anywhere without it!

#7: Sunglasses Sunglasses can totally change the way you look -- I love them! I don't own many (just 2) but both of them are good quality and expensive, so it's enough for me. *Remember, quality over quantity*

#8: Knit Cover-Up This is perfect for the beach, where it's hot but windy at the same time. The bagginess of the sweater makes it look effortless but cute, and because it's knit it'll save you from the cold wind.

#9: Victoria's Secret Body Splash These. Are. Epic. They smell amazing, they aren't as heavy as perfume and they make you feel so refreshed on a 100+ day (especially if you keep them in the fridge!).  A definite must-have.

And finally,

#10: My Phone This was a no-brainer. My phone is always in my hand, I cannot go anywhere without it! I use it for everything -- pictures, taking notes, Temple Run... :p

Yeshhhhh, so I hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you think!

xoxo,
Liz

Travel Savvy: Airport Fashion

I'm so excited about my trip to Spain this summer (I'm getting so bored just sitting at home doing nothing)! And I can't wait to share some tips and tricks that may help you travel with ease. So, I decided to start my very first series on this blog, called "Travel Savvy". In this first post out of the series, I'd like to share some tips on how to dress to the airport. Hope you guys enjoy and find this helpful!

Tip #1: Long Hair, Don't Care! Well, you should care. If you have long hair, it's best to put it up during the flight. It can be such a pain, especially if the flight is a long one -- your gorgeous locks will get all tangled up and messy (and very oily). So it's best of you put your  hair up in a cute pony or a bun, that way it won't bother you during the flight.

Tip #2: Less is More. When it comes to on-flight makeup, less is definitely more. Keep it simple with some mascara, powder, and some lipgloss. You're not going on a fashion show or anything, so it doesn't matter if you don't look your best.

Tip #3: Bundle Up! When it comes to what accessories to wear to the airport, a scarf is your best bet. You can easily take it off if it gets too hot, or bundle up in it if it gets too cold! You can also use it as an extra pillow or blanket if you decide to take a nap. The scarf in the picture is from American Eagle -- I love their scarfs, they have so many cute patterns and designs!

Tip #4: Keep it simple. Dark washed jeggings and a loose tee is the comfiest you can get without the outfit being too casual (you don't want to look like you just got out of bed!). Let the scarf do all the talking, don't put too many bracelets or bangles on, as it can be a pain to take them off while going through customs. Also, it's best to wear slip-on shoes, because lace-ups can get a bit uncomfortable tying and untying in customs. I personally love UGGs as 'airport shoes' -- they feel like slippers!

xoxo,
Liz

photos from here, and here :)

Outfit Of The Day: Simple and Classy

This outfit pretty much sums up my style, which is why I thought it would be the perfect outfit to write a blog post on. This outfit is appropriate for school, work, weekend, or night, if you dress it up with black pumps. I wore the jeans with the bottoms rolled up, to give it a preppier, more summer-y vibe. I also paired this with simple black flats, but then I just changed out of them and wore flip-flops ;)

• The sunglasses are Marc by Marc Jacobs,
• the jeans are the A&F jeggings,
• the top is from Zara,
• the bag is also from Zara,
• and the little bracelet that you can hardly see (it's to the left of the bag) is a chain bracelet from Patricia Pepe

I hope you liked this short little blog post, didn't have much time to type up a proper one, and let me know if you want me to do more Outfit Of The Days!

xoxo,

Liz

What's on my iPhone?

I've always been a tech-y kind of girl... I got my first phone very early (I think I was 5 or 6), which, of course, was a privilege. I remember it being a Motorola, the screen was black and white, and there was only one ringtone. Then I accidentally dropped it and it broke :p. From then on, all of my phones have been Nokia. I know, I know, people make jokes about them and say that they're impossible to break (they really are!) but I just loved them so much! When the first iPhone came out I didn't even think about getting it. I loved my Nokias and I never thought I would go back to any other phone. Then my parents both got iPhones and I hated them. I couldn't type on them at all and I just didn't like anything about them. After that, I was beginning to see more and more people with iPhones, but I still kept my vow to Nokia and I was still strongly agains iPhones. But then, my friend introduced me to Instagram. That's when I started really growing on the iPhone. I borrowed my Mom's iPhone whenever she wasn't using it and I pretty much abandoned my Nokia. After a couple of weeks of using my Mom's iPhone non-stop, my parents decided that it was time I got an iPhone, and I have to say, by that time I really wanted one. So, about a week ago I got my very first iPhone. I got the iPhone 4S (mine is black, I didn't want a white one) and let me tell you, I LOVE IT. I've been using it 24/7! Ok, enough about my phone, I'm going to get to listing the apps on my phone that I have for this moment and telling you guys a little about each one.


1) Facebook
Just the average Facebook app, it does make browsing Facebook much easier on the phone than just using the web version.



2) Twitter
Even though I don't use Twitter, I still stalk people from there, so it's comfy to have the app ;)


3) PicFrame
This is an amazing app for stitching pictures together/making a collage and I use it a lot to post pics on Instagram. You can choose from tons of options of different picture "frames" and the borders of the frame can be different colors and I just love it!


4) Instagram
Hello, my name's Liz, and...I'm an Instagram addict. >.< I can't say enough about this! This app, as I already said, is what sparked my love for iPhones. It's basically an app where you just share your pictures that you can filter through different filters and make them very tumblr-esque. I Instagram every. Single. Day. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah, I love it!

5) Emoji Free
This app is used by a lot of my friends who have iPhones and it's basically an app that installs a different "language" keyboard with a bunch of little cartoon-y smiley faces and cars and animas and whatnot. It's a very easy and fun way to send smiley faces through texts.

6) Yelp!
Yelp! is a cool app if you don't know your town/city that well or if you're just looking for new places in town. It locates where you are and then shows you different restaurants, bars, cafés, salons, gyms, etc. I live in Russia, so it doesn't work where I live, but when I'll be in America, I think it'll help a lot.

7) Fitness Buddy
This is a good app if you're into working out (like moi). It has tons of great exercise moves for your, lower body, chest, shoulders, back and arms, as well as stretches and cardio. You can keep an exercise log and make your own workout schedule and such... It's kind of confusing and hard to figure out at first, but it gets easy after a while (I still don't know how to use it properly).

8) MyNetDiary
This app is my new obsession. It's like a food log, except it'll calculate your BMI and BMR and it'll tell you how many calories you have to consume a day... It just helps me a lot and if you want to keep a healthy lifestyle this app is for you.

9) Shazam 
Everyone raves about this app and they do for a reason. It is. Amazing. So you know that moment when you're driving in the car or listening to music from the speakers in the gym, and then you hear this song that you really want to get, but you don't know the name of it or the artist? Well, then this app is for you. You record a couple of seconds of the song using the recorder in the app, and it gives you the name of the song, the artist, and the album which the song is from. So helpful!

10) Countdown+
Just your average countdown app. Nothing much I can say about it. It's okay, nit the best, but at least it's free ;)

11) HauteLook
This is for us girls who love bargains. Okay, who doesn't love bargains? I'm sure a lot of you know about the HauteLook website, where everyday there are flash sales for designer brands that are super discounted. Well, this is the same thing, except an app. The convenient thing about the app, though, is that you can choose for it to send you notifications so you know when a certain sale is going on.

12) Hollister
OMG, I can't explain how obsessed I become with Hollister for the summer time! This is basically just an app where you can view some of the bestsellers from Hollister at the moment as well as new items.

13) Abercrombie and Fitch
Same thing as the Hollister app, except it's Abercrombie :p

14) Etsy
Etsy is an amazing online store where you can buy/sell handmade or vintage items. It's amazing, I love to shop there for accessories and cases for my phone. The app is basically just a website viewer for your phone that allows you to view the items more conveniently than on Safari.

15) OPI
Just a nail polish viewer where you can "try on" the different OPI colors on your skin tone and browse the colors.

16) Temple Run
I've been playing this game 24/7 for the past 3 days and my high score is about 750,000 ;) Pretty good for me. I'm sure that you already know this app, so I'm not going to go all into describing that game, basically you just flick the screen and the character runs around and the further you go, the faster the character runs and after a while it gets really hard...

Hope you guys enjoyed and let me know what kind of apps you haven your iPhone ;)

P.S. Feel free to follow me on Instagram, my user name is lizzyfurs

xoxo,
Liz

photo from dis awesome website

Kindle Touch Review

I spend more time reading than I spend doing anything else. I love that when you read, you can travel into a whole new place and time, meet new people, and let your imagination run wild. Up until a couple of months ago I was a strong believer in books. Actual paper books. I loved the texture of the pages, the size of the book, the bookmarks, the bookstores -- everything. But, of course, there's a but. And the but is, that I go to school. And carry a tote (not a backpack -- a tote). Le me just say, there are many advantages and disadvantages of a tote. One of the disadvantages being that you can't stuff it with heavy stuff and carry it around 10 hours a day out of 24 without hurting your arm. So, I decided that it was time for a Kindle. I needed something lightweight, small, with a black and white display, and easy to use. After long, loooooooooong days of research I decided on the Kindle Touch. I've been using it for 4 months already and I really really like it. So. Let's get to the basics, shall we?

Out of all of the e-readers I felt like the Kindle Touch was the best fit for me. First of all, it's tiny. The measurements are 6.8''x4.7''x0.4'' and it only weighs 7.5 oz. That's really light for an e-reader, in opinion. It fits very comfortably in my hand and it fits in my bag and doesn't weigh it down because of it's small size. Another resin why I chose the Kindle Touch was because I didn't want an e-reader to read magazines or play games. I just needed a simple device to store books on and that I could take with me to school or easily travel with. A huge pro for me in the Kindle Touch (or any e-reader, for that matter) is that you can store thousands of books on them. It's like carrying 3000 books in you school or beach bag, except your just carrying an e-reader. I love that I have the option to choose which book I want to read, anytime, any place. Now, some of you ay be thinking, why not just use your iPhone or iPad to read books? Well, first of all, my eyesight isn't the best already and staring into an LED screen won't make it any better. And I love the screen of the Kindle, it looks like fake picture or something! And I also love that the screen is plastic, that way you can't really scratch it. I have a cover for mine which makes it look like it's a book when closed and I really like it. Also, the books that you buy from Amazon on the Kindle are significantly cheaper than just buying them from the bookstore.

I do still read normal books when I'm at home, but I mostly use my Kindle. It's very conventional and comfortable in usage and I just can't think of anything I don't like in it. I hope you enjoyed this mini-review post, please feel free to comment and leave suggestions :)

xoxo,

Liz

photo from here

My first post on my very first blog... Last day of school. Summer officially starts tomorrow. What better time to start a blog? So, a little bit about me. I'm currently 13, born in Austin, TX, love everything fashion, makeup, and just all things girly. I love writing, reading, and taking pictures. I also enjoy horseback riding and I've been doing it since I was 5. Obsessed with summer, swimming pools, and I'm also a crazy organizational freak. I'm absolutely head-over-heels about One Direction (no hate please). Very, very talkative and I LOVE school (yes, you can call me nerdy :p)
This blog is basically going to be a huge collective thing of random little things in my life that I just want to talk about ;) Some posts will be extremely girly, but some will just be pretty random and silly ;) I really look forward to this and hope you guys enjoy!
xoxo,
Liz