Sunday Social!

Happy Sunday friends! It has been quite a while since I have participated in Neely's Sunday Social link-up, but apparently getting my wisdom teeth other this past Thursday has made me quite the blogger!! I am on a roll if I do say so myself! So here are this week's questions and let me know if you link up! I would love to read your answers!
What is currently on your wish list?

{via}

{via}

{via}

Share a new iphone, droid, ipad app you have recently discovered that we all need.

I've always been the type of person who needs their schedule on hand at all times. Since my purse is the size of a small suitcase, I oftentimes do have my Erin Condren planner on hand, but I still like to have an electronic form of my day to day activities. I downloaded the Week Calendar app a while back when I was frustrated with the calendar app that came with the iPhone. With two jobs, school work, and various appointments and things I needed to have separate 'calendars' within my calendar app to keep everything organized. And I love it! I keep it color coordinated with my EC planner so everything makes sense whether I'm looking at the paper or electronic version of my life!

this week's schedule for example
I already talked about how much I love the iHeartRadio app in my favorite's post, but truly if you don't have this on your phone, what are you waiting for? 
What is a new Fall TV show that you have added to your DVR?
It's a sore subject, but I still don't have DVR! (Damn you Time Warner!) BUT i I did, you bet your bottom dollar Nashville would be on there!

Share your social media links for us to follow you on (pinterest, twitter, facebook, etc). Tell us which is your favorite and why.
Pinterest {here} Twitter {here} Tumblr {here} Instagram @swtcarolinagrl5 Youtube {here}
I love all forms of social media, but if I had to choose a favorite it would be Twitter. I think blogs are a way to 'meet' people, and then you actually get on Twitter and talk to each other and become 'friends.' If I had to give up my blog tomorrow I would still have twitter to talk to all the girls I chat with on a daily basis. 
They all have their perks though. Tumblr for me is like lazy man's blogging, Pinterest houses my dream wardrobe, house, wedding, and menu; Instagram is for when I'm too tired to read Twitter, and Youtube is where I discovered my love for all things beauty-related.   What is a TV series or movie or song you could listen to or watch over and over and over and never get tired of...feel free to name one of each!
TV Series

Big Bang Theory

Movie

Song

It's so hard to choose just one song, so I'm going with one artist...Carrie Underwood!
Hope everyone has a great ending to their weekend!

London Traveling & Day 1

Welcome to post #1 of my London recaps! I'm sure this is going to get wordy so lets get started!

Traveling/Day 1

Our traveling day started out with me rushing to get packed before leaving for the airport (literally the hour before we left), but once we got to the airport in Columbia our flight was delayed. Long story short we eventually get off the ground, then run through the Atlanta airport to make our connecting flight to London. While waiting for our London plane to take off, this man appeared on our plane...

...President Jimmy Carter! Now even though he was way before my time and was CERTAINLY not the greatest president, this will probably be the only President I will meet in my lifetime, so nevertheless it was pretty cool.

The flight over to London was not the most pleasant experience. It was just under 8 hours, and out of those 8 I probably got 1 hour of sleep! Our seats were just way too uncomfortable and small that it was impossible to get comfy. The whole family agreed that first class was the way to go next time!

**First view of London!**

When we arrived at Heathrow Airport it was about 10am local time and rainy (shocker right?!?). We quickly gathered our luggage and caught a cab into downtown London. 

**all of our luggage in the small cab**

I can't for the life of me remember the name of our hotel, but it was in the Knightsbridge area across from Victoria & Albert Museum and walking distance from Harrods and an Underground station. It was a VERY nice hotel and we would definitely stay there again! So after checking in and freshening up we walked a couple blocks to grab some lunch and then our first tourist destination...Harrods!!

**not my pic**

Is it a real shocker that I wasn't even in the country for 4 hours and I was already visiting the largest department store in the world?!? Walking into that store is definitely a giddy/overwhelming experience. There are soooo many different rooms and departments and floors it's hard to know where to begin...the handbags alone were in about 6 different rooms that took up almost the entire first floor! I wish I could have taken pictures of it all, but naturally there was security everywhere so picture taking was no-no.

I of course headed straight to the room I knew Louis Vuitton was in and made the purchase 3 years in the making!

I'm not going to go into much detail about my purchase since I talked about it in my London Haul video. But I am still in love with this bag and 100% don't regret my purchase!

Upon leaving Harrods we quickly returned to the hotel and all napped and recovered from jet lag!!

Keep a lookout for Day 2's post soon!! 

London Vacation Haul

Happy Friday everyone!! I was SO thankful to actually have today off from work so I could relax and recover from a pretty busy week. If you haven't been following me on twitter (which you should @swtcarolinagrl5) I've been occupied this week not only with work and getting back into the swing of things but also interviewing for a new job that I'm crossing my fingers for! I should find out sometime early next week if I got the position so hopefully I will be able to share more soon!

 Anywhoo, today I thought I would post a video showing all the fun things I got while on my vacation in London. I'm also hoping to put up a couple posts recapping what all we did while we were over there. But I hope you guys enjoy the video and have a great start to the weekend!!!

Recent Hauling

While I was taking my summer class, my days were consumed with formulas and titrations and frantically fitting all I could on a notecard the night before a test. Now that my class is OVER (and PTL I got a B!) I have more time for things I love...like shopping of course!

Here are some things I have picked up over the last couple weeks...

I actually went to a different Bath and Body Works again during their Semi-Annual sale from the haul I showed in the video and picked up just a couple more things. The sale is over but I went into B&BW yesterday and they still had a couple tables with things clearanced out.

Now that we have a Forever 21 in town its so hard for me to purchase jewelry anywhere else! This was a small purchase but I have already bought 5 other pairs of earrings and a couple rings.

Can you believe all these earrings only cost $4.80! Main reason I bought these is because I needed a pair of earrings to wear to work that wouldn't hurt my ears since I'm on the phone a large part of my day. The smallest balls will probably be too little but I'm excited to try the 2 larger options.

This is the first time I have bought anything beauty-related at Forever 21. I needed a light blue nail polish because I bought the OPI Last Friday Night from the Katy Perry collection, which is a the blue glitter polish. Unlike Last Friday Night from that collection, it is a very sheer glitter, so I bought this light blue polish to use as a base. Hopefully it will be a decent enough polish!

My mom and I recently took a day trip to Charlotte for some shopping and you know I had a list prepared for Sephora!! I didn't get as much as had planned (my mom doesn't quite understand my beauty obsession and I didn't wanna give her sticker shock!) but did get a few fun things!

This is my absolute most favorite lip balm!! If you can't read it, it's the Jack Black intense therapy lip balm in lemon and chamomile. At $7.50 it is a little pricier than drugstore lip balms, but I only use it at night right before I go to bed so 1 tube lasts me almost 6 months. My lips get really dry at night, especially in the winter, and this by far has given me the best results. If you look on Sephora.com they have a special duo thats only $10 for 2 of the full sized tubes (different flavors) so I definitely suggest checking these out!

I have been on the hunt for a "waterproof" eyeliner that actually stays on my water line. I have tried numerous drug store varieties and even the famous Urban Decay 24/7 pencil and nothing has worked. So while I was in Sephora I wanted to pick up a new option but didn't want to spend a ton of money. I quickly found out that most high end brands do not sell and black-brown eyeliner! They would have black, all the crazy colors, and a rich chocolate brown, but no black-brown. (I have the UD 24/7 pencil in Whiskey and the brown color just looks weird on me) So I decided for $9 I would try this Sephora pencil. Hopefully it has put an end to my search!!

The product I was MOST excited about purchasing was my NARS Laguna Bronzer! I bought a kit from Sephora way back during their friends and family sale that had a mini size of the Orgasm/Laguna duo. I always thought that I would fall for the Orgasm blush and would just toss the bronzer aside, but O NO MY FRIEND! This bronzer is amazing!!!

I quickly found out that NARS' Orgasm blush has quite a few drugstore dupes that are almost the exact same or very very similar, but I had been having a really hard time finding something like Laguna. The awesome thing about Laguna is that it has very little to no shimmer in comparison to the other bronzers I own. If you look in the pan it does have a little sparkle, but it barely shows up on the face. It's great for an all-over face application that will give you that great summer glow as long as you use a light hand. It's also great for contouring if you use a little bit more product. It is definitely pricey at $33 (probably the most I've spend on a single makeup product! **not including palettes**) but its a pretty good size and I never need to buy another bronzer!

As excited as I was about the bronzer, my Toms were by far my most favorite purchase of the day!!! I had heard very little about Toms until about a year ago when they quickly become popular on campus. I had seen all the different glitter pairs and fell in love! I'd been debating for a while now whether or not to get a pair (are they my style? would I really wear them?) but I finally bit the bullet and got the black glitter! The black is definitely the most subtle of the glitter options, so I figured I would get the most use out of them and would be able to wear them to work.

I wore them 2 days ago running around town and have to say they were pretty comfortable! The true test will be a long work day when I'm on my feet for 8 hours, so we'll see what I say then! But I so happy I decided to get them, and it's also great that a child in need will also be getting a pair of shoes!

So those are the things I have purchase over the last month or so. I'm trying my best not the spend too much money the rest of summer so I can save for bills (ugh!) and a potential big purchase later on!

Have you bought anything recently you just absolutely love??

Any recommendations on a truly waterproof eyeliner??

Hope yall are having a fabulous week! My June favorites post should be up in the next day or so!

xoxo

Natalie

This weekend my family took a trip down to Charleston. We originally planned this trip months ago so that we could do the Cooper River Bridge Run, but last week just drained us all (me: school, parents: work) that we ended up sleeping in Saturday morning!

Around noon we decided to head downtown and just walk around a do a little shopping. Of course I had to spend some time at the new Forever 21 on King Street! It was mid-afternoon when we went so it was jam packed with teeny-boppers and the fitting room/check-out lines were insane! So I stuck to the jewelry section and picked up some great things! I can't wait till the Forever 21 opens here in Columbia...I'll never buy accessories anywhere else! (I hate spending money on jewelry I will wear every once in a while or is such a statement piece I can only wear it so often)

I didn't mean to stick to the same color palette, but you can't go wrong with black, white, and gold!

This ring might be my favorite piece! I wore it shortly after we left the store and realized it matches my Michael Kors tortoise watch PERFECTLY!! I thought it was such a neat piece with the black and brown stones.

This bracelet set was a great find! I would have spent $5.80 on the top bracelet alone! It's hard to tell from this pic but its 2 strands of pearls, a couple chains, and a black ribbon all intertwined into one bracelet with a black bow! I tried to find both of these pieces online but they aren't listed :( I would definitely check out your local store though!

Sunday we got to sleep in again (first time in forever!) and my mom and I got to shop at the outlets in North Charleston before heading home. These outlets are only a couple years old, but from each time I visit it has gotten a couple new stores and seems to be well on its way to becoming an outlet worth making the trip for! Some of the stores I will ALWAYS visit when going to an outlet are:

1) Coach: I used to be a HUGE Coach fanatic (not so much anymore) but my mom loves their leather purses and they ALWAYS have either 20% or 30% off the entire store, so it's worth going in to look for a steal.

2) Cosmetics Company Outlet: I always used to go in here to stock up on my Clinique skincare items, but now that I have fallen even more in love with makeup, it's so much fun to browse this store and see what you can find. Often they have items from MAC's previous collections, but also have items from Bobbi Brown, Origins, Bumble and Bumble, Estee Lauder, Prescriptives, and all kinds of fragrance. Definitely a must for any makeup junkie!

3) Ralph Lauren Polo: Like with Coach, I was a HUGE Polo fan back in high school and early years of college. I have realized that unless I catch this store with a really good sale (think Thanksgiving or Christmas time), they are still kinda expensive. But if you need to replace a certain color polo or one of their oxfords, this your place!

4) Nike: I will ALWAYS go to Nike and pick up at least one pair of my tempo shorts! This trip I restricted myself to just one pair, but it was hard! Unless you find them on clearance, they are typically $3 cheaper than in retail stores ($25 vs. $28). The outlets also have their own 'style' of the tempo shorts, so if you want the exact ones you see in stores, just looks closely.

I ended up buying the light blue pair on the left and have already worn them :)

Unfortunately the outlets as a whole just weren't having that great of sales, and I was getting kinda bummed I wasn't buying anything, so I headed over to Bath and Body Works. This was just a regular store, but I knew I could pick up some of my lovely PocketBacs for cheap and get myself outta my funky mood! The ones I bought are below...

The first 3 are from their new collection of scents in honor of the royal wedding. There are 3 different scents to choose from, but I only picked up 2 because I wasn't too fond of how the other one smelled (I believe it was a berry one or something). They also have a couple lipglosses with the royal wedding theme as well, so make sure you check them out!

Hope everyone else had a good weekend and start to the week! I gotta go study for a spanish test now :(

xoxo

N

Quick! Need Yall's Opinion!

Happy Superbowl Sunday! Tonight until 11pm PST Dogeared Jewelry is having 20% off their entire site! For those of yall not familiar with Dogeared, they have the most delicate and beautiful pieces of jewelry ever! Each piece comes on a cardboard square that has a message on it pertaining to the charm on the necklace/bracelet etc. I have been browsing this site for a couple months now and could never make a decision as to which one to get. Right now my life is kinda crazy and I'm not sure where I'll end up, so I thought this would be a perfect time to purchase an inspiring piece. Problem is I have narrowed it down to 2 and just can't decide!!

Make a wish and put on your necklace. get ready to accomplish the incredible! You can do whatever you set your mind and your heart to. wear your necklace as a reminder that you are capable of anything you imagine.

Make a wish and put on your necklace. the lotus flower grows up through the dark and out into the light of the sun. let your necklace be a reminder of the incredible beauty that can come from change. grow and believe!

Which one do I pick?? If you would like to take part in the sale, you still have a couple hours! Just enter the code SUPERSHOP2011 at checkout!

Turkey Weekend Recap

Hello all 5 of yall who are reading this! Every post I write on here starts off with "sorry I've been gone so long..." so I'm just gonna stop saying it and when I can write, I will. But *hopefully* I'll be on here more!

ANYWAYS.....

Thanksgiving weekend came with a VERY welcomed couple days of school. After working Wednesday, my family and I drove up early Thursday morning to Lake Lure, NC where my grandparents are. We only get to see my dad's parents a couple times a year, and with my mom's parents already gone, we always try to include them in the holidays and invite them down for the weekend (we only see my dad's side of the family around Christmas...LONG STORY). So we got to visit with them and of course have a DELICIOUS meal!

Friday we got up, had some breakfast then began heading back to Columbia. Since my dad is VERY gracious and understands the NEED to go shopping on Black Friday, we stopped at the Gaffney outlets for a couple hours. And let me tell ya the deals were GOOD! The outlet mall isn't very big, but it has your typically stores like J.Crew, Coach, Nike, Ralph Lauren etc. Even thought the funds are seriously lacking right now, I managed to snag a pair of matchstick jeans at J.Crew for 40% off and I needed a new black tee because I realized my old staple had a hole in it. This outlet mall also has a Bare Escentuals outlet, which I have never seen anywhere else! And since I use their foundation, I picked up a new foundation brush since mine had seen better days for just $12.50...thats over 50% off! And lastly I got an ADORABLE dress for the SEC Championship (more about that later!) at Ralph Lauren. I would post a pic, but it was a little too long so my mom is hemming it before the big game in Atlanta! So once its finished I'll make sure to post a pic.

Saturday was spent relaxing and preparing for the BIG game that night....CAROLINA VS. CLEMSON!!!! No matter how the seasons are going, this game has a mind of its own, but thankfully our Gamecocks pulled it out!

Now that the weekend's over, I'm down to the last week of classes, which I can't believe this semester is over already!!! I've also got my last tennis match of the season, a work shift, the Junior League Holiday Market, and the SEC Championship game in Atlanta baby!!! Somewhere in there I have a paper to write too ;) But I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving weekend, and if you want a more day to day update on my life, make sure to follow me on twitter @swtcarolinagrl5 :)

Sephora Haul and Review

I also did a review on Herbal Essences 'Tousle Me Softly' haircare line if you would like to check that out on my YouTube channel. Hope everyone is having a great week!! I'm hoping to get up a real post sometime later this week.

Haul: Bath and Body Works, TJ Maxx, and Target

My *mini* Summer Oasis

I bought two of these Bath and Body Works candles when they had them on sale 2 for $20. I absolutely LOVE the smell. The Island Margarita scent is just so clean and fresh smelling. Now its not exactly like a margarita, but its pretty similar. I've had one of the candles sitting on my kitchen bar and for the longest time wanted to burn it but I quickly came to realize I didn't have a lighter! So on one of the MANY trips to Target, I picked up and lighter and got to burn my candle for the first time...and it is AMAZING! It is triple wicked so it doesn't take long for the top layer to become liquid (they say that candles have a memory and the first time you burn them you want to make sure you burn the first layer clean. **does this make sense???**) ANYWAYS...since it is triple wicked it only took about an hour for the top layer to burn, which is perfect for me since I lit it later at night and didn't wanna stay up for hours waiting for the layer to burn.

So long story short...I love this candle, will probably be repurchasing another 1 or 2 before they retire this scent for the summer **sadness!** and highly recommend these candles. They give me just a little bit of a summer oasis!! Now all I need is a real margarita and I'll be all set!!!

Summer Saving

This summer since I am not taking any classes I've had to opportunity to pretty much work full time. During the school year I ask that they only schedule me 10-15 hours a week since my class load is pretty heavy, but the past couple weeks I have been averaging about 30 hours a week. Which means a LOT more money than I'm used to! I do of course have a couple monthly bills I take care of, but I am fortunate that my parents provide me with an apartment to stay in (which I WILL do a picture/video tour of eventually!) and frequently help me out in other areas. Recently I decided that since I am making more money than I'm used to, I wanted to save a good chunk of that money and put it towards an "investment" piece. Now I did get some money back from the government that my parents put away in my roth IRA, so I wanted to think of something that I knew I would use for years to come and would never go outta style. So naturally Louis Vuitton immediately came to mind. I have always loved the timelessness of the company and how these bags are passed on from generation to generation. I initially thought I would save up to purchase one of the Speedy models, but I really wanted a bag that I could use in college and beyond. So I decided that I needed a bag that would fit over the shoulder, causing me to decide on the Neverfull GM! I have seen this bag periodically talked about in my own little blogosphere and LOVED it! I am always a sucker for big purses, and although I haven't seen this one in person yet, the size seems perfect for an everyday bag that can also hold a notebook or binder or whatever I need for class or a future career.

At first I couldn't decided if I wanted to classic Monogram Canvas. Everyone has that pattern and is familiar with it, so I'm thinking about getting Damier Ebene Canvas (similar colors to the Monogram, but a checker print). But I'm still undecided.

Are any of yall planning on saving up for a big purchase in the near future? Have you purchased a "luxury/investment" piece that you absolutely LOVE? Please let me know and if you have any opinions on the Neverfull or you think there's a better bag out there I should be saving for!! Hope everyone has a good weekend!!!

First Lush Video

Resort Lilly 2009

Resort is here! I love the anticipation whenever I know a new Lilly line is coming out. I've barely bought anything from the last couple lines (shameful I know!) so I'm really excited about these new pieces and the new ORIGINALS collections! Here are a few, ok a LOT, of my favorite pieces...

What were some of your favorite pieces from Resort?