Welp. Bye August of 2016 it was nice knowin' ya! We are finally finally FINALLY in the month of September woo woo woo woo. I spent an incredible holiday weekend up in Lake Arrowhead and it was literally the perfect transition weekend into Fall. The air was chilled and when the fog rolls up the side of the mountain and spills onto the streets and houses around the lake it feels like you could be living in a cloud. I was able to wear my new bomber jacket (which shall be put in my favorites below!) and actually not feel crazy for bundling up.
We also went to the resort for a cheeky little massage and gaaahhh it was pure heaven! I think I will need to do a good post for Lake Arrowhead the next time I'm up there...
Without further ado here are my August loves

Clothing// 

Makeup //

Accessories// 

Misc. //

So I feel like I kind of hit a wall in the blogging section of my mind. Honestly, the problem is that I have so many more ideas for fall and winter posts that this awkward, uncomfortably hot, everlasting summer time is just trè trè uninspiring. As I was racking my brain I realized that I have never done a celebrity/blogger/youtuber style post. I have an ENTIRE SECRET Pinterest page just dedicated to celebrity fashion. I have no clue why I keep it on private but Hey we aren't here to ask questions about my weird quirks right? Right.
So as I mentioned in my July Favorites (which can be devoured here) I read "Grace & Style: The Art of Pretending You Have It" and it made my internal gospel choir rejoice. Not only is Grace Helbig unreal gorg but her style tips are so frustratingly sensible! I feel like my style is never ever ever the same and literally changes with my moods so I have a crap ton of random pieces in my closet.

Example:
1. a Woodstock T-shirt for when I channel the flower child vibe
2. button up collared blouse for when I channel my inner preppy vibe
3. vintage dresses from when I wanted to be Zooey Deschanel

It's such a mess and is truly an example of my inner self but I'm telling you the book made me really rethink my shopping habits (as well as a crisis when I literally screamed at my closet for not having anything I liked). So here are some of the pins I have collected of Grace and her fab sense of fashion!

JU got to be LYing to me that this month is already over. (badpunbadpunsbadpuns) It went lightening fast and honestly the biggest "accomplishment" I made was finishing the Harry Potter series which you, my friend, can read about here. Today I got an email from Bath and Body Works -- we're in a pretty personal relationship, nothin special -- and lo and behold THEY ARE ADVERTISING FALL CANDLES. Okaaayyyyy I mean cool. yeah. I'm cool with it.
To think that for the past four summers I was preparing to go back to school around this time. Saying goodbyes, planning my return trip (war flashbacks to packing/traveling with said luggage), and getting back into the school mentality.
But NOW I'm approaching that endless void of "you can do what you want now" and... well... HALP.
And now for the moment you've all been sitting on the edge of your seats for -- I know the anxiety is a lot for me too-- what did I like/love for the summertime month of July:

Makeup

Another day, another British Youtuber's product to review. I was excited to see that Tanya Burr had released a new range of beauty items in June, along with her adorable cookbook "Tanya Bakes." As I had never purchased her other beauty products I wanted to try a singular item in the hopes that I would be urged to buy more! Waste not, want not my friends.
After looking over the other items (although the Martha Moo Luxe Lip Gloss was a high contender) I decided to go with the Enchanted Dream Eye Palette. And just like the Zoella Beauty products I reviewed a few weeks ago the shipping took ages! I was pleasantly surprised when the package arrived in the mail yesterday and was eager to try it and review.

The aesthetic of the packaging is very, very cute. Not being a huge fan of purple, it seems to be a perfect color scheme with the pigment of the eye shadows. The heart mirror is such an adorable touch to the palette and actually has a good quality for a lower cost product.
I absolutely love the names of the pigments as well: Moonlit walk, Cocoa Plum, Berry Soufflé, and Magic Carpet.
Now on to the actual usage of the eye shadows. I am not going to lie, when I first swatched them I was a little nervous about the transparency. The top two shades do have a lot of shimmer to them while the bottom two are more matte based. For the price, however, I do have to say I loved the way the end result turned out. These are exactly the colors I would wear on a daily basis to work, going out, etc.
I will report back on the staying power as well but for now I would definitely recommend these palettes to my friends and family! And like the packaging on the back says, stay forever enchanting my friends :) xoxo Sam

Heya! Well it has been a very eventful week here and I am just sort of beginning to wrap my brain around it all. Without getting into detail, I will be (and already have been) interviewing for possible job positions in some great businesses. Now I won't be saying what they are but I am extremely hopeful and can't wait to see what comes of them.
However, I know all too well how anxiety-inducing interviewing can be. Especially if it is a higher level position than a typical retail or restaurant job. Not that I am an expert in any way, shape or form, but I am learning different things that have helped me get through them.
I can get horrible social anxiety in situations that I feel are out of my control and one of the most important tasks for me is realizing that interviews ARE in your control. Here is my typical routine before any interview:

1. Be Prepaaaarrreeeddd (Lion King reference lol)
This tip will come up on pretty much any google search of "how to prepare for job interviews" but it means something different from my perspective. When setting up dates for an interview I always set it for a time in the early morning. Why you may ask? because then I'm not sitting around panicking all day long and psyching my self out. Once the interview is set (hopefully with at least three days of mental preparation) I start rehearsing. I will literally stand in front of a mirror and answer questions that you can find online.
At first it is awkward to try to come up with what makes you so wonderful right off the top of your head. And that's okay! That's why you are practicing now. And really take this time for some inward reflection as well. Don't say "I have no hobbies" or "Strengths? Who me?" (two thoughts I have literally had on multiple occasions). And I don't lie and say "My hobbies include making media strategies in my mind" because they know that ain't the truth. Just be yourself!

2. Talk It Out
Whether it's with friends, family, a roommate, a random stranger at Starbucks, tell someone about your nerves. 9/10 times they know exactly how you are feeling (or at least to some degree) and may have helpful hints that they themselves have learned from their previous experiences.
I will literally call up anyone I can beforehand and ask for advice or just vent about how the process is making me feel. They will always be supportive of you.

3. Walk it Out
Exercise can be such a great stress relief, especially with anxiety. I, my friends, am not in great shape so if I go out for a run chances are I am thinking too much about my collapsed lung than my job interview. Or go take a class, just get your mind away from things and sweat it out! Before one of my big interviews last year I took a Zumba class the night before. It was EXHAUSTING and completely hilarious (um 6'2'' Sam out dancing like a mad woman? A very high form of comedic release). That night I slept like a baby and the next day just kept that same mentality and was completely relaxed.

4. Go to Bed!
I am definitely a self-proclaimed insomniac ESPECIALLY if I'm nervous about an event the next day. So what do I do? Be home by 7 and start to wind down, put on some relaxing music, fill up a warm bath tub and sink in. After that do your whole bed time routine, pop a melatonin in (a natural sleep aid) and hop right into bed. Oh it's only 8:30? tough cookies, get in bed. Grab your interviewing notes and skim over them. Don't do practice runs, just browse over the notes you've made and put them away. Light a candle (or if you are like me, incense) and lower the lights. Close your eyes and vision yourself doing amazing at the interview. See them shaking hands with you, throwing cash at you as you walk out the door, starting a parade in your honor for greatest interview ever, whatever makes you happy! Keep your eyes closed no matter how awake your brain is, keep. them. closed. And don't get mad at yourself for not falling asleep just stay relaxed and keep envisioning success.

5. Know Your Worth
So you are all ready for the interview, nice and well dressed, arrived 10 minutes early, said your hello's and they ask you the first question... you draw a blank. Hey guess what, it happened to me. They said "tell me about yourself" and boom darkness. Don't let this get the better of you! Instead take a deep breath, smile, and continue on with the next question. You are an amazing person with incredible skills and knowledge... LET THAT SHINE THROUGH! Don't be intimidated by a professional because they were in the exact same spot at some point in your career.
And even if the interview was horrible and you know you won't be getting the position, don't lose that sense of how great you are. There will be other interviews and opportunities that will be exactly right for you.


So onward and upward my friends! Let me know if you have any tips/tricks that help you get through interviews :) xoxo Sam

So I can't believe I have never done a baking post on this blog even though I really love to bake sweeties! I think because our apartment in New York had such a small kitchen, I was never really inspired to bake anything unless it was a pop in the oven type of product. Being home I get to use my parents glorious kitchen and all of their supplies and ingredients and it makes it so much more fun!
I've had the cook book "The Craft of Baking" for a long time (I bought it when I wanted to go to culinary school... oh how time changes those dreams) and I never really baked any of the recipes in it besides the Banana Tarte Tatin which actually didn't turn out as awful as I expected.
This cook book is definitely not a beginners book as it requires a culinary expertise that, let's just face it, most people don't come equipped with unless you are a true and devout baker.
Today I decided to bake the Banana Cupcakes recipe because my sister is
going to stop by and she loves anything banana. The Peanut Butter Buttercream was a risk... I really didn't know how it would turn out. But in the end it is absolutely scrumptious!

Cupcakes 
Ingredients (MAKES 1 DOZEN):
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil (like who has grapeseed oil waiting in the cupboards???)
3/4 cup mashed banana (about 1 1/2 medium bananas, mashed with a fork)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (176.7 degrees Celsius). Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and oil. Whisk in the banana, egg, egg yolk, buttermilk, and vanilla.
In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Using a whisk, mix the flour mixture into the banana mixture until just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling them three quarters full. Bake, rotating the tin halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Invert the cupcakes onto a wire rack, turn them top side up. and let them cool completely.

Buttercream
Ingredients: 
2 large egg whites (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon pure vanillla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

To make the buttercream, fill a medium saucepan with 2 inches of water and bring it to a simmer. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl on top of the saucepan, and whisking constantly, heat the egg mixture until it is warm to the touch, about 3 minutes. Transfer the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and whisk on medium speed until the whites become translucent and shiny and form a soft peak, about 5 minutes more.
With the machine running, add the butter, a cube at a time, and mix until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and add the peanut butter, vanilla, and salt. Scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, beat until the buttercream becomes shiny and creamy, about 10 minutes. Spread the buttercream over the tops of the cupcakes, swirling it decoratively.



Enjoy! Xoxo Sam

Happy official first day of June everybody!!! The year is like half over and I'm just so confused as to how this happened? I know the years feel faster as you get older but my god it was literally just new years eve.

Oh, don't mind me just sitting here on the floor of an empty apartment trying to process the past five days... Graduation weekend is officially done and now I am a post graduate. All my friends have left and my roommate as well. My family left later yesterday but I quickly busied myself with packing so as not to linger too long on all the things I should be sad about.
The emphasis here is really on the fact that I SHOULD BE sad right now. Instead I feel unemotional (and if you really knew me you would find this terribly confusing). I am a pro at being overly emotional. I can cry on command and tend to get heartbroken from even the most menial of situations. But I'm sitting here waiting for tears to come and they haven't.
On graduation day I cried once for about five minutes as I hugged all my dearest friends goodbye. All of us caught up in the whirlwind of graduation, introducing parents to friends and friends to siblings etc etc. As we cabbed to the hotel I didn't feel upset knowing that when I returned to the apartment there would be no one there. Saying goodbye to my parents as they had an early flight, no tears. Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge with my sisters knowing it would be my last time walking around the city for a long long time, no tears. And even now as I have come to the full realization that it is over I can't cry.
Maybe I really did do a good job at prepping myself for the end. I am happy that I was never distant and right to the last minute my friends and I knew how much we loved each other and how special this time together has really been.
Actually, I think the part I'm most upset about is that I couldn't fit everything in my three pieces of luggage (shipping things from NYC is completely the bane of my existence). I'll be heading to a friends home in Long Island and then leaving Thursday night for California. So I suppose this will be my last post written in New York. As some parting remarks I just want to thank this city for being my escape. Thanks to Manhattan College for teaching me more than just education, the value of friendship. And thank you to this incredible experience that *even though I'm not crying* is heart-wrenching to believe that it has finally come to a close.
XOXO from New York Sam!

So back in 2013 when I was finishing up my first year of college I wrote a list of fifty different things I had learned during my time away. It is so funny to read back on them and honestly for the most part they are still very true. But as I have now completed four years I think I have a more complete understanding of myself and my time here. So I figured I would make a final list on the 50 most important lessons I've learned in college.
1. There's a 99.99% you're going to change your major.
2. Become friends with your professor, laugh at their dumb jokes, ask for guidance.
3. If you feel you are being treated unfairly by a professor, speak up. Chances are other students feel the same.
4. Grades are always negotiable.
5. If you think all nighters are a good idea...you're wrong. Do it once to say you have.
6. Learn the power of time management early on.
7. Extracurriculars are great but don't let them take over your life.
8. Read the g-dang books you are assigned in English classes. Reading is one of life's greatest treasures.
9. If you know your passion never let others interfere.
10. It's okay to not know your passion yet... keep experiencing life, it will come.
11. You may love your college town, you may hate your college town, but let it teach you a lesson about yourself.
12. There's a great chance you'll look into transferring... really assess if your current situation is as bad as you think it is.
13. Netflix should be consumed sparingly.
14. You are going to make best friends in college.
15. You are going to lose best friends in college.
16. That party/bar/frat house will most likely never be as great as spending a night in watching movies with friends.
17. Write your essays ahead of time. Don't become the night-before monster.
18. If you drink, make sure you trust the people you are with.
19. Having a bad day, week, semester is something everyone experiences.
20. Study Abroad. STUDY ABROAD. Even if they tell you it's impossible. Even if you have to take out loans. It will change you.
21. Don't study abroad with friends. Learning to travel alone will be extremely valuable.
22. Go somewhere you don't know the language.
23. Learn a new language in college. It could be the only chance you get.
24. Internships aren't going to come to you. It takes work.
25. Not having an internship doesn't make you a failure. Volunteer or join a club, it's all about experience.
26. Your parents miss you. Give them a call every once in awhile.
27. Leave your hometown for college.
28. Everyone has their own shit going on. But you are never to busy to call an old friend.
29. It's good you didn't peak in high school, it's even better not to peak in college... be patient that your time will come.
30. One day you'll look back at the memory of your first insane college roommate and laugh.
31. Don't compromise your own values to make friends.
32. Find people who are pieces of you, not the whole picture. Be unique.
33. Take advice sparingly... no one knows you like you do.
34. If you get a tattoo: Don't be drunk. Don't be cheap. Don't tell your parents.
35. It's okay to sleep around and it's okay to not sleep with anyone. Trust your intuition.
36. You will probably gain weight and lose it. You are more than the size of your jeans.
37. The cafeteria should never be taken for granted. Free chicken nuggets won't always be a reality.
38. If you thought you couldn't imagine a life without a boy maybe you don't love yourself as much as you thought.
39. If you do something awkward or embarrassing really own the moment.
40. Getting exempt from finals isn't a myth but it does take a lot of effort.
41. GPA doesn't reflect who you are as a person but it does reflect your dedication to learning.
42. Don't let people walk all over you. Find your voice but learn when to let things go.
43. There will be days you think it won't end. And there will be days you think it went too fast.
44. Don't kill yourself trying to be employed straight out of college. You have the rest of your life to work.
45. If you move somewhere cold... buy a good coat.
46. Take lots of pictures.
47. Four quarters is better than 100 pennies.
48. Say thank you to your parents.
49. Never take this time for granted.
50. ...

Hello! So New York has been just downright gloomy for literally like almost two weeks now. And if you live somewhere that has a colder climate you know that there is this weird/awkward inbetween phase where it's too hot to wear your big, puffy winter coats but is no where near warm enough to go without extra layers. I am someone who always jumps straight into summer once there is one hot day (it's the California in me I swear) and then I will be chronically cold for weeks after.
Now no one wants to go out and buy cold-weather clothes when summer is just around the corner but I scanned through some sites and found some pieces that would work well for the tween months!