COACHELLA DAY 2

Another Coachella post only 5 months late! If it wasn't for me being on Express.com this morning and seeing that my Denim Jacket and the backpack I used during Coachella were on sale I probably would have delayed this post another month or two... but I love you all and wanted you to be able to get the sale price I wish I had paid! 

I wasn't able to find my exact top as we all know if you see something you love at Forever 21 it won't be there tomorrow but I did find something pretty similar below. My shorts are Goodwill Levi's that I bought back in High School and distressed myself (#Blessed that they still fit!) Only one more Coachella outfit left to post! Hopefully it doesn't take me another 6 months to get that one up! 

BIG SWEATERS, MESSY HAIR

       

It is that time of year again in Chicago where the days of summer bliss are behind us and the cool fall air is starting to settle in! Being a Florida girl at heart it is always hard to kiss away the summer sun, however, I have always loved fall weather and big comfy sweaters! One of the beauty brands I work for threw a party last Friday in celebration of their 10th birthday and when my work bestie Meme showed up with bundles of eucalyptus for the party I immediately screamed "Photoshoot in the alley way NOW"! Safe to say all the girls in the building laughed at us but hey... I will never pass down a good photoshoot prop when I see one!

I have been loving this sweater from Express recently! It has big bell sleeves and hangs off the shoulder effortlessly. The jeans I'm wearing are from American Eagle and they are hands down my favorite "boyfriend" jean on the market! I would buy 100 pairs and wear them every day if it was socially acceptable! And I can't end this post without giving myself a mini clap on the back for my braid that day #BarefootBlondeHairGoals achieved. I swear I was sleeping when the rest of the world magically learned how to do every braid in the book... I'll rock the OG classic braid all day everyday with pride until I can up my game!

Can't wait to share more of my favorite fall looks with you all soon!

WALKING ON SUNSHINE

Can you believe this dress is from Forever 21 - I'm honestly not afraid to flaunt a good Forever 21 purchase when I find one. I'm completely obsessed with floral maxis for summer. There is something so effortless and chic about a good maxi and who doesn't love looking like they are wearing their grandmother's table cloth with the added touch of floral... I know I do! Ha! All jokes aside... I would be lying if I didn't say that I love that you can throw a maxi on and it instantly looks like you put a lot more effort into your outfit that you truly did. I'm just going to go ahead and say that Forever 21 has been killing it lately and I will definitely be making a trip back soon to pick up some additional dresses for summer! 

COACHELLA DAY I

Better late than never? That's what my grade school teachers always said so we will go with it! I am so happy to share with you my Coachella outfits from this year! I'm already extremely indecisive on a daily basis when it comes to getting dressed so let's just say the amount of returns and exchanges I went through in order to nail down my final 3 outfits was no easy task! I also knew I didn't want to spend a lot of money on my outfits because let's be real... where else is it going to be truly acceptable to wear a lace body suit with a sheer maxi. With that said I actually found the body suit and maxi at Forever 21 and was obsessed with the way the look came together. I tried to find the exact pieces on Forever 21's website for you girls but with how fast they change out the products on their site I knew I wasn't going to have much luck. I did try to find similar items and linked them below in case you girls also have an upcoming festival or just feel like dressing on the wild side! 

THERE'S A NEW BLOGGER IN TOWN: BLUSHROAD

There is nothing I love more than being surrounded by people that love the blogging community! My roommate Mia was the very first person I had ever met that also had her own blog (you can check out her blog HERE) and I thought it was the coolest thing ever that someone else shared that common interest!

Well recently one of my friends Brittany started her own blog as well which you can find by clicking HERE! We actually met when I was a senior in high school and she was a sophomore in an interior design class. I should have known from that alone we were bound to be friends for a very long time! I laugh when I think back to it because we were the only two people that actually enjoyed being in that class and completed all projects like we were working for Better Homes and Gardens!

Her outfits are absolutely flawless and she does a heck of a lot more OOTDs than I ever will, so hop on over to her blog, show her some love, and I promise you won't be disappointed! 

Hopefully I can convince her to help me out with some outfit posts in the near future! 

XO,

Lauren

WHAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAS 2014

This year my family and I decided to do a more minimalist Christmas and only get each other a few gifts that we each really wanted! In the past it has gotten out of hand and we find ourselves buying things that we don't really need or have any purpose for! I can honestly say I really liked this type of Christmas better because I had less than 10 gifts to wrap and that made Christmas even more enjoyable!

Bourbon and Boweties Bracelets

Kate Spade Wallet

L.L Bean Slippers

I hope you all had an amazing holiday season with friends and family! Tell me what you got for Christmas in a comment below!

LN93 - DAY 3

Let's just start off by saying today was the longest day of my life... a word of advice to all my fellow friends and family "DON'T GO OUT UNTIL 4 AM WHEN YOU HAVE TO BE UP AT 6AM THE NEXT DAY"... now that we got that out of the way, we can get into the serious stuff.

Want to know what lead to today being the longest day of my life...Check out yesterday's blog post by clicking HERE.

We have been doing so much walking in Paris and I think my feet and going to fall off before I even make it to London. I already have a massage, pedicure, and an appointment with a chiropractor lined up for when I get home. No but really I don't even know how I will make it to the end of this trip. I would have inserted a picture of how my feet look (blisters and all) but I will save you the horror out of the kindness of my heart.

We started off our day by looking at Gallerias and Arcades around Rue du Royal & Champs Elysees! I fell in love with Dior's black and white store display! Personally, I would love to have a job developing the interiors of designer stores but I can't fulfill all my passions or I would never be able to sleep! I'll just stick to interior design in my own home one day!

After we walked around all the designer storefronts we went to the original YSL Fashion House. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any pictures inside... but I can only tell you just how stunning it was! We got to see his original design room and sketches, which is something that are usually locked up and not viewable to the average person stopping by! His designs were so flawless and have definitely inspired me in looking at silhouettes in a new and fresh light.

This was his design room that we were able to get a tour of which was extremely cool! 

At this point I was having a break down because I had been up for like 30 hours straight! Jordana, Grace and I marched our starving butts over to this amazing little cafe and had the most delicious sandwiches! The French fries over here are literally the best things I have ever tasted and they literally serve French fries with every meal! My kinda place! 

We walked back to the Champs Elysees after our lunch and then were free to walk around. Jordana, Grace, and I decided to walk up to the Arc de Triomphe and had a mini photo shoot in the middle of the street! The picture is worth the danger ;)

We decided to stop in the Louis Vuitton store on our way back down the Champs Elysees to the Laduree store! I literally walked around the store for a couple minutes before realizing I wouldn't have even been able to afford a shopping bag from the store... One day Lauren... One day

 Jordana, Grace and I thought it would be super cute to go get macaroons and then walk to the Eiffel tower and eat them in the grass lots in front of the tower! I have had one of Laduree's macaroons in New York City, but they are nothing compared to the fresh ones made directly in Paris.

Look how gorgeous it is in here!!!

I could've eaten them all!! 

We then made our way to the Eiffel Tower which ended up being like a 45 minute walk! But once we got there I was so taken aback by the beauty of it that it didn't even matter!

This had to be one of the best days of my life! Sitting under the Eiffel tower just talking about life with new friends and enjoying each others company is something I will remember for the rest of my life!

LN93 - DAY 2

It's our first official day in Paris! Wooohooo!

Miss Day 1 posts check them out HERE and HERE!

Today we had quite the schedule but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way! I am so glad that our teachers and the International Programs (IP) office have set us up with such amazing excursions throughout our duration here!

For our first excursion we visited Lectra's headquarters. Lectra is a "Multi-national company, involved in integrated technology solutions for the textile, home interior, automotive, marine and aerospace industries." Of course we focused on the textile and fashion side of Lectra's business. The amount of integration Lectra has created for fashion companies is truly remarkable! In general terms now when the pattern maker edits something in one program it is updated on all other platforms as well and sent to the rest of the design team so everyone is in full communication with each other at all times.

 The most interesting piece of software I believe Lectra has created was their 3D textiles software. Basically a designer can import their designs and the software allows them to see how that garment would lay on a 3D model. They have absolutely every type of fabric imaginable in the system and with the click of a switch you can see how that garment would lay on the body with that fabric selection. This 3D software also helps when it come to the fitting and grading of fabrics but I won't go into that because unless you are a fashion major like me I can assure you that you would not find that interesting at all! Lol!

You can click HERE and HERE to see videos produced by Lectra that further show the use of this incredible 3D software! 

After visiting Lectra we visited the Galaries Lafayette (which to the average non fashion student would be considered a really fancy mall) and went on a walking tour. I was truly taken aback at the stunning architecture! I love how everything here is just so much more beautiful and artistically enriched.

These are two of the original twenty glass elevators. Only four of the original twenty are still left, those being, 15, 16, 17 and 18.

The visual merchandising in Paris has been absolutely stunning!

Hands down the best part of the walking tour was when we ended up on the rooftop and far off in the distance you could see the Eiffel Tower! This was the first time we had even spotted the Eiffel tower during our time there and I'm pretty sure it was the biggest group freak out I have ever seen! I have to be honest though when the tour guide was like okay we are now going to walk up 5 flights of stairs to get to the roof I was like "Oh hell no!" Thankfully though the view was so breath taking it made every step worth it!

That night it was Tati's 22nd birthday and we decided to go out to a club approximately 15 minutes from our hotel. Well let's just say that we didn't realize we weren't going to be able to use our iPhone maps app due to lack of internet connection, and in turn ended up getting lost in the middle of Paris. I always say everything happens for a reason though because we eventually ran into other Americans and found a street lined with bars and continued to bar hop until 4 am in the morning. Word of advice when you have to be up at 6 am for school the text day do not stay out until 4 am the night before because you will basically feel like the walking dead. 

This is Jordana and Grace and they have basically become my partners in crime and I love them!

If you want to read all about my day post less than 2 hours of sleep the night before click HERE lol!

LN93 - DAY 1/PART 2

To be honest, I didn't quite know how to separate my complete "Day 1" experience when I had first started typing yesterday because truthfully it has all been "Day 1" to me seeing that I haven't slept in what is going on around 30+ hours. So if I start to sound a little delirious in this post please forgive me! If you want to find out why I wasn't able to get any sleep on the way over you can check out Day 1/Part 1 by clicking HERE. 

In my last post I left off with telling you all that eating breakfast on an international flight is a no go... at least it is for me that is... If there is one thing I hate more than anything it would have to be... drum roll please... being nauseous! Well once the nausea set it I was basically screwed because you know that feeling when you are about to throw up and you start getting hot flashes and your throat starts to get really wet... well that is exactly what happened to me. The girl sitting next to me must have thought I was dying of some disease because she was super friendly the entire trip an then the moment that plane landed around 10 minutes later she jumped up out of her seat faster than a bat out of hell! Oh well, what can you do?!

Exiting the air plane was pretty cool though because we were taken off by stairs directly onto the runway. I don't know why I have had such a fascination with exiting a plane on the runway but for some reason I do. So that was really neat for me!

Finding our way out of the airport was interesting because we couldn't read a single word but when in doubt follow the flow of the crowd!

 Once we got to our hotel and were settled in we went across the street and got some cute cappuccinos at the cafe across the street!

Afterwards we decided to walk around the city a little until orientation began and found some super cute alleys! I am so in love with the architecture here its crazy! Like why can't America look like this!?! Personally I now understand why David Siegel modeled his house after Versailles.

Before orientation we had a "Welcome Reception" which basically turned into lets all drink as much wine as we can before having to go sit in a two hour long orientation!

As much as I wanted to go out and drink with some of the girls in my major after orientation, my body just couldn't handle it. Instead my roommate Jordana and I just came back and basically fell asleep mid sentence with one another!

That's it for Day 1/Part 2!