Capri, Positano, & Amalfi

While I was in Italy I traveled to quite a few beach towns. Even though it was Spring, barely anything was open, and it was too cold to swim. 

Positano

No Italian was swimming in the water. While the Americans were jumping in the water, using bras, underwear, and scarves as bathingsuits (I am not kidding), and drinking boxed wine on the beach. Americans stick out like a sore thumb in Italy. 

I decided to do as the Italians do, I suppose. Sit on the beach fully clothed, then walk around the shops. 

Positano had a lot of really cute small shops. And the clothing was all so beachy and pastel colored lace. I thought about buying something, but decided I probably won't find myself wearing that particular style of clothing very often. 

SHOPPING TIP It's a good idea to look at a clothing item before buying it and imagine where you will wear it. If you can't imagine wearing it to something or some place you will be going to in the next 5 months, take it out of your shopping cart.

To get to the beach in Positano, you have to walk down a lot of steps. I mean A LOT. Not joking in the slightest bit. Everybody's caves started twitching before we got to the bottom. But once we saw the view of this gorgeous town through the cracks of the apartments, we knew it was worth it.

After spending a few hours at the beach, and looking at all the cute shops, we climbed up the hill to the bus stop. The bus ordeal to get to Amalfi was a nightmare. First we had to wait at bus stop for an hour and a half. Which was time we could have spent at the beach. Right before the bus came, groups of people started arrive to also wait for the bus. When the bus finally arrived, it was already half full! People who had just arrived and only waited 5 or so minutes tried to get on the bus before everyone else who had already been waiting for an hour. Very rude, I must say. Do people like this have no compassion? Only care about themselves? Not at all an attractive characteristics in a person. 

In the end, my friends and I squeezed on the bus. Standing in the middle of the isles all the way to Amalfi.

Pompeii & Mt. Vesuvius

Pompeii was such a crazy experience for me. I have never seen something like this in all my travels. I don't know much about this city (besides the obvious, of course), but I found it very exciting as well as heartbreaking.

Seeing those people and animals frozen to stone made me feel a little emotional. When I learn about history like this in school I don't think much of it. I just see it as a lesson on the exam and a place I will probably never go to. But having gone to Pompeii and Vesuvius has completely changed how I look at these places. The best way to learn the history of a country is to honestly to go to those places and walk on the same paths where history took place.

It makes me wonder why in American school we only have the option to go to a different country for a field trip in our language classes. I really believe history classes should also go on international trips. It will make students retain information in a much deeper way. 

This photo was taken on the hike up to the top of Mt. Vesuvius

Apparently I was risking my life for this picture. My friends and I hopped the fence around the volcano to take better pictures. See that opening in the photo above? Yeah, that is the inside of the volcano. Thank God I didn't slip and fall into the volcano! Not sure if I would have slide all the way into lava or if it is enclosed with rocks and ash, but i'm glad I didn't find out.   

-A

P.S. I'm always posting photos from my travels on Tumblr and Instagram. Check it out if you love photography!

Cinque Terra

Cinque Terra was absolutely adorable. Such a cute, fun place to see and take pictures of. It's not necessarily exciting like Las Vegas or Rome; where there is always exciting things happening. But it is a great weekend destination to take photos and relax.

I wasn't able to go to all five cities because I was only there one day. So I guess Cinque Terra was more like Quattro Terra for me.

I love how every little city is a bit different from the other. In one city you can sit on the beach and drink a cocktail, and in the next city you can hike up a hill. But all the towns were cute and great for taking pictures.

Picture above: Vernazza

Campus VoxBox 2015

I received my Campus Voxbox in the mail a week ago and decided to show you guys what I got for FREE. If you aren't already, sign up on influenster.com to have a chance to possibly get free items for testing purposes. It's really awesome & most of the items are full sized! 

London, I love you.

Coat- H&H  Shirt- TopShop  Purse- JCPenny's  Jeans- American Eagle Shoes- Bata 

Rome Weekend

Three days is not nearly enough time to see the beautiful city of Rome. Unfortunately, that was all the time I had spent there. You would have to be in Rome for a month to do and see everything worth visiting! 

Venice & Verona

Verona

the city of love (or just the city where the story of Romeo and Juliet takes place)

Verona is absolutely beautiful. But i have to say, it felt a bit like a movie set. If you've been to Universal Studios or Disneyland, you probably know what I mean. The buildings and streets were all so nice and clean! 

It funny because you walk around this city where everything is almost perfect than BAM! The amphitheater.

This photo was taken at the entrance right under the seats of the arena.

 The Roman amphitheater 

 This photo was taken from the top of the Arena. It was quite a workout getting up, but worth it. You get a lovely view of the city, park, and even the Swiss alps! 

Juliet's balcony

Venice

the sinking city

Be prepared for an unnecessary amount of gondola pictures

Week 1 & 2 in Florence

Pisa, Italy

Ciao America, Hello Italy!

Update Surprise! I am going to be living in Italy! Crazy, I know. I probably won't be posting too many outfit photos for the few months that I am here. But I will be posting photos as frequently as I can from my adventures around the country.

 If you want to see additional photos you can go to my tumblr or Instagram

-A

Blood Splatter Nails for Halloween

What I used: 

White nail polish

Red nail polish

Black nail polish with red shimmer(optional)

Two coffee straws 

(Photo from my Instagram) 

-A

Outfit of the Day: LA Crop Top

Hey everyone! This outfit I wore when I went camping. I know shorts are more camping friendly, but I really liked my acid wash jeans with this crop top. It looks more edgy that way. This type of outfit can be worn to many places in California (Coachella, concerts, mall, lunch date). 

In some of these photos I can't help but think that I really needed to pull my pants up a little. Haha I guess the jeans are a size to big (they're size 10. I usually wear an 8 or 7).

Opal Nails

Oh Opal  I decided to try this opal nail look I saw on Lockerz. I always wondered how people would blend nail polish colors together without it being clumpy. After doing some research, I found out the trick is to use plastic wrap. Yes, plastic wrap! 

1) Paint your nails white (or any other base color you want).

2) Choose a few different nail polish colors that you feel complement each other well.

3) Dot those colors in random areas of your nail. (Make sure you don't put too little nail polish because it wont blend. And don't put too much because it will get all over your fingers, and the colors will not look as nice)

4) Place the plastic wrap (or plastic ziplock bag) over your nail. You can tap on the plastic a few times or move the plastic around a little bit.

5) After you remove the plastic, paint on top coat. 

Outfit of the Day: Floral for School

Rimmel London Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara Review + Photos

I received this mascara complementary from Influenster about 3 months ago; and never got around to doing a blog post. But here I am today finally reviewing it for you all!

H&M Outfits

I was on the H&M website and saw so many cute clothes! I think I am having H&M withdraws...

I started to come up with outfit ideas using the clothes from their site. Might as well post them on my blog, right? 

I wish I could buy all these clothes right now. It is tragic that the H&M near me never has the really cute things that the website has. Boo...

All Clothes- www.hm.com/us/ 

-A

My Favorite Swimsuits (Summer 2013)

Swimsuits, I feel, are very challenging to shop for. I don't know about you girls, but it is hard for me to find a bathing suit in my size that also looks good. Because of my tiny chest, I have found it difficult to find one that doesn't make me look flat chested but still fits. After trying out multiple types of swimwear, I have come to realize I can't buy string bikinis (they make my chest look empty and never feel secure) and pushup padded tops (I find these uncomfortable and always too big a cup size or too tight around). This year I finally have two swimsuits that are cute, comfortable, and don't make me look flat chested! 

Both bathing suits below are in the bandeau styles. I have tried a few bandeaus before, and they would look like they are flattening my boobs. But these bandeau do a great job at making me look curvy. The first one I LOVE because of the cute design and shape. The second has ruffles that give the illusion of a fuller chest. The bottoms of both swimsuits are also great. Both feel secure and comfortable.

Money Saving Tip: If a two piece swimsuit is expensive, buy the top but find solid bottoms that are the same color for a cheaper price.

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer! 

4th of July Outfit + American Flag Nail Design

Sorry about this post not being before Independence Day. I thought I might as well still post it since I look these pictures. 

This outfit is very casual and layback. You can definitely wear it any day you want in summer (except for a dressy event). I would have worn more accessories, but when it was dark I was wearing a bunch of glow sticks.

My Travels: Hawaii (Big Island)

Every year I believe I will have TONS of time during the end of Spring and Summer to post blogs and videos. And for the past few years I am always too busy to post every week. Why do I do this? Ugh.

Something you don't know about me is that I love to travel and go to new places. Due to my mom being a travel major in college, we both like to go to a lot of destinations. (I actually have a mental list in my head of all the places I want to visit. Doesn't everyone?) We recently went to Hawaii and I thought I would show you some of the pictures. I am thinking about doing a travel series. I'm not sure if "series" is an appropriate word for a blog post. I hope it is. 
Traveling is a huge part of my life, so why not share it on my blog? Enjoy!

Outfit of the Day: Casually H&M