Haul | Shopping Local, Zara, and Vinyl Records

One of my new year's resolutions was to shop local. So much of my money goes towards big companies that honestly don't need my money, so this year I've decided that I want to support local businesses more. Often they have very unique items, brands that you already know, and these local businesses add so much character and life that the bigger stores don't have. I recently went to two local businesses in San Diego to get a couple of things. Sadly this will be the last haul for a couple of months but this whole "no shopping" thing will be worth it! You'll have to watch the video to find out why I won't be doing hauls.

Outfit of the Day | Downtown

Downtown is one of my favorite areas in San Diego because I can get a taste of what it's like in a big city. San Diego is overall a pretty laid back area comprised of various beach cities, Indian reservations, ranches, and a lot of suburbs. I enjoy Downtown a lot because I get a little of the hustle and bustle that I enjoy, there's always interesting characters on the streets, and a variety of buildings for me to admire. To match my surroundings I decided to wear something that is effortlessly cool (well at least I think it looks cool).

February 2014 Favorites

February has come and gone! Honestly, where did month go? I feel like I just recorded my January favorites like last week! In this month I have a couple of the products that were in the big haul I showed you last month, so there's a lot of new products that I've never talked about. Last month may have been all about tangerine lips, but in February I toned it back a bit and started embracing more neutral colors. What can I say? I like to shake things up even if it's by toning down my look.

February 2014 Playlist

February has a reputation of being the month of love because of good ol' Valentine's Day. Although Valentine's Day has come and gone that doesn't mean that you can't continue to celebrate love. What inspired me to create this playlist was the new Metronomy song cleverly titled Love Letters. Look at me being cliché and making a playlist about love... It almost makes me want to puke because I am not cutesy at all, but I do happen to enjoy these songs quite a bit. Even non-cutesy girls give into a good love song every now and then.

Parisian Memories

I always feel so annoying when I talk about Paris because since coming back from studying abroad it's all I ever talk about. Almost everything reminds me of Paris nowadays. Cloudy days- Paris, cheese- Paris, wearing scarfs- Paris, red lipstick- Paris. You know how some people believe in love at first sight? I may not believe in love at first sight in the traditional sense, but that is just what happened when I first went to Paris in 2008.

1-Year Blogiversary Giveaway

It is the day that I've been waiting for and you've probably been waiting for as well. It is time for the 1-year blogiversary giveaway! My first year blogging has been absolutely incredible! I've met so many great friends (both bloggers and readers), gotten the chance to attend some great events, and I've also tried out so many great products. I am so thankful for everything that blogging has given me so I've decided to giveaway some of my favorite items to one of you. The giveaway is international so all my readers and subscribers can have an opportunity to win.

Eyeliner in 4 Ways

Eyeliner can be a tough skill to acquire because if you have a shaky hand you'll end up with a very squiggly line. I remember how bad my eyeliner would look when I first started getting into makeup. I would try to make one smooth line and would end up having to go wider and wider to cover up my mistakes, until I was left with an Amy Winehouse eyeliner. What if I told you applying eyeliner is not that hard? In my latest video I'm going to show you four different ways that you can line your eye. 

Empty Products #4

Uploading this one blog post took forever! I started off the day like any other day- checking Twitter, listening to music, and getting prepared to upload photo files to my laptop when disaster struck. Once I inserted my DSLR's USB cord both my MacBook Pro and power cord just died on me. Since I'm so freaking attached to my laptop, I started panicking and drove to the Apple Store with no appointment. Thankfully the lovely people at my Apple Store were able to fix it and I've ordered a card reader in case the USB cord is damaged. Now that we have that out of the way, we can begin talking about the beauty products that I've recently finished. Some were great, others were not. If you want a quick-ish (emphasis on the -ish) run through then watch my latest video.

Emma Jane's 1-Year Anniversary!

Today is officially my blog's one year blogiversary! Take out the streamers, cupcakes, and champagne because today is a day to celebrate and why not celebrate with Emma Jane? You might remember Emma Jane from this blogger event back in November, but recently they celebrated their 1-year anniversary in their Mission Hills boutique. I went to the event to celebrate along with Jenn, Jess, and a couple of San Diego bloggers on Thursday evening.

Face of the Day | The Beauty of Simplicity

There was once a time that colored eyeshadow and smokey eyes used to be my go-to looks, even for school. When I first started getting into makeup I figured I could apply almost any color on my face, so I did. Looking back at those pictures aren't necessarily embarrassing, but I do wish I could have taken it easy with Electric Eel (an eyeshadow that I bought just because of MGTM's song Electric Feel). Nowadays I have learned to embrace more neutral looks that enhance some of my features. Hopefully this will be a stage in my life that I look back upon and think "I looked nice," instead of "WHOA, BLUE EYESHADOW!"

Neiman Marcus The Spring 2014 Trends

On Wednesday morning I was invited to attend the blogger breakfast at Neiman Marcus in Fashion Valley. During the breakfast style advisor, Alex Yáñez, walked us through 10 trends that we'll be seeing this spring such as artistic prints, the pink lip, and summer booties. We saw some amazing pieces by some of the fashion powerhouses such as Stella McCartney, Givenchy, and Valentino.

What's In My Bag

The "What's In My Bag" video is one of the most popular videos among the beauty and fashion community on YouTube. I personally love knowing what people carry in their bag because I'm nosy like that so when I got tagged to do this video I was like "why not?" I don't have a designer bag, in fact this bag I own has absolutely no indication where it's from- all I know is that I got it at Buffalo Exchange for a really good price and that it fits everything I need. I feel like the derp version of Mary Poppins with this bag and the random things I carry in it.

Find your style with Kleenex

I've used Kleenex brand tissues ever since I can remember, inclusively I'm one of those people that refers all tissues as Kleenex. In the past Kleenex boxes have often been covered with a tissue box because the boxes used to be so plain, but I'm here to let you know that boring packaging is a thing of the past! To celebrate Kleenex's 90th anniversary, they're bringing you another innovative first: the Kleenex Style Studio. It's a fun, inspiring way to discover more of the Kleenex Brand designs. You never know, you might find a style that might be worth showing off in your handbag, bedroom, bathroom, or desk.

Aall In Limo's Temecula Wine Tour

On Sunday the San Diego limo business, Aall In Limo, hosted a group of bloggers on one of their popular wine tours in Temecula. We went from San Diego all the way to Temecula on a party bus which provided us a lot of time to chat with friends and get to meet new bloggers. Once we got to the wineries the learning and wine tasting began. Let me just say, I might want to do another wine tour after my experience on Sunday.

Outfit of the Day | Wine Tasting in Temecula

On Sunday the limo company Aall In Limo hosted a couple of San Diego fashion, food, and travel bloggers on one of their wine tours in Temecula. The last time I went to a wine tour I was only a teen so all I got to taste in Napa were sparkling juices. This time around I'm in my 20's and accompanied by some of my great bloggers friends. This is the first post of a little two-part series showing you what we did during the amazing wine tour.

All Aboard the Amtrak

If you've ever wondered why I'm always tweeting or Instagraming from the train then this blog post might answer your questions. I've been in a long distance relationship since August 2012 with a guy that you've seen plenty of times over on my vlog channel. We went from seeing each other upwards to 4 times a week when we were studying abroad, to once a week if we're lucky. Thankfully the Amtrak has definitely facilitated seeing one another on weekends.

Channel Orange

Hello everyone, my name is Laura and I am addicted to orange colored lip colors. Once upon a time I found orange to be too obnoxious, but flash forward a couple of years and now I'm constantly fighting the urge to purchase more orange lip colors. My collection of orange lip products is rapidly growing with no signs of stopping any time soon. Inspired by the Frank Ocean album Channel Orange, I'm going to be showing you a variety of orange shades and lip products in this post.

Haul | Yves Rocher, Ulta, Urban Outfitters, and Target

I know I probably need to stop spending so much money, but I managed to score some amazing deals last week. I also picked some items that I really needed like a shampoo, toner, and even shoes! Most of the things I purchased are brand new to me so as you may imagine I'm quite excited to try them out. I also received amazing samples this time around, including a full-sized face and neck cream from Yves Rocher. When I saw that "sample" I swear I said "daaaaaaaamn" out loud because I was honestly expecting something much smaller.

Review | L'Oréal Visible Lift CC Eye Concealer

There used to be a time when I preferred a full coverage concealer for my dark circles but now I reach for concealers with a lighter consistency. When I heard about this concealer I was immediately intrigued by the idea of a CC (color correcting) product for the under eye area. This product is supposed to roll away signs of fatigue and give you a more youthful and wide-awake look. I've been testing this product out for about two weeks now so I feel that I can properly review it now. So does it simply roll away signs of fatigue?

Valentine's Day Outfit Ideas

Valentine's Day is almost here and with that comes the hard decision of figuring out what you're going to wear. You can either go dress up for your significant other if you're planning a romantic night out, or dress down if you're going to be having a casual night or going out with your friends. If I were doing something I'd probably wear the casual look since it has a subtle touch of red, plus it's definitely a lot more "me."

Vlogging Weekend

This past weekend I did a whole lot of vlogging since I was in a really good mood. I always tend to vlog when I got visit my boyfriend or when he comes down to see me, so this past Friday I vlogged our latest foodie adventure. And on Sunday instead of going to a Super Bowl party, I decided to spend the day with my little Yorkie, Francis. I took her to the local dog park to see if she could improve her social skills because she tends to be very awkward in social situations just like her owner.