Sunday, January 12, 2014

blonde

So, I'm contemplating going blonde when it gets a little warmer. I've been blonde before and know how light I can go before it starts to look like shiii-, so I'm actually looking forward to it and ignoring everyone who says it will look bad..i know I'm not beyonce, but i'm pretty damn close. LOL  jk but i think as long as you find the right shade for you, anyone can pull off most haircolors. It's all about what looks good with your skin tone, undertones, eye color, etc. and a good hairstylist can find your perfect match (I wouldn't recommend doing this at home, unless you went to cosmetology school or something, it can go bad very easily..trust me haha) Anyway, here are some pics of my inspiration that I plan to take with me to the hairdresser in april-ish when i'm ready to take the jump! (sources listed under photos when applicable)





Ciara (google search)









and of course, the QUEEN 
(source:tumblr)




RUN IT

So, I woke up kind of...well, extremely late today haha but to my surprise, the skies were clear and the sun is now shining down on Bremerhaven. The sun, which I haven't seen in many moons haha. It's been a while, is what I'm trying to say. My body is desperately in need of some vitamin D and some fresh air, so I've decided to finally get back into running :D  I haven't run in a long while, and it's definitely taken a toll on my body and my mind. I'm excited to go, but I wanted to write a quick post first. Hope you all are having a lovely day, night, afternoon..whichever it is where you live <3



Hoodie - H&M
TIGHTS - ASICS
SHOES - NIKE (free trainers)



And here are some of my favorite songs to run to :) maybe it will inspire you to get active today as well!


booty work - t-pain
till i collapse - eminem
make yourself - incubus
R U Mine? - arctic monkeys
make me proud - drake ft. nicki minaj
sergels torg - veronica maggio
all of the lights - kanye west
I follow rivers (the magician remix) - lykke li
it's gonna be me - n'sync (hahaha)
beez in the trap - nicki minaj ft. 2chainz
still into you - paramore
over - drake


Saturday, January 11, 2014

Window Shopping - NastyGal

Nastygal (shopnastygal.com) has go to be one of my all-time favorite websites to "window shop" on. They have the cutest clothes, and a lot of it is at at least semi-affordable prices haha. Here are some of the things I've been dying to buy..when I stop being poor :D
















(how gorgeous is this top!?)



Happy Shopping!
expat




BOSS

Friday, January 10, 2014

VOGUE

FOTD: Face of the Day 1







Products Used: 

Face:
Laura Mercier Secret Finish Mattifying 
MakeupForever HD foundation #153
MAC Prep and Prime highlighter - Bright Forecast
Catrice All Mat Plus Translucent Powder
Ben Nye Banana Powder
Physician's Formula Multi-Colored Bronzer


Eyes:
on Brows - Anastasia Brow Wiz - Brunette
Smashbox Master Class Palette Eyeshadows: Haze in the crease, Golden Orchid on the lid
Make Up Store Microshadow in Ruby in the crease
Catrice Kohl Kajal on lower water line
l'oreal Super Liner on top lid
Astor Stimulong Mascara 



Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Favorite Fall Lip Combo


So I've been on the hunt for the perfect fall lip product combination, something to give me that dark vampy look without drying out my lips or being too expensive. My original go-to was MAC's Strong Woman, but as gorgeous as its purple color is, it's not quite deep enough for what I wanted. Then, yesterday, I was goofing off in Rossmann (think: riteaid but smaller) and stumbled upon this nameless lipstick by Rival de Loop in the perfect shade-- a deep wine red, gorgeous alone but absolutely perfect over my Strong Woman.

Now for some swatches:



L: Rival de Loop R: MAC Strong Woman

Top: MAC
Bottom: Rival de Loop

Top: MAC Strong Woman
Bottom: Rival de Loop

MAC Strong Woman

MAC Strong Woman w/ Rival de Loop layered on top

Both Lipsticks Together

Again, in natural lighting

Monday, January 6, 2014

FINALLY, an update! Christmas in Sweden

Hey guys,

So, I don't even know how long it's been since I last posted on here (2 weeks? 3 weeks?) but I'm finally back and ready to get back into the swing of things with this bad boy. I got home from Sweden last Thursday night, but have just been feeling a little down missing my boyfriend after an amazing week together and just haven't had the headspace available to sit down and write what I know is going to be an extremely long post haha. So please forgive me! But here I am, so let's get to it.

My holidays started on December 23rd, when I drove with my grandparents to Hannover to see the rest of my family who live there. It was great to see my cousins who I don't usually get to see (Hannover is about a 2 hour drive from Bremerhaven) and spend time with my aunt and uncle, whom I adore. We were there for 2 days, and even though I was happy to see everyone, I have to also admit to having been terribly homesick. Seeing all of my cousins together just made me miss my sister and brothers tremendously, and I missed my parents a lot, too. So while I was happy, I was also a bit sad and kind of out of the christmas mood. I got some great gifts though, but I'll include them in my haul in the next post :D

In Germany, "real" Christmas doesn't fall on the 25th like in the states; they mainly celebrate 'heilige Abend' on the 24th, which is when everyone opens their gifts, you have a big family meal, etc. So we didn't head home until the 25th, which is when I saw the rest of my family back in Bremerhaven and we did our little secret santa gift exchange--30 euros for H&M woohoo! got my eyes on these bad boys: awesome boots from h&m


Anyway, then on the 26th I flew to Sweden to spend a week with my boyfriend and his family on their farm. Words cannot describe how much fun I had there. I'd been once before, for a mini weekend trip the first time I visited Sweden in September, but spending a whole week there was really just a gift. Martin and I stayed in this adorable little cabin on the farm, so we had our privacy and even our own christmas tree :D We decorated the cabin in these adorable swedish decorations his parents gave us, and it was so cozy. It was also freezing, so Martin had to build a fire in the fireplace a couple times a day, but totally worth it.

AND THE FOOD. Martin's mom is an amazing cook (actually, so is Martin and his brother David) and to say I ate my body weight in food is an understatement. Well, I tried, anyway. Everything was so delicious, and we even had some homemade swedish snacks and some homemade sweet potato pie that Martin and I made. (His dad kept calling it American pie and it was so cute :)) Everyone liked it, and it was really nice to have a little slice of home in Sweden.

Martin got me some makeup and jewelry...and clothes for Christmas haha because I'm spoiled..or because he's a good boyfriend. Or maybe both. And those will also be included in the haul that I will try to have up by Wednesday at the latest. (Not sure if I'll do photos or video yet).

Every night Martin and I had to pick something to watch before bed, and one night we marathoned the first season of Brooklyn nine-nine, which I highly recommend to any and everyone because it's super funny. We also ended up watching some scary movies--Open grave, Insidious and Insidious 2 (the latter two had me terrified and following martin everywhere he went so I wouldn't be alone haha). I really think I love scary movies until I watch them--then I remember that I can never sleep afterwards and am scared for the next 2 days. It didn't help that right after the movie a deer started barking (yes, barking, I thought it was a dog) outside and scared the sh*t out of me.

All in all, I had a really great time, and it helped to ease some of the homesickness I'd been feeling. So Thank you Mart for my second Christmas =)

And now, a ridiculous amount of photos for your guys! Enjoy :p

chokladbollar!

Tessy

baby pancakes

knäck

baby martin

making sweet potato pie :D

wine by the fireplace

swedish meatballs!

men in black

NYE dinner.. bacon-wrapped chicken stuffed with feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes

making candles :D one of my favorite parts of visiting the farm

our christmas tree!

with my finished candles 



Hope this wasn't too long!
cya soon,

expat