Bloggers I Admire for One Reason or Another

There are several people I look up to in this world of blogging.  Some people I look up to because of their business sense, some because of their honesty, some because they are adorable, some because I can relate to them, & some even still because they stand up for what they believe in.  For the sake of love, here is a list of just a few bloggers I totally admire:

Rachele of the Near Sighted Owl 

She also makes me want to wear a two piece, her post here

I love this chick & her blog because she keeps it real.  So real.  She loves herself, she's super cute, & super inspiring.  She don't take no shit & her hair, glasses, face, eyeballs, (everything!) just drips confidence.  Her fashion sense sends me into full on squeal mode because she's so bold & so confident.  Just seeing her walk about in real life looking awesome makes me walk out the door with a bit more confidence.  She makes you feel like you are awesome & her current Fat Bitch eCourse that I've been loosely following is a super fun experiment in self confidence.  Speaking of her fashion sense, she instagramed this picture the other day of spicing up her work outfit for the mall by tying up her shirt to the side.  Love. It. Also, floral & polka dots? Gimme, gimme! Also, she illustrates pretty rad ladies that just plain ol make me happy.

Alycia of Habitual Homebody

Also, her & her husband just bought a house, now they can go through all the stuff Zach & I did! lol

I've followed this chick since she blogged under The Curious Pug.  I love her because of her frankness & honesty.  She's a no fluff, straight up, honest person.  She's not afraid to say what she feels & I love it.  Reading her blog has hit me with so many duh moments.  She also sprinkles in a few adult oriented words, and I'm all about a healthy sprinkling of the f word.  She just puts it all out there in a relatable, sassy best friend way.  Also I just feel like she gets me since I totally looked to her in my recent struggles.  She's just one of those people who is just so relatable.  Her posts are always real life, she shares her ups & downs, her struggles, her successes all in a way that lets you know it's ok to try and that sometimes you surprise yourself and sometimes you will pick up a new hobby - ahem crocheting.  Alycia is an all around great person who just lets you know that you get the cards you're dealt & you can make the best of them.

Kaelah of Little Chief Honeybee

She's always the cutest, this dress is my fave

I've been a fan of Kaelah since before I blogged, since before I knew how to follow blogs & just kept them all in my head.  She's it the most professional yet real-life relatable person I haven't ever met! She answers every email, replies to every tweet, amens every comment, she's just a plain ol nice person.  I don't know how she does it but she really does live, eat, & breathe what she believes in which, in all honesty, is herself.  I look up to her because she take time to be herself in a world where she tries (and succeeds) to do so many things.  She's a small business inspiration to me, a fashion inspiration, a stand up for yourself inspiration, and a self love inspiration.  Kaelah keeps it honest, keeps it real, & shows you how working for what you want pays off.  She's also not afraid to be the person who stands up for something in a polite & fully developed way.  She's not one for passiveness, she's not one to back down, she will hold her ground.

Needless to say there are many, many more lovely bloggers I look up to but let's just say when I find myself in times of trouble, it's not Mother Mary coming to me it's these three saints of blogging that speak words of wisdom.  (It's not always let it be, but it is always be yourself)

Who do you look up to?  Who gives you words of wisdom?

xoxo, Moe

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Trend Tuesday // Naked & Neutral Eyeshadow Palettes

Ever since singing up for Birchbox & Ipsy I've been feeling the urge for high end make up.  I think I mentioned going into an Ulta for the first time a bit ago & having to control myself!  High end make up is just so appealing!  But let me tell you want I do: I get online & look up dupes or even sets that just look/act the same.  Because even though I want to spend $50 on an eyeshadow palette, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon!  I've had my eye on the Naked Palette which is filled with so many beautiful neutral eyeshadows...but that mess is $50 (do you know how many awesome things I could do with $50 besides by one eyeshadow palette?).  So I thought about getting the Naked Basics palette.  While $27 sounded a bit better.....$27 is still a bit too much.  So, what am I to do? Find awesome drugstore alternatives! Here are some great trios, quads, & palettes if you're looking for a natural look & more variety - I think I'd rather spend $27 creating a custom look, ya know what I mean?  (Plus a lot of brands have a neural option if you want to just buy one thing and not pick & choose)

NEARLY NAKED by fivesixteenthsblog featuring urban decay eye makeup

Eyes Lips Face

Or Elf as it's so tenderly called has great affordable make up that is rather good quality.  Their online site has much more to offer than your local Target or Meijer (I've just seen elf in Wal-Mart too!).  These two palettes are from the Studio Line & the Essential Collection.  The geometric one (here) is sold for $3 & the more traditional compact (here) is sold for $3 as well!  These both seem to be more like the Naked Basics palette featuring 6 colors.  Some of them seem to be pretty close too!

L'Oreal 

These are the Colour Riche quads & the two featured here are Army Brat and Cupa Joe.  I like the Cupa Joe quad because the colors are more neutral & less gold.  But these Colour Riche quads also come in a variety of colors not just neutrals.  So if you want to have a collection more on the Naked side of things you could pick up one like Love to Hate Me which has a blue color in it & a darker black.  But if you're looking for a go to neutral look with out too many options, a small quad like this is great - enough to change it up but not too much so you feel comfortable.

Revlon
These are the Revlon Photoready Primer + Shadow palettes that feature eyeshadow & a primer.  Impressionist & Metropolitan are totally nude collections but you could also spice it up with something like Graffiti that has a really nice blue in it.  Again, these have a bit more to them (colors + the primer) but not too much where you feel overwhelmed.  You can create a simple go to look!  These are a bit more pricey though - anywhere from $5 - $7 (or up!).

More Eyes Lips Face!
This is a great big fully neutral palette!  If you're looking for some insane variety in your neutral looks this sister palette to the 100-color Studio Eye Palette is the winner.  100 colors might be too much by 32 is just enough right?  This sells for $10 on the elf website, a steal compared to the Naked, Naked2, & Naked basics palette!  This palette has the richer dark neutrals but is missing colors like gunmetal, toasted, hustle, & creep. This 32 palette comes in a few color combos & each has a few neutrals scattered around as well so you can totally get your color fix with one of the other 4 options!

Wet n Wild Color Icon Trios
These are my favorite! They are so affordable & great quality.  Compared to elf, Wet n Wild eyeshadow trios are the best! At around $2.99 a pop, they are pretty affordable too.  I've been considering depoting mine & putting them in a little custom tray to create my own neutral palette because a lot of the trios have great neutral colors mixed into the bright crazy colors.  These trios are so affordable, I seriously suggest just buying them all!  (Same with elf, buy it all girl, buy. it. all.)  They even have a new Pop Art Craze collection with insanely bright colors but Muse & Carouse has the prettiest matte brown!  The best neutral trio is Walking on Eggshells.  I go to this one everyday!

NYX Natural Palette
It's the closest thing to Naked Basics in that it's a six pan palette laid out in the same sort of way featuring a range of neutrals from light to dark.  I honestly don't own anything NYX but this is something on my to collect list because I hear the quality of NYX stuff is awesome!  You can find NYX online or at stores like Ulta for drugstore prices.  I'm loving how this little palette is sleek & pretty close to the real thing in layout.  This palette is about $7 & there's another one called Wicked Dreams with 24 eyeshadows that seriously have some pretty close looking colors to the Naked palette!

Anyway, these are just a few ways to get a cool neutral eye with out having to spend mega bucks.  I think that all of these are really great quality for drugstore products especially if your short on cash or just not willing to shell out a lot for something for your face.  I think a good drug store collection is just as comparable to a high-end collection!

What eye look do you go to?  Are you a neutrals fan or do you need more color?

xoxo, Moe

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Make it Monday // DIY Framed Dry Erase Calendar from Instagram Pics

Happy Monday! Can you believe Summer is nearly over? It's nearly August!  Meijer already has back to school stuff out & Hobby Lobby is putting up Christmas stuff.  ARE. YOU. KIDDING?  I can't believe it!  So this DIY is perfect for going back to school - dorm decor & what not - or if you just feel like you need a calendar by the door!

I used a photo from the beginning of Summer for this.  If you're making this maybe for your dorm, you can use 12 photos you love from home or from summer or make a new one each month from college photos.  The best part about this is it's a marker board so you can circle important dates, come up with your own color coordinated code, or write notes to your room mate or in my case - to myself.  Since Zach & I leave through different doors in the morning I put this near my door!

So start off with a picture you want to use.  I pulled one off of instagram from the beginning of Summer that I then edited through PicFrame for the circle shape.  PicFrame has a few different shapes you can use but I chose a simple circle.  

I created a calendar template (download instructions are at the end of the post!) that you can change for each month using a font that should be available on your computer - Century Gothic.  When you open the document in Word, make sure to highlight the text that says highlight & insert picture here. to make sure the picture fits correctly, us a square image no bigger than 612 px (you can use a photo editing program to crop it down to size.)

I just made one month template, so if you ever find a month that needs more rows for days, you can decrease the font in that box & do a / between each number or play around until your satisfied with the look (for example, March of next year I think has another row on a calendar).  Here's what your finished calendar should look like:

There is also plenty of space around the calendar to write notes & reminders.  I picked up a frame from the dollar store, trimmed the 8.5x11 paper to fit 8x10, framed my calendar, & placed it right by the door!  I can't wait to remember all the things I keep forgetting.

Download Instructions

I created a template for you, find it here.  To download it, click the link where you'll be redirected to a Google Drive page.  In the top left corner under File there is a little arrow, click that to download.  Once it downloads to your computer you should be able to open & edit it in word.  I hope it works for you! This is the first time I've done anything downloadable with the intention of editing it afterwords!  Remember, this is free for personal use.  Share it with friends, print for yourself, or make a gift!

Have a great week!

xoxo, Moe

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