END OF 2012 & FIRST TATTOO!

2012...what a year - what.a.year.

Where to begin? What to say? What to learn from? What to laugh at? What to cry from?

All I can say is that this year has been crazy, from graduating from an incredible university, to getting a career in what I studied, to cursing more, to having two new additions to the family (my 2nd nephew and my adorable cat), to over-analyzing, to loving, to traveling, to understanding myself a little better...

...and the list goes on and on.

I just hope everyone finds a bit of happiness and can look back and smile on the year and take on 2013 with a stronger force to be better and do better.

One thing I couldn't leave 2012 without doing is getting my 1st tattoo. I've been excited to post about it because it's something I've wanted forever (for my own personal meaning) and because I felt liberated - nothing sucks more than the overwhelming weight of caring about what other people may think. Good thing I stopped caring and just went for it. 

My tattoo is an evil eye and I love it.

Adios 2012!

xx

O&C

and here's a quick/cliche/cheesy but truthful statement to remind yourself:

Collection | Jeffrey Campbell 'Lita'

Is this really my first 'collection' post?! No better way to start one than with something I didn't even realize I was collecting... Anywho, I'd like to talk about a pair shoes that I love - they're the 'Lita' by Jeffrey Campbell. I bought my first pair (the mustard colored ones) from Karmaloop in March/April of 2011. I was hooked because of how insanely comfortable they were/are. As a girl ringing in at 5 feet tall, I like some height but sometimes heels do not equal comfort. The 5 1/2ish" heel is not bad because it's so chunky (wooden) and is helped out by the 2" platform in the front. When I first bought them, colors were limited, but now you can get them in virtually any color, print/pattern, material (canvas, leather, suede, velvet, etc). Of course, plenty of people may think that they're "played out" and "overdone", but again, I absolutely do not care. I found something I like, that I can wear all day and that looks pretty bomb (in my opinion). As for sizing, I'm a 6.5 and they run true to size, but my Cosmic print and Red Spikes are a size 6 and fit a bit more snug than my other 6.5 Litas, but are still comfortable nonetheless. 

I now own 5 beautiful pairs, 2 of which were given to me as gifts, but let me let you in on a secret: I've never paid full price for these shoes...EVER. I've scored great deals on Karmaloop (where I got my mustard, black and cosmic print), Nastygal (where I got my American flag print) and Solestruck (where I got my red spikes). You can still look fresh on a budget; they are totally worth the price, though, if you love 'em, snatch 'em up!

So rock your Litas with pride! I know I do!

PS: Do you like the gif? I finally learned how to make it and thought it would be a cool concept to show of my babies beyond a still photo, haha :)

xx

O&C

COMME des FUCKDOWN

When I finally got my hands on the "Comme Des Fuckdown" beanie a little over a month ago, I was pretty fkn excited! As a play on words from the fashion house Comme des Garçons I thought it was genius/hilarious. I posted it on my instagram as "fake, late on trend..." and it's true - it is an over-hyped, over-trendy, over-done piece that I was too late to hop on the bandwagon BUT, to be quite frank, I don't care. I love it so much. And when you love something...big, small, materialistic, characteristic, person, or place...it doesn't matter how others may view that. So I'll keep on truckin' the streets of my beloved Chicago offending some people, but hopefully making other people laugh.

Also, took the American flag Litas out - my mom hit the spot with this very early Christmas gift.

xx

O&C

        

Meet the eyes behind the lens for 99% of my posts: my sister, Priscilla. Poor girl, she endures strange weather conditions, my constant looking at photos and telling her to re-shoot, and my inability to pose more than 3 facial expressions/body positions. She actually chose the outfit of this post in an efforts to let people see that I really do wear leggings and a t-shirt at home, and that I should feel comfortable enough to just throw on heels and a scarf to walk out the door. Would I really do it? Probably not, but just having her get me out of a comfort zone for a blog shoot is pretty awesome. I love her and never give her enough credit for making some of these posts happen. She's the reason I haven't invested in a tripod - even if we get into 20 billion arguments over what she thinks/I think is cool.

Also, pretty sure she was hating my guts when I started to use her as a coat rack.

THE Coat

Oh, hello there! Its been a while, huh? Work and  work parties picked up speed these past couple of weeks and after it all is said and done, all I want(ed) to do is sleep! But I'm back to talk about a purchase that I made a couple weeks ago that makes my heart sing - my new black winter coat! I saw it at Zara and fell in love and with little to no convincing from Fawn - I bought it. The wool, leather lapels and bigger silver zippers are such added bonuses to the fact that I just needed a black coat, and needed it bad. The cut is also really interesting, it has boxy symmetry going on (which makes it look a tad over-sized), and is definitely most accentuated when worn open. 

I seriously wear this with everything, everyday, from open to zipped up, with hats and most infamously with my bright Mexican poncho-inspired scarf (seen in last picture).

I hope everyone has found their own little gem to keep them warm!

xx

O&C

I almost never do matchy match with stuff like this, but I thought I'd try it out. Hello muted colors!

VIDEO | 10 Little Secrets Tag

Maybe I'll get over being shy sometimes. xx O&C  

Tumblr Tuesday

A little inspiration for this fine Tuesday that I reblog on my Tumblr .

Enjoy!

xx

O&C

 



Secret Beauty Junkie

I think that a lot of people do not know that I'm a closet beauty products freak. Let's be real, Sephora makes my heart skip more than just a beat. Also, Christine from SeoulandPfassion does some pretty awesome 'Beauty Fix' posts and inspired me to post this and some other ones in the future, maybe?
I can say it all really started with my sister and her emerging obsessions some years ago and I caught the bug. However, I don't buy something every week - I just let my wants accumulate and then splurge a little bit here and there. Plus, Sephora has such a bomb VIB Rewards program, it makes it hard to not spend some $ there.

So, I thought I'd order some goodies and got some fantastic plus sized samples with it and you can check out the pics below :)

PS: I've been listening to a lot of Icona Pop lately, so ch-ch-check out the tune!
xx

O&C

All Black, Everything

Good morning! Mr. Barack Obama was re-elected for his second term as president, last night and I couldn't be happier! No matter who you voted for, as long as you voted...I'm proud and happy of you!

Moving on to less critical life actions, I made an order on Romwe not too long ago and my package finally arrived and I.LOVE.EVERYTHING! No surprise...everything is black and has a skull or studs/spikes! The quality is pretty prime and what I saw online is exactly what I got - which is a huge deal maker or breaker for me when it comes to online shopping. So I will definitely be re-ordering with them if I see something that catches my eye.

The ever-so-popular Bunny is someone who got me HOOKED on this site, so this is my public gratitude: thank you Bunny, thank you, thank you, thank you!

For the record: the spiked snapback reigns in on my 'top 5' list of "best shopping decision, ever".

Listen to the jammin' jam and have a stellar Wednesday ✌

xx

O&C

 

Lovely Bones

Note to self: This dress is the best purchase decision I've made in a while. xx O&C      

Bitchin' Boots

Even though it's 75 degrees in good 'ole Chitown, that doesn't stop me from making a post about my obsession with boots/booties. I, personally, wear them all throughout the year because I think that they're versatile, which is why I think it's time to shell out the extra $$$ and invest in some good ones. Ones that will be your best freind. Ones that will get scuffed and look like they're meant to be that way. Ones that you can have 4 years down the road and you won't get tired of. Ones that you love like your favorite movie while you're cuddled in bed during a gloomy rainy day. Yeah....those are the ones. So I'm still scavanging for the perfect pair, but my coworker and friend, Fawn, just bought some gorgeous ones in her favorite color mix - they're her version of the perfect pair, they're so unique and let's face it...they're the bomb! I thought I'd take a look around the net and there's some contenders that fit my description a couple lines above, and the other ones are just fun boots/booties I'd love to have.

xx

O&C