Back To School + Wade and Belle

______Here's another lovely pair of tights sent to me from Wade and Belle: these, an opaque black that once again weren't painfully tight but still stayed up all day long. Their motto is literally "Not Too Tights" which is the greatest because, hey, guess what, they're not lying. You could down an entire can of peas (or beans, or sliced potatoes, or a whole chicken because that's actually a thing--an entire canned chicken--which is unsettling) and still have enough wiggle room for dessert. Dessert is very important, my friends.




______I can already tell this semester is going to be a hectic one, what with teaching two classes, taking an English Philosophy class where I read and write a response to a new book ever week, and all while constantly trying to better my work. The moments where I have free time (that are also tranquil in the sense that I am not worrying about anything) are rare, but I savor them more than ever now. That's not to say I don't enjoy how overstuffed my days are, because I definitely do love having something to keep my time slots full; it just seems that graduate school is almost over even though I still have two years left, and savoring it as it zooms by is a nearly impossible task...



Top: Charlotte Russe
Skirt: similar
Tights: c/o Wade and Belle
Shoes: Jeffrey Campbell
Choker: Nasty Gal (similar)
Earrings: Charming Charlie
Rings and bracelet: all c/o BornPretty

Flight Attendant School Dropout + eShakti

______I'm super excited to talk to you guys about eShakti today: I spoke to them last week and they sent me this gorgeous customize-fit contrast collar dress in the mail the other day, and I am already certain it's become one of my favorite pieces in the history of ever. Upon opening the package, I swooned, fell on the floor, got back up, saw the dress again, and fell down again. I had to take a breath before I got back up again. I think this may be love: I've always wanted a black dress with white collars and white cuffs on the sleeves. I feel like you could dress it up, dress it down, wear it to go grocery shopping, wear it the Hogwarts Yule Ball, wear it to time travel to another dimension...

______I could go on, but I will spare you.





______I was surprised it came so fast especially for being a custom-made piece. It has a little "CUSTOM" tag sewn in on the collar and took under a week from the day it was ordered to arrive at my doorstep. It has plenty of fine pleats, a zip-up back, and a hook at the top to ensure it stays closed.

______Besides the impeccable quality and endless pages of classic styles to scroll through, their support team is hecka friendly and very responsive to any questions or concerns you may have. Not that you'd have any questions or concerns since they're irrevocably splendid. Yeah, I said that. Customer service: five out of five stars, plus one of those puffy star stickers filled with liquid and sparkles that's immensely cooler than a regular gold star. The highest honor. Am I sounding too cheesy yet? Good deal. I always wanted to be a Cheeto.

______This site knows how to fit a girl; if you don't want a standard size for fear that it's too standard and will give you too much boobie room and not enough waist space to eat more than a few peas, take a go at their custom tool! All you need is a few measurements and you're set to go. I set my measurements to about an inch more than they actually were and I got the perfect fit with just enough wiggle room since the material doesn't have much give. I'd say you'd be pretty safe putting your regular measurements in, but my body is finicky and likes to change measurements a few inches on me throughout the day.



______Not only can you enter your own measurements for a perfect fit, but you can change whether or not you want pockets, alter the sleeve types, and play with the dress or skirt length, too! I opted for a mini dress, custom fit, and chose to keep the pockets because who doesn't like pockets? You can put all sorts of things in them: spare change, string cheese snacks, rocks you stumble across which are shaped like celebrities noses, and that lollipop you stole from an infant in the grocery store* you wore this dress to.



______Overall, my experience with eShakti was incredible, and looking at their endless selection, I know I'll have to keep checking up on them! If you're feeling the eShakti love, too, use code thedrawingmannequin at checkout to get 10% off your order.



*Disclaimer: This blog does not support the theft of lollipops from babies. You do the crime, you pay the time, you swine.

Dress: c/o eShakti
Heels: Jeffrey Campbell
Flower ring: c/o BornPretty
Bow Ring: Charming Charlie
Earrings: Charming Charlie
Necklace: probably Charming Charlie

Morningsea + Born Pretty

______BornPretty sent me some lovely things in the mail this past week, including a dainty flower ring, a pearl bauble necklace, and a tiny infinity bracelet. All quite lovely little accessories with incredible attention to detail. They have never disappointed with their quality nor their wonderful jewelry selection and I am always excited to do product reviews for them! Their metals have never turned my fingers green or rusted from exposure to humid southern air even though I've had some of their pieces for a few years--rock on, dudes.

______As usual, you can get 10% off your order with code ALT10! It will take up to a month to arrive, but with their wonderful prices, it's definitely worth it. I've never been one to care for things arriving the next day in the mail either (unless it's like, baked goods. Because you always need your double fudge, triple chocolate, quadruple heart-attack brownies ASAP). Thanks, BornPretty!






Dress: TJ Maxx
Sweater: ASOS
Pearl necklace: c/o BornPretty
Infinity bracelet: c/o BornPretty
Flower ring: c/o BornPretty
Heels: c/o Ted & Muffy

Embrace Thy Inner RDJ + Ozealglasses

______Ozealglasses sports a slick range of carefully selected prescription eyewear, sunglasses, and even biking shades (holla!). Their hand-picked brands lend a modern twist to traditional styles, with thick frames, luscious colors, and dreamy silhouettes. Their brands include, but are not limited to, glasses from the nearly-futuristic Human Skull and pumped up vintage specs from Ospirit. If those aren't your style, then take a gander at their wooden glasses and embrace your inner woodland fairy. There's really nothing that compares to wearing wood on your face.



______I ended up choosing these snazzy tortoiseshell frames by Human Skull and adding a pink tint to them. You can choose a variety of tint colors (eg. pink, blue, orange) and shades (eg. light, dark, sunlight sensitive) as well as picking from a plethora of frame options. I love how their tints are actually vivid opposed to extremely desaturated colors; I've always wanted some sunglasses with rosey lenses that are actually pink, not a gray color that has a touch of washed out rose in them. I'm very tempted to purchase myself a pair of purple or amber tinted lenses in the future...

______But like I was saying, their website definitely offers tons of customization. Even if you don't see a pair you like (doubt it), you can get your inner artist on and create your own. I spent way too long toying around with potential glasses combinations and messing with their virtual webcam try-on. Next stop: customization central, choo chooooooo! That was cheesy. Sorry.



______I had Robert Downey Jr. in mind when I was making these... The man has a tendency to wear fully rimmed glasses with hue-licious tints in purples or blues. Not that I'd know much about his style or anything.

______But I would, actually, because I'm a people creeper.

______(opens a new program to conceal RDJ computer wallpaper) DowneyIluhhyouuuuuuuuu...

______(ahem) Yes, so if you're looking for some special new specs that are high quality, long-lasting, and customizable to the max, look no further! Ozealglasses is here for ya. Guys, I would honestly pick these snazzy shades over a new pair of Ray-Bans any day. Their quality and customization is astounding, plus their customer service is helpful and efficient to the max. These came in the mail under a week and a half and they were custom. Hot damn. I'm in love.



______In terms of my week, it was fan-flippin'-tastic! I won an art scholarship even though the competition was super fierce this year (there were three times as many people as there have been in past years, and friends I thought would hands down get scholarships did not). One of my college goals was to obtain an art scholarship for every year I attended the university, and I can now proudly say that I have done that!



Glasses: Human Skull, c/o Ozealglasses (identical frames here)
Dress: KnowStyle
Blazer: Charlotte Russe
Monkstrap Oxfords: Jeffrey Campbell (exact via Bloomingdales)
Necklace: Charming Charlie
Chain bracelet: Charming Charlie (similar)
Socks: Target

Sparrow Keeper + DressVenus

______This dress, this lemon-y-licious cape, and these rings were all courtesy of DressVenus. When they bestowed a generous budget upon me to shop around with, instead of plucking items of no relation, I opted for creating one mad interwebular ensemble. DressVenus has webpages upon webpages full of wholesale clothing and accessories, and I had more fun than a fly in poop farm browsing them all. This dress has a darling sparrow pattern and is woven from a hefty fabric that will last for years to come. This cape is the perfect shade of mustard and has an addictive swinging motion to it, though the buttons could have been sewn on with more than one strand of string. Nothing I can't fix! Except for that one button I lost in our driveway after leaping 007-style into the backseat of my dad's truck. Whups.

______For a while there, I was unsure if my order had gone through--I hadn't received any e-mails back about the sponsorship when I sent my order number over, but then a month and a half later, everything had arrived in the mail. I e-mailed the folks and they were quick to reply after I noted that I had received my items, but the lack of communication in between made it a tad unsettling.



______And now to Ali with the weather. Oh wait, she's already speaking...

______....On to Ali with the weather, anyway!

______(stop talking in third person, you twerp!)

______Gosh, you could be nicer about it.

______Spring has finally sprung, my precious little pecans, and it's as refreshing as it is blinding. I'm not used to all this sunshine and all this mucky green clover stuff that's crawling all over the ground and in the crevices of sidewalks. I'm also not used to seeing all these campus dweebs and dweebets sporting Nike shorts without pairing them with their trusty leggings and Ugg boots. Most of all, I'm not used to having the air infested with those foul, winged creatures we call wasps, those dainty creatures we dub butterflies, and of course, those delectable and elusive creatures that we know as the toastflies.

______Just kidding. Toastflies only spread their wings in autumn. You knew that.



______Oh! And as if this post wasn't haphazard enough, I'll letcha know that I'm also over at Lily's blog this week while she's on her social media fast--check it out for a compelling backstory that humorously illustrates the creation of this blog.



Sparrow print dress: c/o DressVenus (extremely similar)
Yellow cape: c/o DressVenus
Rings: c/o DressVenus (pointed ring, curled ring)
Socks: Forever 21
Oxford heels: Jeffrey Campbell (similar)
Necklace: Charming Charlie
Earrings: Betsey Johnson via Nordstrom

Madeline + SammyDress

______Let us swoon over how whimsical the cape that SammyDress sent me is: it's twirly, it's classy, it's got a vintage vibe that's enhanced by it's deep, navy hue... it's got all the qualities that a sleeve-free garment should have. Plus, it's a spitting image of its product page, if not even more precious in real life. I adore the navy color (my favorite to wear!), the collared neckline, and the pleat on the back. Plus, the cape is made from a thick material that's lined to keep the brisk wind at bay.  SammyDress boasts all sorts of coats and dresses that have cutesy, feminine styles just like this. I even received two kind compliments on it when I was running errands with the parents this weekend.

______It took a little under a month to arrive, which is quick considering it was shipped overseas. Plus, this product was shipped for free, so I definitely have no complaints. The e-mail representatives are very friendly and polite as well, and I would definitely order from there on my own in the future. Hooray!






______So this weekend, the parents and I rallied ourselves up for a family shopping extravaganza. First, we made a quick trip to the bookstore; my dad bought me a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales, which I will delve into as soon as I get through George R.R. Martin's Dance of Dragons. And since snow pellets and were a looming threat this week, having a dangerous 0.0003% chance of actually turning into snow, we also went ahead and zoomed through the grocery store to stock up on a week's worth of food.

______Hey, now. Don't make fun.



______Valentine's Day is coming up! I get sort of peeved around this time, not because oh gosh never had a boyfriend, but because these other lovely ladies turn into little grey rainclouds that pour out self-depricating Facebook statuses and Twitter updates, putting themselves down for the pure fact that they don't have a significant other. Newflash, dudettes: this is the 21st century and you don't need no man to survive. If you've got one, grand! If you don't, stop sweating over it and attaching unworthy adjectives to your darling little self. The moment when your dreamy dream man steps into your life isn't really up to you. I've been single my whole life and I'm doin' just fine... maybe a little pyscho, but doin' just fine!

______Also, Valentine's Day is when the most adorable recipes pop up. How about these heart-shaped peanut butter blondies or some dark chocolate M&M bark?

______Bake away, my squishy little sea sponges!




Navy cape: c/o SammyDress (find it here!)
Polka dot dress: Ross Dress for Less ($8!)
Tights: Target
Oxford heels: Jeffrey Campbell (similar)
Rose earrings: Charming Charlie (similar)
Ampersand ring: c/o BornPretty