Where to Get the Best Vest

Vests are one of the things that I consider as the most important accessories to have for the fall and winter. They are very versatile and can make an outfit look just a little nicer. 

There are really two types of vests that are popular right now, fleece vests and puffer vests. The classic puffer vests are from J.Crew, and I would say that most people think of the Vineyard Vines fleece vest when they think of a fleece vest. 

Based mainly on reviews and personal experiences I'll compare a couple different vests of each type to find the best vest. I will be focusing on price, ratings, and uses/colors. 

For puffer vests the places I will be reviewing will be J.Crew, Old Navy, and  the North Face. For fleece vest, it will be Vineyard Vines, Columbia, and Patagonia.

J. Crew Quilted Down Vest

• price: $120
• rating: 4.7/5 (155 reviews) 
• Colors: Poppy, Navy, Black, Ivory, Sand, Moss, Brown
• Personal: I have tried these one in stores. They seem to have a really good quality and they are a little puffier than the Old Navy one.

Old Navy Quilted Zip Vest

• price: $35
• rating: 4.6/5 (24 reviews)
• colors: Canvas, Navy, Black, Bright Orange, Forest, Chambray, Red Check
• Personal: I own two of these vests, and I really like them because they are thin so that they can go over everything without making the outfit super big. They aren't really warm but they work really well for a vest for only fashion. 

North Face Thermoball Vest

• price: $149
• rating: 4.6/5 (52 reviews)
• colors: Turquoise, floral, purple, galaxy, black, plum, silver, surf green
• Personal: I have only seen these online.

Vineyard Vines Westerly Vest

• price: $98
• rating: 4.5/5 (37 Reviews) 
• colors: Navy, White, Light Blue
• personal: I have seen it in stores at it is super soft.

Columbia Benton Springs Vest

• price: $45
• rating: 4.7/5 (177 reviews) 
• colors: Plum, Black, White, Grey, Purple, Emerald, Pomegranate, Light Blue, Navy/Grey
• Personal: none

Patagonia Better Sweater Fleece Vest

• price: $99
• Rating: 5/5 (2 reviews)
• Colors: Birch White, Black, Green, Navy, Linen, Red
• Personal: My friend owns this in black, and it looks really good on her, not boxy at all. 

Overall, I would go with the Old Navy puffer vest if you just want something for fashion, but I would go with the J.Crew vest if you want something for both fashion and a little warmth. For the fleece vest, I recommend the Vineyard Vines vest because it looks the best and it is really soft. 

Which one seems like the best one to you?

xoxo,

Maddie

DIY Glitter Pumpkins

Pumpkins are the quintessential fall decoration. This pumpkin is even cuter than your everyday plain orange pumpkins. And what, may you ask makes this pumpkins better? Why glitter of course! It makes a fun decoration that add a little something to every area it occupies. I got the idea from this pinterest post. This was so easy to make, and with so little supplies needed, it makes the perfect decoration. So enough about how cute this is, here the instructions.

Materials:

• Pumpkins (I chose a medium size)
• Glitter
•  Spoon
• Spray adhesive or mod podge 
• Small paintbrush (if using mod podge)
• Cardboard or newspaper

How to:

Get all of your supplies together so you don't forget anything.

Lay down the cardboard or newspaper so you don't make mess. I 

used a broken down vineyard vines box for this. You also might want to think about making these outside because it does make a considerable amount of a mess.

Grab your pumpkin and tape. Tape the stem of the pumpkin up so you don't get any glitter on it. It doesn't really matter what type of tape you use, just make sure that you can easily take it off when you're done. 

                       

Take the spray adhesive just spray it on the pumpkin where you want the glitter. It doesn't dry right away so you can spray the whole top right away or just do it in little sections.

                    

Use the spoon to help control the amount of glitter you put on the pumpkin at a time. I didn't do to good of a job at the control part, but it did help me keep the glitter confined to the area I wanted it. 

                        

As you can see, glitter is all over the place so just fold up the paper and put the glitter back into the container so it isn't all wasted. My glitter is going into an old medicine container because it's our "mixed glitter" container.

Now the pumpkin is almost done, all you have to do is take off the tape and it's done!

                    

It took me about 20 minutes to do this whole thing and it is totally worth it! This is probably the best pumpkin that I have made in a long time!

Happy Halloween!

xoxo,

Maddie

Red, White & Stripes

I wear an outfit similar to this almost once a week. It combines so many of my favorite things (vests, scarfs, boots...) This outfit is so easy to change, just add different boots, or a plaid shirt, legging or maybe a statement necklace. All of these always looks so put together and cute. This is definitely a go to outfit for me.

 Similar Striped Shirt // Similar Quilted Black Vest // Jeans // Similar Boots // Scarf

xoxo,
Maddie

Redone Room

A while ago I wanted to redo my room in way that matched my personality. It have had these pictures for a while but I just have't had the time to share this with you, so here it goes.

For this year, the one thing I really wanted to do was redo my my room, but there was one major catch. It had to be an okay theme with my sister since I have to share a room with her. This is the main reason that our room hasn't changed in several years. Until this year, her style was very pink and girly, while mine was very simple and sporty. Both of our styles have changed: now I lean more preppy and hers can't be described in one word, but it's like a simple boho style.  I came up with the idea that I would have navy and white bedding because that would be able to match with almost color she would want. We went with this idea and I am thrilled with how it turned out! I going to show a before picture followed by what my room currently looks like.

The major thing that you will see is that we painted our room white instead of lavender/pink. The pink limited our options in many ways, from what went on our walls, to the bedding we wanted.

Before

After

We used to have a couch (wasn't it ugly?), so I moved my bookshelf and brought up a dresser for me to use. 

This is my favorite area in the room because it is really pretty. I display my Essie nail polish and baseball hats (stacked) to add some preppy touches. I also spent time organizing my book shelf in alphabetical order to make finding a book a lot easier.

Before

After

 Moving my bookshelf gave my sister an area that was all hers. I think she did a good job on making it her own. 

Before

After

 We used to have matching bedding that was pink and orange, but neither of us liked it so we splurged and got ourselves new bedding and curtains.  I  got the Kate Spade bedding sold at Beth Bath and Beyond. Originally the price was $130, but I brought in a coupon for %20 off because I signed up for emails. This made the price go down to $105.  I can't say you will for sure get the discount because technically they weren't supposed to give it to me. Let's just say I was thrilled to get the discount.

I love this view because it shows my bulletin board, with all my stickers, senior pictures, and memories. 

  

                                          

Before

After

The first thing you have to understand is that my closet is my baby. I love that little thing to death. One of the biggest changes I made was get some fabric boxes from Target to store scarves, belts, purses, and swimsuits (all things that were in the drawer in the bottom of the closet). Then I moved the drawer holding my t-shirts underneath my bed. Then I moved my shoe boxes to the bottom of the closet. I always keep my shoes in their boxed show I can find what pair I am looking for right away. 

This project took me about a week and a half to completely finish. Overall I think is went from a middle school room to a high school room, even though it took until I was a junior to do it. 

What do you think of the change?

xoxo,

Maddie 

Fall Wardrobe Essentials

The air is getting crisper, the leaves are changing colors, and going to school involves getting the frost off of your car. It is finally fall. The fall is my favorite season for clothes, because I love layering and the warm colors that are in season.  I have grouped the clothes by type (shoes, tops, etc), and the images were made using polyvore. The images will not match the links given for the clothes but I will try to make them as similar as possible. With that, let's get started.

Tops:

Plaid/Chambray: because there are so many ways to wear it (see post)

Basic Button down: can be worn like a plaid

Striped Tee: for a more casual day

Graphic Tee: makes a quick easy outfit

Bottoms:

Jeans: you need that perfect fitting pair 

Leggings: because not everyday is a jeans day

Running Shorts: running errands is what they were made for right?

Chino Shorts: for the occasional hot day

Outerwear/Sweaters:

Vest: to layer over almost everything

Raincoat: because they are useful and an accessory

Crew neck Sweatshirt: for the days when you don't want to look good

Pullover Sweater: perfect for layering
Oversize Cardigan: another great layering piece 

Shoes:

Riding Boots: because they can be dressy and casual

Sneakers/Boat shoes: for running around

Booties: they are cute, enough said

Rain Boots: for the rain, of course

Flats: for dressing up but not freezing your toes
Duck Boots: I like these more than the L.L. Bean boots

Other:

Chunky Scarf: for the extra cold days

Statement Necklace: the perfect accessory

Simple Earrings: always look classy, and they don't have to be real

Boot Socks: to add a cute touch to your outfit
Basic watch: because don't always need to be whipping out your phone
Brown Cross Body: leggings don't have pockets, that's why

What is your #1 fall essential?

 xoxo, 

Maddie

October Favorites

This month I had some difficulty coming up with 5 things that I wanted. I don't really want that many new things at the moment. I'm not sure if that's because I don't want to spend money or if I maybe got a lot at one time and now i'm good for a bit. This month I came up with some smaller things that I wanted that aren't clothes (other than the sweatshirt). These are items that I don't want only for october, but they are more an in general wishlist deal.

Nude Heels: I want these shoes for homecoming, which is about part way through October. They would look good with my dress, and I feel like I would be able to wear them anytime I wanted.

Essie Nail Polish:  I really like the color "in the lobby". Essie is my favorite brand of nail polish, mainly because the color always comes out as it looks in the bottle. This is a really big deal for me because I hate it when you by a color and then it is a totally different shade than you expected.

Turbie Towel: My hair looks the best when I can dry it in a towel and then let it be. The issue with that is that I have to use stand big bath towels so it is really heavy on my head and can get annoying. These would be nice to have so I can fix all of these problems, and have better hair.

College Crewneck: This is my only clothing item, and it's because I am hoping to visit this Madison sometime this fall. I'd get this because college crew necks are always so comfortable and easy to wear. I love putting one on with leggings and running shoes and calling it an outfit.

My last thing I wish for is just a little more time in my day. Yes, I know that it sounds really corny but I get about 10-15 minutes of free time in my day, and I'm getting really sick of it. Thankfully I know that this item on my wishlist will come true because cross country ends in the middle of the month. 

Is there anything that you have been eyeing up recently?

xoxo,

Maddie