We need to support our small businesses. They need us more than ever.

My favorite local small business is Barbelles Boutique in New Braunfels. Barbelles is ran and owned by an angel named Sara. Sara is a fighter, she is a warrior and she will come out of this crisis stronger than ever, but we need to help our small businesses and owners of those businesses like Sara.

In honor of my favorite boutique and one bad ass boss lady, I am dedicating this entire blog post to Sara’s business Barbelles, just like I dedicate my entire paycheck to her perfect leggings.

Today I will be sharing some of my favorite looks curated by Sara, and why we should all be barbelle babes!

Recently in quarantine, I have been bored. Just like the rest of the country. Luckily for me, I have been kept entertained by my online shopping addiction. Everyday I have been prowling different sites looking for a great deal, like Carol Baskin’s tigers looking forward to eating her next husband . Luckily for me, Barbelles have been posting daily inspo looks, for when I can finally get back in the gym, or for me to just lounge around my house counting the days until I can get back in the gym.

Here are two recent pairs of joggers I have bought from Barbelles. As you can see one is tie-dye (which is super on trend!) AND the other pair make your “peach” look amazing (what woman doesn’t want that!). Barbelles is great at finding new trendy atheleisure and athletic wear. Sara really finds the cutest clothes and knows her customers!

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Besides Sara knowing her customers, she is actually a great person. Sara is a leader in girl power. Her mission is not to get rich quick and make a bunch of money, but instead to make every woman confident in her body. She inspires all women of all shapes and sizes, she loves every customer and makes you feel like a friend, women like Sarah make you want to support her brand.

So please! If you are bored in this quarantine and are looking to find some new activewear and support a local business, go to Barbelle’s website and order away! It’s up to us to save our local gems like Sara Howard.

When you support a small business like Barbelles, you support a local leader in women empowerment.

I created a design for an app that would be perfect for any college fashionista. My app is called “urs” which is short for “yours”. I named my app this because I wanted to showcase how this app is truly yours, and made entirely for the user.

I designed this app on Canva! if you are looking for a user friendly program to work with I highly suggest Canva. You can create a free account, and the creativity is endless!

When you first open the app you are treated by a bright background that states “urs”. You will see this background while the app loads.

Once the app loads you are taken to the home page that is also your closet. Here you can what pieces you have in your closet and sort them into categories such as ‘favorite pieces’ or ‘least worn pieces’. Being able to see your closet on your phone would be a great help to many because we often forget what we buy, or we want to find get additions to add to our closet and help pair together well. This section of the app is represented by the hanger symbol.

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Moving forward, the lightbulb at the bottom of the page would take you to the section of the app where you could discover new looks and see current trends fashion is headed. You would see popular photos where leading women, and users of the app ‘urs’ post their looks to inspire other users. This is a place to find new looks and see fashion outside your normal bubble.

After discovering new looks and finding fashion forward pieces, you move into the next section, your wishlist. The wishlist is represented by a heart, and is completely curated to you. When you like an image in the discover section, you are given the option to add the look you like into your wishlist. After it’s added in your wishlist the app will find similar pieces of clothing like the ones shown in the picture. Also based off user feedback, the app will suggest clothing you might be interested in.

Finally the last section of the app is represented by a spark and it’s purpose is to bring the fashion community together. This section of the app is called “outfits of the week”. Users of the app ‘urs’ will vote on fashion looks and decide as a community who is the winner of some iconic looks. There will be 7 winners each week, one to represent each day of the week. Users of the app will be able to see what won, and be able to add the clothing that won into their wishlist for future purchase.

Thank you for reading about my future app! Remember to make fashion and your style completely yours.

On my very first blog post I showed how to upcycle a pair of shoes and paint cacti on the toes to give my own dirty shoes a new life. Out of the feedback I received it seems like everybody wanted more instruction so I made this video, to explain things better and hopefully inspire you to unleash your inner creative and create a design that has meaning to you.

Happy painting! Stay true to yourself and don’t be afraid to get creative!

I have stalked all the best brands that I spend hours on, just looking at clothing or looking for inspiration. In the list below I will link all the stores that are perfect for online shopping to rebuild your wardrobe while you sit at home in quarantine.

Being stuck in quarantine is awful, but that doesn’t mean your wardrobe has to be. First on the list we have boohoo. Boohoo is a great place to shop if you are looking for basics and recent trends.

In the photo below you can see some trends that Boohoo is following such as loungewear for the house, or dressing up like Carol Baskin from the hit documentary Tiger King.

Moving forward, we have my favorite place to shop, a website I can spend hours on… Lulus. Lulus is affordable fashion that makes quality clothing. Their Instagram is filled with aesthetics and not only clothing. Occasionally they will post a cute puppy photo or a a photograph of a flower. I love Lulus because their website is extremely easy to navigate and is filled to the brim with one-of-a-kind pieces.

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Continuing the list of great places to online shop in this quarantine, Pretty Little Thing is a great website to waste time on. They have a whole variety of styles and truly have something for everybody. Bonus, almost everything is 25% off right now!

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Are you looking for makeup inspiration, home decor inspiration or fashion inspiration? If you answered yes to any of these, I suggest checking out Urban Outfitters. They have all of the above! I love UO, I love shopping inside the store in downtown Austin, but because of social distancing I have spent hours on their website instead of their storefront, I suggest you do the same! It’s amazing what you can find, the and just like their post says we are tired of wearing sweatpants, its time to treat ourselves to a new dress!

Last on the list we have Reformation. Reformation is known for taking current trends and creating sustainable pieces out of them. Their clothes are a bit more pricey than the other brands named in this blog post but they are worth the price if your morals line up with theirs. They are against fast fashion, and their clothing is built to last. I personally love Reformation’s dresses, check them out below!

Well I hope this will help you past the time in quarantine and hopefully inspire some creative looks! I look forward to hearing if any of you shop online at any of these stores! If you do, tell me what you buy!

Supporting Local Artists and Receiving Custom Clothing in Return? Sounds like a deal to me.

Creeds and Crests is a store in San Marcos that specializes in making custom Texas State apparel. In their store they can screen print, monogram, and make vinyl items. The customizations are endless.

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The staff at Creeds and Crests are swamped right now with the custom stoles for graduation. They are the most trusted and known for quality work in San Marcos for Stole Customization. You can add photos of Old Main, your organizations you are apart of, monogram of your full name. Honestly the possibilities are endless. Creed and Crests want to make you happy, they want to help.

Me and my Bestfriend came into Creeds and Crests because she wanted to get pricing for her stole, when she graduates in December. We were amazed by all the cute Texas State apparel that was truly one of a kind.

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My best friend, Christina, her favorite thing is sunflowers. When she saw this sweater she felt like it was made just for her. She knew she had to have it, unfortunately they only had one available in a 3X. Instead of Christina leaving the store broken-hearted, they fired up their sewing machines and made a sweater in her size right away and it was done within 5 minutes. Other retailers such as Target could never offer that kind of service.

If you are a bobcat that loves fashion and the university, I highly recommend Creeds and Crests. They are located on the square at 202 University Drive, Suite 105, San Marcos, TX 78666. It’s about a 7 minute walk from Campus! Happy Shopping!

I found real college fashion out in the streets of San Marcos

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5 beautiful, stunning, gorgeous girls participated in this blog by allowing me to take their photo, and know where they shop in order to attain the look and unique style they have.

Although majority of these outfits align with how I typically dress myself, I appreciate the unique looks that each of these women bring. You can tell that thought, modification, and creativity was packed behind theses looks.

Starting off with style, we have Alyssa Padilla. She was out on the quad selling Valentine’s Day cards with Ad Club, a student organization at Texas State University. I loved the simplicity of her outfit and how it was dressy but also causal. When talking to Alyssa I found that most of her outfit came from Marshall’s. Marshall’s is a store that sells designer or trendy styles at a discounted rate. If you want to find one near you, simply click here, Marshall’s is perfect for the local college fashionista!

Moving forward we have Christina, a junior at Texas State who is wearing the perfect high-waisted, form fitting pants from Target. She paired her favorite jeans with a black belt, thrifted sweater, and pair of black booties. Classic quotation, Christina’s outfit takes a lot of effort to look effortless.

Next we have Sabrina, who decided to wear a designer sweater with ripped jeans from American Eagle for a sophisticated but still young look. This is a perfect outfit for someone in college because it gives off the impression that we are still youthful but professional. Sabrina was headed to the SXSW headquarters in Austin when she wore this outfit, it was a great outfit to make an impression on the people in charge of her internship.

Continuing on, we have Chandler who was attending a late night Ad Club meeting in her completely thrifted outfit. This outfit is bold, unique to her personality and screams creativity and “one-of-a-kind” . Chandler said that some of her favorite places to thrift shop besides Goodwill is Vagabond, and Poshmark.

Lastly we have Alexa in her comfortable, causal outfit. When talking to Alexa she told me a secret, that her entire outfit is Ross dress for less. Although looking like expensive Athleisure it is actually very cheap and affordable. Alexa told me that she found leggings for as low as $5.99 and tops around that price too. Ross sounds like a great option for a fashionista balling on a budget!

So there you have it folks, 5 very unique outfits from some gorgeous bobcats!

How one sweater, can be a staple in three different outfits.

I am a sucker for following clothing stores on social media and seeing the outfits they create. It’s crazy to think that one branded post can impact and inspire creativity through clothing.

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When I saw this sweater on Lulu’s, I knew I had to have it. This one instagram post featured the perfect spring sweater in three gorgeous colors. I bought the white.

This sweater is seriously perfect. It’s light weight, cropped at your hip and hangs loose off the body. It pairs well with jeans, you can throw it over a dress or pair it with your favorite spring skirt. The options are endless.

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Instagram curated an ad for this sweater for me to buy, and they did so perfectly. The sweater has now became a staple in my closet and I’m highly considering buying it in every color!

If you are obsessed too and want to buy, here is the link to the sweater! Tag me in your creations or comment below and tell me how you would style this spring sweater!

I love going to Goodwill in San Marcos. I can spend hours in that store. Going down aisles and finding a new deal excites me. I love piecing together outfits from my inspo boards on Pintrest.

Today I went to Goodwill looking for a midi skirt like one I found at Urban Outfitters for $49. I personally would never pay that for a skirt.

After roaming the aisles and walking through the store, I found the perfect skirt. For $3.99! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I grabbed that skirt as fast as I could and bolted for the dressing room to try it on. It fit!!! I saved myself $45 just by going to my local thrift store.

Not only is Goodwill an awesome way for trendy students like me to save money, You are also giving back to your community So for those reasons, Goodwill will always have my heart.

Every girl I know has a pair of boring hoop earrings. They are a staple piece of jewelry. But now a new staple has came along. It’s time for the fringe hoop, I’m calling it ladies and gents. It’s time to spice up our lives!

Here is a super easy DIY you can follow to make your own earrings at home!

All you need is embroidery thread and an old pair of hoops. That’s right, you can make this upgrade at home for under $5!

All you do is cut small strands of embroidery floss, create a loop, and then push your thread through the loop creating a knot. Repeat however times necessary. I did six knots per color.

I can’t wait to see how you spiced up your old hoop earrings!

Do you have old shoes sitting in the back of your closet? You know ones with dirt, grime and dog hair all over them? Well don’t throw them away! You can upcycle them!

These shoes have almost had the life beat out of them! But it’s not too late. They can be reborn again. All you need is a little paint.

If you are in college, there is no need to spend $60 dollars on a new pair of Vans. Just simply give yours a facelift by making a custom design.

Happy Painting!