Big Dreams

When I was a little girl, I used to love sitting in my mom’s walk in closet and looking at all the things she had hanging and organized around the room.  For someone who is as lax with keeping a room clean as I am, I am strangely obsessed with organizing! Especially closets – mine, despite being a small and cramped dorm room closet, is organized by type of clothing and then every type is done by color. It just makes me happy looking at it!

Although I’m planning on being a teacher, I love dreaming about the big, wonderfully organized closet I’ll have as an adult – or at least as someone who is out of college.

I love these closets! The crispness, the organization, the color – it’s all so fun! I feel like it’s so much easier to put together a good outfit when you can see all your options so well organized and hanging right in front of you. 

While some of these closets are a little out of reach and impractical (a wall full of pumps? Less than ideal for a teacher!), they’re pretty fun to look at, aren’t they?  Plus, it helps me imagine what my closet will look like (: Wishful thinking at it’s finest.

What about y’all? What do you want your future closet to look like?

Have a great week!

Sam

Oh So Crafty

Earlier today, I mentioned my Pinterest addiction – and I’m pretty sure it got ten times worst after I scrolled through the DIY & Crafts section! Over Thanksgiving and Christmas break, I spent a ton of time making canvases and cups and other little oddities for my friends as gifts – and it was way more fun than shopping around for something (which I never thought I’d hear myself say!)

I love finding special little things like the ones I’ve posted here because it’s fun to have a little story behind it! In addition to canvases and pitchers and containers, these things will make great presents for my future little!! Meep so excited










I wish I had the time and dedication to make all these things! I’m really loving maps as art, lately – I recently even found an old map of Greater Cincinnati at an antique shop when we were out for Easter brunch! I think my favorite craft is the one of a picture on top of the map… maybe something like that will make a great Mother’s Day present

Do y’all like making crafts? I think they add a great personal touch to would-be-bland dorm rooms! Also, they’re just fun!

All my love,
Sam

Wishing In April

I don’t know about y’all, but online shopping is my biggest weakness! And websites (that I’m addicted to) like Pinterest and Tumblr do nothing to help this problem – they make it so much worse!

The worst is when I can have my laptop in class… I look down and suddenly realize that I’m on a store’s website!

Francesca’s Collections – Rebecca Minkoff – Kate Spade

ALDO Hilser – Piperlime light blue – Piperlime orange

Piperlime mint – J. Crew ballet – J. Crew City Mini

I’m in love with these spring picks! Why is my bank account limited? Meh. I’m especially loving that Rebecca Minkoff tote bag – maybe a great pick for a new school bag! I think I might be asking for the Kate Spade watch for my birthday – I love the combination of the classic silver with the splash of pink! And obviously, the colored jeans are super trendy, but that’s what makes me hesitant to buy them!

I absolutely adore the way that the colored jeans look, but I’m worried that if I invest in a pair they’ll be outdated before I feel like I get my money’s worth! I get part of the rush just looking at them though, see how there’s some mint coloring going on in there? I think spring clothes are probably my favorite because I love how bright and colorful everything is…

Speaking of color, I can’t wait to wear my mint green dress for Easter Brunch today! I love finally getting in on the trend  

Happy Easter! If y’all celebrate it, how are you planning on spending your day?

John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

All my love,

Sam

Beauty Watch: Champagne, Peach, & Coral

It’s time for me to admit it to y’all: I’m a makeup addict. I love playing with it, putting it on, doing my friends’ makeup before we go out – everything!

One of my favorite looks right now is one that I’ve been turning to every day, and is totally versatile – champagne eye shadow, peach blush, and coral lips. The colors tie together so well and look amazing on every complexion! Here are my top picks for these three products…

1. MAC Naked Lunch Eye Shadow: very pretty light, shimmery shade, great for all over color!

2. CoverGirl Champagne Eye Shadow: more subtle than Naked Lunch, but a gorgeous color! Great for using on the lid.

3. MAC Peaches Blush: this shade warms up your face so well! It’s very sheer, so it’s nearly impossible to over apply and looks amazingly natural.

4. Bare Minerals Vintage Peach Blush: This shade is brighter than the MAC blush, but is a perfect pop of color on the cheek!

5. MAC Smile Dazzleglass: This is one of their most popular colors, and while it’s coming off a little pink in the picture, it’s a really pretty, sparkly coral shade that I love!

6. MAC See Sheer Lipstick: I love the formula of this shade, because it’s so buildable. You can get a quick, easy wash of color or a bright pop with this, and works really well on cool skin tones!

These products are great because they look amazing on almost any skin tone, but there are tons of products around these shades that can fit any budget or preference!

What are your favorite products for spring? Are you a make up addict?

All my love,

Sam

In the Market…

At my high school, everyone carried backpacks everyday (except for those seniors who had mentally checked out!) but I’ve realized that isn’t necessarily the case on a college campus.

I love my backpack and used it for a lot of the year, but I’m starting to think that it’s not quite as practical now, especially on days when I’m only carrying around a few notebooks! Tote bags are a really fun alternative, and what I’ve been using lately.

I’ve been using my Longchamp Le Pliage that I’ve had forever, but I want to look into other bags with a more solid bottom! Plus, this bag has been through a lot of wear with me – I’ve had it for almost three years! After some searching, I’ve found some good options, but I want to know what y’all think!

One easy solution is the Vineyard Vines classic tote bag – all my friends testify that it lasts forever! I love this Derby Silks print, too.

The Francesca Joy hand-painted totes are so pretty also! I love how unique these look, and I was loving loving LOVING the elephant print on the website, they’re my favorite animal! You can also pick the color of your strap, which makes it extra fun!

I’m also a huge fan of the Lilly Pulitzer Totes! They’re really bright and fun and they come in a million different prints – both for sororities and not for sororities – but this Kappa Delta one is obviously my favorite!

I love using a tote bag to carry my things to class because it just feels easier than a backpack – even though the weight isn’t evenly dispersed, a backpack is a little too much commitment for most of my days in class. Plus, these bags are way too cute!

What are y’all carrying your books in these days? Or, if you’ve graduated, what did you use and find was best for you?

All my love,

Sam

My Nail Picks for Spring

I’m a self-declared nail polish addict: I literally repaint my nails at least twice a week because, honestly, I want to spread the love to every color that I have! Granted, this almost means I smudge my nails on the regs. Which is of course another excuse to repaint. So, without any more rambling, here are my top five picks for spring nail colors!

1. China Glaze Something Sweet

(Picture from All Lacquered Up) – Baby pinks like this color are always a good call in my opinion! I love this shade so much, it’s just very light and fresh looking and reminds me of bubblegum! I also really like glossy colors like this, and the payoff is great.

2. essie’s tart deco

This color came out a few years ago in a spring collection, and after hearing Tiffany D speak so highly of it, I was on the lookout for it! I found it at a Walgreen’s last summer and have loved it ever since, and it’s such a great spring color! It’s bright and creamy, and reminds me of flowers popping up. This color only takes two thin-ish coats to get an amazing color payoff and is one that I turn to all the time! (Photo from Temptalia)

3. OPI’s Malaga Wine

This is a different color than what you’d expect to see in the early spring, since it’s admittedly a pretty wintery color. But what makes me love this as a spring shade is the fact that it looks great no matter how pale or tan I am, and every shade in between. It’s also ideal for people who don’t feel comfortable putting crazy colors on their nails – it’s the perfect, classic deep red! (Photo from Google)

4. Revlon Sheer Nude Nail Enamel

I really love nude and beige nails, and this is actually one of the better ones I’ve found! It won’t be entirely opaque until you put on a few coats, but I love the sheer, barely there look of this shade. Nude polishes give a very pulled-together look that’s never overdone, and it goes with everything! (Image from Google)

5. essie’s Navigate Her

I had to. Mint is absolutely a color of the season, and a great spin off of that color is this grassy, pale green color! It’s not quite as pale as mint is, but it looks amazing and I’ve been lusting after it since I saw the debut of the collection! (As usual, it went on sale after Lent had started!) Navigate Her is a gorgeous color and I hope to get my hands on it soon! Plus, essie always puts adorable names on the colors in her collections! (Image from Google)

I hope y’all liked this post! Nail polish is seriously one of my biggest weaknesses! They’re so much fun and a great way to work with the colors of the season!

All my love,

Sam

Starlet Spotlight: The First Edition

Hello loves!

So let’s talk stars with amazing taste and style – starting with someone who seems to be everyone’s favorite…

Katherine Middleton!

First thing’s first… she’s a real life princess. That means that she is living out my childhood dream. But in my opinion, the best part of her marriage is how amazingly it seems that she and Will interact – have y’all seen them look at each other?!

They just seem flawless! Here’s why I love Kate:

1. Her relationship with her husband (already addressed that)

2. HER STYLE. OH MY LORD. This woman dresses so well! She does an incredible job of dressing for her body. She never seems overdone, even in those British hats that rival the most elaborate Derby hats!

3. This one seems most important – the grace and poise with which she carries herself. My sorority supports the Confidence Coalition: and Kate moves with such confidence in herself and who she is that it’s inspiring. She’s obviously had to change so much of her life to adjust to the demands of her marriage, but I feel like she’s never let that get in the way of who she truly is.

Now, I know I’ve seen plenty of people criticizing Kate for, well, everything – the fact that she should re-wear outfits, that she’s snotty and stuck up, and that she and Will spend a lot of money. I don’t know what kind of truth there is to these statements, but I absolutely adore Kate! The point I wanted to have to these Starlet Spotlights isn’t to talk about how perfect someone is, but rather to highlight the women who are getting it right – the women who are respecting themselves and living their lives in a way that we can all admire.

Oh, and Kate has a million and ten memes dedicated to her… I’m a big fan.

 

SAH FUNNY.

All my love,

Sam

March Favorites

Hello darlings!

This is admittedly cheesy – but where in the world did the month of March go?! Seriously, I feel like time has never passed faster! It’s actually scary – I love the friends I’ve made this year, and I don’t want to leave them!

On a brighter note, here are some of the things I’ve been loving this month.

1. Keurig Coffee Maker

This machine is a literal life saver. I have an 8 AM on Tuesday and Thursday and I’m barely conscious when I make my coffee, but if I didn’t have it I would never make it through the class. I’m almost finished with my sampler Donut House pack, and I definitely need to get some more before the end of the year! Any suggestions?

2. J. Crew Archie Grand notebooks

When I was at the Lenox Mall in Atlanta, I bought one of the Archie Grand notebooks J. Crew was selling – it has “THOUGHTS I HAD AND COULDN’T REMEMBER” written on the front and it’s bright pink. I think it’s just so fun and handy – I’ve been carrying it around as a random thought book and it’s definitely made me less scatterbrained!

3. Coral/peachy lips

I think coral/peachy lips are such a great trend for spring! They’re bright and fun and I feel like they warm up my face (and make me look tanner… huge plus)! I bought Ever Hip from MAC’s Liberty of London collection a few years ago, but every line has a great peach or coral shade.

4. Hot Tools Curling Wand

Naturally, my hair is super super straight, and I used to hate curling it because it was so much work and so little reward. But these new curling wands from Hot Tools have made the process so much easier, and now I love wearing my hair curly! It can last a few days, and looks good at every stage (but please, still shower!). It takes a little bit of trial and error, but I love how much life and body it gives my hair!

5. Netflix

Such a guilty pleasure… Netflix is possibly my favorite way to kill time. I’ve watched so many episodes of Law and Order: SVU through this! And I got caught up with tons of other shows and can watch tons of movies at the click of a button, Netflix is a definite favorite of mine.

I swear, it feels like this month just flew by… are we totally positive that we got an extra day last month? I still feel like I have so much to do at school! What were some of your favorites from this month?

Sam

Obsessing Over: Mint Green

Hello lovelies,

I wanted to talk about a trend that I’ve been seeing everywhere, and one that I’m totally loving right now: mint green colored clothing & accessories! I’ve seen this most in pants – since colored jeans are super popular right now – and it’s gorgeous:

From See Jane – I love this shot! The color of the pants, the tipped shoes, it’s too much fun. The trend just looks so whimsical and fun that I can’t help but love it.

Isn’t that dress beautiful? I love the cut of it, and the gold and neutral accessories take it to a whole new level and make it look perfectly pulled together.

And if you’re a nail polish addict like me, essie’s Mint Candy Apple is the perfect subtle touch of mint to get yourself started on the trend! I think that this pale green shade is great for spring – it’s a really nice pastel for transitioning out of those deep, rich winter-y colors!

This has to be my favorite mint piece I’ve seen – I love the cut of the dress and the blazer is too cute! I’m trying to convince myself that these colors would make me look tanner; that works, right?

Despite some pretty thorough online shopping, I couldn’t seem to find any mint green shoes! I’d love a pair of flats or sandals in this color, any of y’all know a good place to look? Although I did give up shopping for Lent… Easter’s only a week away!

Hope y’all enjoyed! And what are your thoughts on mint green?

Sam

First Things First...

Good evening sweet angels!

So I've been trying to figure out what to make my first post... and after circulating about a million ideas, I decided that an explanation of the name of the blog slash a mini-introduction of myself would be a great place to start!

First thing's first - my name is Sam, nice to meet you/thank you for reading! I'm a college freshman in the Carolinas, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. I've been browsing around the fashion/beauty blog scene for a little while now, and thought it would be fun to try my hand at one of my own! So we'll just see how this plays out...

Now how about the title - Off 5th Avenue. It started off as my Tumblr page, and I thought it was a cute name, after the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet stores, but I realized it had much more meaning after a while. Originally from a big(ish) city, living in a small college town is a whole new experience. I love my school to death and truly believe I'm in the best place for me, it's different than my normal environment.

If you've ever spoken to a college kid around the end of the month (or, realistically, any time in the semester), chances are they'll mention how much they hate spending money. At least, I do! Off 5th Avenue means working with the resources you have, shopping around your own closet, and being as creative as you can be with a limited budget when you have a taste for the elaborate! It's still a learning process for me, but I think it'll be a good idea to document what works (and what doesn't) for my own use. Hopefully, y'all can enjoy this as much as I hope to!

All my love,
Sam