NOTD | Plum & Glitter Attraction
I did my nails, yet again, before I traveled to NYC this past weekend. I was inspired by this design from my close blogger friend, DressingUpWithD, and have been seeing similar designs floating around the internet and instagram. Not sure what this nail design is called, but I’m diggin’ it – can’t wait to do more color combinations!!! Here I used Revlon’s Plum Attraction as the base, which is an amazing deep purple color. I let that dry, then free handed the half moon/circles by my cuticles with Art Club’s nail polishes, alternating with the black and gold glitter. These nail art polishes are great for precision – they have the ultra thin, long brush to paint different types of lines. I filled in the half circle with the opposite color, then topped it off with some top coat! I got so many compliments on these nails when I was out. It’s not my best, since I haven’t done nail art in a really long time, but from far away it looks pretty good for me haha. I think I’m going to continue some more nail art nails instead of regular manicures 🙂
I’m really loving these nails and will probably continue to play around with this design 🙂 This was the first time doing this type of design, so I’m going to work on my half moon/circle technique haha. I hope you all enjoyed this!! Comment below if you’d like to see more nail art or if you like this design!! 🙂
Until next time,
-PLR/Justine xo
NYC | Family, Google, & Liberty Science Museum
This past weekend was so, so, so, so busy with traveling, spending time with family, eating so much food, and visiting Google & the Liberty Science Museum. I won’t spend too much time writing in this post since I’m so tired and have a lot of work to do. My family and I got to visit Google NYC because my sister works there so we got a VIP tour. Google is all that people say it is – the best place to work. It truly is an amazing company and I wish I was in a field where I could work for them (who knows, maybe they’ll need a geneticist 🙂 ). My sister showed us around and gave us goodies; I got to see what she does and spend a day in the Google working environment…seriously, I don’t know why other company’s don’t do what Google does!!! Anyway, the next day we explored the Liberty Science Museum and got to see the Rubik’s Cube exhibit and a Tesla Lightning Show. That museum is awesome and is great for hands on learning for kids! I’ll just leave you with pictures of Google and how awesome it is, and pictures of awesome rubik’s cubes 🙂
I apologize for the quick post – I hope everyone had a great weekend! Monday is almost over!
Until next time,
-PLR/Justine xo
Forgotten OOTD’s #1
I try to snap a picture of the outfit I’m wearing everyday in the mirror and sometimes those pictures get lost in my phone or camera a midst all the other blog pics I take. I figured I’d dedicate a post to these forgotten outfits! (Like they have feelings or something…haha) These outfits are my go to casual/I’m lazy/I’m a bum outfits. I throw on some jeans, a comfy jersey top or a maxi dress and call it day!
Outfit #1: Forever 21 tee (old); similar here | LOFT skinny ankle zip jeans; sz 24P | Forever 21 kimono; sz XS
Outfit #2: H&M top (old) | LOFT skinny ankle zip jeans; sz 24P | Sperry Top-Sider Bluefish Critter Print; sz 5
Outfit #3: Forever 21 tee (old) | Charlotte Russe skinny jeans (old) | Shoemint sandals (old)
Outfit #4: Maxi dress (Nordstrom Rack) | Target cropped cardigan (old) | LOFT belt (old); similar here
Hope you all enjoyed this quick outfit post! Enjoy the weekend!! 🙂
Until next time,
-PLR/Justine xo
My Food Diary #5
Happy Friday!!! This week flew by and I admit I’ve been lazy yet again taking pictures of my yummy food. I keep on forgetting to snap a picture before I devour the meal…and then mid way through my shoveling, I’m like crap I forgot to take a picture. I can’t take a picture of it half eaten or like some scavenger went through the plate. So I really need to work on my patience and not act like I haven’t eaten in months haha.
These were our meals when we were at the Hamilton in DC for the concert. My husband got a Grass Fed Burger, topped with a runny, fried egg, and Vermont cheddar. I got the House Made Pastrami sandwich that had mustard, coleslaw, and swiss cheese all inside a delicious onion poppy roll. I honestly couldn’t finish the sandwich – it was really filling and large, but oh so delicious. The french fries, though, I finished because they were so amazing! To wash it down, I had a couple ice cold glasses of Guinness, my favorite beer! (I swear I think I was Irish in a past life).
The other day I made one of our “lazy” meals that look and taste amazing. All it is is sauteed vegetables (you can add hot italian sausage), fresh egg noodles, pesto, hot pepper flakes, and freshly grated parmesan cheese! So delicious and nutritious, and great for lunch the next day!
My boss had his birthday earlier this week and his assistant got him and the whole lab Georgetown cupcakes. Now if you haven’t been to Georgetown or know of Georgetown cupcakes, it’s a little bakery on M street downtown and the line is always out the door and goes down the street, rain or shine! I’ve lived in the MD/DC/VA area my whole life and I now work at GU and I’ve never tried their cupcakes (shame on me, I know). The lines were always ridiculous and I was like…these people are standing here this long just for a cupcake?! Well….now I know guys, these cupcakes are amazing. I don’t even know what flavor this was, but it was a chocolate cake, which was so moist and soft, and then topped with….some sort of icing, but it’s not icing, and it’s not buttercream. It was so soft and amazing and not like any other icing/buttercream/cupcake topping I’ve ever tasted…I really can’t describe it. You can sort of see in the 2nd picture how the icing is falling off the cake. It was like a mix between a cream cheese/buttercream icing I guess?
What I really loved was that the cupcake wasn’t overly sweet – I’m not really a big fan of cupcakes, but this (oh my god) was so delicious. Now I know why there’s a huge hype and why people wait hours in line!! I need to go there now haha 🙂
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this quick food post! Happy Friday again and hope everyone had a good week and has fun during the weekend! I’m traveling to see my sister and her family up in NYC!
Until next time,
-PLR/Justine xo
Liebster Award | Congrats BeautyFull & Leila Lina!!
Another honor to be nominated by the lovely Vicky at BeautyFull and Leila Lina for the Liebster Award!! Again, since I’ve been nominated before, I still think it’s fun to answer the questions so you have a chance to get to know me better. And! it’s a chance to spread word of new, awesome bloggers! Please check out Vicky’s and Leila Lina’s blogs!! Congratulations again Vicky and Leila!!! 🙂
Questions from Vicky:
1. Which is your favorite blog to read? I actually don’t have a specific one because I love so many!! I guess when I’m browsing through my reader, I tend to click on fashion, makeup reviews, and food posts more than anything 🙂
2. Do you prefer texting or phone calls? If it’s a quick message, I’ll text, but if I want to chat or need to talk to someone, I’ll definitely call.
3. What are your hopes for you blog? That people enjoy what I post and find inspiration on what I write about 🙂
4. What is your favorite brand of chocolate? Oh my gosh, why did you have to ask this question?? haha, if you know me, I LOVE chocolate…to the point it’s probably an addiction. My favorite “cheap” chocolate is Dove’s Dark Chocolate. And then I absolutely love finding small chocolate boutiques and getting a box of assorted artisan chocolate 🙂
5. Do you have any hairstyles/clothes you used to wear that you now regret? I think we all do if you were an 80’s/90’s kid 🙂 But when I was in high school, I dressed like a goth/hardcore person (unbelievable right?). I used to wear those big black pants with lots of chains and straps hanging off of them, and fishnet on my arms….back then I thought I was really cool. I probably wasted so much money on buying clothes like that haha….but I will say, I kind of liked that style and evolved it into my own wardrobe with leather jackets, combat boots, studs, and statement jewelry.
6. Who is your style icon? I love Rachel Bilson’s style and absolutely love the Olsen twins.
7. Do you have one makeup product you reach for everyday? Yes, my Anastasia DipBrow. Brows make all the difference!
8. What is the best thing that has happened to you this year? Probably getting out of a terrible company and moving to my current job, and blogging!
9. If you could switch places with any person in the world for one day, who would it be and why? This one is really tough….maybe a famous National Geographic photographer to go and travel and take rare and awesome photographs of nature, animals, and wild life…yes, that’s what I’d love to see. That or an astronaut so I can go into space for one day.
10. What is the first website you go to when you get online? Gmail to check my emails 🙂
11. How often do you buy makeup? It depends, but on average, probably every 2 months or so? I like to use up what I have. Unless there’s some crazy sale or a must have makeup product, then I’ll go out and buy something 🙂
Questions from Leila Lina:
1. Why did you choose to begin blogging and how long ago? I started back in May of this year and started because I needed a creative outlet from my professional life!
2. Describe the room/place you are in right now. I’m at work in my lab, at my desk, drinking coffee and waiting for my incubations to finish 😛
3. What is the last meal/snack you ate? I just had my usual, everyday breakfast – almond butter and nutella on toast and a cup of coffee. YUM!
4. Describe your favorite outfit in your closet. This is reeeeeally hard haha. Right now, I’m really loving flowy, pleated skirts and circle skirts, topped with leather/denim jackets with lots of studs, metal, and zippers. And then finished with gold jewelry and either booties, comfy heels, or flats
5. Describe your everyday makeup look. It’s really natural! I put on a tinted moisturizer, MAC MSF, blush, mascara, lipgloss or lipstick, and fix my brows. Ta-da!
6. What is something that most people do not know about you? If I could quit my job in the science field or didn’t pursue my career now, I would have studied music – either classical piano or flute
7. What items are currently on your wishlist? Zara leather jacket, beautyblender, a Kindle e-reader, and a new closet organization system for my shoes and clothing.
8. What is your idea of a perfect Friday night? I’m always excited for Friday nights, because it’s usually the time my husband and I go on a “date”. We usually go out to dinner, have a few drinks and talk about anything and everything. I think it’s important to have those “dates” with your significant other. We tend to lose each other during the week due to work and lack of sleep.
9. What are your hopes, dreams or goals for the future? My one main goal is to excel and climb up in my current job so I can be more flexible when I have kids. I also want to travel more before I have kids…but, I also can’t wait to be a mommy 🙂
10. What is the last song you listened to? “Invasion” – Eisley
I hope you all enjoyed these questions!!! Please check out Vicky’s and Leila’s blog and congratulations again 🙂
Until next time,
PLR/Justine xo
NOTD | Ingrid
I’ve been on a roll with nail polish posts!! But it’s probably because I have a really bad habit of peeling off my nail polish after a few days and then I end up repainting my nails again. Is it weird that I like the feeling of peeling nail polish off? Like peeling Elmer’s glue off your hand??? Comment below or like this post if you like peeling glue off your hand!!! LOL
Anyway…..I’m still on my dark nail polish kick in the summer and I went back to another oldie but goodie – China Glaze’s Ingrid. I think this is still available in some stores, but is hard to find. This is one of the most unique colors in my nail polish collection. It’s a medium brown / dark taupe creme, but then has very small gold shimmers in it, which make it look like a mossy brown green sometimes. Some people don’t like this polish because they think it resembles mud, but I personally really like it! It goes with any color outfit! This polish requires 2-3 coats and applies evenly on the nails. Unfortunately it chips really easily even with a high quality top coat.
I hope you all are having a lovely Hump day – It’s almost Friday wooooo! Hope you enjoyed this quick NOTD post 🙂
Until next time,
-PLR/Justine xo
Quick OOTD | Skater Skirt Flirt
I wore this outfit at the concert I featured in my previous post. I wanted to stay comfy, but stylish at the same time. I recently got this Skater Skirt from Forever 21 and absolutely love it! I don’t own any skater skirts and I took a chance and went out of my comfort zone when buying this. Skater skirts tend to make me look really young, but if I style it correctly, I think I can pull it off without looking like I’m 16 (I hope!).
Forever 21 tank (old), similar here | Forever 21 Layered Skater Skirt; sz XS | Target Tipper Sandals; sz 5.5 (brown sold out online) | Baublebar necklace | ModCloth Leaf earrings, featured in this post here | Charlotte Russe Cropped Faux Leather Jacket (old)
The skirt is a very lightweight material so it’s great for hot & humid days. It has two layers, so the bottom layer acts as a lining so no underwear is showing. The only downside of this skirt is that it wrinkles very easily – I’m sure you can tell from the photos 😛 Another downside for non-petite ladies is this skirt is not stretchy – it has a side zipper closure and is quite tight for my 23.5″ waist. I had to raise it higher above my belly button to feel comfortable, so if you’re taller, the skirt may become too short if you’re not around 5 ft. If you get this skirt, I would try a size up just in case.
I paired the skirt with a lightweight jersey tank and then wore flat sandals to stay comfortable for walking. I brought my faux leather jacket to counter the flirty skirt and to keep me warm in the air conditioning (they always blast the A/C at concerts!). Then I topped it off with a simple crossbody bag from Forever 21 too. This outfit is so fun and flirty! I’m slowly learning to like skater skirts 🙂 I may need more in my wardrobe 😉
Hope everyone is having an awesome day so far and that you enjoyed this quick OOTD 🙂
Until next time,
-PLR/Justine xo
The Hamiltion DC | Trails & Ways, PHOX
My husband and I haven’t gone to a show/concert in a very long time. We used to go to a lot back when we were in college and didn’t have to coordinate showtimes with work haha. Random fact about me: I used to be a huge metalhead (still listen to metal though), I’ve seen Lamb of God twice, Killswitch Engage, Disturbed, As I Lay Dying, and Children of Bodom just to name a few. I can say my music taste has turned down a lot, but I just like to say I have a very wide taste in music 🙂 I listen to more indie electronic/indie folk nowadays but seriously though, if you look at my playlists I have Piano classics from Chopin to Beyonce to August Burns Red to Zedd to Noah Gundersen. If I like what I hear, then I’ll listen to it!
Anyway, it was my first time at the Hamilton and I’m so so so so annoyed that I just now found out about this place. If you’re from DC, venues are ridiculously expensive and if they are cheap, they’re scary and in back alleys (ie, The Black Cat). This venue is a few blocks from the White House – it’s classy, elegant, historic, clean, commuter friendly…and AFFORDABLE! Tickets were only $14.00, and dinner is the usual $12-$25 plate. And they have an amazing beer selection on draft and lots of other cocktail and wine lists. The venue is below the actual restaurant so you can eat dinner or hangout there before the show. I’m so impressed by this venue and thought there was a catch since it’s so cheap haha. I always used to go to the 930 club, the Black Cat, or Ramshead Live to go see shows and their tickets are now ridiculous…usually starting at $35 per person. If you’ve been to the 930 club, you know it’s dirty, it’s shady, and the walk back to the metro is scary. I just can’t get over how cheap The Hamilton is compared to those other venues.
I guess the only “downside” is that the venue is very classy…so you won’t have the crazy fans and moshpits and crowd surfing – this venue is more for intimate shows. There are times when I would like to go to more wild shows so I’ll go elsewhere…but if I’m looking for a nice dinner out with live music, I’m definitely going here first!
The main reason we went to this show was for Trails & Ways – they’re a very small indie band from CA and my husband and I have been following them for awhile. We met the lead singer of the band after the show and chatted with him for a little bit!! It was so awesome and he was so down to earth! PHOX is a more popular indie band and I listened to a little bit of them and I’m blown away by their performance. They have their own, unique style of music and the lead singer has such a beautiful voice and sings just as amazing live compared to their records. I’m absolutely in love with them and will be a loyal fan now 🙂 If you haven’t heard them, check them out! Some of my favorite songs from these two great bands are below.
I hope this post gave you a glimpse of my music side 😉 If you haven’t listened to these bands before, I hope they gave you a breathe of fresh air in the music world 🙂 I’m always up for sharing small, local bands to support them. Anyway, happy Monday (ugh) and hope everyone is having a great day!
Until next time,
-PLR/Justine xo
OOTD | Floral & Studs
This was my outfit yesterday so maybe it should be called OOTD-Y? 😛 I wanted to look nice yesterday because I was going out to dinner later and decided to wear this new crochet embroidered overlay skirt from Forever 21. This is the first time I wore this skirt and I’m in love!!!! I’m now obsessed with lace/crochet pencil skirts and desperately need to put more in my wardrobe!
H&M Chiffon top; sz 2 (old), similar here | Forever 21 Floral Embroidered Pencil Skirt; sz XS | Sole Society Anneke heels; sz 5 | H&M layered necklace
Because I’m very petite and have only a few more years till I’m 30, I think it’s important to dress appropriately for your age. Of course there are days when I’m lazy and throw on jeans, a comfy T, and sneakers (and I have evidence of that in my previous posts haha), but on days that I actually put effort into my outfit, I feel more confident, awake, and driven. Plus, because I work in a university research lab, people tend to mistake me for a student/intern…one of my biggest pet peeves! So I make an effort to look more professional most days. A lot of women in my field tend to dress down because we’re “lab rats” and “no one sees us” but I think it’s important to feel confident and look your best. You never know when a Director or PI is going to walk in and ask about your work!
I wanted to style around the skirt, so I chose a white, chiffon top with a small navy print to add some color on my body, and then paired the outfit with red heels to add a pop of color. The studs on the heels counter the feminine skirt, yet keep it chic with the kitten heel. I topped it off with a delicate gold necklace and smaller earrings – I wanted the skirt and shoes to be the spotlight of this outfit. Read the rest of this entry »
NOTD | Steel Her Heart
Happy Friday! Although I’m not ready for summer to be over, I’m getting a little tired of bright nails. Instead of wearing the usual nudes and blushes when I’m tired of neons and pastels, I’ll go for silvers and grays. I’m more of a dark nail polish girl anyway so I’ve been missing them! I didn’t want to go fully black, so I went with a metallic black silver. Revlon’s Steel-Her Heart is one of my oldies but goodies and goes with every type of outfit. I don’t think this is available anywhere anymore since it’s quite old, but I’m sure there are dupes of it everywhere.
I hope everyone had a great week and is doing something fun for the weekend! Is anyone else getting tired of bright nails???…maybe it’s just me 😛 Have a great weekend everyone!
Until next time,
-PLR/Justine xo
Petite Lab Rat 