Fashion x Food | Brand Collaborations

There are two things in life that one should not live without... one is fashion and the other is food! Read all about my wonderful brand collaboration with these fabulous women!I was approached by my co worker for this brand collaboration, her name is Jess, and she's amazing! Currently she's running a gluten-free blog that has my tubby self craving her gluten-free recipes! She truly goes against the stereotypical belief that gluten-free food can't be good, because from what I've seen and heard about her recipes, gluten-free is the it thing!I have always loved fashion. The creativity, the originality and the way that it can carry a conversation. Similarly, I feel the same way about food. Coming from a Latin family, food is most definitely the center of almost every conversation we have! So why not combine the two! Start a conversation that will last for hours, days, years, it's only right!For this brand collaboration I had the pleasure of meeting two entrepreneurial women, Merica and Sufia! Merica, designer of eco-friendly knitwear that can easily transition from the comfort of your couch to the middle of the dance floor. I love fabric that breathes and makes me feel as if I'm not wearing much! Her knitwear does just that, I could of relaxed in it for hours! Now although my taste buds can't handle much hot sauce, I was so eager to meet Sufia of Silly Chilly Hotsauce! Her go-getter attitude is truly inspiring! I just love me some determined women!WE set out for a beautiful lunch feast in Van Vorst Park! Turned one too many heads and truly just enjoyed each other's company! I'm looking forward to the next time I can meet up with these ladies!Whether is hot sauce, knitwear or a gluten-free recipe you just have to try, check out what these ladies are up to! Special shoutout to Krumville Bake Shop and Another Man's Treasure for being apart of this shoot!Breads & quiches @krumvillebakeshopSauces @sillychillyhotsauceTable cloths & jackets @amtvintageKnitwear @shopniaclothingStyling @shopniaclothingPhotography @umeglutenfreeProp styling @umeglutenfree

Fashion x Food | Photographed by Jess Maiuro

Xx,

How to stay fashionable when you're broke

Let's face it, most (well except for the fortunate few) millennials are swimming in debt, overworked and underpaid, so staying up with the latest trends or going on shopping sprees isn't our foremost thought. I'm about to share with you some of my "secretos" on how to stay fashionable when you're pretty much broke!One of my girls always asks me how can I afford to go shopping with my student loans, bills and other financial responsibilities, and to that I always reply, girlll you gotta finesse this retail business. Which leads me to my first tip, shop. sale. always!Tip 1: I know, I know you're probably thinking, but what if there's something I absolutely love that isn't on sale? Well, you can definitely cheat here and there if you like, but I make it my upmost priority to not buy anything unless it's heavily (40% or more) discounted! And being that I was raised by the bargain queen (my mother) it hasn't been hard to stick to.Shopping the sale not only allows you to get more for your money, but it also builds a discipline to not buy everything that you see and think it cute. Great sales don't happen everyday, so if you stick to just shopping when you find something you LOVE that's on sale, you'll ultimately be saving some money, money that will most likely need to go towards your bills!Now, when it comes to sales, you have to pay attention. I don't shop any sale, I shop ridiculous, never gonna come by again type sales. My two go-to shops for amazing sales is Boohoo and JcPenney, yep I said J-C-PENNY!In order to be able to shop when you don't have much in your pocket to spend you can't discriminate, it's about finding something cute, that's of good quality and affordable who cares where you bought it! Shoot,  still shop at Rainbow from time to time, if I find something cute, I'll buy it. But what I lovee about Boohoo and JcPenney is their perfect sales and their items!Boohoo often has a sale that is 60% off, including SALE items! I once spent $45 and purchased 10 items! What i also love about Boohoo is that it's a trendy site, so often I'm buying things that are seen in Forever21 and H&M for much less!If you haven't received JcPenney coupons before, then you need to figure out how to get them, like now. They literally give you coupons to purchase items for free! My favorite one is the $10 off anything that is $10 or more! Stormy (my mother) always forces me to use this coupon even if it's for something as simple as socks or underwear, because the more you use it, the more they send! And trust me, I know some people may be skeptical about JcPenney's style, but a few of my hottest items are from that store and you'd never know! Plus we could all use staple items and they definitely have those!My last point about shopping the sale, is to shop off season! At the end of every fashion season, items from that season get heavily marked down. No better time to buy them! And I know, for some people it doesn't make sense to buy sandals going into FALL, but unless you're certain that you won't be around next year, you can definitely use them when the season returns!Tip 2:Mix and match. One of the biggest ways to feel as if you constantly have new and cute outfits to show off is to mix and match them. Personally, I love mix and matching super inexpensive items, with regular-smegular priced ones. It changes up the look and brings in that "quality" feel.This trick will have people fooled. No one will be able to guess that your outfit is no more than $30 when you style it in a way that makes it look high fashion!Tip 3: If you still have access to your parents closet, RAID IT. I've taken items from my mom, dad, brothers time and time again. I'm particularly fond of my parents' closet. Why? Because as the saying goes, fashion really does repeat itself every 10 years. So why choose to buy that $100 houndstooth blazer from wherever, when you can simply take your dad's jacket FO FREE! This not only saves you money, but it also keeps that vintage aspect that is very much apart of the DNA of Fashion. WE love VINTAGE!Tip 4: My last and final tip is to BUDGET! Whether you budget out your money weekly or monthly, create a budget! After that budget is created calculate what you'll need for your bills/responsibilities and based on what's left over take a small portion (and I mean small) for yourself with the rest going into savings (even if it's $20, it'll add up). I've found that I'm not recklessly spending my money on things that I don't need and can't afford when I budget a small amount that's just for me. It'll help you feel as if you are "treating" yourself even if it's not a grand amount!I hope that you got new tips or at least a few laughs on how to stay fashionable when your bank account is on E!xoxo,

Channeling my inner 17 year old; Back to School we go!

Now let's be real, when we were younger, we weren't actually excited about the beautiful, freedom of summer ending when Back to School season came around. It was the excitement in having an excuse to get of bunch of new things that you already had!New clothes, new shoes, new pens, papers and notepads; NEW EVERYTHING! That's what makes Back to School season so fun, and I was not about to miss out just because I graduated!

Back to School Essentials | Photographed by Elyse Ketura Photography

Cute Notebooks check |Aren't these just the cutest! I think in addition to all my other addictions, I have a cute notebook addiction! I'm always looking for excuses to buy them! Good quotes, bold colors or pretty much whatever, I'll buy them just for the fun of it! These cute notebooks are by Graphique! If you want pens and other fab supplies then they are the go to!The 1st slay of school FIT check | Being that I'm not in high school anymore, I had to take a 24 year old dress and make is appropriate for school! An off the shoulder bodycon dress, with some old skool vans, nerdy pink glasses and afrolicious pin; a night outfit turned juvenile!

O U T F I T  D E T A I L S

Vans

Boohoo Bodycon, Off Shoulder Dress

Firmoo Glasses

Topshop Pin

Xoxo,