Pretty Little Things ... on my nose

Oh man... some of the things I'm obsessed with on Pinterest usually entail office decor, design inspiration, or fashion.

The truth is, I don't typically pin impulsively - I usually have a reason I'm pinning which then leads me down a rabbit hole of inspiration.  Can I get an amen?  And this time it was trying to find an outfit for myself.  A great friend and film photographer will be visiting Phoenix next month to take photos of Jose and I (eeeep!).  So now I'm on the other side wondering -- what do I wear?!  Which of course led to...

See the little arrow on the black and white photo?  Well... funny story.  One of my birthday gifts from Jose was to get a new nose ring -- you know, the kind where the stone won't keep falling off the little stud.  WELL.  I confessed that I always wanted a ring (see picture above).  Enter face of hesitation on Jose.  I let the thought linger and we headed into the store.  We pick out a pretty little stud and then.... my eyes linger to the rings.  And I SEE IT.  A ROSE GOLD delicate little ring.  And then we see the price tag.  Woah.

Clearly a nose ring is not one of those let me just "try it on" kind of things.  Once it touches your nose, it's yours.  And for that price, it was too risky.  So then the man pulled out the sterling silver ones that were 1/4th of the price and 1/4 the cuteness.  He told me "look, for $16... you might as well purchase it and see if it suits you.  If you love it, then come back for the gold one and you at least have the peace of mind."  This sales guy.  He's good.  I look at Jose and I give him that smile.  That smile of ... "babbyyyyy, I think I'm going to like thiiiiis."  Hahaha.  So we go to the back, size my stud, remove it, then move on to the nose ring.  He hooks it in and says "well, take a look!"  Woah.  That's different.  I definitely had to get used to it for a second but I admit, I was feeling adventurous.  Turns out that being able to wear a nose ring like this is all dependent on where the actual piercing is on your nose.  And LET ME TELL YOU -- the story of HOW I got my nose pierced is another blogpost alone!! Prom, under 18, at hair shop... oh my gosh, the funny things I can tell about my life.

I digress.  Point being that apparently I have a suited nose and piercing for the ring!!  The man said that a majority of people who come in wanting it don't even have the option because the ring will not sit on the nostril correctly.  Woop woop!  Then yesterday Jose looked at me, nodded his head, smiled and said "I'm getting used it."  So, in just a few hours I will be returning to switch out the stainless steel for the rose gold one!!  So excited :) :)  The good thing is that I will always have the option to swap it out with my little stud if I feel it's not appropriate for a certain event.  But I'm just so excited because I think the rose gold will be the perfect mix of feminine and funky (which funky femme = Ale!).

So in case you're wondering what's going on in my head, just follow me on Pinterest.  Consider it your visual diagram :)

Outfit Chronicles: Floral and Coral

Guess who can finally sit on their balcony?! US!!! This coming July will mark a year that Jose and I have lived in Phoenix. What's ridiculous is that we have a HUGE, beautiful balcony and had NO FURNITURE on it to enjoy. For almost an entire year. Until this weekend when we hit up Ikea and with Jose's final decision that we WILL have balcony furniture. Oh Ikea, you are all over our home.

So today's outfit... floral and coral. Coral is my color at the moment. I'm finding hints of it in my lipstick, my branding, my clothing, and nail polish.









Let me go ahead and warn you now that you will be seeing these boots in the next 2-3 outfit chronicles! I don't know what got into me, but I've been wearing them a lot lately.

top: vintage shop, skirt: F21, boots: Steve Madden, belt: F21, necklace: don't remember =\, earrings: gift from Honduras

I have sad news in my world of reading. I'm about to finish the last series of Hunger Games. I don't want it to eeeenddd! Please send me some recommendations for the next book I need to read. Yeah, I know, reading junkie is what I am.

p.s. Doesn't this photo make you weak in the knees?

Confession: My First Video

A few weeks ago, I shared with you all one of my biggest accomplishments -- my first fashion video. That was a big deal for me. But.... buuuut... there was a little video before that I had mentioned but never actually showed you. My very FIRST video.

Before you get to the video at the end of this post, you have to understand the story behind this. I'm in a dance group called Esencia Tropical, taught and choreographed amazingly by Cory Gutierrez. You know I'm a fan of feminine styling -- whether it's in photography, dance, or clothing. What I absolutely love most about Cory's choreography is her styling. She creates these amazing lines, curves, and body isolation that make the dance come alive.

I kept imagining a video of this dance, highlighting the dancer's movements and Cory's styling. Until one day, I decided to do it.




But remember -- back in December I didn't own a 5D Mark II yet. I asked another photographer from my church, who did own a 5D, if she would be interested in working on this with me.




Tammy was all for it! In fact, she opened up her home to us and converted it into a mini studio for the dancers.




These girls were troopers! We had a huuuuge Christmas event the night before and got to bed really late (Cory even later!), only to wake up the next morning to shoot this.




So why am I finally posting this? Well, it took a while for me to edit this one. I was in over my head, learning Final Cut Pro on my own and synchronizing twenty clips to match one song perfectly. This was so new to me.

When I finished the video in January, I was so relieved and excited -- ready to share. And right as I tried uploading it to Vimeo to share with y'all -- the file was too big. Jose and I tried to compress it but nothing would work without reducing the quality. So... I just showed it to Cory and the other dancers in person and left it at that.



Until I made the fashion video. I knew that I HAD to absolutely figure out a way. Three hours into just researching online, my lovely techie (aka hubs) figured it out! I was thrilled!!

So I know this is kind of backwards and I considered not posting it -- but hey, why not. I can always look back on my journey in videography to see where I started and how I've developed. Ready to see the video?

Okay :)



What do you think?! Isn't Cory an excellent choreographer with great dancers?! Oh, and how about those photos? Yeah, that's Jose killing it more and more with his second shooting ;)

p.s. Thanks for going on this journey with me!

Outfit Chronicles: Denim & Grays

Guess what? Poor Jose is going to have estrogen overdose. This weekend my wonderful friend Brittany Nicole, a budding photographer, is coming over for 5 days. The following weekend Jose's sister Jasmine is also coming and staying for a week. THEN after that, my friend Kim is arriving the day Jasmine is leaving and staying with us for 4 days.

Poor guy.

But guess what that means? Photoshoot after photoshoot after photoshoot. Woo hoo!

So on to today's outfit!





I love gray, and I especially like it paired with yellow but there's something extra mellow and relaxed about grays and denim blue that I'm loving.



.. and a hint of brown :)

Top+Shorts+Belt+Earrings: F21, bracelet: happy hippies boutique, necklace: gift, shoes: Journeys.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about the Steven Tyler feather piece tribute! Promise I'll get to that very soon :)

Last random/crazy thing. I want to tell y'all about this thing I think I'm going to try -- it's called "How to go shampoo free." And NO, it doesn't mean you wouldn't wash your hair, it's just substituting your shampoo. We have the WORST hard water here in Phoenix and with the dry weather, I'm looking for alternative options to using less harsh products on my hair. Did you know shampoo is a detergent and strips your natural oils? My poor scalp is not taking very well to the change in water and weather here, so I'm pretty open about my options.

So there's this at home method (super easy) that I've been reading up on (<--check it out) and it's supposed to be amazing for your hair. Hmmm. Haha. Yeah, I'm REALLY considering this! What are your thoughts? Any suggestions? Let me know if you're curious about it and I'll share with y'all the results -- maybe some before and after photos? ;)

Happy Fa-fa-friday.

Layering for the Winter!

Um, I did NOT get the winter memo. I want to find the ladies from this summer who saw me with a box labeled "winter clothes" as Jose and I were moving in that said "Honey, you don't need winter clothes here! Those things will stay in the box."

Clearly they don't understand that high of 56 degrees is W.I.N.T.E.R. And I know those of you who live in snow regions are rolling your eyes -- but I live in the DESERT people! The good news is that there's this thing called "layering." You can take the not-so-warm outfits you have and pair them with some winter items that weren't donated.

For example:

(credit)

The lace is pretty -- but those see through sleeves? You will be freezing.

Pair with sweater and fur vest..


and these SHOEEEESSSSS

And you get this!

How beautiful is that?! So maybe fur is something that takes some getting used to, but the point is to add another element to that outfit -- LAYER! Plus, there's so many items like this that you can find at thrift stores!

But Alejandra, these pieces just don't come together in my head like that!

I understand. It doesn't come to me until I have 5 minutes to leave for church, in which I grab pieces and try to coordinate (for the most part) the colors with accessories. Fortunately, ThreadSence created a LOOKBOOK!! They put together outfits like the one up there and show you the exact pieces they used to create the look.

Use it as a guide and next time you're in your closet -- try layering. Try something you haven't paired before. Or how about you print 3 of your favorite outfits and take it with you to your next shopping trip? This stuff doesn't come naturally to me, but I look at it enough to have a basic understanding. So when I feel like "I don't have anything to wear" -- I start getting creative. I can't say this enough: ACCESSORIZE!!!!! A necklace, hair piece, and earrings can transform an outfit. Remember the show What Not to Wear? Get pieces that can be re-used and matched with other outfits.

Oh sorry. Those shoes were distracting me. Back to clothes...

Then there are simple pieces that are so beautiful in their simplicity...

This sweater?!

As my sister in law would type: *dies* If you haven't noticed the trend, I'm a HUGE fan of one-shoulder tops. Especially in the winter because you can look feminine/sexy but still be WARM!

So have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow and storm up some outfit ideas for the Holidays :) You might be surprised!

Jose and I will be spending it with Kristin's family -- so you can imagine how good that's going to be! :) According to Jose it'll be my "first American Thanksgiving" because apparently neither my family's OR his counted as "American" Thanksgiving! Ha! I mean, we had turkey... doesn't that make it American?! Even mashed potatoes. Bobby Flay would qualify that as American. Rice doesn't eliminate us, right?! :)