Knowing Your Worth

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Hey y'all!

I haven't decided how frequently I would start posting again. It's hard for me to have a new post every single day, but I will try my best to post something at least once a week. 

This topic in particular came to be after a phone call with my best friend. I did something cool for one of my guy friends and I was irritated at the result. Naturally, talking situations out with my friends helps tremendously. I kept asking myself, 'why do I continue to be nothing but good to people who don't do the same for me?' It's something we all struggle with. Whether it's that one friend, coworker, or anyone in your life who continues to disregard a kind gesture, #ifeelyou. 

It made me start thinking about my value, wondering how much is 'too much' to invest in others. Frankly, we are all caught up with the idea of someone or something. There's a point though, where it can become degrading if that's your main focus. I'm getting off on a tangent here, but I mainly wanted to express my thoughts on how sometimes, it's okay to cut people off who don't value you. It's exhausting to continue giving everything to someone who doesn't do the same for you back. Know that you are worth the kindness, love, and attention. 

It's All About Perspective

One of the things within blogging I struggle with is taking pictures. Having someone take pictures of me in general is awkward, let alone OOTD pictures. I consider myself a photogenic person but I've never liked having all of the attention on myself. With that being said, I want to make some personal #photographygoals for my blog!

1. Take more pictures

I really struggle with this. I see something once and say, 'that's it.' Done, I don't need to remember this place nor this moment. At the beginning of my senior year, I vowed to take more pictures since it was my last year of high school. Yeah, that's coming along great. With second semester a few weeks in, I plan to try again for this semester!

2. Take better quality pictures

Whether or not I stick with blogging in college, I need to get a better camera. I currently use an old Canon my mother used to own. It's slow, freezes up a lot, and doesn't capture the image like I want it too. Maybe 2016 will be the year I invest in a camera! Any recommendations?

3. Take the picture, even if you've already seen it

Over the summer during my three week stay in New York City, I was able to explore the city more in depth and take pictures, obviously. That was my 4th trip to the city and somehow, I still had the feeling I was missing something while I was reminiscing through photos. My logic now is, it doesn't matter how many times you've seen that building/road/view/sunrise/or sunset, take another picture. I'm so surprised at how taking pictures of the same thing overtime can be different. For example, I've been to The Plaza Hotel all 4 times I've been to New York. But you know what? My perspective has changed, my life has changed, and I have changed since the first time I took a photo of The Plaza to the most recent time. I know that example may sound really weird but it's so true. Even when you visit a familiar place, life is different and that's just how it goes. 

Do you guys have any tips for good photography?

xoxo, 

Carly

College Admissions: Early Decision vs. Regular Decision

At the end of my junior year, a common question for everyone was, "should I apply early decision or regular decision to my #1 choice of college?"

The answer? Well, that's your choice. 

Remember, this post is 100% my opinion and experiences I have learned from my friends. I definitely don't have a preference to either or, but I will share what I know now after applying to colleges. 

Early Decision:

This means that you apply sooner and will hear back sooner. *(Ex. apply by October 15, hear back by November 20). Most admissions offices will tell you the only difference about this decision is that you hear sooner than regular. While that's definitely true, early decision is extremely competitive. It's literally top-of-the-class students from every school applying, hoping to get in. Now, I'm not saying you have to be #1 in your class to apply early. Seriously, if you have great grades, test scores, and your GPA is ah-mazing then go for it. Early decision is a hit or a miss. You either get accepted, deferred, or denied. The only statistics the admissions office has to go by is the one from the previous year and they look at how the applicant pool is as a whole. Please note, they only look at grades, test scores, and GPA. Your extracurriculars will more than likely not be accounted for in this decision. 

Regular Decision:

You apply later, you hear later. *(Ex. apply by January 15, hear back by middle of March). In this decision, the admissions office will look at everything. Grades, test scores, GPA, essays, extracurriculars, teacher recommendations, etc. The reason is takes so long for a decision to come out is because the admissions office looks/reads over everything. However, less people tend to apply regular decision than early decision, from what I've seen. Also, applicants can see how the accepted/deferred early applicant pool looks and compare to where they line up with those applicants. 

My experience:

All of my friends applied early to the school that was my number one choice, except for me. So, 6 of my friends applied and only 1 got in. 2 were deferred and 3 were denied. I was really surprised about my 2 friends who got deferred because they met the 50% of previous years EA's statistics. But it just means that there was a very strong applicant pool for early decision and that's one thing you don't know when you apply early.

It felt weird waiting to apply regular decision, but I was so glad I waited. I got my SAT scores up, was able to write the essays (which I like), and I have a good amount of extracurricular activities that I was able to put down and write about. I definitely feel more confident about my application. Even though I have to wait a little while to hear back, I know it will be worth it! 

On another side note, I did apply early to a few schools. Some schools have a rolling admissions which means you can apply anytime (by April 1) and hear back anytime. I applied to 3 schools by November 1st and heard back from those 3 by then. 

Ok, enough ranting for one post, there is my 2 cents about early decision vs. regular decision. I hope you choose the one that is best for you and get accepted!!

xoxo, 

Carly 

* these dates are from one school's timeline, not all schools go by these!

How to Style Sneakers with Jeans

As a young girl, I cringed when I saw people wear sneakers with jeans. It was just weird to me. Sneakers were meant for the gym and exercising. Now, in 2016, I love how sneakers with jeans are styled. It's a laid back yet so put-together look. I am aiming to style an outfit like one of these this year!

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Here are a few sneakers I would recommend:

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Why a Break Can Be Good

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Hello, all. 

It's been a few a months since I posted on my blog. Honestly, I wasn't sure what I wanted from blogging. Trying to find your voice in a world of 7 billion people can be tricky. Sometimes, I would get writer's block or write about random things. It can be challenging at times to know what your readers want to see. But I realized, I haven't had this blog for long and I'm not sure if anyone reads it, but hey, I'm ok with that. I'm a rookie in the world of digital media, but I learn something new everyday.

I'm so glad blogging has had the impact it has on the fashion industry. Seriously, who knew taking pictures of what you wear daily or how you do your makeup could be so influential. A blogger I read, Caroline, from Citrus & Style recently posted an ah-mazing post about dealing with negativity. An avid reader of blogs myself, I don't see why people feel the need to post negative comments on blogs. I have personally never had one, but I've seen it happen to the most kick-ass bloggers out there.  When I first started my blog around August of last year, I was very worried about people at my school, or anyone really, finding out about my blog. I was a 16 year old, posting random things about why I loved this trend or that outfit. I didn't know what I was doing half of the time. Now, I'm 18. While I'm not a full-blown adult, I realized that I have no reason to be afraid of what people think about my blog. Yes, it took me two years to realize that and how much I missed blogging. This sounds cliche, but blogging added a positive aspect to my life. I felt the need to be more creative, learn to take better pictures, and come up with cool stuff to write about. I also love watching the relationships between bloggers and their readers. You literally feel like you're talking to your best friends 24/7, and that's how I aim to portray to y'all. 

One of the reasons I started this blog was because of my love of writing, and obviously fashion. I have enjoyed writing since I was a kid and being in AP English classes has helped my academic voice grow tremendously. Also, I love fashion. Like, that's an understatement. I can't explain how much I enjoy getting dressed in the morning or reading about the inspiration behind collections. Fashion makes me happy, like the kind that you know if you were forced to do it forever as a job, you would be content.  I want a career in the industry, as a designer or something else, I've got time to decide. Most teenagers my age have no clue what they want to do for the rest of their lives. I knew I always wanted to be in fashion (mentally), but after studying at Parson's over the summer in New York City, I knew, in my heart, I belonged in the industry. Hopefully it will all work out!

Currently, I am a second semester senior of high school, barely hanging on because of senioritis-(it's very real). I am still waiting to hear back from my number one choice of college and possibly my second choice of college. I have been accepted into the 3 out of 5 colleges I applied too so far. No lie, the college admissions process is stressful and I am glad that part is behind me. 

Anyways, I'll stop ranting now. But hey, a break is good. I needed it. 

Thanks for stopping by my small space on the internet. The best is yet to come.

Always, 

Carly