Falling for Cheetah all over Again

My recent style has been based on: ‘how easy it is to throw on?’ & ‘how quick can I do this?’ . No, not lazy, easy! That’s when I fell in love with cheetah print all over again. Let’s be honest, cheetah was a little out of style after the whole Snooki era. Since the show (you know the one) has fizzled out, cheetah has popped back onto my radar!

Prints are the ‘go to’ in my closet when I’m pressed for time and want a look that requires little accouterments to complete the outfit. This Phillip Lim for Target sweater has made it’s way to one of my favorite pieces in my closet this season. Easy to style, I pair it with jeans or a leather skirt.

 

Top : 3.1 Phillip Lim for Target Pullover / Skirt : Topshop Faux Leather Skirt / Necklace : H&M / Handbag: Vintage Dooney & Bourke / Watch: Michael Kors / Shoes : Top Shop, similar 

Four Cities in Two Weeks on a Budget

Coffee Shop across from Van Gogh Museum

Two weeks later, I’m finally over my jet-lag & ready to share my travel tips in a series of posts. My European travels began in Amsterdam, and ended in Munich with two cities in-between. Four cities, three seven-hour train rides, and four flights later (plus two weeks to get back into the routine of life) and the experience has fully sunk in.

 My first trip on my own dime, and with a great travel partner (shout out to Dave, your the best 😉 ), I experienced four cities in two weeks–on a BUDGET.

Everyone asked: HOW DID YOU DO IT? (Aka how much did you spend?) The truth is, we cut corners. It is possible to travel on a budget, and there is always room to put aside money for travel (if that is what you really want).

Here is a short list of my tips to travel on a budget, in no specific order:

Budget Travel Tips  

 

I am Amsterdam sign

1.    Stay away from top travel destinations during peak seasons 

My trip wouldn’t have worked if I traveled to Spain, Paris, & Italy. Those are the top countries tourists want to visit (rightfully so), but if your trying to save money, I would suggest shying away. Go off-season, when traveling to a popular destination. Starting in the Netherlands, and ending in Germany was a very uncommon route.

 

Berlin & Sausage from a Cart on the Street for 1.50 Euro

2.    Eat what the locals eat    

Taking tips from locals on where to eat is the best way to fully submerge yourself into any culture around the world. Locals can give you insight on what your travel book doesn’t tell you. (Except Curry Wurst, I’ll explain in my food post)

 

Exploring in Berlin

3.    Enjoy the architecture & explore  

Walk around and take in all of the beautiful archetecture, and reminisce on the chapters in history class you wished you had paid attention to. Europe has so much to offer visually. Each street is a gallery of art just waiting to be explored.

View from Apartment, Rented from Airbnb

4.    Don’t stay in a Hotel 

Airbnb is the way to go! It’s a fabulous website where you can rent an apartment, room, or house from over 34,000 cities around the world. Each city we stayed in, we rented an apartment for under $75 dollars a night.

Small Cafe in Amsterdam, Across from Van Gogh Museum

5. Book tickets & Stay in advance

I booked my flight at least 5 months in advance, and was able to score a fabulous price tag. Scanning travel sites religiously is free, and helps to get a feel for what a good price is.

The East Berlin Wall Gallery

6.   Pictures are your souvenirs

Haven’t you heard the phrase ‘A picture’s worth a thousand words’ ? Pictures are the best way to capture the memory of your travels. Not to mention, cheaper than a T-shirt that will most likely shrink and become a part of your pajama wardrobe.

Anne Frank House in Amsterdam

7.   Have a plan & Set a daily budget

 Decide what you want to see, where to go, and how much each day you want to spend. This is the best way to meet your budget of how much you plan to spend in a day. Remember, some days you may spend more and others you will spend less.

Riding Bikes in Berlin

8. Take Public Transit  

Transpertation in Europe is accessible & super easy to use. If you can figure out the CTA system in Chicago, then you can figure it out in Germany. The subway system was safe to ride all hours of the night, and each cart was spotless.

Needless to say, we saw everything we wanted to see! Planning in advance makes a trip worthwhile and also afforadable. Stay tuned for what I ate in each city!

XOXO,

Dave & I in Kunta Horna (A Day Trip Away from Prague)

Typical Holland Shoes 😉

Choose to See the Good Stuff

Sabrina Souffle is BACK

Well hello there!

It’s been a few months since my last post, and boy have I missed blogging! Having to explain that I’m too busy for my blog has become more cumbersome then actually writing a post. A two week vacation + an extra two weeks to procrastinate, finally made me face the music of well, MYSELF.

If there’s something you LOVE to do, don’t let anything get in the way (my advice to myself). So I’m BACK with a plethora of topics up my sleeve.

Post-graduation was exciting and all, but I’m sure some of you out there can relate that a diploma should come with anxiety pills. So as cliché as it sounds, I decided to take a trip to Europe to see the world before committing to the world of adulthood.

Check it out HERE TOMORROW!

Simply Stylist Event

 

 

  

 The Simply Stylist event at the Dana Hotel on Saturday was a great chance to shop and listen to words of wisdom from multiple fashion guru’s! Every topic the women glazed over was up every blogger’s alley. Corri McFadden from E-Dropoff and Jacey Duprie THE Damsel in Dior blogger, were among the few to share their knowledge on how they became successful in their fields. I’m feeling very enlightened and inspired after listening to these women speak!

 

 Stephanie Hsieh (The Naked Canvas) , Justine Gershank (Short is the New Black), and myself.

Skirt Vintage, Simliar J Crew / Shoes Vince Camuto/ Blazer Target- Similar Target/ Shirt Forever 21/ Necklace Gifted / Lip Satin Nars/ Bangles Sequin

Lobster Roll, anyone?

A shout out to all my seafood lovers and pescatarians, here’s a dish you need to try: New England Seafood Company’s Lobster Roll.

This delicious, meat filled sandwich, is the perfect answer for a laid back brunch this season.  I had always imagined having a lobster roll while perhaps on a rock overlooking the sea and a light house in Maine. The latter part didn’t happen (unfortunately), but the first part did on Lincoln Avenue in Lake View. New England Seafood Company is bringing a little taste of the lobster roll to Chi-town.

With options of crab and lobster to oysters and scallops, the options seem endless. Depending on your mood, you can pick from a variety of seafood to be tucked inside of bread with butter and lemon and a side of homemade chips.  (You can only imagine how long it took me to decide.) We settled on the lobster and crab roll with the chips, and the clam chowder looked too good to pass up —so we tried that too.

Let’s just say this roll was a perfect start to my Sunday. Make sure to swing by and taste the Lobster Roll at New England Seafood Company on Lincoln Avenue. 😉

Cheers,

OOTD: Little Pink Blazer

Outfit of the day……from when I met Nars! This little pink jcrew blazer has been my best friend this spring. Bold, elegant, casual, dressy, fun, or flirty–it can be worn in any way. Making it my go to jacket this spring. You can only guess why I chose to wear it last Saturday when I met Nars, and was lucky enough to be able to get my makeup all done up 

How beautiful is Chicago? I can’t get enough of this city!

Dresh Lush/ Necklace Macys/ Blazer Jcrew/ Lips Nars Luxembourg / Tights Express 

Photography by Stephanie Hsieh 

What type of packer are you?

What type of packer are YOU? Let’s admit it, we either procrastinate over packing our toothbrush and under wear, or (for those of you who are over achievers) you toss and turn for a month about potentially not packing your Clarasonic and what type of moisturizer you just can’t live without.

NOW Imagine putting into an app where your trip is going to be, how long you were going for, and what type of trip it was (romantic, vacation, business, family)—and it gave you guide lines or help on what to pack. Not only would this de-stigmatize this process, but also make our lives less hectic. Right ladies? I am in the process of planning a trip to Europe this summer, and am having the dilemma of what to pack for a two and a half week trip.

Depending on where you go, for how long, and what you are anticipating doing there, the items you bring vary extensively. I understand there is a niche market for such an app, for fashionistas and travel lovers everywhere. My mock app…..

Yup, I met Francois Nars

 Let’s face it, you try a couple of other brands of mascara here or there, but things like blush and lip color are typically your usual favorite formula. Everyone has their favorite go to brand of makeup. What’s my favorite? You guessed it– Nars. From the brilliant orgasm blush to my new favorite satin lip stick in luxembourg, I am addicted.

The eclectic color palette that makes up the collection of blush and lipsticks, is what draws me (and thousands of women) to Nars. The colors are suiting for any skin tone, and are highly pigmented to last all day (even after eating!). So, it was only natural that when Stephanie found out about Francois Nars visiting Nordstrom on Michigan Ave, that she signed us up right away to meet the man himself.

It was my first time getting my makeup done fully by an artist, and let alone with all Nars products. From moisturizer to eyeliner, I was dolled up and ready to meet the founder. After picking up a few goodies they used on us, we headed over to pick up the extravagant Nars book that Stephanie purchased to get signed by Francois himself. A great coffee table book for fashionista’s like herself, the book was half the size of me.

We waited in line and as we approached the front , we both became a little starstruck. There he was–seemingly friendly and humble. I overheard him answering questions for Stephanie and say,

“The names of my blushes all represent passion. Madly, Amour and Seduction are a few. And Orgasm…well, that’s a beautiful thing.” 

Touche!

XO,

College Grad?

 

 RED ALERT: Graduating has completely fogged my train of thought. Occasionally my thought process holts for an explosion of creativity due to caffeine or a sudden urge to run from from my apartment to the lake. Other than that, it’s been school, working, & career searchin’ only. Hence the lack of blog posts (My apologies!!) !

My brain is constantly on the prowl for new content to write about, usually pointing me in the direction of fashion or the newest place to eat–but today I took a detour with this post. I decided to dedicate this entry to letting you into the world of Sabrina-ville. From interviews to events, my life seems to be pressing forward at 500 miles per hour. My passions have quickly funneled into a few categories, and people’s advise along the way has begun to shape my future path. HOWEVER, my inspiration-o-meter has been down due to the soon to be life changes that are about to take place, so I did what I do best—-I MADE A LIST. This is my list I’ve created in order to relieve my anxiety and remember how exciting this time is….

Here’s my ROUGH guide to being a college grad that I’ve devised in my head: 

1. Have hobbies & do something with them  

My last few classes at DePaul have turned into pure graphic design & photography mania. Turns out, I love this stuff. Adobe programs clutter my computer screen (and at times make my computer slow) and keep me hungry for more challenges. I don’t think anyone can claim to be a “master” at any of the programs with endless options of creation.

2. Find Inspiration 

Inspiration comes from anything or anyone, and it sparks your thirst for creativity. People who do what they love and love what they do inspire me to find the same nitch.

3. Find Outlets  

Find what filters out that built up energy in a positive way. I come from a family who LOVES to cook, so in turn I have began to really enjoy trying new recipes. Workouts such as spin or running help me relieve energy (how ironic!).

4. Always Finish

All you need to remember is that it doesn’t matter how you got there, you just need to get there! The excuses don’t matter! Whether it’s a job application or the ‘Thank You’ note after the interview, finish strong.

5. BALANCE, BALANCE, BALANCE    

I laughed when I saw this picture, and decided to share it. I’ve began to realize  that sometimes it is hard to keep everything in balance but I believe this is the key to bringing yourself the most satisfaction.

Here’s to graduation being right around the corner, and exploring the unknown 🙂