The Christmas Tag

I was tagged by Robin to do the Christmas Tag! I love festive tags so I was very excited to give this a go :)

Do you prefer a real Christmas tree or synthetic? 

Definitely a real Christmas tree. Yes, they are quite messy and annoying to clean up but nothing beats the smell of fresh pine needles on Christmas morning :)

You're in a coffee shop, it's December, what do you pick up?

Most of the time some kind of hot chocolate...peppermint hot chocolate or salted caramel hot chocolate is always good, although I really want to try the Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks! (Can anyone recommend it?) 

What's your favorite color scheme for decorating the tree?

I think white lights look so classy and pretty, and any ornaments will do-- I especially like gold, silver and red ones.

Giving or receiving? 

Giving if I know I've thought of a good gift.. The frustrating part is actually deciding on the right gift, and I'm pretty terrible at that! I just like to see the look on people's faces when you've given them a good gift :)

To mince pie or not to?

Is this a UK thing? Because I'm pretty sure we don't do that in the US haha..

What's your traditional Christmas lunch?

I don't really have "lunch" on Christmas because I'm always saving up for a giant dinner! For dinner we have lamb chops, mashed potatoes, broccoli bake (I can't even EXPLAIN how good it is) and lots of other yummy things.

Christmas day fashion

I'm usually in my PJs for most of the day, but once we go out I usually wear black leggings, black booties, and a pretty shirt/sweater. 

What's your favourite Christmas song?

Can I say all of them...? 

What's your favourite Christmas film?

Elf 100%. Elf in general is just one of my favorite movies ever. December is the best because they always play it on ABC Family!

Open presents before or after lunch?

My family opens presents once everyone is awake! I don't think I would have it in me to wait all day haha.

I tag Conny, Michelle, and Emily to do this tag. I love seeing everyone get in the mood for the holidays :)

My Fall Music Playlist

Unedited version of photo taken from tumblr.

Yes, I know that some of these songs are old. Yes, I know that they're not the most "unique" songs. But perhaps they will remind you of a song you forgot, or maybe you're currently jamming to one right now and you'll think, "Hey, I love that song too!" And if you've never heard of any/all of these songs (although I'm pretty sure you've at least heard of 1D's newest song unless you live under a rock), here's to a hoping you'll find some you like. I selected all my favorites at the moment that to me, at least, give off a "fall" vibe. So no, you will not find any beachy tunes on this playlist ... you might have to wait until June for those to come out. 

What is on your playlist at the moment? I love finding new songs so please tell me your faves :)

1. Something I Need - One Republic
2. I Will Wait Live Cover - Little Mix
3. Kiss Me - Ed Sheeran
4. I Lived - One Republic
5. Chocolate - The 1975
6. Move - Little Mix
7. Story Of My Life - One Direction
8. Wish List - Neon Trees <- this song gets me in the Christmas spirit every year (for the past couple years that is)
9. She Will Stay Beneath The Moon - Adam Barnes
10. The Last Time - Taylor Swift ft. Gary Lightbody 

All the songs are linked right here ^ so all you have to do is click away!

Simply Stylist New York

Me with Catt Sadler

Me with Corri McFadden

Me with Jacey Duprie

Me with Jay Manuel

Shirt: TJ Maxx, Leather Pants: H&M, Wedges: Steve Madden, Crossbody: Banana Republic

This weekend, I attended the "Simply Stylist" event at the Park Central Hotel in New York. I had heard about it after one of my biggest role models, Catt Sadler, tweeted a link and said that she was going to be there. I had heard of the event before, but this really made me want to go. On top of that, I saw that two of my favorite fashion bloggers (Damsel in Dior and WeWoreWhat) were going to be there. The event is all about learning tips and networking etc. for bloggers, so I also figured it would be a good learning experience!

I went with my sister, Olivia. At first, when we walked up the stairs in the hotel, the "shopping & pampering" aspect of the event was going on. We walked around and browsed through the clothing--everything that I did like was over my budget, so I was a good girl and just looked. After meandering around for a little, a crowd of people came up the stairs, and leading the pack was Jay Manuel from America's Next Top Model! So Olivia and I walked over to where he was standing and got on the line to take a picture with him. Why not?! Luckily for us, although we were towards the front of the massive line, we were one of the last people that got to take pictures with him...he's a busy man! 

Afterwards, we went on a mission to find Catt Sadler. I asked one of the girls who was working at the event if she happened to know if Catt was there, and she told us she had just taken a picture with her, so she lead us around to try and find Catt. (Side note: All the girls working at the event were super nice!!) We ended up bumping right into her, where we then chatted for a little (my heart was racing a little bit, not gonna lie) and then we took some pictures. For all of you who don't know, Catt is one of the hosts of E! News, an amazing interviewer and fashionista and she was seriously super genuine and sweet.

Next, while Olivia and I were mid-conversation, she turned to me and went, "Is that Damsel In Dior?" (Jacey Duprie). Olivia's comment was then followed by me pulling up Instagram to compare the Jacey in pictures to the woman standing next to us. For some reason, we could not figure out if it was her or not! And if any of you follow Jacey on Instagram, you will know that The Damsel is oftentimes sporting sunglasses so our task was made even more difficult. Finally, we decided (although not 100% sure) that it was her so we awkwardly asked if she was Jacey, and sure enough it was! Jacey was one of the nicest people I met. Everyone there was just so friendly! My sister and I talked to her for about 20 mins. about blogging, school, running...and she seemed like she was in no rush and was really invested in the conversation. Her story also really inspired me.  

Shortly later, my sister & I attended some of the "breakout" sessions which included tips on social networking, blogging, etc. One of the women, Corri McFadden, was my favorite speaker. Besides giving essential tips, she was hysterical!!! 

Overall, I'm so happy I attended the Simply Stylist event; I definitely had an amazing time. If any of you fellow bloggers have the opportunity to attend any beauty/fashion events-- go! I promise getting away from your computer for the day will truly be worth it. I learned so much and spoke to people that I've always dreamed of meeting. 

PS: I didn't bring a camera so these are all iPhone pictures. I'm due for a new iPhone very soon as this one is about two years old so the camera quality is pretty much crap. Sorry about that :)

DigiTour 2013 - NYC

When you hear that all of your favorite YouTubers (with the exception of a few, ie. Louise Pentland of Sprinkle of Glitter and Jack & Finn Harries of jacksgap) are going to be coming all the way from England to NYC, you don't just sit on your butt on and think, "oh, that's cool." No. Here's how the scenario went in my house.

Caroline (myself) is sitting on twitter, scrolling scrolling scrolling until she sees a tweet from Alfie (@pointlessblog) which says that VIP tickets are available to meet him & his YouTube friends who will be coming to New York as part of Digitour in October. Caroline then hyperventilates a little, texts her friend in all caps indecipherable text messages, and races down the stairs to ask her mom if she could pretty pretty pretty please meet these people who are on YouTube (something I'm sure she still does not really get).

After I had my tickets in hand, I was super excited because I watch these people almost every day on my computer and now I was going to see them in the flesh.

I have to admit, things were EXTREMELY rushed, and we were told we were "not allowed to hug, touch, or talk to the 'British artists'" as the security guard called them. This was kind of disappointing--I mean, I knew I wasn't going to be able to sit and chat to them but I at least wanted to hug them!

When it was my turn to meet them, my twin sister and I went together to take the picture because we thought that it might help us get noticed a little more--which it did! When I said that we were twins Alfie was like, "no way!" because we look nothing alike and then took a good look at our faces. (And I almost fell on the floor).

I was so happy my sister and I wrote them all letters that we got to give them--hopefully they read them because they say so much more than I got to say to them which was basically nothing...haha. After meeting them we met a bunch of other YouTubers like Lohanthony, Sawyer Hartman, the members of O2L and couple of others. For some reason it didn't occur to me to take selfies with any of them except for Sawyer and Luke Conard who were towards the end (and I have to be honest I've never even watched Luke's videos...I only knew of him as Ingrid of missglamorazzi's former bf...sorry Luke).. I do watch and love Sawyer though! (And Luke seemed really nice!)

Anyway, after that was all said and done we made our way to the third row which my friends and I stayed in for about 45 mins but then we just could not bear to stand their any longer. I was really upset because I wanted to be super close to the stage but the crowd was just way too crazy. We were getting smothered and I just could not breathe and everyone was screaming and pushing and being super rough-- and this is before anyone was even on stage! So I wish I could have stayed, but all I was thinking was I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE. I don't really think I've ever had a panic attack and I'm definitely not trying to make it sound like I'm a victim of panic attacks because I'm not--but in that moment I swear I was going to have one. It was seriously INSANE. Why can't everyone just play nice?!

So after this my friends and I made our way to the very back which actually worked out fine... we could even see everyone on stage really well. Once all of the hectic things were all said and done we all ended up having a really great time. The people who sang were really talented (I'm obviously talking about Chip Chocolate), and the British (+ 1 South African) YouTube crew were obviously perfect. At one point we all started singing "New York," giant plastic balls were being passed throughout the audience, beach balls were flying everywhere, and everyone calmed down (well not really "calmed down," just became happy and dance-y rather than shoving and pushing) and it was really fun.

The highlight was definitely taking pictures, having Alfie stare at my sister & I and giving them all my letters.

Thank you all for coming to New York!!!

The Autumn Tag

I was tagged by the lovely author of All Things Glitter and Beauty. I love doing tags and I especially love Autumn, so thank you for tagging me!

1. Favorite thing about it? The fashion! I love how September is pretty much the universal "fashion month." I'm obsessed with stalking everything that has to do with NYFW & LFW, and browsing through the September issue of magazines :).
2. Favorite drink? Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte  
3. Favorite scent/candle? My favorite scent is the smell of apple crisp baking in the oven and just the crisp fall air in general.
4. Best lipstick? I don't really wear lipstick, but anything candy-apple or berry colored
5. Go to moisturizer? My moisturizer was recommended to me by my dermatologist. I use Eucerin Daily Protection Moisturizing Face Lotion. It's not necessarily my favorite moisturizer, but I use it because it doesn't break me out.
6. Go to colors for the eyes? I love warm eye shadows in the fall--golds, taupe, tans, etc. For example, Smog and Buck from the Urban Decay Naked Palette.
7. Favorite music or band/singer to listen to? If I'm being honest here, I've been a One Direction addict at the moment. I just can't stop listening to them...their songs just make me happy! Also right now I'm loving the song "Young" by Mike Dignam, which I discovered from Tanya Burr's latest "Get Ready With Me: Mulberry LFW Show!" vlog.
8. Favorite outfit to wear (i.e. boots and scarf combo)? A chunky knit sweater, black pants (maybe leather?) and black booties. I also love wearing anorak jackets because they are perfect in the fall.
9. Autumn treat? I recently purchased a slate-colored anorak jacket from Aeropostale, and also went on a little fall TJ Maxx spree. Some things I got include some super comfy silky pajama-style printed pants, a big chunky knit sweater, and I want to get some fall candles for my room!
10. Favorite place to be? Either apple picking out east or enjoying a crisp fall day outside. Or even snuggled up in a blanket drinking some hot chocolate when the weather starts getting really chilly.

I'm tagging:

Natalia's Makeup Corner

Ana Celine Labod

Brighton Dream

OliviaPaige31

Izzeh Fashion

A Day in NYC

Close-up of my shirt

After post-poning a "city day" for weeks and weeks, my sister, two friends and I finally went yesterday (on a mission mostly to eat cupcakes, I admit). I know these aren't the typical Times Square-Empire State Building-city-pictures, but because I live in New York my friends and I have gone to these places multiple times before, so today was more about enjoying Central Park and a yummy lunch. After stepping off the train, we walked for about 45 minutes to Central Park and got lost wandered around for a little while. Our feet were tired from our walk, so we all sat on a bench in a really lovely area of the park and watched for about 10 minutes as a man made gigantic bubbles that a bunch of little kids were were running up to. So cute.

Our next stop was lunch. Although we originally intended to go to this fancy-shmancy grilled cheese place, we were told they only took credit cards (seriously?!), so we ended up at trusty Au Bon Pain where I practically inhaled my Cobb salad. After that we walked over to Sprinkles cupcakes (which I was a little too excited to try) and I got a carrot cake cupcake with cinnamon cream cheese frosting...mmm do I love cream cheese frosting. After this, we all exchanged looks because we had been eying the same cupcake: the S'mores flavor which had a graham cracker bottom, chocolate middle, and toasted marshmallow on top. So, being the cupcake-lovers we are, we decided to split it in fourths and it was indeed very tasty.

After this, we browsed around Zara (aka cried about all the beautiful clothing we couldn't afford), and then headed back to Central Park once more, where we eventually left to head back to Penn Station. It was a nice relaxing day, with the exception of the 4 hours of walking we did, but hey at least I burned off the cupcake right? 

Two things you will have to excuse:

1. The weather was very hot so sorry I look like a sweaty mess. :) 

2. My sister and I had a mis-communication and forgot our camera at home, so all these photos were taken with my iPhone which is why the quality is eh. (I tried to edit them as best as I could)

Top: American Eagle (similar here, here, & here)
Sandals: Tommy Hilfiger (here)
Shorts: Holister (similar here & here)
Crossbody: Banana Republic (similar here, here & here)

10 Random Facts About Me

Random fact #1: I can fly, as you can see ... hehe just kidding

10 Random Facts About Me

1. I used to have reallllly long hair (I still do, but I'm talking past-my-butt long) until 7th grade when I decided it just wasn't cute anymore. My hair grows at the speed of light though, so it's always pretty long...just not that long
2. My all-time favorite TV show is Friends. Not the most original pick, but who doesn't cry of laughter every time they watch that show?!
3. When I was little, I used to be terrified of anything that made loud noises. This was not necessarily because of the loud noise; this just happens to be the common theme of all my fears. Examples: thunder, fireworks, the garbage truck (every time I heard it coming down our street I ran for my life to the backyard)
4. My role models are Giuliana Rancic, Catt Sadler, Jason Kennedy (if you couldn't tell my dream is to have a career in entertainment/broadcast journalism..but I met them all last summer and they were seriously the nicest people ever), and also quite a few bloggers & YouTubers who always seem like they are having such a good time and living life to the fullest.
5. My two favorite places I've ever traveled to are Paris and Taormina (city in Sicily)
6. I hate hate hate math...I'm not terrible at it but I just.....ugh no
7. When I was little I bit my sister in the stomach 3 times on three separate occasions. I guess I thought that in a fight, the best strategy is "Always go for the stomach."
8. When I was about 8-13 years old I used to constantly write stories on my computer or in notebooks. Well, I would at least start them but I would never finish. The closest I got to finishing a story was one I wrote about a girl who discovers she is an elf...it was around 50-60 pages. I think it's saved on a disc somewhere... Anyway, I've always loved to write and even got a $200 savings bond when I was in 3rd grade for a piece I wrote! 
9. My favorite food is pasta (prepared any way is fine with me) but especially my dad's spaghetti and meatballs because it makes me think of childhood and eating it every Sunday with my family after playing soccer and watching Sunday football

My favorite season is fall, when I can snuggle up in sweatpants and drink a mug of tea and the air is crisp and cool, and my mom makes deeeelicious apple crisp with vanilla ice cream...mmmm....

It Takes Two

I get asked all the time what it's like being a twin. While I wish I could tell you that my life is like an episode of "Sister Sister," (if you don't remember that show...then I just don't know) it, unfortunately, is not. First of all, my sister and I are fraternal (meaning we don't look alike), so if we attempted to take tests for each other and do all the crazy stuff identical twins can do, we'd just look stupid. Not only are we fraternal, we are complete opposites appearance-wise. My sister has blonde hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and I have green eyes, brunette hair, and olive skin...so we could never fool anyone into believing we were each other, unless my sister got a spray tan, colored contacts, died her hair...you get my point. 

So without further adieu, let tell you bout my best friend: 

1. Her name is Olivia
2. She's older than me by 14 minutes 
3. She runs track (a lot better than me!) She's been to States, Regionals, Nationals..the works
4. She plays the flute
5. She has a talent for finding four leaf clovers...I believe she's up to number 14. 
6. We fight constantly but our fights never last longer than around an hour
7. We share a room
8. We have pretty much all the same friends
9. She likes to cook/bake if you could call it that (?) What I mean by this is she once went through a phase trying to master making, from scratch, the perfect pudding, the perfect sorbet, and now she's moved onto concocting different kinds of iced drinks. I don't know guys, I don't know.

If you guys have any questions about being a twin that you would like answered because I just can't think of what else to say, comment below!