My Top, Inexpensive Online Shopping Sites

Approximate time reading this post: 4 minutes

Happy Monday! Since Fashion week is ending around the globe (although fashion never sleeps) tons of customers are going to start searching for their favorite runway looks on the retail racks and online stores. I find myself searching for inexpensive runway lookalikes at my favorite discount retail stores like TJ MAXX and Last Chance as well as inexpensive online sites all the time. So I have had to do a little bit of hunting but I am here to share my experience with online shopping, an easy addiction for everyone.

It is very very rare for me to shop online because I have a constant fear of my bank account information getting stolen. I once had a friend who strictly shopped online at Victoria’s Secret and through their system had her account information stolen by a college student across the country in dire need of textbooks. The lengths we college students go to is getting sad…. But since I have been attending college, it has been necessary to buy (and consistently return) some of my books through Amazon. (But no worries, I am not stealing anyone’s money through the interweb to get them.) Coincidentally, this began my subtle online shopping habits. Here are a few of my top places to shop online and even some freebies!

1. RocksBox

I definitely got a lot of use out of this website by becoming a RocksBox member. RocksBox is pretty much an all-access pass to unlimited designer jewelry sent directly through the mail for only $19 a month. I consider this quite a steal since all three pieces of jewelry in your box can cost up to $200+!!! In your box you get three different pieces of jewelry according to the style survey you filled out explaining any jewelry allergies, ring sizes, preferences, etc. and you always receive at least one piece you previously liked in the personal style survey.

I have currently put my RocksBox account on hold because they continue to send you new boxes every month once you return your previous one and charge you $19/month. But it is especially great if you have some extra spending money, need jewelry for a fancier occasion, or just want to experiment with your style. I really defined my style of accessories through RocksBox and now have some super great quality pieces I wear almost everyday.

The shipping process is extremely easy since you return it in the original packaging which does not cost anything. The only catch is that you do have to give the jewelry back, but you have one month to wear it all OR buy as many pieces as you want and just not return those. If you are an active member long enough they send you a code to give to friends and every time someone uses it for their first month free, you receive “Shine Spend” to purchase jewelry with. With my former code and Shine Spend I was able to purchase my two favorite pieces the Wanderlust + Co Multi-Stud Gold Bangle and the House of Harlow 1960 Tessellation Triangles Pave Studs Set in Turquoise.

 

2. ban.do

I originally found “ban.do” through Instagram when I stumbled upon the founder and chief creative officer’s personal instagram, Jen Gotch (@jengotch). ban.do is a “gift, tech, stationary and fashion accessories company” designed simply for anything and everything fun. They are all about color, simplicity and catching the modern eye of women. I finally bought one of their products for my current year of college, the “I AM VERY BUSY” Classic Month Agenda for only $20.00. The silly logo perfectly explains my life and I have used it religiously since it arrived in the mail. They also carry the latest iPhone cases, hair accessories, jewelry, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage cups and more.

Another item I bought from their website was the perfect heart necklace I never received from any silly high school boyfriends. You all remember those one month to one year gifts every girl received from their high school sweetheart? Just about all relationship-driven teenage girls wore their heart necklaces around school flaunting their relationship status; that is until it ended and the necklace mysteriously disappeared. But ANYWAYS, I decided to get myself one because I realized I wasn’t going to wait around any longer for a someone to read my mind and buy me a heart necklace. It was a little self-appreciation gift that was only $10. Again, I love their prices.

And if you don’t want to spend any money there, you can download free iPhone and desktop screensavers from their Fun Downloads page!

 

3. Romwe

I have yet to buy anything from Romwe but I have debated it just about everyday for the past two weeks. They have great quality, stylish, women’s wear for shockingly affordable prices. From peach short coats to graphic tees, Romwe has it all from $3-30. I have a few items in my shopping cart but I am a little hesitant to purchase clothes without trying them on. If I bite the bullet and get something worth share I will be sure to do so in a little shoot on my blog or my Instagram. 

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If you already shop at these websites or find that you have now decided to just shoot me a little message in my Contact Me message box. Thanks for reading as always and I hope you have a great rest of your week :) Just don't go too crazy with the online shopping!

Irony & Conquering Stress in the Moment

Approximate time reading this post: 2 minutes

This past week has been full of irony and forceful relaxation but hey, at least it's an attempt to keep calm. I am feeling pretty overwhelmed at the moment by everything I have already explained before in my previous posts. So I won't bore you with my average college student struggles this time.  But instead I would like to talk about some new thoughts I have adopted to combat these struggles as soon as possible and keep my young adult sanity. I also completely blame the supermoon on Sunday night for my craziness. 

At an attempt to forcibly relax, I participated in the chair-yoga session at PVCC on Mental Health and Awareness Day created by student, Lauren Mitchell, who did a truly incredible job putting together the whole event. It was nice to be reminded that even with minimal free time you can still find peace by simply taking a few deep breaths. Breathing in and out and focusing solely on the feeling of your abdomen expanding is an easy way to take a moment when needed. 

Photos by Geneva Patterson

Around the same time of the yoga session, I was researching and interviewing for an upcoming article on odd stress relievers that people have, which ironically is stressing me out. But in this research I found an article by my favorite go-to page, "Harvard Business Review" (which you can read up to 15 articles a week, instead of five, if you sign up for free), where it talked about "How to Handle Stress in the Moment." Below is a brief overview of the tips they gave throughout the article:

1. Identify your stress signals
2. Don't think of it as stress: super useful if you think along the lines of "I have had an assignment like this in the past and I succeeded. I can handle this too."
3.  Take three deep breaths
4. Enlist a friendly ear
5. Make a list: college students love lists.
6. Project an aura of calm

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Also laughter and cacti are good things to have/do as midterms are fast approaching. Best of luck to all of you stressed out college kids. Be sure to read my upcoming article, maybe you will want to adopt some of these odd stress relief tactics!

Good songs I can't get enough of recently:

• "Need It"- Half Moon Run
• "Clearest Blue"- Chvrches
• "Anxieties"- The Landing
• "Silver and Gold"- Parade of Lights
• "What Do You Mean"- Justin Bieber (absolutely can't stand his other music but I am obsessed with this one)
• "No Need For Dreaming"- Misterwives
• "101"- WALLA

Hope For Mondays Interprets Phoenix Fashion

Photos by Geneva Patterson

As promised I am back on track with posting on Mondays and writing my first official fashion blog post. Fashion is so important to me not for the materialistic or prestigious aspect of it. But because I tend to say less, I want something that is a part of me to speak more. Whether that is my style, actions, or success, I hope they all outweigh my shy nature that some see at first. I intend to make a great first impression with those I meet in a personal or professional setting and the easiest way to start that conversation for myself is with my personal style. From there I can start showing the rest of my skills and secrets.

When I attended the 2015 Phoenix Fashion Week Spring Into Style fashion show, many of the stylists expressed how successful Phoenix has been in our rise of fashion recently. But our fantastic one hundred degree weather makes it all the more difficult to portray fashion and function. Now that we are slowly transitioning to the Fall season (and I mean don’t expect to pull out your hoody for another two months) here is how I tend to style that awkward season Arizonans have between Summer and Fall.

You will start to notice that my style consists simply of dresses, rompers, black and white, denim, and gold statement pieces. Over the past two years being in college I have thought about compromising comfort, functionality, and fashion because of the lack of time there is to put a full blown outfit together and survive a whole day in it. But unwilling to let my sense of style disintegrate, I have found a happy medium with my Phoenician style: New Yorker Travels Mid-West. That’s at least how I interpret it.

In my Phoenician style I like to channel the borders along New York and Arizona with flowy and unique button downs, high and long necklaces, an array of booties, and simplicity to keep a professional and clean cut appeal. In the photographs shown, I am standing around the wonderfully colorful The Saguaro Hotel in Scottsdale which I feel is exactly what my style portrays. The hotel is a part of Arizona that stands out and proves that our little dusty state isn’t as boring as others think it is but bright, clean, fun, and timeless. Who wouldn’t want to have a mini photoshoot here?!

As I progress into the world of journalism and fashion I want to share more of my style ideas and adventures with the blog-iverse through this little lifestyle, fashion, and incite blog. It is also Fashion Week season where New York Fashion Week just wrapped up and London Fashion Week is currently happening! Because I am not YET involved in the realm of Fashion Week I have been binge reading some articles on the latest and greatest. Feel free to scroll through a couple of my favorites at the bottom of this post. I hope the rest of your week is full of good hair days and a lack of flash floods (please Arizona monsoon season calm down).

White button down (Papaya), high waisted shorts (Hollister), simple black purse (H&M), orange booties (Papaya), bolo tie necklace (Anthropologie), gold spike bracelet (Rocksbox)

Really Fashiony Articles:

• “Decoding the Tribal Rituals of Fashion Week”

• “This Fall Is All About Dressing Like You Live in a Wes Anderson Film”

• “Striped Knits Make a Street Style Comeback on Day 4 of Fashion Week”

• “Topshop Unique Spring 2016 Ready-to-Wear Fashion Show”

• “The Ten Hottest Colors You Should Know For Spring 2016”