playing nice: tattoos

in honor of my newest endeavor tomorrow morning (new tattoo, many years in the making!), i thought i would share my thoughts and stance on tattoos. it's still odd to me that tattoos are still taboo in a world that has made such strides on the acceptance front. odd. not shocking, as there are many prejudices greater that are still being overcome. that's another blog.

anyways, as long as i can remember, i have LOVED tattoos. my uncle was a huge part of my life and since i was veryyy young, he has had tattoos, crazy hair colors and unorthodox sized holes in his ears, but to me, he was just my favorite person in the world. because of that, i never found tattoos to be odd. they were a normal thing in my family. my mom has one. my brother has many. my aunt and cousin and a majority of my friends now have tattoos, as we have grown older. which is why it's very strange for me to read various blogs about people getting rude remarks from complete strangers about their choice to place permanent art on their own bodies.

i find danielle's blog to be wonderful, and she has several posts about tattoos and even a tattoo tuesday series that i love. so when i saw this post she made while writing for hello giggles, i wanted to share it with anyone reading. not because i consider myself heavily tattooed or that i have been outwardly and unfairly judged because of them (that i know of), but because in a world full of judgements from those who don't have the right and poor assumptions, i ask that instead, you be respectful of others choices. god knows we don't need more negativity in this world... and so i conclude, if you don't have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all ;)

here are some of my current tattoos, i will share my new one soon...

silly matching one with my fav ali :)

says B.O.R.-- inside-ish joke ;)

 there are prob more on my instagram (aliivb)

thanks for letting my toss my opinion your way! happy weekend :)

xxo.

DIY: vinyl geometric necklace

hello hello! :) it's been too long! a good friend of mine asked me a while back to update, and with the holiday and everything, i definitely spaced and forgot, but Amber- this one's for you!

i have a super simple DIY today. i have seen similar necklaces made of metal, so i thought i would recreate one out of a material that is more easily... manipulated? anyways, you know what i mean... it's cheap and easy and pretty cute if you ask me ;)

okay so here we go...

you will need: chain in the color of your choice, matching metal loops & clasps, vinyl (easy to work with, keeps it vegan, cheap.. love it.), and i invested in a 1/16" hole punch (for a whole $5.50 @ the craft store) to make the holes for the metal loops. i bet you could use a box cutter too if you'd like!

step 1: cut out your triangles from the vinyl. you will need 6 for the necklace i made. step 2: i used my 1/16" hole punch and punched holes in all 3 corners of 5 out of the 6 triangles, but only 2 corners for the bottom one since you won't be connecting the furthest bottom point to anything. step 3: connect all the triangles with your metal loops and connect a piece of chain to each side. also attach a clasp to the top of one of the pieces so you can put on & take off your necklace :)

that's about it! it's pretty simple. total cost with the hole puncher and vinyl (got on sale in the scrap bin at joann's!) is about $15, but with that you can make about a thousand necklaces (not really) so it's really inexpensive! hope you enjoy!

ps: amber, if you're reading this... i made you one too since this blog is for you ;)

thanks for reading! xxo.

DIY: vegan pumpkin spice lattes

so the weather has been cooling off in virginia (yay!) and i'm starting to crave things that remind me of fall. so of course, the best way i can think to celebrate is with a pumpkin-y treat... enter starbucks- my holy land. i'm so excited to get off work to go grab my first warm drink of the year- a pumpkin spice latte. as i announce my excitement to the office (of only 2 other people, mind you) i am immediately disappointed when my co-worker says "i heard those have milk in them" WHAT?! this can't be! so after a bit of research to confirm this sad, sad comment (it is true, btw for all you vegans! it's in the concentrate, so even if you get soy... :( ), i decided that i will find and tweak a recipe of my very own! it goes something like this:

Ingredients:
2 cups soy milk
2 tablespoons pumpkin butter (you can def use canned pumpkin, my grocery was out)
2 tablespoons sugar or splenda, though next time i will probably only use 1 tbsp
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (this stuff is pricey, i found out! lol)
1-2 shots espresso (i don't have an espresso machine, so i used 1/2 cup of bold flavored coffee)
(original, un-tweaked recipe can be found here)

the originial recipe calls for you to cook things all seperately, but to be honest, i threw everything in a sauce pan at once and mixed it up with a whisk and it frothed on it's own (like at the coffe shop!)

once it heated all the way through, i gave it an extra whisk and poured it into my mug and really that was it. the hardest part was finding pumpkin in the grocery store! lol. but this really takes like 5 minutes. i also stored my leftovers in the fridge over night and has an iced one this morning and it was just as amazing!

i hope you all get a chance to try this out, especially all the vegans out there looking for your fall drink fix! i promise you, you will not be disappointed. it was worth the pumpkin hunt, for sure ;)

enjoy! <3

rainy days

this weekend was veryyy relaxing- borderline boring. but i think it's what i needed. i don't feel like such a slug anymore today :) it was cool and rainy both days which is a great excuse to sit inside and do nothing! so after my hair appt on saturday, we didnt do much except eat and watch movies.

sunday we emerged early to hang out with colin's dad. we watched some soccer and got some lunch (yum!) then returned to the apartment to watch the football game- go skins! 2-0! ;) and once colin left, i needed to get out of the house so i went to my go to place of entertainment- target! i got some wine and snacks and ran into some xmas lights during my adventure ( i LOVE christmas and lights and all that jazz) so i was feeling inspired. i grabbed a couple boxes of regular old white string lights and began to scheme...

they were under $3 a box which is amazing so i knew i had to do something fun. i decided to spruce up my bed since i don't have a headboard or any art above the bed. i simply attached the two strings and did a vertical zig zag pattern above my bed from mattress to ceiling (these lights don't get hot, so i dont have to worry about them lighting my pillows on fire.) and there you have it- the easiest, most inexpensive ($5 and change) and festive headboard you've ever seen!

add a few homemade pillows and it feels very cozy, yet glamourous ;) that was my crafty sunday... i think i will make this a new tradition! yay :)

<3 alison

hair color history lesson

so today was the day! i officially have red hair and i LOVE it! which is shocking- i normally hate it every time i dye my hair. at least for the first week. but i'm really digging this. any who... i thought this would be a fun time to reminisce about all my past hair colors through out the past 5 or so years :) i have had just about every hair color under the sun- dark, light, highlights, low lights, streaks - you name it! except red- until now. anyways- here we go....! (warning- image heavy blog ahead...)

here's my medium brown with blonde streak by my ear, early college days.

this was an odd dark brown/purple number... 

also tried chocolate brown around college graduation :)

platinum!

here's my first go at low lights

i've also tried more outspoken streaks- like pink ;)

but over the last year or so i have really fallen in love with bright red hair! i have wanted to try it for a while, but i was def nervous. i finally bit the bullet and called my hair dresser a few weeks ago... when i approached her with the idea, she thought it would be fun! since she didn't cringe, i felt much more at ease. but anyways, today was the day... and here it is!

RED !! 

xxo!

fall is here!!

... at least through the weekend! ;) which is enough time to break in my new boots and colored tights, so i'm a happy lady <3

AND it's friday- yay!

xxo.

etsy love!

so work has been insane this week and blogging has been put on the back burner, but i will have some FUN things this weekend, i promise. including, but not limited to, a look into my hair color history and the first photos of my NEW hair color which will happen saturday afternoon (i cant wait, it's time for a change for fall!)

anyways, i will leave you with some adorable vintage and/or handmade goodness that i have been swooning over from etsy!

first is this amazing, vintage, nautical pendant- cutest ever!! (hint: colin, if you're reading this ;) ...) found here

this is a fall must have for me. i don't have dreads, obviously, but i looove the look of slouchy beanies. i found this gem here.

omg. this is probably top 5 vintage pieces i've ever seen. so cute! leggings and boots? yes please. this one currently lives here.

lastly, this vintage, white, mod-style purse. (i don't care if it's after labor day) i am obsessed. AND it's faux leather!! i have a really hard time finding amazing vintage shoes and handbags that i can actually BUY instead of just drool over because most of them are leather/suede, but not this pretty thing ;) you can find her here.

come to think of it, i would probably wear all these things simulaneously if could own them all :) hope you enjoy these handmade/vintage jewels!!

xxo <3