How NOT to Dress Christmas Tacky!

I see people breaking these rules all the time around Christmas, and it gets on my nerves! Especially the sweet on grannies with 50 cats that dress in sweaters that sings "Jingle Bells" whenever you move. So in oder to avoid looking too tack here are a few tips.

1.) Do not wear anything that moves, sings, jingles, or talks. Do you want to look like you're crazy? However, if you want to have no friends and drive of anyone near you, feel free to break this rule.

2.) No excessive sparkly glitter or tinsel on your clothes. You are not the Tin Man from "The Wizard of Oz", do not even try.

3.) Don't wear anything that lights up. Unless you want to cause a car accident with your flashing red and green lights, stuck all over the sweater you stole from the old folks home.

4.) Do not dress in all one color. This no-no applies to all outfits, but this season especially!

5.) Please, for the love of God, NO  Christmas tree hats! We of the fashion community beg you.

 Don't be this kid.

10 Gifts for 10 Dollars- Your Guide to Christmas Shopping

All these gifts are under $10! Pair them together to get a great gift.  Pink body spray, $8 at Pink or Bath and Body Works.  Paris Amour lotion, $3.50 at Bath and Body Works.  Red Velvet Cupcake hand sanitizer (it's sparkly!), $1.50 at Bath and Body Works.  Bows, $3 and up at at grocery store or drug store.  Seventeen Magazine, $2.99 at grocery stores and book store. 

Photo by: Audrey

The holiday season is here! And you know what that means?  Christmas shopping!  Which isn't such a great thing if you're a teenager with no money.....  Here are 10 gifts for $10 or less, so they won't break the bank!

Baked Goods-  Ingredients won't cost much and they are always delicious.  For ideas on different Christmas cookies and baked goods click here.

Movie Night Gift Basket- A $5 gift card to the nearest blockbuster and some of their favorite candy.  Or, if you want to do this for lots of people, buy candy and blankets in bulk (or at Costco). 

Care Package- Their favorite magazine, candy, and whatever else they love.  Magazines are about $4, so you can always make them cookies or buy them something else with the other $6.  Like something from Philosophy.... See below.

Philosophy Body Wash- This stuff is great and generally pricey, however a 2 oz bottle of their amazing body wash is only $5.  So buy 2, put in care package, or pair with any other gifts (jewelry, candles, fuzzy socks...).  Not only does it smell great it also has a different message on each bottle, ranging from recipes to just something sweet to brighten your day, depending on the scent.  Available at Sephora or online.

Jewelry and Hair Stuff from Forever 21-  This stuff is cute and usually $3 per item.  Go all out and get them tons of cute accessories or pair with something else.  Either way it's a great way to help your friends look great this holiday season.

iTunes gift Card-  If you're buying for more than one person you can buy a pack of 3 iTunes gift cards, each one is $10.  Everyone needs a soundtrack for their holidays.  Available at most drug stores, grocery stores, and Target.

Fuzzy Socks- Are always cute and warm.  Target sells some that have super cute patterns on them :)  Bath and Body Works sells some lavender and eucalyptus ones that they sell closer to Christmas time but they usually cost a little over $10.

Bath and Body Works Products-  You can't go wrong with a hand sanitizer or lotion.  Hand Sanitizer is $1.50 or 5 for $5.  Lotion starts at $3.50.  You know what that means..... A great little package for your friends filled with stuff for a nice affordable price.

Nail Polish-  Has a broad range of prices.  Some of the best is Essie and OPI which are both $8 a bottle.  Grocery stores tend to sell some brands that cost less and range around $3, like NYX.  Pair with a hand sanitizer or lotion and you are set.

Candles-  Depends on the person but are usually a great gift.  Yankee Candle sells some of the best and their smaller candles are around $3.50.

Hope this helps you as you get a head start on your Christmas shopping!  Don't be afraid to mix and match the presents listed above, they're all great and are even greater together :)

-Audrey

A Season of Giving!

Photo posted on Flickr from clappstar

It's that time of year again.  On Thanksgiving Day, when Santa came at the end of the Macy's day parade it was official.  It's time to take kids to sit on Santa's lap, exchange gifts among family and friends, and listen to classic Christmas carols.  These are some of the best times in a child's life, but not everybody is fortunate to have a surplus of gifts on Christmas morning.  For some, anything at all would be a blessing.   Austin has a wonderful organization called Blue Santa to help support these children and their families.  Run by the Austin Police Department, the Austin Fire Department, Texas National Guard, Austin Energy, and Austin Parks and Recreation, they provide families with a Christmas meal and toys for children under 14 in each family.  This is all about the giving spirit.  All of these presents and meals are donated by Austin locals.  Part of Christmas is not being selfish and thinking about other people’s needs rather than your own.  This past Saturday was the Chuys Children Giving to Children Parade.  This was a traditional parade with giant character balloons, floats, and performances, but there was something different and charitable.  Throughout the parade, there were trucks picking up toys which children had brought to the parade to give to Blue Santa.  Although it was rainy, windy and cold on Saturday, there was a great outcome for the parade.  Blue Santa has many other events, so check out their website (linked above) for more information on what you can do to help.  And don't forget, it is a giving season!

-Elena Cole (The Short One)

Lead/Nutgraph for feature story

Walking home from Stevensen Middle School, Carrie Bevers and her friends were always discussing the latest fashion.  Whether it was making lists of what they were wearing or figuring out when the new designs were coming out. “I liked fashion and clothes,” Bevers said, “And I liked to shop.”  Little did she know, that this would turn into a career.

Carrie is a buyer for JcPenny. “[As a Buyer,] although it sounds that you shop all the time, you look at a lot of numbers.”  Bevers said.  “About seventy percent of my time is analysing past business.  And then the rest of the time is spent actually in the market buying the product.”  Her jobs involves both math and creativity.

Leads/Nutgraph

“Yanagi means sushi knife”, which is appropriate because Yanagi is a sushi place with a new level of customer service and preparation.
You walk into the chic well designed and dimly lit restaurant, with soft music playing in the background. It’s a new level of tranquility and you see delicacies on every person’s platter. This Zen garden of deliciousness exudes professionalism and is conveniently located right here in Austin

Lead and Nutgraph

Music fills the air, people jump up and down, you can feel the bass beating inside you.   This is Austin City Limits Music Festival.  It is an amazing event but who puts it all on?

Many people are hired to work for the company C3 Presents, which puts on festival like ACL and Lollapalooza every year.  One of their employees is Suzanne Mahowey, the Creative Services director.   She is in charge of everything that people see, websites, emails, tickets, t-shirts, everything that makes the events more than just another concert, everything that makes it what it is.

-Audrey

Magnetic Nail Polish?? Whaaaaat?

Magnetic nail polish you say? This stuff is ridiculoussss. It's not nails that have metal objects attracted to them (that's what I thought at first), but something way cooler....


BAAAAM!

Pretty sweet right? Well the basic concept is that you put a special polish on your nails, and quicly, while they're still wet you hold a special magnet over the nail and it forms a sweet pattern.

How does this magic work you say? Well, the polish formula is specially developed with magnetic particles, so when a "secret pattern" magnet is held over the nail the iron powder gravitates in different directions.

Now this stuff is pretty expensive, and hard to find because its all the rage in Europe, but they charge Americans extra because its rarer here. The bottles that I found are from Nails Inc, a London based brand that sells at Sephora as well. They're priced at $16, and come in 3 colors: Trafalgar Square (chrome), Houses of Parliament (purple), and Whitehall Teal (teal). If you didn't notice they're all named after attractions in London. (;

Now go splurge, and buy yourself a bottle of pure joy!

Thanksgiving Traditions

Pumpkin Pie! Yum! Photo courtesy of TheCulinaryGeek on flikr

Everybody has different holiday traditions, from eating tamales to making pumpkin pie.  The holidays are a time for family, friends, and -in most cases- food.  My family is a little weird, for Thanksgiving, we do the normal tradtition of Turkey, but we also have dumplings and tamales. One of my aunt's is from Mexico and another is from Taiwan, on Thanksgiving, we combine all the different cultures in my family for a really interesting meal.  A traditional meal for Thanksigiving is turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.  Another family I know is from China, and they have a meal that is a mixture of traditional American Thanksgiving and a traditional Chinese dinner.  No matter what the tradition, it always leaves for a festive occasion!

Here is a simple recipe for Pumpkin Pie (that's also gluten free!):
Recipe courtesy of: Svendblad Josephine on nuttykitchen.com

Crust:
1 1/2 cups of almond flour (blanched)
1/4 cup melted unsalted pastured butter
Pinch of sea salt
Now mix together

Filling:
1 can of pure pumpkin (29 oz) nothing else added
3 "real" cage free eggs if you can get them (if they are small, add a fourth)
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup local honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
Pinch of Sea Salt

Beat eggs, honey, and vanilla until they are frothy, then add all the other ingredients and carefully blend until even and smooth.  Fill pie pan with crust and bake on convection at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.  This should be enough filling for two pies.

For more recipes for your Thanksgiving meal click here

-Audrey

Get your Jaguar on!

Being part of a school, means showing your school spirit, "All day every day!"  These are all the LASA/LBJ shirts I saw on a day where we had no games or any reason for having spirit, except to show support for our school all the time!

Sophie Altmejd

Sporting the Grey and Black LBJ Hoodie

John Michael Reyes

Sporting the LBJ band T-shirt

Evan Meyers

Sporting the LBJ vs. Mac T-shirt

Zafar Mamiya

Sporting the LBJ vs. Mac T-shirt

Zia Lyle

Sporting the Purple and Black LBJ Hoodie

Alexis Andraca and Zia Lyle

Making a funny pose while sporting their LBJ Hoodies

-Photos and Commentary by Elena Cole (The Short One)

Boots!

It's finally getting cooler and we are starting to see a bit of rain.  That means it's time to start wearing boots!
Here are a few different styles and some estimated prices:

Classic Tall UGG Boot, $180

Sketchers Black fur trim lace up boot, about $100

Target Rain boots, about $30

Born Tall Leather Boots, about $200

(Just For Kicks) - I'm Punny

White Dance Team Boots, $50

-Pictures and Commentary by Elena Cole (The Short One)

I need a Jean-ie

Elena and I wearing our jeans for people who are short.  Photos courtesy of Elena and I.

So I don't know about you guys, but I'm on the short side.  It's really hard to find jeans that aren't way to long and don't make you trip over them every five seconds.  A lot of stores sell long jeans for tall people but where are the ones for short people?
Sure, you can go get them hemmed but that takes time and costs money, jeans are expensive enough as is!
The other day I was at Gap looking for a pair of jeans and I found a pair that were the exact length of my leg, I was so happy.  And then... my mom told me that they were capris....  But I'm okay with that because they fit me and most jeans don't.  Plus, they're cute.
Elena, who's even shorter than I am (but not by that much) buys jeans at Aeropostale which you can usually get on sale for a good price and they are the right length for her.
Jeans at Gap can be expensive but they are the perfect length for those of us that have not been graced with the tall (or even average height) gene.
So if you're short and need a pair of jeans you can always buy capris at Gap or Aeropostale.  Have fun shopping my fellow short people!
-Audrey

A Really Fun Festival!

FunFunFunFest is baaack baby! So, if you don't know, FFFFest is a Austin music festival that goes on for 3 days, 4 stages, at Auditorium Shores, and is a mix of indie electronica and Austin  based music groups.

Last year, their main headliner was MGMT, which I hear was pretty amazing, and im suprised that FFFFest being a tiny independent festival, managed to book them. Now, this year's lineup....not so great. Their headliner is Spoon, which I have come to love, but besides them, I don't really see anyone else pumping up the crowd. The rest of the bands are never before heard of bands which is typical for indie festivals, but it's not so great when that's what the whole festival is mainly comprised of. Also, don't forget to miss the afterparites, and group activities that go on after the shows.

No doubt the the music and festivities will be fun, and live up to it's name, but if you go, be prepared for some brand new sounds for your earbuds. You might even find a band that you really end up enjoying!

Tickets are still up for grabs, and the festival dates are November 4, 5, and 6. For their official website, lineup, and tickets click here.

Maybe it's Chanel, Maybe it's Maybelline

Clinique makeup consulant helps a customer choose what makeup is best for her
Picture courtesy of The Consumerist on Flickr

When she walked in to the makeup store Elena gasped.  Some of the makeup was $40 or more.  "I can't afford this," Elena thought.  She looked around at it and realized that it wasn't much different from the stuff that she found at the grocery store.  So why was it so expensive?

Makeup like the stuff that you buy from Chanel is really expensive.  Their concealer is often in the $50-$60 range.  Their blush is less expensive, but not by much, it can cost $40-$50.  Their mascara is generally $30.  "Some people think that Chanel is a lot better," Elena said.  "But from personal experience, I don't think that there is a difference in how well it works, just the logo on the bottle."

A brand that can be found in the same stores as Chanel but is not nearly as expensive, is Clinique.  Clinique concealer is my personal favorite and their liquid concealer (which works wonders) is $14.50.  Their blush is generally around $20 and their mascara ranges from $10-$15.

Now for the brands that you can buy at drug stores and grocery stores.  Two really great drug store brands are Neutrogena and Maybelline.  Neutrogena's concealer is usually $6 or $7 and it fights acne.  Maybelline is known for making amazing mascara that won't break the bank.  Their mascara costs around $7.

I think that designer makeup is like grocery store makeup in every way, except one thing, price.  Normally I buy Maybelline mascara because it works just as well as anything else and it doesn't cost more than a teenage girl like myself can afford.  The only time that I ever don't buy the makeup found in drug stores is with concealer.  It's hard to find the right shade of concealer or a concealer that works, so I usually buy Clinique concealer, it's not too expensive and it works really well.  But if you don't have the extra $7 or don't have time to go to the mall, Neutrogena concealer works almost as well.

-Audrey

Nike Shorts and My Collection! :)

Photo by monojussi on Flickr

     Nike temp running shorts are currently a very popular style of athletic shorts.  They come in many different colors, designs, and color combinations.  The demographic you generally see wearing these are about 10-28 years for style, but runners wear them too because they are a good quality running short.   That is where the majority of the shorts is seen, but you can find them on nearly any person regardless of age or how athletic they are.  You see the shorts almost anywhere; restaurants, stores, school and the gym.  If you are Buying them from Nike then the prices can range from about $32 to $40 at regular price, but if bought at Academy can range from about $25 to $28.  The shorts are made of the Nike Dri-Fit material for quick dry, mesh side panels for ventilation, a small pocket inside the shorts and built in briefs.

Photos and Commentary by Elena Cole (The Short One)