October – 2016 – Alli Santmyer

Travel

Being a Tourist In: Charlottesville, VA + OOTD

October 25, 2016

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another “Being a Tourist In:…” posts! It’s been so long since I’ve written one of these, so I thought it was about time I start exploring again.

The place I’m going to be telling you about today is Charlottesville, Virginia! As you might know, I go to James Madison University, so Charlottesville is only about an hour away from me. Throughout my time at JMU, I’ve come here a few times, but this last time was definitely my favorite trip I’ve ever taken there, so I thought it was the perfect time to do a post about it! I hope you enjoy!

We started in the historic downtown, outdoor mall area and it was so cute! I’d never been there before and the atmosphere was amazing! They had typical stores that you’d see anywhere, like Urban Outfitters (my favorite!), but they also had cool little boutiques that are unique to this area. All of the buildings in this area are older and beautiful and that just made it even cooler to be walking around! We spent a good amount of time going through all the shops because there were so many to see! Three of my favorite shops were Darling Boutique, Rock Paper Scissors, and Roxie Daisy. Darling Boutique and Roxie Daisy were both tucked away so they were a little bit off the beaten path, but they were so worth stumbling upon. Both were so adorable; I could’ve easily spent all afternoon in just these two shops! Rock Paper Scissors was really neat as well because it’s a paper/stationary shop. These kinds of stores are my absolute favorite because you can find anything you might need in there. Need a planner? They have it. Need a card? They have it. Any paper good that you would ever need, they have it and I can promise that whatever you pick out is going to be beautiful! This stationary shop in particular was very open and inviting and I really enjoyed looking at all the designs, especially the ones from local artists!

Inside Roxie Daisy!

Our next stop of the day was The Shops at Stonefield. This shopping area is neighborhood style and it’s probably the most beautiful strip mall I’ve ever seen. They have a mix of restaurants and cafes, boutiques, and they even have a movie theater! My favorite shop here was Altar’d State. I’d never been in an Altar’d State before but I have heard a lot about it and it did not disappoint! The style of clothing was so up my alley and it’s Christian-based, which just makes it even better!

To finish off our trip to Charlottesville, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Burger Bach. It was a beautiful fall day so we got to sit outside and the food was absolutely delicious. I would definitely go back!

And, of course, to round out the day we had to do an OOTD! To explore Charlottesville, I was wearing a comfortable, fall outfit that I love! My white sweater and black jeans are from American Eagle and my booties are from Target! I just got these boots the other day and they were only $25! Definitely worth the $25 to have a black, staple ankle boot for the season! The last piece of my outfit is the bag that I’m carrying. I just got this for my birthday and it’s a beautiful cross body, fold-over bag from Nordstrom! I’ve been loving this lately because it goes with the season and it can carry so many things!

That’s about all we had time to do during this trip, but I hope to go back soon. I really, really enjoy the area and I hope you will as well! Please leave a comment if you have a favorite shop or area in Charlottesville that I didn’t go to! Thanks for reading and I’ll be back next Tuesday with another post! Bye!

Fashion

Jewelry Talk ft. High Point Supply Co.

October 18, 2016

Hi everyone and welcome to another post on Allison In Wonderland! I’m here to bring you this week’s article! Today, I’m going to chat a bit about a cause that’s been very heavy on my heart in recent years: human-trafficking. Attending James Madison University in Harrisonburg has really brought this issue to the fore-front of my mind, being that this city has a rather large issue with this injustice, due to being located right along highway 81. Fortunately, there is always a way we can help!

One way we can make a difference (and my favorite way) is by shopping! Exciting, I know! I recently came across High Point Supply Co. and immediately fell in love with the heart of the company. As I was poking around their website, I realized that they have a really cool way of browsing where you can shop by subject, but you can also shop by country or by cause. So, if you already have a country or cause in mind that you want to directly give to, this is your place!

After exploring the anti-trafficking section for a bit, I ended up finding such wonderful goodies! They’re all so beautiful and you can feel good about your purchase because you’re not only helping your wardrobe, but you’re helping and supporting those who really, really need it. In the case of giving towards the anti-trafficking cause, the jewelry is coming straight from women in India who are survivors of sex-trafficking. Part of the proceeds go towards providing those women with jobs, financial stability, and emotional rehabilitation!

The first piece I came across is called the Journey necklace and it’s my favorite piece that I got! It’s so dainty but it still stands out against any pattern you might be wearing. This is one of the more simple necklaces High Point Supply Co. has and I love that it tells a story! Some other pieces I got are these rings! Ring are my absolute favorite accessory so I already knew I was going to love these. The stack of 3 rings is so wearable! The other ring is larger than I usually go for so I was a bit skeptical if I’d actually be able to keep it on throughout the day, but it was no problem at all; I barely noticed it!

The last item that I got in this package is a set of stud earrings. Stud earrings are my favorite because they’re so easy. They don’t get it in the way and they add such a subtle difference to your outfit! The ones I got are called Aztec Studs and I chose to get them in the brass color. They go perfectly with the other pieces and are such a great addition to my collection. Another plus was, when my package arrived, all of the pieces had a little note attached of the name of the person who made it, which just makes them even more special to me!

If you’d like to purchase something from High Point Supply Co. and “shop for a cause,” put allisoninwonderland in the space at the checkout where it says “ENTER AFFILIATE CODE HERE.” “Enter affiliate code here” will be in red ink and you have to click the sentence and it opens a little comment box where you will enter the code. By entering this code, they’ll know that you’re one of my beautiful readers! Let me know in the comments if you purchase anything, I’d love to see!

Lastly, I’d like to give a huge thanks to my friend Leslie for taking the photos included in this post! Check her out on Instagram at leslie_heisler and also follow High Point Supply Co. at hpsupplyco! As always, thanks for reading and I’ll be back next week with a brand new one!

1 Comments

How To

Sorority Big & Little Craft Ideas

October 11, 2016

Hi everyone and welcome to this week’s post! I really appreciate you coming back because this is going to be my first DIY post! As some of you might know, I’m in a sorority at James Madison University called Sigma Alpha Omega. SAO is JMU’s only Christian sorority and its tons of fun! Part of that fun is recruitment, which we have every Fall. Included in recruitment is the dispersing of little sisters, or “littles” as we like to call them. 🙂 Throughout this post I’m going to be sharing some (I can’t share all of my secrets) of the crafts I did for our Big/Little reveal that we had this past Sunday!

The first DIY that I did was something I’ve been wanting to make for a while. My original idea was to get a big letter initial and cover it in flower tops, but when I walked into Michaels to get my supplies, I noticed they had leaf cut-outs and thought that would be even more perfect! So I went ahead and bought the letter initial, the leaf cut-outs, and super glue. It barely took any time to make and it turned out so well! It can stand alone or be hung on the wall and I just love it. I wish I made one for myself!

The next idea I had was to make a couple cute canvases that she can hang on her wall in her dorm/apartment! I went on Pinterest and found some cute Big/Little quotes to use and I was set! The one I’m going to share today says, “Here’s to you, here’s to me, Big and Little we’ll always be!” I thought that was just perfect to put on a canvas and I love how it turned out! I used gold and black Sharpies for the lettering and just left the canvas white so it wasn’t that expensive either!

The last little gift I incorporated was a little white tin bucket and succulent that I got from Target. I obviously didn’t hand-make either of these but I thought it would be nice to include a little something extra in her gift to accompany all the artsy pieces. If you’re in the market for extra ideas, try finding out what her favorite kind of candy is or her favorite nail polish color to be able to throw in!

Making all of these items was a blast! Even if you aren’t in a sorority, I hope you can still take away some ideas for fall decor, decorating in general, or maybe even a birthday gift! Thanks so much for reading and I’ll be back next week with another brand new post. See ya then!

5 Comments

Beauty Fashion

Autumn Makeup Must: A Bold Lip

October 4, 2016

Hello everyone, welcome back to Allison In Wonderland! I’m so excited to share today’s post with you all! Today, I’m going to be doing one of my first Fall-themed posts and it’s going to be about one of my absolute favorite trends: a bold lip. A bold lip has always been something I’ve wanted to get into but never had the guts to do; but this year is going to be the year. After finding a shade that I loved from a company called Lime Crime, I knew it was time to take the plunge!

The shade that I purchased is called Saint and it’s the perfect shade for Fall. I’m pretty fair skinned, so it stands out against my skin-tone, but I think it would really hold it’s own against any. It’s also the perfect shade to accompany a cute, Fall outfit! With it being the color it is, you can easily pair it with neutrals such a black or white, or it could also be paired more seasonal colors like burgundy or forrest green! It’s so pretty that I really couldn’t imagine a situation where it would look bad!

Just to add on to how much I’m loving this product, the packaging was extremely cute as well, coming in a little red box. Before getting this product, I had never used a liquid lipstick before and was a little nervous when I went to apply it for the first time. The application was super easy and it’s a good thing it was because I don’t have a lip liner in this shade to keep it all together! It’s very pigmented, so I only needed one swipe across and I already had the color in the image above! I was quite happy with that because sometimes you don’t always get the color that’s advertised on the package. It actually dried relatively quickly too, so I didn’t have any problems with it smudging after I was done putting it on.

I’m so excited I have a go-to bold lip color to use now! If you want to learn more about this brand, head over to Lime Crime’s Tumblr page. They’re vegan and cruelty free so you won’t have any guilt about your purchase! I love to hear from you guys so be sure to leave your recommendations in the comments if you have another great Fall shade that I should check out. Thanks for reading and see ya next week!

1 Comments

October 2016

Being a Tourist In: Charlottesville, VA + OOTD

Jewelry Talk ft. High Point Supply Co.

Sorority Big & Little Craft Ideas

Autumn Makeup Must: A Bold Lip