Alli Santmyer – Alli Santmyer

What’s On My iPhone

August 30, 2016

Hi! Welcome back to Allison In Wonderland! I am so excited to be doing a “What’s On My iPhone” post, I think it’s gonna be fun and different than the posts I usually do! Let’s get started!

To begin, my lock screen is a photo that I’ve kept on there for a while. It’s a nice little reminder to be able to see whenever I go on my phone. It says, “May we look most like Jesus when the world needs Him most.” I came across this print on Pinterest so I’m sure you’d be able to find it on there if you did a little digging!

Moving on, I’m going to go through my favorite apps that I couldn’t live without! When I unlock my phone, the first page is full of all my social media. I love, love, love Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest and I also just discovered that WordPress has an app! It’s so convenient, I highly recommend getting it if you are a blog junkie like I am! 🙂

My second page is filled with the apps that come with your iPhone like the Calculator and Notes and such. This is also the place where I keep my school email app and my GroupMe app. GroupMe is an app that’s so great for college students! It allows you to have a huge group message but makes it a lot easier for those without iPhones because all the messages can be on one message thread. Another thing I store here is the one and only game I have on my iPhone! I’m not a huge fan of playing games on my phone, I never have been. But this summer, I found one that I just had to get; it’s called Panda Pop! Basically, you shoot colored bubbles up into the air to pop other bubbles, but there’s little panda babies in them that you have to save. It’s a very mindless game, but it’s nice for when you need a mental break! Since this is the only one I keep on my phone, I’m open to any and all suggestions of any others I should get!

The third page of my apps is where it finally gets interesting! This is where I keep all my photography editing apps. I have about 10 on here, but I’m going to go through my two favorites! The one I use to edit all my photos is VSCO. I’ve been using VSCO since I graduated high school and I will probably use it forever! No matter what look or Instagram theme you’re going for, VSCO can help you get there! I definitely recommend this photo editing app over all others I’ve come across. My second favorite app is called UNUM. I found this one about a month or two ago and it’s so, so convenient. All you have to do is log in using your Instagram log in info and it loads your feed into the UNUM grid. From there, they give you about 20 open slots above where your feed starts so you can lay out and plan your future posts! This makes it so much easier to create a feed that goes together and saves you from having to delete photos if they don’t look right next to each other.

That is the third and final page of the apps I have on my iPhone, I hope I was able to give you some fun ideas for new ones to try! Let me know in the comments if you have any apps that you love or think would be helpful! Have a great rest of your day and be sure to come back next Tuesday for a brand new fashion post!

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Beauty

A Soft Skin Lovers Dream ft. EOS

August 24, 2016

Hi everyone, thanks for coming back to Allison In Wonderland! I just couldn’t wait until Tuesday to write this post, so I decided to do a extra one this week, I hope you don’t mind! 🙂 I’m going to be talking about how I keep my skin and lips soft and moisturized in this dry, summer heat we’ve been experiencing, so keep on reading!

As you can tell from the photo above, I’m going to be writing about a couple Evolution of Smooth (EOS) products today! Not only are they absolutely adorable and effective, but they’re inexpensive as well! I managed to get a full sized EOS Body Lotion AND an EOS Lip Balm for under $12! Can you believe it!?

Going more into the individual products, the lip balm is a product that I’ve used for a long time. When they first came out, I immediately jumped on the Honeysuckle Honeydew one and it lasted for so long! They have a unique circle shape so it’s super easy to find when you’re reaching into your bag, and it makes the application process simpler because it doesn’t get all over the top and bottom of your lips like a normal lip balm would. I always put on a lip balm under whatever lip product I’m wearing that day and this is perfect for that! The one I’ve been using most recently, and have pictured to the right, is Vanilla Mint. It’s the perfect mix of sweet and fresh, which is exactly what I’m looking for when searching for a new staple lip balm!

The next product that I’ve been loving from EOS is their body lotion! They have two different versions out right now, Delicate Petals (a purple bottle) and Berry Blossom (a pink bottle). I went for the Delicate Petals scent and it smells so good! The lotion is so light that it feels like it sinks into your skin immediately. Since it’s made with shea butter and avocado oil, it moisturizes your skin so well and it lasts all day! Another exciting thing is I’m moving into a new apartment when I head back to college in a few days and it will look so much cuter than a normal body lotion bottle in my bathroom! It’s a win-win all the way around! This is definitely a product that I’ll be using for a while.

That’s all for today, I’m so glad I got to put out another skincare post so soon! Please let me know in the comments if you’ve ever used these products and, if you have, what your favorite scents are! See ya next week!

Fashion

A Midsummer Day’s OOTD

August 23, 2016

Hi guys and welcome back to Allison in Wonderland! Today’s post is going to be fun because I’ve never done one about all the little details of one outfit before! So let’s get started! 🙂

The outfit that I chose for this post is an outfit I’ve been waiting to wear for months and months. I actually bought the pair of overalls from Forever 21 back in the wintertime for, I wanna say, around $10. What a steal! I almost didn’t buy them because I knew I wouldn’t get to wear them until the summer, but they were just too cute to pass up! I was envisioning wearing them with a cute t-shirt underneath, just as I did in the photo to the right (also pictured in my last post Being a Tourist In: Virginia Beach). But as the colder months passed and the overalls got pushed further and further towards the back of my closet, I forgot about them! I only recently rediscovered them and I was so excited that I’d get to bring them on vacation with me!

Since the overalls give off a more relaxed vibe, I didn’t want to pair them with any jewelry that was too girly, so I went with my Daniel Wellington watch that I LOVE. I have the Women’s Classic Bristol 36mm with the silver face and it goes with almost anything! It can be dressed up or dressed down and it’s just the perfect accessory to add to any outfit.

The t-shirt I picked to go underneath my overalls is a super cute and comfortable t-shirt from American Eagle! It’s a creamy white color with blue stripes and an adorable little green pocket that goes perfectly with the look of the overalls. I was a bit worried the shirt would keep popping out of the shorts and I’d have to get a bodysuit-type top but I actually had no trouble keeping it in place! I definitely recommend these overalls if you’re in the market for a cute and affordable pair!

Well, that about wraps up my first OOTD post, I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment if you have any topic suggestions for future posts! Have a wonderful day! 🙂

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Travel

Being a Tourist In: Virginia Beach

August 16, 2016

Hi everyone, thanks for coming back to my blog! For the past week, I’ve been in Virginia Beach, VA on vacation with my family! It’s been so nice being able to relax for a little while and I also get to do another “Being a Tourist In:…” post! I hope you enjoy!

The first day of the trip was a cloudy one so we used that time to walk around and check out the area around the hotel. This was my first time in Virginia Beach so I was really looking forward to seeing the area! We stayed at the Hilton Oceanfront hotel that’s located in the more populated area of Virginia Beach so there were a ton of beachy boutiques and cafes that were just a short walk away! At one of the boutiques, I ended up buying a thin gold bracelet cuff, which is something I’ve been looking for for a while so I was super excited about that! We also walked the stretch of the boardwalk so we could get some pictures under the pier and it was one of my favorite areas we saw the whole trip! To end off the night, we had dinner at the Beach Pub, which was only a ten minute drive from our hotel. It was a little hole-in-the-wall seafood place that was just what we were in the mood for!

The next day was finally our first day of just relaxing. We started the day off at the pool! Because of the type of room we booked, we had access to the rooftop infinity pool (pictured to the left) and spent almost the entire day there! It was beautiful out and the water felt great. After dinner at Chops, a beautiful restaurant located right across from our hotel, we took a walk on the beach and the sunset was gorgeous!

The third day was our last full day in Virginia Beach so we finally made our way down to the beach! It was tremendously hot that day, so running into the ocean every twenty minutes or so was so refreshing! Our hotel also provided beach chairs so that helped to keep us up off the hot sand! After staying at the beach all day, we had dinner at Abbey Road, a really yummy Beatles tribute restaurant, and watched yet another beautiful sunset from the balcony of our room. This day also happened to be a Wednesday and Virginia Beach does fireworks every Sunday and Wednesday, so we were lucky enough to be there for both rounds!

The next day was unfortunately the last day of the trip, so we woke up pretty early to start gathering everything to head home. While this trip wasn’t the most eventful family vacation we’ve ever taken, I really, really enjoyed having time to relax and spend time with my family after a busy summer.

Thank you for reading and be sure to come back next week for a fun fashion post!

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Beauty

My Summer Skincare Routine

August 9, 2016

Hello! Welcome to my first post about skincare! I’ve thought about doing something like this for a while so it’s about time I did it! Throughout this post, I’m going to take you through everything I do in the summertime to keep my skin healthy and moisturized. Keep reading if you’re interested!

First, let’s start off with the main mistake I’ve made in the past that led to having more acne than usual. I used to wash, tone, and moisturize my face every morning and then wash, exfoliate, and heavily moisturize my face every night. I didn’t understand why I had so much acne when I was taking all these steps to prevent it but what I didn’t realize is that I was overwashing my face. My pores couldn’t keep up with the level of natural oils I was stripping away so they overcompensated, therefore, clogging themselves. This caused me to be in a vigorous cycle of sabotaging my own skin. It took a while for me to figure it out but once I got it together, I haven’t had many problems since!

To start off the day, I splash my face with cold water and pat it dry with a soft towel. After that, I moisturize with Aveeno’s Positively Radiant daily moisturizer with SPF 15. That’s it. No serums, no exfoliating. I love this moisturizer because it’s light and easy to apply but it does exactly what you need it to. I’ve used it since freshman year of high school! This is all my face needs in the morning. Providing your skin with a little bit of moisture (and SPF protection) in the morning is also wonderful in providing an even layer for your makeup to be applied to!

At night, I cleanse my face in the shower using Aveeno’s Positively Radiant brightening cleanser. This is also a product I’ve used for years. Aveeno’s Positively Radiant collection is one of my favorites! You can feel that, while this cleanser really gets deep into your pores, it doesn’t feel harsh. My skin always feels cool and refreshed after using this product.

After getting out of the shower, I moisturize the rest of my body with Aveeno’s Daily Moisturizing lotion. In the past, I’ve had a tiny bit of eczema on the top of my arms and using this product daily helped me gain control of that problem! This is another product that I love and it’s scent free so you can feel free to put any perfumes or body sprays on and have no problem!

Thanks for reading this post about my summer skincare routine – I hope it helped you out! Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions or products that you love. See you next week!

College

My Summer Internship: A Summary

August 2, 2016

Hi everyone! August has arrived and even though it’s only the first week of the month, unfortunately, it’s the last week of my summer internship. I began this journey with 12 long weeks ahead of me that could’ve been extremely awful or extremely wonderful and I’m very blessed to say it’s been one of the best experiences of my life.

For the last few months, I’ve had the opportunity of being an intern at a marketing firm in Annapolis, Maryland. They (whom will remain unnamed for privacy reasons) are a full-service marketing firm that services clients such as Duracell, Splenda, and Mars Drinks (plus many others). I went into the job thinking I would mainly shadow and assist my co-workers with whatever small tasks they needed help with but I thought wrong. From the moment I walked in the building on my first day, I have been working on things that I’ll actually be doing in my career. How cool! From the little meetings I’d had before beginning the summer, I knew my days wouldn’t usually be filled doing typical intern tasks such as doing coffee runs and making copies, but I had no idea the level of respect and kindness I would receive from the employees at this company. Throughout this internship, I’ve been challenged more than I thought I ever could be in such a short amount of time. In addition to being challenged design-wise, I feel like the classes I’ve taken at JMU helped prepare me for this summer, and I also feel that this internship will help me in my future classes and that’s a really neat feeling!

This internship has also greatly improved my design self-esteem. One of the classes I took this past year was pretty much a class version of this internship. I was designing invitations, infographics, logos, etc. and I hated it. My professor didn’t like my style of design and the comments and grades I received made me rethink my future so much that I didn’t even have an interest in graphic design anymore. So, when I got here this summer, I was secretly hoping I’d mostly work with employees in other positions such as the copy editors and trade marketing professionals. However, I ended up falling into the design position and it couldn’t have turned out better! Not only did I realize that what I originally wanted to do is still what I want to do, but I realized I have the drive and the talent to actually be able to do it. This summer, one of my designs was actually chosen for a company’s new logo! Your future does not depend on the opinions of one person and you should never forget that.

Ending this internship, I’m kind of in a state where I feel so ready and prepared and excited for my future that I just want to be in it already! I want to be working full time at a job I love and traveling on the weekends, and I’m already doing that! It’s definitely going to be difficult driving away from here on Friday and heading back to school at the end of the month but that just means I’m that much closer to being where I want to be.

Although I don’t think anyone from the company will ever read this, I’d like to thank them as a whole for maintaining such an open and friendly environment that was so inviting and comforting to me this summer. Incredibly, I’ve been invited back to intern again over my winter break, so it won’t be long before I’m back at it and you can trust that I will be counting down the days until I return!

Thank you for reading this post and please let me know in the comments if you had a great summer internship as well! See you next week! 🙂

Travel

Our Roadtrip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

July 26, 2016

Hello and thanks for coming back to read another post on Allison in Wonderland! I just got home from a fun weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and am here to tell you all about it!

Since my boyfriend and I are both working full time this summer, we were only able to take a weekend trip but it was SO worth it! We both took off of work on Friday so, thankfully, we were able to leave on Thursday evening. Leaving from Maryland, it was supposed to take us about 8 hours to get there but ended up taking around 9, getting us there at 3 o’clock in the morning.

Before going to Myrtle Beach for this trip, I’d only been there once before, so I was excited to see more of a place that’s such a great vacation destination for so many people! We spent Friday on the beach (my favorite way to spend a day) and exploring the area around where we were staying. During our exploration, I realized my favorite thing about Myrtle Beach is when you get to the beach in the morning, it’s high tide and the beach looks crowded and small but as the day goes on, the tide goes out and you’re left with this HUGE beach and less people because they’ve left for the day. Growing up, I always got to the beach right at 8 am to make sure we got a spot and we stayed until the end of the day. It’s cool to me that, here, it’s actually more enjoyable to relax and go later in the day and you have a better chance of getting a good spot!

That night, we headed to Broadway at the Beach, which is basically a larger version of the boardwalk. They have rides, stores, restaurants, and a zip line! We ate at a restaurant called Extreme Pizza and while it took forever to get our food, it was delicious! I’d never heard of Broadway at the Beach before going there and it’s definitely a place I’ll go back to when I go again!

The next day we pretty much repeated what we’d done the day before by spending the day at the beach. The house was close enough to the beach where we could just ride the golf cart, so that’s mainly how we got around throughout the weekend. This weekend was my first time driving a golf cart and now that I know what it’s like, I want to get one for myself – they’re so fun! Later that night, we went to the Garden City boardwalk which has some neat little shops and restaurants and a long pier where you can walk all the way to the end!

The next day was Sunday and, unfortunately, was the day we had to head home. We needed to leave around noon in order to get back at a reasonable time so we drove the golf cart down to the beach for one last walk in the sand before packing up and heading out. It ended up taking Connor and I 11(ish) hours to get home because the traffic was a little more heavy coming back than when we were driving down but we got in at about 10pm so it wasn’t awful.

Overall, this trip was just so relaxing and laid back and probably the best trip Connor and I have ever taken together! It was nice to not have a plan and just go with the flow so I’ll definitely be trying to make that more of a habit rather than planning out every minute of every trip. Thanks for reading and be sure to come back next Tuesday to see my next post! Bye! 🙂

Travel

A Saturday Spent in Washington, D.C.

July 19, 2016

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to Allison in Wonderland! This past weekend, I headed back to Washington, D.C. for the day and I can’t wait to tell you all about it, so let’s jump right into it!

The reason I visited was a little bit of a two-fold. My boyfriend and I had never double dated, so we (mainly me) were dying to finally do that, and it just so happened that the “Together 2016” Christian event was happening on the very same weekend! Starting off the day, we met up with my friend and her boyfriend and headed into the concert, which was held in the grassy area surrounding the Washington Monument (a very cool location). The line to get in was incredibly long but it was a free event (so we couldn’t complain) and it was so cool to see how many believers were gathered in one place! I heard a man say that this event was a small glimpse of what Heaven’s gonna be like and that’s so true! The event was set up in time frames of praying together, learning together, sharing together, loving together, and resetting together. This was nice because it made it easy to also take some time to explore the rest of D.C. but still be at the concert for whichever portions were most important to you. The concert was supposed to go from 9-9 but unfortunately ended up shutting down around 5 due to the heat. There were a lot of people being taken out in ambulances because of heat exhaustion so the authorities had to make the decision that would keep everyone safe. Overall, it was a wonderful, wonderful event and just so incredible that something like this was allowed to take place in our nation’s capital.

Between going in and out of the concert, we targeted some indoor activities because it was almost 100 degrees outside and we were having a hard time staying out there for long. We headed to the White House before checking out some museums because I had never seen it in person! I live so close to D.C. and have been there many times, but somehow had never made the time to actually go and see it. It wasn’t a far walk from the Washington Monument and was well worth taking a little walk out of our way. After this, we headed to the Museum of Natural History and continued our day of fun from there!

My day in D.C. this weekend was so unlike any other time I’ve visited this city, it just keeps getting better every time! I’m sure I’ll be headed back again soon, so please leave suggestions in the comments of places to go, especially food places! I always end up going to the same locations and want to keep discovering what more Washington, D.C. has to offer. Thanks for reading and I’ll talk to you next week!

Travel

Being a Tourist In: Brooklyn

July 12, 2016

Hi everyone and welcome back to another “Being a Tourist In:…” post! I was going to wait to write about this trip since I’ve been sharing so much about traveling lately, but I just couldn’t wait! Brooklyn is, by far, the most incredible place I’ve ever traveled to and I can’t wait to share what I got to see when I visited a few weekends ago!

Starting off with the basics, my house is only about two and a half hours away from Brooklyn, so one of my friends from JMU and I decided to drive to the city from my house. We used a parking service called Parking Panda to reserve a spot in a parking garage before we left the house so we didn’t have to stress about finding parking or having to pay an astronomical amount!

We ended up getting there around 11 o’clock in the morning and made the walk from the parking garage to the hotel to check-in before our day really began. We stayed at the NU Hotel, which is in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn. The hotel was more hole-in-the-wall and discreet than I expected but that just made it even better! The lobby was bustling with people of all ages and the aesthetic was everything my 19 year old self could dream of.

After checking in, we headed to our main destination, DUMBO. To get there, instead of walking through normal streets, we headed all the way to the water and walked along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade which has an AMAZING view of the Manhattan skyline. It stretched almost our entire walk from the hotel to DUMBO and it got us even more excited for our fun weekend!

The view opposite of the Manhattan skyline along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade!

After making it to DUMBO, we stopped at Shake Shack for a quick bite to eat. It was my first time there and I will definitely be going back the next chance I get. So yummy! From there, we headed to the view that was at the top of our list: the Manhattan Bridge at the intersection of Washington and Water Street. Oh my goodness. This was my favorite thing we did the entire trip and it’s also a pretty familiar view if you’re a Gossip Girl fan! So cool!

From there, we pretty much just walked around and explored! We didn’t realize how close together everything was going to be, so we hit our main destinations in only a couple hours. Another favorite spot of ours was the Jane’s Carousel area! While we were walking around there, we actually saw Youtuber Tess Christine and her boyfriend at breakfast at the Atrium.

Continuing to walk around that area, we stumbled upon some cute little shops such as the West Elm Market. I’d never heard of West Elm having a market-type store so we checked it out and it was adorable! Lots of fun, Brooklyn-inspired trinkets and souvenirs, but not in a cheesy way! Way to go, West Elm!

Next, we made our way over to a set of stairs that lead to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked across the whole thing! It wasn’t that bad of a walk, but, of course, the fact that it was a beautiful day didn’t hurt. 🙂 This was one of my favorite memories because we got to see a lot of Brooklyn, a lot of Manhattan, and a lot of the river all at one time! I definitely recommend doing this if you’re visiting the city.

One really cool thing (at least to me) that we did while we were in Brooklyn was use a real map. I always use Google Maps on my phone to help me get place to place and using a paper map allowed us to see some really pretty areas that we might not have seen if we had been using our phones. It was a refreshing feeling (and allowed for a cool photo op!).

After running around all day, we were pretty exhausted so we headed back to the hotel around 8. Since we’d seen all that we came to see, we decided to just sleep in and treat ourselves to some brunch the next day!

For brunch, we went to a little French place called Cafe Lucuc, which was only a short walk from the NU Hotel. We were seated very quickly and had delicious pancakes and french toast! After eating, we headed back to the hotel to check-out and make the walk from the hotel to our parking garage.

Of course, I had to snap a little OOTD before leaving!

Even though we saw all that we wanted to see, it was still an awful feeling to be leaving such an exciting and wonderful place. I will definitely be trying to make another day trip before I head back to college in August and can’t wait to see what the next trip entails!

Thank you for reading what very well may be my longest post to date, but what can I say? Brooklyn stole my heart. Feel free to leave any Brooklyn suggestions in the comments for when I go back again! See you next week!

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Things I'm Loving Right Now

What’s On My TV: Summer 2016

July 5, 2016

Hello and happy Tuesday! Thanks for coming back to Allison in Wonderland! This week, I’m excited to chat about my favorite TV shows of the season! With being away at school, summer has become one of the only times I can watch particular shows on a weekly basis, so I can’t wait to share what I’ve been loving with you!

The first show I’ve been obsessed with for the last couple months is The Bachelorette. I know this show isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and I can admit that it’s a silly concept, but I just love it! It’s so nice to follow along week-to-week and take your guess at who’s going home! During previous seasons, I’ve gone on a website (RealitySteve) to see who the “winner” is because I just couldn’t help myself, but this season I’ve held out and it’s totally worth it. It gives it so much more suspense! Jojo (this season’s Bachelorette) has a really great (and cute!) group of guys and I can’t wait to see who she picks in the end! Let me know who your favorite guy is in the comments!

The second show I’ve been loving is Keeping Up with the Kardashians! I know, the shows I’m recommending are more fluff than anything, but it’s nice to just be able to relax and not feel like you’re missing out if you can’t watch for a couple weeks. The Kardashian’s always have things going on and it’s fun to, ya know, keep up! 🙂

The third show is Wheel of Fortune. No, I’m not kidding! It comes on at 7:30, right before The Bachelorette, and I’ve found myself starting to turn the TV on a little earlier to be able to watch! It’s not that long of a show and it’s always nice to have a little friendly competition with your friends or family who are watching with you. Give it a shot, you won’t regret it!

Thanks for reading today’s post and feel free to tell me what you’d like to read about next week in the comments! Have a great week!

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