Have You Met Ashley?

How to makee a Jughead from Riverdale cosplay!

2017-10-04T17:25:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, its been awhile since I have posted on my good ol' blog! But with Halloween around the corner,conventions in full swing, and the Riverdale season 2 premier next week I figured I would share with you how I did my Jughead Jones Cosplay!

Its great for those of you with a budget, you can do all of it that I did, or just stick to the basics, I also have DIY options as well as where to buy things! So here we go!

First off lets start of with the most iconic piece, his hat! The outfits don't mater right now, what matters is the hat. Now when I made my hat the only place to get the hat was etsy where the waiting list to have someone make the hat was long, so I figured I could make this thing! And I took it uponn myself to make a video on it which will be linked below! There is also another option, Hot Topic now makes the hat, which isn't GREAT but it does get the job done. I also made a review video on that, and you can pick and chose which way you want to go. DIY or buying it. Either way, Juggie needs his hat!

Alright next we have his outfit, On the show Jughead rotate few various pieces of clothing season 1. A bunch of his iconic "S" shirts, a few jackets. a bunch of plaid shirts, suspenders, boots and converse, as well as different style of jeans. I did a lot of research and picked what I felt was the best for me. And I kind of mixed and matched from different out fits. (looking at season 2, there is a lot more to pick from which also makes me excited). I picked this Jughead look, and I added a jacket later on which I will explain!

I found myself a grey plaid shirt, which because he has a ton of plaid shirts, the color doesn't really matter as long as its dark toned. I found a pair of grey jeans, a pair of suspenders from amazon. And of course his iconic "S" shirt. Which you can get the "S" shirt from Hot Topic now but I got mine as well as about 4 other colors of the "s" style from Based Tees.

Depending on my mood I wear boots or converse. At conventions I wore converse but for my photoshoot I wore boots. It really depends on your level of comfort. Jughead does both, so its a win either way.

Aright, now that Jughead is a Serpent I knew I had to make myself a jacket, this is purely optional seeing as we don't know how often he is going to be wearing this jacket, but still.

I have to admit, I have a ton of motorcycle jackets, so this didn't cost me much I just shopped my own closet, the most I spent was on the patch, the etsy seller no longer has the patch but I will link a similar one (here). Now since its leather you can't iron on the patch, so I used a really strong fabric glue that held up really well in the middle of the summer at a convention, If you have the patience or time, you can sew it. But I just decided to glue it. When I wear the jacket I tie my plaid shirt around my waist like Jughead does, and that is it!

Now its time to go meet the gang at Pop's because your Jughead cosplay is done! I really love it because its not a lot of money, a lot of the stuff you might already have, and the things you do have to buy, you can find at Hot Topic if you don't want to make it. I love this cosplay, it can be done by guys or girls, its super comfy, and it gives you an excuse to eat ALL THE BURGERS AND MILKSHAKES! I mean who doesn't love that right?

I hope you guys enjoyed this cosplay post! If you make a jughead cosplay tag me on Instagram and twitter @haveumetashley! Share this post with your friends and don't forget to embrace being a weirdo

I was Plus Size Bride, and I am ok with that.

2016-11-19T09:46:00.001-08:00

In the last year and a half I have been dress shopping more that I would like to admit. I was the maid of honor in my best friends wedding last fall and as you all know I got marired myself in October. I have learned a little bit in the last year and a half, one of those being I HATE dress shopping. I have had some bad experiences, at certain stores (coughdavidsbridalcough) that make me glad this whole buying a wedding dress thing is all over.

I am a plus size girl, I fall with in size 16-18 depending on the style of the dress. I know that "Bridal" runs small, and I know I was in for a headache before I even started looking for my own wedding dress. I promised some family and my close friends they can go through the whole "looking at me trying on dresses" process, mostly for them, not for me, I hated the whole idea of it. So a month before hand I was at David's Bridal with a friend who was looking for a gown for some benefit, and I figured I would get an idea of some dresses that I wanted so when I went in with the big group of people, I wasn't overwhelmed.

I am not a princess dress person, or a tight dress person, I wanted something tea length-ish. So while my friend was pulling dresses for her benefit I asked one of the girls there what they had for that style. With out even asking me my size, or even measuring me, she simply said "Oh, we don't have many of those in your size, maybe two or three. Our plus section is very small in store." At first I thought her tone was rude, but maybe I was over reacting, but when my friend who was with also heard the sassy/rudeness in her tone. I knew I wasn't over-reacting. So when I went home that night I decided to go on their website, to look at dresses. I wasn't going to have people watch me try on dresses if they only had "two or three for my size." and browsing that website looking at things in my size, was kind of hilarious.

Because I am a size 16-18 I am right on the edge of regular size and plus size. Some of there dresses go up to 16 or 18 and when others 18 and up are plus size. So I checked both, just in case. I found a dress I loved, it was what I wanted. In standard size it was pretty cheap $200ish. It only went up to a 16. I know bridal runs small so I checked plus size, They had 16 short style dresses compared to the almost 50 of standard size, and most of their short dresses started at 850+, I felt annoyed and discouraged and put off looking at dresses for awhile.

If you follow my YouTube channel, you know I ended up finding my dress, and where I found it was online, Modcloth to be exact. I took my own measurements and decided on a dress I really loved, so I was happy I got to try it on in the comfort of my own home, and with out some sales lady judging me. But my dress shopping wasn't over. I had to go for my friends wedding, which again wasn't a great experience, some dresses we couldn't even look at because they didn't come in that size. In the end I was happy it was over.

I knew going into this it wasn't going to be easy. I know I am a bigger, I know a lot of things wouldn't come in my size. Once I found the dress it was like "phew ok now that is over." but then started the comments, Oh those "so are you going to lose weight for your wedding? How much weight have you lost to fit into your dress?"comments. Now for some reason a lot of people, and I mean random coworkers, family friends, even random people I barely know online expected me to magically become thinner, or lose weight for my wedding. "you are going to be in pictures! you will look at these forever! Aren't you gonna try to lose weight?" Now don't get me wrong, the 2 months till wedding I made sure I wasn't eating junk ( i don't eat a lot of junk anyways, but it happens.) so I could make sure I would stay fitting in my dress, but I am fat, there is no other way to say it, I am fat. I was a little smaller than this when I met Eric, I go up and down in my weight all the time but for the most part, I am this size, why would I JUST lose weight to look good in my wedding dress?

Its bad enough trying on dresses at places where they made rude comments at you for being plus size knocks down your self esteem, but once you find that dress that you think you look amazing in, and now people are telling you that you need to lose weight to be thinner so you can look good in photos because its your wedding? So I wont look good because I am fat? No! I am going to be a fat bride, and I have no shame in that. I know I am a bigger girl, it took me a lot of years to love myself, a lot of struggles to love myself, and I am finally here at age 28 and I love myself even though I am fat. Even though that girl at David's Bridal made snotty comments about my size. My now husband loves me, not because of my size. He wont care if I am 20lbs smaller in my wedding dress or this size right now. I am fine with the fact that I am a plus size bride.

At the end of this journey that is what I learned, its been a few months since I started writing this post, my wedding has come on gone. Its been a long journey, and all that is said and done, that day, was amazing. I felt amazing, I took a moment to myself in my best friends bathroom after I was all done up and looked at my self in the mirror, and I saw myself as an adult, I saw a little bit of my grandmother in me (who is a plus size woman) and I saw a beautiful bride. I was overwhelmed by all the compliments that day, I know you get them because you are "the bride" but being told how beautiful you look and stunning, makes you not think about the fact other people told me i had to look "skinny in your wedding dress." because you don't need to. I had a friend pull me aside that day and tell me as a fellow plus size girl I inspired her, because most people say we "cant wear light colors." and "some dresses are flattering" but I pulled it off and I looked amazing. That right there moved me. And it helped a lot that the one person who mattered that day, my husband, told me I looked perfect, and amazing all day. And that my friends is what matters. Not the losing weight to look pretty in your dress, or fitting into some plus size bride bubble that stores want you to fit into it. That YOU feel beautiful and amazing and that you are happy. Because its the happiest day of your life, it goes by super quick and you want to enjoy it, not worry if you "look fat" in your wedding dress.

Plus Size OOTD: Princess Leia Star Wars Dress from @HerUniverse

2016-09-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

As most of you probably read in my last post, I had a Star Wars themed wedding shower, And of course I had to match my dress to the theme. (I mean what kind of person would I be if I didn't!). And there couldn't be a better dress than this Her Universe Princess Leia dress!

Now I have been eyeing this dress since last Christmas. It was a bit pricey at my hot topic, and I had no reason to get it. As soon as the girls told me the theme for the shower was Star Wars and I saw the dress was on clearance at Hot Topic AND I had Haute Cash, I took advantage. I am so happy I did, because the dress was PERFECT, and a big hit!

I have said this time and time again, Her Universe is my favorite line for geeky dresses and clothes because they cater to the plus size girls. I have so much from the brand, and this dress fits AMAZING. I was comfy in it all night, and I seriously love it. The dress has the perfect little hint of star wars to it, that unless you KNEW i was wearing a star wars dress, and knew what Leia wore in a New Hope, it just looks like a really fancy white dress. Which I like. I enjoyed that it doesn't scream that its a star wars dress, its still elegant. Perfect for my wedding shower.

I paired it with white sneakers (because I am me, and I wear sneakers whenever I can.) and a black and white darth vader bow, which I fell like sort of pulled it all together and maybe gave it a little more "oh its star wars!" feel to it. Everyone loved the dress, I got so many compliments, even from people just seeing pictures. Saying how great it looked on me, and what not. I am so glad I waited and got it on sale, and ended up with a dress I love!

Thank you guys for reading! Please follow my blog for more outfits, and other awesome things!

My Star Wars Themed Wedding Shower!

2016-09-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

I know things have been slow lately here on the blog, to be honest its been far in my thoughts because I have been busy with wedding related things, my day job, as well as other things. But, two weeks ago Eric and I had our Wedding Shower! It kicked off the #supersmithwedding16 wedding festivities! And our wedding party pulled together what I can only say was the best wedding shower in the galaxy! Because you know, it was STAR WARS THEMED!

One of the best things is having a wedding party that understands your personality, and Eric and I are reallythat our friends get us They could of thrown us a fancy, traditional wedding shower (which there is nothing wrong with!) but they instead took the geeky route and did it all up Star Wars. And man was it amazing!

My Maid and Matron of Honor made most of the decorations, and pulled together what I can only call, fun, geeky yet also classy. It had small little Star Wars nods, like death star center piece vases (which Lyndsey painted ALL BY HAND), a Stromtropper helmet to sign for a guest book, and the cutest little mason jars with candles that had Leia and Han silhouettes that said "i love you, I know". As well as a HUGE Kylo Ren cut out, which I cracked up over, because it pulled everything together.

That a long with a fun DIY photo booth, it had the perfect mix of everything. The girls really hit it out of the park (or galaxy!) with it. Even the favors where smores that say "may the smores be with you." And having the guests play Wedding Jeopardy, which was really fun because sometimes showers can get boring, and it made everyone interact with each other, and it was filled with a lot of laughs and fun!

Everything about it was perfect, even the selfies being taken with Kylo and all the silly photo booth pictures. It was the best way to start off the wedding countdown. I am truly lucky to have such an amazing wedding party and have such amazing people in our lives.

Here are some final photos, my dress was PRINCESS LEIA (which will have its own outfit post coming next week), as well as the link to the vlog from the night! I wish I had more details for you guys, like how everything was made, because the girls did an AMAZING job with making a lot of the decorations, maybe I can convince Lyndsey to do a craft blog post on the vases. But I know a bunch of you wanted a blog post. Thank you guys for reading! Look for more wedding related blog posts coming in the next month! Make sure to check out the vlog at the end of the post!

I started using a planner this year, and this is what happened....

2016-05-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

I am fairly new to this whole planner thing. I used to keep on in high school, and I have always had a dry erase board some where in my apartment to keep track of things like appointments and bills. But at the start of this year I really noticed I needed something to keep all the dates I have put together and organized. Because with wedding, work, YouTube, even conventions, and everything else in between, I needed something to keep it all together long term. I had dates and times I needed to remember months a head of time, I had dead lines, and projects that needed to be finished. I am a pretty organized person, I try to get stuff done early, and with lots of time to do it. But I was having a hard time managing it all; so I looked into planners,

I had seen a few YouTube that I follow use planners, as well as cosplayers. So I had a good idea on which one I wanted. But I wanted to stay in a budget because I wasn't sure if this was something I could keep doing, or if I would forget to do it after a month or so. Because lets face it, that does happen. A lot of these people make their pages super fancy, and covered with stickers, but I knew starting out I should keep it simple, get myself used to the planner first, get into a routine and see where I go from there. It was Janaury so a lot of the planners were on sale, so I picked up the "Me and my big ideas" planner (Or mambi) for udner $20, one role of washi tape, a few colored pens and took an afternoon to transfer all the dates and things I needed to get done from my notebook, into the planner.

There were things I loved, and things I didn't really like about the planner, but it got the job done. I kept it simple for the first month, I did it all in pen, very few stickers, I had no themes just writing down what I work, the meals I plan to do, appointments that were that week, bills due as well as wedding projects that needed to be done. It was simple. and after keeping to it for a month strong, I slowly starting getting into stickers. Because I had to look at this for a whole week, I wanted it to motivate me to check it every day. A few more rolls of washi, some cute star wars, marvel and other scrapbook stickers, and I started to develop a good system to my planning. I did it about two weeks at a time, because it was best for me, it helped me plan meals so my grocery shopping wasn't so random anymore, it kept me on top of chores and things I sometimes forgot about. I was really enjoying it. And thats when I decided, to check out a few sticker shops on etsy.

I went in with a budget and a list of stickers that would fit my planning needs. What I started to notice it, my planner was the issue.I liked the set up of the mambi planner, but the binding of it made it hard to take anywhere, and it made it bulky, it made it weird for me to write in it because it was hard to fold over. I liked how it was affordable, but in all honestly my "dream" planner was the Erin Condern. If I was going to invest money in cute stickers to help my planning, why not just get a good planner? Lucky for me it was a big sale on that website, because the new planners were coming out in June, in mid April the ones for the rest of the year were pretty cheap. I paid no more than $21 dollars for my new planner, the cover didn't really matter to me because I could get a new one or decorate this one if I needed. I had a pretty good stash of stickers from etsy, as well as my friends sticker shops to help me. I was so glad I got this planner because it was just easy to use, I'm not sure if its becuse it reminds me more of my notebook i used to jot stuff down in before, but i find it so much easyer to grab this planner every day, and update my lists, check off what I've done and what not.

I've noticed a lot of changes in myself with organization since I started planning. I get more stuff done/. I have learned how to better manage my time, motivate myself to do better in things like youtube, and even start using my blog again. Not to mention taking that hour or so every week and putting time into the planner, is sort of "me" time. I didn't think a little planner could help so much. Maybe I was more un-organized than I thought, What was first meant to help me stay on top of wedding tasks and other life things, has become the way I plan meals for the week, and set up my grocery list based on that. (which means we do less take out because I plan ahead.) Its motivated me to set upload schedules on both my YouTube and now on my blog. I had youtube work time, managed with my day to day work time. Even Eric will ask me to note something in my planner to remind him to do something or when something is going on

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Its really helped me mange things, and I am so happy I got into planning. I wont lie, the cute stickers, and layouts do help. I've gone from very few stickers to a whole spread themed by them. I enjoy going on etsy and finding stickers and thinking of spreads a head of time. And I think thats what keeps me doing it, that little creative motivation. And I'm glad it did, because in the last 5 months planning has changed how I mange things in my life.

Outfit Of The Day: Skulls and Pins!

2016-05-22T12:30:00.000-07:00

So its been awhile since I've posted an outfit, so bare with me here. The winter sort of brought on a rut, I was in jeans and tees, hoodies and comfty adult pjs for awhile. I am excited that the weather is warmer and I can dress up a little, and not be hidden under what I called my "Captain Cold Cosplay" winter gear. So hopefully this means a lot more out fit posts coming, if I remember to take pictures of them.

Alright so the breakdown of my outfit, I have been wanting to turn a jean jacket into a geeky pin and patch filled jacket for awhile now, so I finally did it, and its slowly coming together into this jacket you see here. I got it at target and the pins come from everywhere. Its slowly becoming my favorite piece of clothing I own.

Along with the jacket, I am wearing a "bone" dress from Torrid, I got it last summer and it feels like you are wearing a tshirt, and its VERY comfy. Paired that with my boots, and tights (that you can't see in the picture opps.) and you have this very spring-ish outfit. I love it. It was perfect for Eric and I's day-time date. And its complete with my new favorite pair of sunglasses I also got from target.

I am hoping to get back into the swing of outfit posts, so here's hoping they pop up more often!

Going through my 20's and not growing apart from my best friend.

2016-05-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

Best friends are hard to come by these days. You don’t always find that person and say, hey yeah I am not leaving your side for the rest of our lives and we are gonna do stupid shit together until we get old okay? I actually never had a “best friend” until I got older. I was always awkward and weird and though I had people I called a friend, I never had a constant one, they always came and went because I am the kind of person who sometimes doesn’t want to be around people but not a lot of people understand that. In my 20’s its been harder, and people come and go, my list of actual friends are shorter now, and as I am getting closer to my wedding its starting to be clear who actually wants to be in my life and who doesn’t. And it makes me glad that in the whole scheme of things, I have someone to call my best friend.

Now the word best friend is different in your later 20’s than when you are a teenager or even up to that Taylor Swift age of 22. When people grow up, get married and have kids things change. You don’t see each other randomly when you are bored at 10pm at night and want to grab ihop. Sometimes we go weeks, or even months with out seeing each other because our work lives don’t mesh up, or the one time we had planned to hang out, a baby is sick. You have to be more understanding as an adult than you were when you were 19. So its harder to keep people in your lives, and to make sure the people you have around you are there for you even if you can’t see them everyday. And for me that’s Lyndsey.

See Lynndsey always in some way understood me, we always understood each others. I get her in a way a lot of people don’t, and she does the same for me. When we were in our early 20’s we were content hanging out, at her apartment on our laptops watching re-runs of SVU and Gilmore Girls for a whole day, than going out and hanging out with tons of people. As we got older, its sort of the same, expect now our spouses are with us, and theres a toddler running around, and it’s a hockey game or mickey mouse club house playing in the background. We know that we don’t always HAVE to be doing something amazing together to be friends. Sure we have a lot of great memories, of doing some fun and silly things, but that’s not all our friendship is about.

If you look at us we are total opposites in many ways, and I think that works out in our favor. When something is wrong she doesn’t have to say it and I know what to do, and vice versa. But the way we keep this friendship working isn’t by seeing each other every second of every day and taking best friend selfies all the time. We talk, we listen, we tell each other about our stupid boring days, I get the cutest videos of what her daughter (my goddaughter) is doing that day, and I will send her silly memes and pictures of a project I am working on. We stay updated on each others lives, even if its not the most exciting. We help each other deal with drama, and other issues, We listen to work rants, and stories about baby poop, and things we never thought we would share with each other. Her family has become my family in a way that when I am at her home, I feel at home, even if I am not there all the time because hey being an adult and working sucks but you got to do it. We may not see each other all the time, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t my best friend.

I will admit when she first told me she was pregnant 2.5 years ago I was really scared. I was scared I would lose her because she was going to be caught up in this baby life and forget all about me. But she never did that. I didn’t think I could love a kid as much as I love her daughter. If anything her having a child has brought us closer. And seeing her be an amazing mom has made me realize how lucky I am to have her in my life, seeing her raise this little person who is a little her, it no longer makes me scared that this little person is gonna steal my best friend away, I love them both, and sometimes her more than Lyndsey (haha.) I know that sI may not understand a lot of what shes going through as a mom like her friends with kids, but I do know she understands the fact I MAY not want kids, and may never understand and she gets that, doesn’t judge me.

In our 20’s we have gone through tons of changes, some good, some bad, Some life changing and some tiny but awesome at the same time. We fought, and we sometimes went long periods of times with out speaking, but in the end honestly? Maintaining a friendship with some one through all the changes in your life is hard, you don’t know what each change will bring, but its nice and amazing to share it with someone who has been there through them all. You just have to know and understand that growing up, getting married, having kids doesn’t mean you drift apart. We are on some what different paths in life, but that doesn’t mean we can’t live them together.

I think Ted Mosby said it best in the last season of HIMYM "You will be shocked kids, when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That's why, when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it."

Things I wish I could go back and tell my 15 year old self.

2016-05-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

I feel like 2016 has been a year for nostalgia for me. My favorite band from high school (and still now, but lets face it, they meant the most to me in high school) went on tour earlier this year, and that sent me down and emotional path that was filled with songs that brought up a lot of feelings that 14-16 year old Ashley felt. I can listen to those songs now and still feel those things I did back then. I tell people "you want to know how I felt when I was 14 put on Good Charlotte Screamer." Because that song alone can spell out the feelings of a 14 year old Ashley.

While listening to those songs, and going through old photos, and even some old clothes I still have from back then, it made me think. Who I was back then, what I felt and how it made me who I am today. It also made me think of the things I wish I could tell myself. Because lets face it, when you are 14, it really feels like the world is against you and everything sucks. With out going into detail of some things, being a teen for me for tough. I lost my father when I was 11, my mom wasn't really the mother type. Which really hit home with the song "emotionless" from Good Charlotte. The band actually played it live in Boston, and I broke down and cried, for many reasons. I don't relate to the father walking out on you part, but at times THAT song alone is how I felt towards my mother when I moved out at 18. and that song alone made all those feelings of teenage me come back, and really made me dwell on the things I wish I could tell my younger self. So here we go.

You are beautiful, don't think otherwise.
If I could go back and do one thing it would be tell myself this. I look back at pictures of myself at that age and think "how did i think i was so fat? i was so ugly?" im 60lbs heavier now, and I love myself more than I did back then. My mother would tell me I was "fat" because I couldn't fit into my size 9 jeans, thats not something you should tell a teenage girl. I wish my teenage self knew that she was beautiful. Not from a boy, or her mother, but from herself. I wish she really thought she was beautiful.

It gets better, I promise.
Being 14-16 you think the smallest things are the worst in the world. I know I didn't have the best teen years, but honeslty I wish I could go back and tell myself it gets better. You get out of here, you move on, and you live a life that isn't perfect, but its pretty amazing for what you have. You are loved, and happy and have people around you who are pretty damn amazing .And you get to do things that you always wanted to do.

You don't turn out like her, don't worry. But people don't change.
One of my biggest fears was ending up like my mom. With out going into full detail because that can be a blog post in its own. I lived in a fear of becoming the person I least wanted to be. I was afraid of becoming that person that I hated most and I wanted to be the opposite of everything she was. She never knew that, and until a year ago we sort of rebuilt a stable relationship because I believe in second chances (unlike her.) but people don't change and I learned she is, and will always be that woman that let me down and was never there.

Some friends become your family, start trusting people
I didn't trust a whole lot back then, I had friends but nothing I thought could last or would last. It took a lot for me to let some people in and I am thankful for that. But I was so afraid of being let down, i rarely let people in. And I wish I did, I did have a small group of people that I had around me and supported me, but at times i would push them away for fear of if I didn't keep them close I would never be let down. And I wish I didn't do that.

I could really go on, but really those are the main things I wish I could tell myself at that age. I know in the end the things that happened to me formed me to be this person I am today, but part of me wished I had something to help me through those other things. Being a teenager is tough, and I sometimes wish I could go back in time, sit down and give myself a hug because a lot of times, she really needed one.

New Look, its been awhile.

2016-05-15T21:28:00.001-07:00

I honestly feel like its been forever since I have sat down and written in my blog, If I am being honest with myself I was sort of stuck with what to do here, For the last 5 years I have written reviews, and sort of kept to the same thing, and honestly I was getting bored with it. Don't get me wrong I still love makeup, and fashion and I am still really active on my YouTube channel. Its just harder now to drop a few $$ at Sephora to write a few blog posts on makeup, and what not.And I have passions and things out side of makeup that I wanted to touch on, and I did, a little bit here and there.

I felt like I was in a rut with the blog. I had SO much I wanted to write about. But this felt like my fashion blog, even when I would write about movie trailers, or even conventions, it still felt like I wasn't happy with where this blog was going. So after about 6 months of sitting on it, I decided I needed to change that. I missed writing, and I wanted to write about different things, but still keep this blog. It has been a part of me for so long now. So after sitting down with Eric and sort of talking it out, he designed me a new banner that just said "haveyoumetashley" nothing with "a geeks love of" on it, so I would have the freedom to write and say kind of what I want with out dwelling on the fact that this is a fashion blog. People grow, and I was growing and I want to talk about more than just that. Does this mean I wont post outfits, and hair tops? NO I will always post those, it may just have a lot of other things in between. I have a few posts saved up that I have been writing here and there and they will be posted in the next few weeks, to get myself back into the swing of things. I will be posting some wedding things, some random stories and even some book reviews, and comic things. A lot of changes, but I feel happy about it. My life is more than just makeup and clothes, so I wanted this blog to reflect that. I hope you all want to come along with me through this change!

Lets Talk About Star Wars Lipsticks by Covergirl

2015-10-30T09:37:00.003-07:00

If you guys have seen my latest video, follow me on instagram or twitter, you know I picked up the latest Star Wars lipticks by Cvoergirl. I wanted to buy the whole display, but I limited myself with all the power I had inside of me,

You all know me well by now, you know my love of Star Wars is pretty big, so the fact that Cover Girl did a whole line that had a slight Star Wars theme, even though the fact of the matter is it wasn't 100% star wars themed, it had some names slapped onto mascara and nail polish, and the lipsticks KIND OF were based off of light saber colors (thank you covergirl you copied my logo haha kidding, really), it wasn't heavily based off of the films, but more of a way to get people to buy things with the name star wars on it. Which I will say it worked, I was a sucker and bought the lipsticks, BUT ONLY the lipsticks I wanted. And if you watch my video you will see I do enjoy the colors, they are really decently pigmented and are up to par with other Covergirl lipsticks. Even though I wish the lippies had cool names I will say I am happy with the ones I got, and I am also glad I didn't buy the whole display because it said STAR WARS on it.

Check out my full review, and a little fangirl momment about how excited I am for the new movie above in the video.

And maybe come December I will do a "my experience seeing star wars opening night" post, because those are always fun.

Vlogtober, Weeks 1 + 2!

2015-10-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! This year I am doing Vlogtober! Which means weekly vlogs through the month of October! (some people do daily, I don't have that interesting of a life, ha!) So here are the first two weeks! Make sure to subscribe to my youtube channel to check out more vlogs, and what not!

Plus Size Outfit Of The Day - Black Lace Dress

2015-09-26T12:13:00.002-07:00

I was on the hunt for a dress for my best friends wedding shower, when I came across this black lace dress at kohls in their plus size department, Let me tell you now I am not really happy with the plus size clothes kohls has, but every so often you find a gem like this one, I wanted a nice dress, but also a dress I can wear again after the wedding shower. It came in many colors so I figured black was the best bet.

I love how this dress fits, its fancy, but not TOO fancy, and it is my style. I love the lace, its not cheaply made and it fits very comfy. I wanted to keep everything simple so I just paired it with black tights and black flats (all black everything? yeah its very me.) I feel dressed up, but also comfortable enough to dance! Which is very important. And of course my new cat-eye glasses make the cutest little accessory to the outfit.

I kept my makeup very simple, and soft. Just used my trusty urban decay naked 3 pallet, the benfit blush in "rockatour" and kat von d lipstick in lolita. Kind of the perfect outfit for a wedding shower, but also keeping my own style taste.

I hope you guys enjoyed my outfit! I am going to be posting more outfits because the next month is very busy, and filled with some cute outfits!

thanks for reading!

- Ashley

Guest Blogger Stephanie || Hartford Comic Con, And my first Cosplay Experience

2015-09-20T20:05:00.001-07:00

I’m lucky that my job allows me to attend signings, events & conventions from time to time — however, I have never attended a comic con specific convention before. Last year for Halloween, my roommate, Daysi, and I decided to dress up as Tina & Louise from Bob’s Burgers. We started the search a few months early and were able to find a lot of the pieces for the costumes online.

At the time, we had only planned for this to be a quick Halloween costume for work. We had no intentions of actually cosplaying Tina & Louise. Not surprisingly, we found just about all the items we needed on Amazon. Daysi’s outfit was simple — lime green dress & pink bunny ear hat. For my Tina, I searched really simple terms like “Teal blue shirt” and “navy blue skort.” The socks proved to be harder to find. Why is it I remember seeing red striped knee socks everywhere until NOW that I actually needed them? I ended up buying a pair from a random Chinese shop on Amazon. I picked up the wig as a last ditch effort at a Spirit Halloween store, as opposed to cutting my hair. I have naturally chunky black framed glasses…. but they just weren’t PERFECT. It wasn’t until another friend sent me the perfect link to this huge chunky cartoon-y pair of black framed glasses that just SCREAMED “Tina!!!” With that, my costume was complete.

We worked together that day, as no Tina could be complete without her Louise… and surprisingly, our basic costumes were a hit. People were coming into our store specifically to take pictures with us. Another friend in another store was dressed as Bob and he’d come over and take group pictures with us. I went to Starbucks and the baristas gave me my drink for free purely because “Tina was their spirit animal”. We had planned to do Tina & Louise again for the next Halloween.

Then came Hartford Comic Con. Our store had a booth at the convention and while the rest of our team wore their regular street clothes… Daysi & I decided to bust out the Tina & Louise getups. We had never been to a convention like this before and were pretty overwhelmed with the amazing response. I don’t think I have ever had so many strangers ask to take my photo/take photos with me. As I learned over the past weekend in Con world, people wanting your picture is a cosplay success. Did I ever intend Tina & Louise to be an actual cosplay? No. Do I love it?? Yes. We’re addicted. We want to do more! We’ve added a Fart Gun to the overall display (One of the Despicable Me Minion fart guns. Perfect for Belcher children) and are working on convincing others to be more Belcher family members with us. I’ve convinced my mother to attend Rhode Island Comic Con with us under the guise of her meeting Hershel from the Walking Dead… under the condition she wears red framed glasses & a red sweater. She has no idea what she’s in for.

It was amazing to see a bunch of the same cosplayers all weekend in the same costumes that people recognize, and switching into new costumes as well. I am totally enchanted by the whole cosplay world and am now working on new costume ideas for future events!

Follow Stephanie:
Twitter - @omgstephanie
Instagram - @makeyourselfsic

Vlog || Haloween Shopping and Star Wars Struff!

2015-09-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Its the time of year! Haloween everything is out! And Eric and myself took an adventure to find some new things this year for halloween, as well as check out the new star wars toys! What did we find? Check out the video to see!

Pravana Vivids Locked In Hair Dye Review

2015-09-17T13:34:00.003-07:00

Its no shock, I use A LOT of hair dye. I get a lot of requests to review a lot of dyes, and the pravana locked in dyes were released during the summer, and I got a ton of people asking me if these dyes really do what they say they do. Are they transfer proof? Do they not bleed into each other? Do they last a long time? Check out my video and see what I really think of the Pravana Locked In Dyes!

OH MY GOD! Limited Edition CoverGirl Star Wars Collection!!!

2015-08-13T17:46:00.001-07:00

This is not a drill I REPEAT this is not a drill! Cover Girl is releasing a LE Star Wars Collection set to be released Sept 4th!

Can You tell I am excited about this? BECAUSE I am pretty excited about this! Its everything I love and need in this world together, Star Wars, AND MAKEUP. And? It isn't some Mac Collection that is going to cost me an arm and a leg. ITS COVER GIRL! What more can a girl ask for!?

Now here are some promo photos of the products, its lipsticks, mascara and nail polish. To be honest, the only thing I am really freaking out about is the lipsticks (BECAUSE THE COLORS REMIND ME OF LIGHT SABERS). I like the idea of the masscara with all the quotes, that is cute. And the nail polishes are kind of, eh, BUT those lipsticks?! Give me those lipsticks!

Lets just take a moment and look at these lipsticks, granted they are metallic, and frosty, but the packaging?! The colors look like they are slightly based off of light sabers?! You had me at Star Wars lipsticks, just take my money.

The Nail polishes look kind of basic, but hey,

And the masscara, im not 100% sure what the difference is with them other than the cute star wars quotes, (that make me want to collect them all) but they look cute.

I know most of my fan girling is over the fact its star wars and I have no idea how these will test out as good makeup, but I will do my best and grab as much as I can when these hit stores. I love Cover Girls lipsticks so I don't doubt I will love the funky ones from this line. But I just really want lipstick on my vainty that says Star Wars, is that bad?

Thank you Cover Girl for this collection, you made this fangirl REALLY happy.

Irresistible Me Hair Extension Review.

2015-08-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! I have an awesome post for you today. I was contact last month by Irresistible Me to review some extensions Which is awesome. It took me a little bit to get around to doing this, because I had so much going on at the end of July, but here I am ready, with newly dyed extensions to let you all know what I think!

Now like always just because I was sent these extensions to review does not mean I am going to lie about what I think. If I love them, I love them, if I hate them, I will tell you I hate them. Its my honest opinion in the product because I don't to mislead you guys, THAT being said, lets get onto the extinctions!

This blog post is going to go with a video that will be linked below, I am going to go more indepth about how the extinctions came in the video, And what not. But first let me say I got the Silky Extensions in the Lighest blonde, 18 inches and 200grams Now at first on the website it can be over whelming trying to pick length and grams and color. Know that these CAN BE DYED, they are real hair, so if its not 100% close to your color, or you have funk hair like me, you can dye this to match you. Which is awesome.

I know at first I was a bit overwhelmed by the inches and grams, but I did a little research and mostly found out if you have THICK hair you want to go with the higher grams if you are going for lengh, Because you don't want a lot of hair up top and then the extinctions to be thin. If you have thinner hair, you may wanna go for 100grams but if you have thinner hair and want more volume, go for the 140grams and maybe 200grams. Thats what I learned just doing a little google search. So thats what I went by. I will say for shits and giggles I looked at my Sallys brand extention box to see how many grams that is, one box of clip in extensions (at $119) is 70grams. SO thats almost half of what the middle ammount of this brand. So just keep that in mind.

I have thick hair, so I went with the 200grams.Which is A LOT of hair. This is what you get:

I was kind of shocked at first because most brands give a lot of the 3 clip but after putting them in my hair i noticed I really liked the 2 clips more than the 3. so that worked out. Putting them side by side with my other bands, these are thicker by them selves, and shed less, and just over all feel better than my Sally brand extensions, which is pretty awesome considering depending on the length and grams you get, some are cheaper or even around the same price. But the best part, the crowning jewel of this set? The layered 4 clip...

I was so shocked when I seen this bad boy. I normally clip my three clips together in a layering fashion for the back of my head to prevent myself from having TONS of clips in my hair, But this? This does it for you. You really just have to section off the back of your hair clip this in and the most annoying part of extensions (to me anyways) the back of your hair IS DONE. It is PRETTY amazing. This part alone sells me on the extensions. I wish they sold just this part separate, because it can be used alone just to add a lot of color to your hair (if you have brown or blonde) and make it look nature just but one clip! Its awesome, and my favorite part.

So after I looked over the extensions gave them a quick layered trim, I dyed them, My only issue is because they are SO thick, they took a long time to dye. but it was worth it. I just used pravana dyes and copied what I did on my hair to the extentions, since they were so blonde I didn't have to bleach them, After dying them I let them air dry over night (you can blow dry but I was lazy) and I curled them, I find curling them just helps them blend better with my hair, but thats just me,

It did take longer to curl because it was so thick but I really liked that once I put it in my hair, Less clips, but more natural look than any other brand I tried. With sallys I need TWO sets (so $240) just to make it look natural in my THICK hair. This one I only used 5 out of the 10 clips and it looked really good. I could maybe use more to make it a little thicker in the front, but it looked fine to me. Here is a before and after shot.

I am over all pleased with how the extensions turned out in my hair, they look natural, they dont feel heavy on my head with tons of clips, I wouldn't think FIVE CLIPS could make my hair look as thick as it does. I would actually buy a replacement of these once I wear these out (most extensions last 6 months to a year IF used every day.) they are worth the month and you get SO much for it. If you look at the cost of Sallys vs this, and the amount of hair you get, its so worth it, in my opinion.

Check out my video for a better break down of the extensions as well as seeing how they came in the box:

If you are interested in these extensions check out :

www.irresistibleme.com/

Thank you for reading my post please subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on all social media!

My Boston Comic Con 2015 Adventure

2015-08-11T09:34:00.003-07:00

Its that time of year again! Its Boston Comic Con time! (well a week after, but whatever.) Boston Comic Con 2015 came and went, and let me tell you it was a pretty awesome weekend. Debuting a new cosplay, making childhood dreams come true, extreme fan boy moments, meeting awesome people the list goes on and on. Everything was so jam packed, I really have no idea where to start, so I guess I will start with day 1.

FRIDAY

This year we attended Friday and Sunday. (why not Saturday? well see even crime fighters have to attend family functions somtimes!) and Friday was cosplay day! This year was really exciting because Eric and I have been working on our Black Canary and Green Arrow Cosplay for over a year now. It had been something we both wanted to do. but for many reasons just didn't. And Of course as soon as we saw Manu Bennett as one of the media guests (Deathstroke from Arrow!) It pushed us to complete out cosplays. Now I am going to have a whole post on my Black Canary Cosplay alone, so i wont get into that a lot, but needless to say it was really fun, and Manu got a kick out of us, as you can see here in our photo op, and he was a pretty awesome guy, so it was well worth the work we put into it, Meeting Manu was a great moment of the con for sure, but I will say hands down the greatest thing I can take from Friday was Eric meeting Cassandra Peterson

(the amazing women behind Elvira), because through all the people we have met over the years, and if you meet Eric in person you know he LOVES to talk, hes very much a people person, but meeting Cassandra, left his little fanboy heart speechless.
It meant SO much to him just to walk up to her table and and barely say hello, smiling like a little kid, it was just awesome. And Cassandra was just amazing, down to earth, sweet, and HILARIOUS. She took the time to talk to us (well me, he couldn't say a word). I adore Elvira so getting a chance to meet Cassandra was a freaking epic. And I am glad I could make Eric's year, (even more so on Sunday!)
Along with us Dressing up as Arrow and Canary I convinced my friend Ashlee to dust off her Batgirl cape and join in on the fun.Which I think is what made Friday the most fun. And honestly what makes

most con's the most fun. Being able to dress up like super heroes and run around with your friends. Meeting Celebrities and artist of the work I love aside, that is the main reason I love going to conventions. No one thinks its weird that you are dressed up as Black Canary or Batgirl, they think its awesome and want to take picture of it. You see kids dressing up as the same characters you are and they get excited to take pictures with you.
I will mention this is my post about my Black Canary cosplay also, but doing this cosplay was the most fun because of the people I did it with. It made me feel awesome about myself, and it was hilarious and fun to hug my friend and call her Barbra, or just stop in the middle of the convention floor and take pictures with another Canaries and Arrows and swap cosplay tips or find out where they got or how they made a part of their outfit. I was scared at first because this was really out of my comfort zone, other costumes I have done haven't been a full leather costume with a corset, I didn't think I would feel good in it, but honestly I would do it again next weekend if I could. I had the most fun with Canary, and It seriously was an amazing time being her for a day. With my Babs and my Ollie.

Check out Friday's Vlog for more crazy antics:

(read more for day 2)

Sunday

So Sunday was basically dubbed "Stan Lee" Day, because that is really what we couldn't stop talking about all weekend. Stan Lee was the big guest this year as Boston Comic Con, and there is no way I would pass up a chance of meeting the most awesome guy on the face of the planet, and checking that off my bucket list. Sunday was not a cosplay day, because Eric and I both wanted a relaxed day, that we can just sort of look around, check out venders, and be chill. But I still rocked my Her Universe Han Solo dress, because why not?

Sunday one of my best friends,and huge Stan Lee fan boy and crazy comic book nerd, joined us, Nate. All morning leading up to our Stan Lee photo op he couldn't stop talking about how excited he was to meet Stan. Now me and Eric were excited, but Nate took that to 11. Which I think made the experience 100% more amazing because him being so excited, made us even more excited to be there, it was like kids on Christmas Eve levels of excitement.

This is Stan Lee, sure it was going to be done and over quick, but to us? It was fucking epic. The line for the photo ops was insane even though we got there early, but I will say BOTH times we had photo ops this year was 100 times better than last

(so props so epic photos because you did a great job), we quickly made friends with the group behind us who shared our excitement that "WE ARE FREAKING ABOUT TO MEET STAN LEE", and we gave zero shits that he was like 30 minutes late, because honestly? We were just happy to be there at all.

Everything went by so quick, we shared a photo (because lets face it $100 for one photo is INSANE) it went by so fast, but as we all got in together, Stan gave us a little hello, we all nervously posed with him, gave our biggest cheeses, and then it was over, but not before Nate looked at him and thanked him for hes all done, and Stan replied with a "thank you" which made Nates and all of our weekend (you can see his reaction in the vlog bellow.). Its so amazing how a simple 2 minutes could make someone so happy. It was worth every penny, and every second just for that simple moment. And it was only NOON on Sunday. Or now dubbed Stan Lee day! After the photo we decided to just walk the convention floor, check out some tables and kill time before the Elvira Panel, which was awesome, all kinds of inspiring, (shes an amazing women) which is featured in the vlog below, Eric actually asks her a question during the panel, I was proud!

A last minute choice was meeting Robin Lord Taylor, (from Gotham and The Walking

Dead). which I am glad I did because he was a peach. And I say that because he really is the sweetest thing. Most of the time by sunday you can tell people are tired, and its been a long weekend and they sort of just want to get the day over with, but he was up beat, and excited to talk to everyone. We had a older couple in front of us that were telling him endless stories and he just laughed and really enjoyed just having conversations with everyone. His first words to me was how he thought my hair was so awesome, I shared with him that he is pretty much the only reason I keep watching Gotham (at least I am honest!) he was just the sweetest guy.And a pretty good ending to an amazing weekend if I do say so myself.

Sundays Vlog can be found here:

All and All Boston Comic Con was a great success this year. It wasn't crazy crowed, everything went smoothly, and tho I am kinda sad there was no Tardis sightings, I had a ball, in cosplay and even just as regular old me.

I hope you guys enjoyed this little Boston Comic Con write up, I am excited to share more conventions with you as the year goes on.Some more Cosplays and adventures! So Subscribe to me on YouTube, and follow my blog!

How to Dye Cosmic Galaxy Hair!

2015-08-05T08:16:00.002-07:00

Hi guys! Since I changed my hair color a few weeks back I have been getting a TON of questions on how i did it and what I used, which is a good thing I filmed a whole video on how I did it right?!

I had did a block post before on a picture step, by step tutorial on how to get awesome galaxy hair, some of you asked for a video so when I did it again, I figured why not!

Below if the video on how I did my hair. I AM NOT A COSMETOLOGISTT, I am just sharing how I do my own hair, please remember everyone's hair is different.

If you like what you see please subscribe to my blog or channel to stay up to date on all my posts!

July 2015 Arcade Block Unboxing and Review!

2015-08-05T08:11:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone! in July Eric and I both got to pick a box from Nerd Block, I picked Horror Block and he picked Arcade Block! here is his half of the unboxing! Did we enjoy the box? Did we hate it? Check out the video and see!

Horror Block Unboxing and Review

2015-07-30T19:44:00.001-07:00

Hi guys, its been awhile! I have been making lots of videos I just have been slacking on my blog, BUT that is going to change! Recently I got the July Horror Block in the mail and I figured I would share my review and unboxing with you guys! So Check out the video and if you want to check out horror block check out nerdblock.com!

Vlog || New Kids On The Block Boston Show!

2015-07-03T09:58:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone! I know I have been slacking a bit on the blog, but life has been busy. But I have been building up posts for you guys! I may start vloging more in the summer, so Because of that, here is a vlog from when my friend Ashlee and myself went to see New Kids On The Block! It was a total trip back to my childhood, and was a blast! Check it out! And don't forget to subscribe to my youtube channel if you haven't already!

My Funko Pop Collection

2015-07-03T09:54:00.003-07:00

I feel like this video is one of the most requested videosI have gotten BESIDES hair related things. So finally here is my funk pop collection as of July 2015! ENJOY!

Plus Size OOTD - Cleaver Girl

2015-06-23T13:33:00.002-07:00

So I am really late with this, it was meant to be posted last week, but I was having computer issues, so it is up this week! In case you can't tell, I am a huge Jurassic Park fan, this goes back to when I was a kid and talked my dad into taking myself and my cousins to go see it, because I loved dinosaurs (but what kid didn't?), it was just a really cool feeling watching that movie and going "ohhhh ahhhh, look at that!" And as I got older, I developed I really odd crush on Jeff Goldblum, but I mean really? Can you blame me? Needless to say, a new movie coming out, was having me VERY excited, even with the slight defeat of the other films that followed the first, this one had to be awesome, I mean Chris Pratt, come on.

Anyways with out flooding this post with shirtless pictures of Goldblum, let me talk about my outfit. Like I said I was super excited for the movie,I wanted to show my love. So I put together this little outfit. I had picked up a Jurassic Park shirt from target awhile back, and I wanted to sort of go for a park worker/trainer vibe so I stole Erics green khaki shirt, that matched my green cargo shorts, threw on a pair of sneakers, and of course the hat was needed, and I had my own little, very quick but still awesome Jurassic World outfit.

Now with out giving away spoilers, I will say the movie was awesome, my outfit was comfy, and basically it was all around a good time.

Hopefully you guys like my outfit, a little late but still! Did any of you see the movie? What did you think? Let me know in the comments!

My experience using Olaplex

2015-06-23T13:00:00.002-07:00

About two months ago I got my hands on Olaplex. and when sharing this on instagram a bunch of you had asked me to do a review, at first I was on the fence about it, because its a salon product and we all know how well those reviews seem to go on youtube, but because more of you are going on amazon and ebay and wanting to try it for yourself, I figured I would give you guys my little in put on it. So here is my video talking about my experience using Olaplex, hope it is helpful for you all.