Cheap S%$T Pick of the Week: Zappos.com

Nope, not a flea market.  Not that it's better, it's just different, and still cheap as s%$t.

If you've never heard of Zappos.com, you've been sheltered from a beautiful, magical world of cheap online products.  A world where customers can receive free shipping (both ways!) no matter how expensive the orders.  A world where customers can follow daily tweets from real Zappos.com employees who care about their company and truly want customers to have the best experience possible.  A world where Size 11 shoes are common and well-represented.  It's a very kind world, indeed.

I first heard about Zappos.com back in high school when my mother expressed to me, "They have shoes that will actually fit you honey!"  Welcome to my sad childhood.  I had NO idea this website was about to be my go-to for any type of accessory I've ever needed, ranging from every type of shoe to purses to backpacks to laptop cases to makeup bags to clothes to sunglasses, etc.


Reasons why Zappos.com is fantastic:

1.  The website's navigation is ridiculously easy, and the "Narrow Your Choices" bar on the left side of the website accurately selects shoes, purses etc. exactly the way you like them.  Literally the longest list of categories for a pair of sandals I've ever seen.

2.  Zappos.com has the largest selection of well-known and unknown brands, in all different shapes and sizes, leaving you with a wide variety of products that are almost never on the same website at the same time.  Alas: Zappos.com brings them all together in an organized manner.  YAY!

3.  FREE shipping???  BOTH WAYS?!?!  The shipping is fast as hell, too.  HELLOOOOO this is the best deal ever.

4.  As one of my PR professor's favorite examples of classic employee and customer engagement, Zappos.com has one of the best employee atmospheres I've ever heard of, and they engage with consumers via social media.  Each Zappos.com employee is employed by Zappos.com because they LOVE Zappos.com and believe that customer loyalty is the most important aspect of business.  The Zappos.com Twitter handle (@Zappos_Service) is funny, personable and committed to serving the needs of EVERY customer with a Twitter account.  Ahh, helpful employees.  Brilliant.

5.  Who DOESN'T enjoy online shopping?

Zappos.com employees thrive on happy customers, and Zappos.com thrives on customer loyalty.  Check out Zappos.com today and take advantage of its crazy big selection of products and free shipping!!  Trust me - it's 100% worth your time.

Are you a Zappos.com loyal customer?  Do you follow Zappos.com on Twitter?  Comment away!

Situation: #buttonproblems

BU Dance Team update: we leave for Daytona Beach, Florida TOMORROW MORNING for the NDA/NCA Collegiate National Competition.  Please excuse my five-day blog hiatus I am about to take - I think my team will appreciate my full attention at Nationals.  I'll be back on my blog grind on Sunday.

As I was saying... #buttonproblems.

Rows on rows on rows...

Now that you've learned from my brilliant video masterpiece how to sew a button onto a piece of fabric, you should be informed as to where to find the most unique buttons around.  Yeah, you can find some cheap buttons at Michael's, one of my favorite craft stores back home, or any Walmart or Target type of store will have a small selection if you need some small, boring buttons.  "Boring" being the key word.  On the other hand, if you want something flashy, something oddly shaped, or something just plain epic, I only have one answer for you.  Mood Inc. in New York City.  It's a little slice of designer heaven.

Mood is the store that the contestants of Project Runway go and get their fabric and anything they could possibly need relating to fabric.  It's THAT good.  It's right in the middle of the Garment District, and you would never know the store was there unless you knew beforehand where you were going.  Back in high school, my mom and I were looking for fabric for one of my sewing classes in the Garment District and a very kind lady at a cheap fabric store mentioned to check out Mood.  My mom and I finally found it - after some very convoluted directions - and my life has never been the same.

So many buttons, such little time.

Besides an incredible selection of fabric, Mood has the largest selection of buttons I've ever seen.  Ranging from dime-sized buttons to buttons as large as your face, they have EVERY type of button you could dream of.  And, for a very popular fabric store located in New York City, the prices aren't half-bad.  As a high school or college student, you shouldn't go into Mood thinking you're going to buy 87 buttons for 50 different projects, but roughly about 10 buttons for a few bucks a piece.  The larger buttons are a bit more expensive, but those you wouldn't need to buy as much of anyway.  They have a million different shapes, shades of colors, two-hole and four-hole, no hole, cartoon characters, plastic, metal, stone, you name it.  The Mood staff is also more knowledgable about the products than anyone I've ever seen, so if you need help picking out buttons, be sure to ask someone working there.

A few buttons I've purchased:

The green cardigan is the sweater from my super-stellar video, and the large black and white button I sewed onto my black Betsey Johnson peacoat in place of a heart button that was there.

LOVE.  Love love love.  If you ever have the opportunity to go fabric or button shopping in New York City, Mood is a must-see.  For a fabric store that continuously receives new fabric, its website is super helpful and gives you a good sense of what the store has before you go.  Although I'm telling you, they have EVERYTHING you could possibly need.

Have you ever checked out Mood before?  Need help finding more button stores around New York and Boston?  Comment away!

Situation: #blackeyelinerproblems

How much more fierce could she possibly be?

These next two posts are dedicated to my best friends on campus, the Boston University Dance Team.  As I've probably mentioned before, either here on my blog or in casual face-to-face conversation, we're pretty.  Like... really pretty.  But we kinda have to be.  The big differences between dance team as a sport compared to typical "real" sports like basketball or lacrosse are that dance team members have to be attractive, graceful and perfect at all times.  At ALL times.  Including certain times when we think we've sprained our ankles, we're so sore from the last practice we're crying on the inside, and when we had rough days/weeks/months.  Big smiles, pretty faces and fluid movement mask any inkling that maybe we're a little "off."  So... back to being pretty.

With NDA Collegiate Nationals rapidly approaching (a.k.a. in TWO FREAKING DAYS OMGGG), the most glamourous and excessive event in Daytona Beach, Florida, I've decided an appropriate topic to discuss is makeup.  More specifically, my favorite item of makeup: liquid black eyeliner.


Liquid black eyeliner should be a staple in every girl's makeup collection.  Why?  Because it's so easy to throw on and make a bold statement.  You know I LOVE my "statements" (hint: see Situation: #fakejewelryproblems post), and liquid black eyeliner is the perfect timeless statement accessory.  Don't have time or patience to deal with blending eyeshadow?  Throw on liquid eyeliner.  Need something to distract from the quickly developing cold sore on your lip?  Throw on liquid eyeliner.  Boom.  Done.

If you think that using a black eyeliner pencil gives you the same drastic results that liquid eyeliner provides, you've been living under a rock for the past five years.  NOT even close.  Liquid eyeliner will always be bolder, cleaner and sharper than pencil eyeliner.


I switch between the cheap brands quite often, but one product I've especially liked is the Revlon ColorStay Liquid Liner in Blackest Black, $5.99 at CVS.  The eyeliner brush is small and easy to control, and it leaves you with a very smooth line across your eye.  It's been proven to last just as long as the $20 - $30 liquid eyeliner at Sephora, and it's just as easy to wash off at the end of the night.

If you're new to the Liquid Liner Life and you're having trouble with the smooth application (#shakyhandproblems), I feel ya.  It takes some practice and time to get used to it, but once you've applied it a few times and experimented with different line widths for your particular eye shape, it gets easier.  I've been using liquid liner since high school dance competitions, and I'm not very good or original with eye makeup, but I've gotten much better at putting it on.

Photography websites, like Pinterest, have more step-by-step picture directions if you're totally lost.  But let me tell you, it's SO worth the effort.

Do you have any favorite eyeliner brands?  Care to argue about pencil eyeliner versus liquid eyeliner?  Comment away!

Sewing Buttons: The Ultimate Trophy Wife Skill

I tried a little something different today.

Reppin' my Hot Chicks on Pogo Sticks tank in my beautiful 1056 Comm. Ave. bedroom.  Hope you enjoy!!

Please ignore the awful screen shot of the video...

Do it Yourself, Betch!

I used to be WAY into arts and crafts back in middle school and high school.  I started with simple crafts like card making for friends' birthdays, moved into the harder stuff once I learned how to sew in high school, and somehow managed to score my dream internship at Subversive Jewelry experimenting with jewelry creations.  I sewed this dress as my final project in Sewing for Fashion at my high school, and I've been proud of it since.

My friends and I at the Sex and The City midnight premiere circa 2008, I was obviously Charlotte...

Impressive, right?!

By request of a very special "anonymous" comment on my blog, I've decided to write a how-to to make your own decorative sandals.  With the weather getting warmer and all, I'm starting to look into buying an entirely new summer wardrobe (like who wants to wear the same clothes/shoes/bags as they did last summer? NOT me), and new sandals are at the top of the list.  My Havaianas and Rainbows are on their last legs, and I know I'm going to do some major shopping damage once Nationals season is over.  Creating your own unique pair of sandals will make you feel THAT much cooler when you go to the beach this summer and one of your friends asks you where you bought those super cute sandals.  Betch, I MADE them!

WHAT YOU NEED:

• Hot glue gun OR super glue - I have this one from Michael's
• Pins, buttons, fake pearls, little knick-knacks you can find at vintage markets, etc.
• Cheap-o pair of rubber flip-flops - I suggest the ones at Old Navy because they're like $4 and they come in every color you could possibly imagine

WHAT TO DO:

Easy.  GET CREATIVE.  Think about what type of "theme" you want your sandals to have, like pearls and rhinestones on a hot pink pair of flip flops because you're a princess or brown, beige and grey buttons on a brown pair because you're artsy.  It's all about what you wear the most in the summer and what color schemes you're into.

Take each little pearl or button or charm and glue them individually to the strap of the flip flop.  Do this all the way around the strap, and do the same to the other sandal without using all of the same colors or shapes of trinkets.  Let the glue dry overnight, and they should be ready to wear the following day.

Here's some inspiration from Havaianas, Vera Bradley, and Aldo Shoes.  You can make these!!!!

Things to consider:

• Don't go knick-knack-overboard.  Sometimes less is more!  It might look nicer to have a few charms crowded in one place or one flower in the center of the strap on each sandal than having a ton of busy charms all over your foot.
• On that note, take in account the weight or size of the craft pieces you want to put on your sandals.  Heavy items may work if you only use a few and if they lay flat on the strap, but have a back-up plan just in case they don't work out.

Have fun with it, play it up, put things on and take things off before the glue hardens, go wild.  I'm planning on making a pair soon, so I'll post mine when I do.  TRY IT OUT, and let me know what you think!!!

THE WORLD HAS ENDED.

An update for my enormous blog following out there.  I've run out of my Palmer's Cocoa Butter Swivel Stick chapstick.  The world.  Has ended.  Not that I "ran out" of it, per say, but I took the top off and the remains of the chapstick flew across the Intern Room at my internship, and I used profanities to display my upset.

This has to happen the one day I don't have my backup Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm.  I may as well go lay in traffic.  My poor poor chapped lips.  All afternoon.

A desperate CVS run will be needed later.  Worst.  Tuesday.  Ever.

Situation: #lipcolorproblems

I consider this blog post to be an extension of my last post, Situation: #chappedlipsproblems.  If you're like me - constantly applying lip balm to avoid the awk licking-of-the-lips move in public - you'll need all the cheap lip treatment blog posts you can get.  And you'll like it.

Lipstick.  It's been said that lipstick originated in ancient Mesopotamia almost 5,000 years ago when the women of the Babylonian city of Ur mixed crushed semi-precious stones with a paste and applied it on their lips to add color.  Sounds nasty, but impressive for those old-school broads.  Evidence has also been found that women in the Indus valley civilization applied red color on their lips, and in ancient Rome, women who belonged to the upper class used lip colors that they made at home.

Blah blah blah.  It's cool and all that the ancient ladies wore lipstick, but let's be real - it wasn't cool until Hollywood made it cool (just like every other trend).

Ugh. I will always be obsessed with her.

Being a dancer who spent close to 18 years at a studio (in which yearly recitals required pounds of makeup), I like lipstick.  Especially red lipstick.  Nothing reads better from a stage than a dancer performing wearing red lipstick.  It's drastic, feminine and eye-catching, and lipstick looks great on just about any girl.

Personally, I find that it's hard for me to add it to an outfit when I already want to wear a big statement necklace and drastic heels.  My solution is quite simple: tinted lip balm.


Burt's Bees, a well-known lip balm brand, makes one of the best tinted lip balms I've ever tried.  When I go out, I find it easier to throw on some Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Rose (6.99 at CVS) as a last-minute ordeal before I leave my apartment.  The color isn't as bold as red lipstick, but it adds a pop of color to your lips while moisturizing them at the same time, and the color lasts just as long as your newly-moisturized lips.  And, unlike lipstick, it's easy to take off before you go to sleep.

And the packaging is cute too!!

A few of the other shades are cute too, like Pink Blossom and Red Dahlia.  Like all chapsticks, the tinted lip balm lasts just as long so it's totally worth the $7.  Plus the shea butter and "botanical waxes" make your lips feel oh so good, especially in the dead of winter when your lips are a hot cracked mess.

Have any other cheap-ish tinted lip balms I should know about?  Know of any other long-lasting lip color products?  Comment away!

Situation: #chappedlipsproblems

Everyone gets chapped lips.  And it sucks.  The absolute WORST feeling in the world is leaving your house/apartment/dorm/etc. for the day, thinking you have everything you need in your purse, and then licking your lips, realizing that they've been dry and cracking, and you reach into your bag and realize you forgot your chapstick.  The world may as well end then and there because you just want to die.  Then, once you realize you forgot your chapstick, it's the only thing that can occupy your mind.  And it drives you CRAY.

I feel your pain, buddy.

Because I'm cheap, I use some of the cheapest lip balm products that exist (duh).  HOWEVER.  They are the best.  It's a proven fact.  Ask any girl on the BU Dance Team, and she will tell you the team's #1 choice of lip balm.  She'll also whip it out of her BU Dance Team backpack and ask you if you need it.  We're very generous girls.

I've been using Palmer's Cocoa Butter Swivel Stick, $2.77 at CVS, since sophomore year of college when another teammate of mine told me she swore by it.  Coming from a girl who lives her life quite... how do I put it... lavishly, this meant A LOT.  It's the best chapstick I've ever used, and I've used plenty.  I think it beats out popular names like Burt's Bees by a landslide.  Palmer's keeps my lips moisturized for hours, and the large tube of chapstick is easy to apply.  Sure, Palmer's is kind-of a ghetto company, but its cocoa butter products are ridiculously cheap and the best out there.

Another type of "lip balm" I use, preferably before I go to sleep and after I brush my teeth in the morning, is Vaseline.  Eeeewww, Vaseline Jelly, I know.  I've been swearing by it since my mom first bought it for me back in grade school for my lips.  Vaseline is one of the few products that has a million and one uses for it.  Even reading some of the uses in this article I realize there are more uses for it than I could have ever imagined.

A tub of Vaseline at CVS is $3.19 and it lasts FOREVER.  I don't even know how it's possible, but I've been using the same tub of Vaseline for the past year, and it's only the mini travelling size.  I can only imagine how long the normal-sized tub lasts.  Absolutely worth every cent.

Chapped lips, poison ivy, cracked skin, OH MY!

What are some other great chapstick brands?  Do you feel as though these aren't the absolute best out there?  Comment away!