Leather! Leather! Leather!

Leather has always been a fall trend, but this year it is getting a huge makeover.  Leather dresses, leather skirts, leather shirts, leather leggings, and leather bags. Leather is being freed from the restriction of the bike and ready to show its colors.
There is something womanly about the newest fall trend, leather dresses. But this fall rocker chick is becoming rocker chic.
Leather dresses with tailoring have a way of flattering any body shape. Leather is being treated more like a fabric than ever before and appears to be feminine and wearable by all. The balance between reserve and mystery makes them irresistibly bewitching.
The latest InStyle shows celebrities wearing all sorts of leather apparel. Some might not know when they could wear a leather dress but the answer is anywhere really. You can dress a leather dress up for a night on the town with some stilettos or you could dress it down with your favorite chuck Taylor's. If you still aren't sure of when to wear it, how you play up your make-up can determine that factor.
This weekend I wore my leather out this weekend with black pumps. It is amazing how confident I felt. I thought people would stare at me with weird looks when in reality I was really turning heads.
The year is almost over, and who knows maybe even the world. Start taking risks. Wear something you never thought you could pull off, because chances are you can!

What's the magic word?

When we are younger our parents were always asking us to use the "magic words"when it came to being polite. "Remember to say please and thank you."  It became something we got sick of hearing, but it became good habits.  So when did we lose those habits?
This morning as I was struggling to open a door with my books in my hands and coffee; I found it quite strange how the freshman boy on the inside of the door just watched me as I struggled to pry the door open without everything falling out of my hands. He didn't even bother to try and help me! I was in awe! What has happened to our generation of gentleman?
Over the weekend as I was looking at all the pictures on Facebook and Instagram of everyone's crazy weekends I couldn't help but notice all the pictures of girls on top of guys.
Starting to think about college I keep thinking about how once something is posted online it NEVER goes away. A girl in my grade had some pretty sketchy pictures and once she was sober enough she deleted them but what she didn't realize is that people had already taken screen shots and sent them to friends. The one picture sent to one person has now become an endless chain of people seen this picture she had deleted.
 It's a shame that girls honestly think that guys are looking for that kind of girl.  Sure you get their attention for that short amount of time, but when it comes to a long term relationship I strongly doubt that is the kind of girl/ woman any guy is looking for.
 When did the classic little black dress become the classic skimpy black dress?
I wish girls my age realized guys have become jerks because we have lowered our standards as not only teenage girls, but as women too. We are the ones doing all the work. We need to start making them work. Taking us out to a nice dinner and a movie.
It's even more frustrating when there are those keys girls, the girls who are flawless, the ones who every guy drools over. The girls who know they are gorgeous and try and deny it.
When she finally gives your one guy friend, the one who opens doors without you even asking, the chance and he falls head over heels for her and she just drags him along for the ride.
I'm not saying guys are not guilty of this, because they are guilty!
I believe that as a generation we all need to clean up our acts. Guys need to start opening the door. Girls need to stop lowering their standards to get a guys attention for one night.
If any guys are reading this, today go out of your way to open one door, just one, for a girl maybe not even for a girl just someone! And girls, seriously I'm not saying I don't like to feel sexy, but their is a very thin line between sexy and skanky; make sure you know the difference.

Fear

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face…we must do that which we think we cannot.” –Eleanor Roosevelt

When we are younger our biggest fear is that the monsters living under our beds are going to  come out from underneath and eat us.  As we grow older we forget about the monsters under our beds and realize that the true monsters, our fears, lie inside of us. 
We all have fears, whether it is something as small as the fear of not acing an exam to something as big as not knowing whether we will get into your college of choice.  Whatever our fears are we start to realize our parents are no longer there to comfort us when we are feeling lost or scared. Facing our fears is something we simply have to face by ourselves now. 

Last week I had to face a fear one on one; on my own.  speaking up against adults who have a higher authority than me.  If I weren’t already stressed out about school and college applications, failing a class is something that can add even more stress.  On Wednesday of last week I had to have a conference with the board of the math department at my school to talk about, not just my grade, but the grades of my fellow classmates, as well. The majority of my peers are failing and it was up to me to stand up for all of us. I found out this year that finding my voice was even harder than finding myself in high school. 

As I walked out of the meeting a feeling of achievement overwhelmed me. I had survived! 

Later that night I realized that sometime our biggest fears really aren't as big as we make them seem. 

As Elanor's husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, said in his first inaugural address, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Blonde to Brunette

          For 18 years I was always the blonde.  So when senior year finally rolled around I decided it was time to take a chance and make a small change to my appearance.  I decided it was time to see if blondes really do have more fun.
          Sitting in the salon chair I was a little skeptical, but my nerves eased as I reminded myself that I could always go back to blonde. As I sat there letting the dye seep in I couldn’t help but think, “when did I stop taking risks?”
         When I was little I was always taking chances, my parents were constantly telling me, “don’t jump off the jungle-gym” or “don’t touch that!”  Why did I stop taking those risks?
         The answer was simple; I stopped taking risks because just like everyone else, I became more concerned about what others thought of me than what I actually thought of myself.  I wasn’t sure how people were going to respond to my hair, but I have only gotten compliments; some light-haired girls even said they might dye their hair darker too.  Who knows, there could be those girls who hate it and are talking behind my back. But then again, who cares? 
        My mom has always told me, “There is always going to be someone smarter than you, skinnier than you, richer than you, etcetera. Not everyone in your lifetime is going to like you”. I believe that concept is hard for any of us to accept because we just want to be liked and accepted.  But how are any of us going to be liked or accepted if we can’t like or accept who we are as a person?
         I have been called a dumb blonde, and of course I do have my blonde moments, but I still recall when my sister, who is a brunette, asked my dad if all banks were the same. The point being we all have “blonde” moments.  Hair color shouldn’t define who we are.  It’s hair color! Our hair color isn’t what determines our GPA or IQ level, our knowledge determines that. Our hair color doesn’t determine if we are fun or not, our personality determines that. And hair color does NOT determine if we are fake or real, our character determines that.
       So do blondes really have more fun? In my opinion, no, they don’t. I have been having just as much fun a brunette as I did all my years as a blonde.  Hair color is hair color. It doesn’t define who I am nor does it change who I am.