One of the things I love about blogging is the fact that after I post something me and my friends create a whole chat offline about it. Therefore, after my recent post about bridesmaid dresses, we started talking about how much should this kind of dress cost, as you're paying for it. We came to the conclusion it's worth to opt for cheap bridesmaids dresses, especially since there's a big selection on the Internet. One thing led to another and we ended up talking about how much should the bride spend on her dress. 

Being a fan of "Say yes to the dress" show back when I was younger, I noticed how brides who had a 2000$ budget could barely find their dream dress, so I got the idea that you should have some money put aside for your big day. One of my best friends think you should have even the double, because it's an unique day and you want to cherish its memory forever. Others think you can use the money in a better way and spend it on your honeymoon, so both you and your soulmate can benefit (or buy some Louboutin shoes you can wear also after the wedding, the options are endless).

In the end, we all agreed there should be a cutback on the wedding dress budget, but how big? I started searching out of curiosity online and I found some incredibly cheap wedding dresses  at DressDressy that I included in the sets in this post: I just can't believe they're under 300$ (hello, you can't even buy a designer bag at this price!). Where have I been living in this past few years, thinking that you should have at least 3K put aside for your dream wedding dress? That's the great thing about internet, you never know what marvel you may come across!

How do you feel about wedding dresses: would you recycle your mom's dress, buy one on sale or go completely over the top and choose an expensive designer one?

Photo Credit: Cristian Alexandrescu Photography

I can't believe I still haven't shared with you all the photos I took in Paris back in December! This is a very emotional post for me, because The Eiffel Tower is proof there still are things which can surprise you in an overhelming way.

We've seen it from far away many times while we stayed in Paris, and in our final night we wanted to go visit the entire Rive Gauche , including Le Cartier Latin, Saint-Germain-des-Prés etc. and end our tour at the base of the Eiffel Tower. Due to the fact that from our hotel there was no good connection to the left bank by metro and we walked in circles for more than an hour looking for the bus station., we weren't able to complete our plan. We got all upset and disappointed that our last night was wasted in such a terrible way. Thank God I'm one of those people who use their anger to get out of a critical situation. I remembered how easy was to get from the Champs Elysees to Place du Trocadero by subway. Therefore, I even persuaded  Cristi to stop for half an hour to walk on the Champs Elysees again ( just to soak it all in- the pretty Louis Vuitton windows, the fancy bistros) and then we went to see the Eiffel Tower.

 We had low expectations because we were tired, we heard that it was an overrated sight , plus we were told we should see the tower from its base. There were also all sorts of weird people, as it was Sunday, very late at night. And then WE SAW IT! Imense, imposing, a true work of art! I suddenly felt blessed that we had this change of plans, because the lights were incredible and I felt like the tiny tower we've seen from far in the last days had nothing in common with the architectural marvel I had in front of my eyes. The photos don't do it justice, trust me, it's even more imposing seen from the Trocadero! You have to visit it yourself (at night) to understand my feelings of excitement and love.

I can't understand why Parisians hated La Tour Eiffel so much at first- Guy de Maupassant went as far as eating every meal in the tower because it was the only place he would not see the 'hideous' creation on the window in Paris. Maybe it was the idea of change that scared them. When I was little, I used to cry every time we got new furniture or a new car, although it was an obvious upgrade. I would make a scene and call it horrible and then, after some time, I would have become so attached to it my parents would be completely shocked.

It was love at first sight and that's when I decided that one day I will visit Paris again and I will take my time to study the tower from all the recommended angles and lights (plus, I still haven't seen Le Cartier Latin, Disneyland and Versailles). I don't think you can ever say you've seen everything worth to be visited in Paris, it's such a magical city, one where I felt genuinely happy and blessed!

♪ Gotye- Heart's a mess ♪

I've blogged about weddings and the perfect dress to wear on your special day many times before. But what I've forgot to question is bridesmaid duty! It crossed my mind recently, since I'm finishing highschool and all of my best friends will attend university in different cities.Will we be able to keep in touch? Will we still feel the same connection, that strong that when the time comes we would ask each other to be a bridesmaid? Obviously, this issue has been illustrated with humour in a douzen of famous comedies, like Bridesmaids, Bachelorette or my favourite, 27 dresses (this made me particularly emotional).

I get all nervous only when I think about how me and my friends are going to look in 10 years, let alone the idea of one of us getting married. Still, there is still one bright aspect about it: the outfit. Most bridesmaids dread it, then there is also the issue of color: should the maid of honour pull a Pippa Middleton and wear white at the ceremony? What about the lenght? While searching online, I have found an amazing selection of  2014 bridesmaid dresses at MillyBridalShop. They have all sorts of designs, which come in all sorts of colours. My favourites are the one shown in the first set, which I would describe 'urban ballerina' style and the one with a single shoulder strap- so chic and elegant!

Now- how to accessorize a bridesmaids outfit?

Light Accents- You can see it in the first set: light tones, nude shoes, a pink nail polish perhaps. It will complement your look while keeping it low profile.

Bold Colors- Whether we're talking about statement shoes of colorful clutches, it's nice to wear a chic accent that will make your look light and fun! See my take on this alternative in the second set.

Okay, so I have been on a social hiatus for the last couple of months! I made this decision based on the fact that I have the most important exam of my life in July, so I now it's the time for me to study more than ever. I have missed blogging dearly and free time in general: I only allowed myself to watch my favourite TV shows (gotta keep my sanity in order somehow) and indulged in some occasional reading.

It's the first fashion season that I did not show interest to the trend report...until last night. I came home late after a very sweet evening out with my friends ( we had three major exams this week so we allowed ourselves a celebration) and I was sleepless. I saw an email in my inbox from the Net-a-Porter newsletter and I thought I should check the new collections they have online. I INSTANTLY FELL IN LOVE! With everything: I was craving baby blue high heels (both Gianvito Rossi and Fendi offer a great selection),  a Balmain light denim skirt (it was a huge surprise for me, as Balmain is knows for darker tones) and pretty much everything else, when it hit me: "I have to share my discoveries with someone, this fashion season is insanely genius!" . And who else is a better choice than you, dear reader?

So, here we go, the highlights of the season I have noticed in a brief visit on Net-a-porter:

Happy (belated) New Year everyone! I hope you're having a fresh start, I've been a weird mood lately, I kinda lack energy and I just feel it's something I can't quite control. What do I do when I feel like this? I blog about trends!

I told you in a previous post this New Year my friends and I chose comfort (jeans), but I still felt like I had to wear something festive. Therefore, I opted for a sequined sweater, which matched (unexpectedly) with my studded statement necklace and clutch. Studs and sequins- who knew? The footwear I chose brings me to the main topic for today: winter boots for teenagers.

There are two type of purchases teens make for the fall:
1. impossible high heels, which are excruciating to walk in during winter time (unless you live in LA- then you kinda don't need boots at all), but we still buy them because we want to look fabulous during winter as well and we think 'I can totally pull this off, I'm young so heels won't be a problem for me'. I've been down this road for two winters, I resigned and bought some UGGs to comfort my feet.

As your looking at my 3 inch wedges from Zara I bet you're thinking "She's done it again!". Believe me, I'm surprised to say it's not the case! Zara has been my favourite store for 5 years, but lately it disappointed me with all the masculine cuts and absolutely no emphasis on the waist, but on the hips. Okay, I get that's cool to look like you're from a Celine ad, but there are still some girls with curves out here (me!) who would like to buy some feminine clothes, and the section was almost inexistent in the last two seasons. Therefore, I banned myself (more precisely: my wallet) from my dream store. Until the 30th of December when I was in desperate need of some cool boots and it was the last store I hadn't checked.  I saw this perfect pair, I fell in love but then I thought: "Uh, they won't fit me, Zara shoes are always hard to wear for me!". But they felt like they were made for my feet and I couldn't tell they had a 7 cm heel. I checked the label to see if they're made from genuine leather and then it hit me: the price! I had to call my mom to lend me some money, because I just knew they were the right pair for me!

I guess that in the end you can actually find some impossibly high boots to walk in and feel great in them, but please make sure they're worth the money, or at least try to use a  6pm Coupon Code 2014 if you can order them online.

2. comfy, cool boots: They keep your feet happy and warm, and you can face a blizzard wearing them. The problem is it's hard to find this type of boots in a fashionable form. Brands like Sorel specialize on this type of footwear so I believe this Sorel Coupon Code 2014 can come in handy if you're still looking for the perfect winter boots.

Details of my look:  I'm even matching with my Iphone 5S, I must have a thing for gold and nude tones! Everything is ZARA (I know I said I haven't shopped there much in the last two seasons, but still , 80% of my closet is Zara)

Photo Source: Cristian Alexandrescu Photography

2014 is so close!!! I hope you'll have a marvellous time and that you already have you resolutions list prepared. I'll be spending the New Year's Eve with some lovely people and a special dress code: denim! I know, wearing jeans is so weird on this occasion, but if we are to be honest, I think it's pretty awesome I start a new year wearing what I usually choose on a regular basis. All I want for 2014 is to be just as fabulous as 2013 has been: I finally chose the college that's right for me(hopefully I will get in there in July), I took my driver's license, I turned 18, I received the most incredible gifts , I had the opportunity to visit Paris!

Back to Paris, this is my second post about it, where I promised to tell you the story about what I visited on my first day there. After we saw Pont Alexandre III and Place des Invalides, we took the RER and arrived at the Orsay Museum. I'm totally in love with impressionism, so you can imagine this museum was simply heaven for my eyes! You might know from my old posts I read a lot of books about Vincent Van Gogh's life and art and seeing so many paintings in the same room almost brought tears to my eyes. Never have I felt so connected to a form of art, his technique is flawless and I always get so emotional when I think that the only one who supported him while he lived was his younger brother, Theo. Then there was the pointillism dedicated room, obviously filled with painting from the emblematic master Georges Seurat. Other cool thing is that now I can tell the difference between a Monet and a Manet and I can understand the hype around Cezanne's apples. The architecture of the museum is incredible, as it used to be the first train station in Paris (are you familiar with the movie Hugo?).Overall, the Orsay Museum was one of my favourite sights, and should I ever return to Paris, I will spend a whole day there because we were in a severe lack of time when we visited it.

After the museum, we took the RER once again and went to Île-de-France, where there are so many sights it overhelms you! One thing about the RER: You save a lot of time, which is amazing, but the system is confusing, unlike the METRO. Knowing French really came in handy because we had to ask a couple times to make sure we were at the right line. First we went to Notre Dame de Paris, it's definitely worth seeing at night because the lights are magical. It's a truly imposing building, with an incredible architecture. We walked by Palais de Justice but unfortunately weren't able to see Saint-Chapelle as it was late at night.  We also walked on the impressive Pont Neuf and saw the Conciergerie. It was one of my biggest wishes, as I first discovered Conciergerie on Miss Pandora's blog and thought : "what a pretty castle". Then, I did some research and I was shocked to see the building had actually been a prison for centuries!

We left "the island" and walked on the right side of Seine until we reached Pont des Arts, the famous bridge where you leave a lock. Of course, I forgot mine in the hotel room because we left in a rush. You have to see it with your eyes, we weren't expecting actually that many locks, the amount is just insane! Then it was Louvre time! We first saw the Carousel and Jardins des Tuileries. Before we left for Paris, there were many people who told us the gardens would be disappointing: completely false! It was like autumn, the trees still had their leaves and the grass was greener than ever, so December really is a great time to visit Paris, because you also get to see all the Christmas decorations.

The Louvre Museum was an interesting experience, totally different from Orsay as it mostly has classic paintings. Maybe you'll think I'm weird, but I wasn't impressed with Mona Lisa most. The painting is so small and the tourists crowded to see her just make you anxious and eager to see other things. My favourite section was the wall with a few paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci like 'Lady with an ermine' or 'St John the Baptist'. He is a genius, I just feel that 'Mona Lisa' isn't his masterpiece. We were stuck in the museum for a lot of time due to unexpected rain and we got to visit the most of it, and also got to explore the intricate details of the ceilings, mirrors, furniture etc. 

When we were finally able to leave the museum, we went to Rue Saint-Honoré, a big dream of mine, where I got to admire all the famous brand stores (oh God, the Miu Miu store shines just like a diamond!) and then we visited Place Vendome. This particular place will stay in my heart forever, because it has another level of beauty, combined with luxury, high fashion and really classy Christmas decorations. I just wish that someday I'll be able to actually walk in a Dior or Chanel store, they all looked so magical! We also got to admire Palais Garnier,  which is their National Opera and the Galeries Lafayette (best window of the store goes to Roger Vivier). Looking back, I'm pretty proud we managed to visit all these incredible sights in just 8 hours and I can't wait to travel abroad again!

Photo Credit: Cristian Alexandrescu Photography

I hope you all had a jolly Christmas and that you enjoyed spending some quality time with your friends and family, I sure did! The holidays also gave me the opportunity to go through all the photos from Paris. Let me just say that having a photographer with you is really awesome and that I hope he doesn't mind I edited the photos, we always have different points of view on the lighting. 

Seeing me in a dress at +5 degrees , you might think we went crazy and I kept on taking my coat off at every corner! I wish, but long gone are the days when I would freeze at -15 Celsius degrees for the sake of the blog. This was the first shoot , so naturally there was this Paris hype in our souls and that's why we took so many photos. You should have seen us 6 hours later: "Just take one picture of me here, so mom can see I visited this as well" haha.

Now, the amount of things we visited in the first days is INSANE. Some people even wouldn't believe us when we told our story, but we managed so well because I've been planning this trip to Paris for two years and I already knew the location of the main sights and the main streets by heart (God bless Google maps!). I think there are around 100 (good) photos with me from the first day, so I chose to share 25 on this first post, when I was all full of energy and we visited the Esplanade des Invalides surroundings, including the famous Pont Alexandre III. For me, the bridge was breathtaking because I could feel the fashion vibe while walking on it ( all the Vogue Paris editorials shot here plus the editorials of my favourite fashion bloggers like Gary Pepper Girl) and also because it was also the first time we saw the Eiffel Tower while we were in Paris. In the next post I will give you the complete list of sights which we visited during that day and I will share my impressions.

Photo by Cristian Alexandrescu

Dear readers, I haven't forgotten about you, I just had this major event in my life and I didn't want to jinx it! You already know it's been always one of my biggest dreams to visit Paris. Well, it happened, thanks to an international competition, IGAM4ER !!! I put some use to my English skills and presented the concept of our game to many interesting people. Cristi, my classmate,  is the brilliant mind behind all the programming of the game and I'm so proud of him for making such a perfect prototype!

We met incredible people from all around the world and won the "Heartful Prize" of the competition, which got us so emotional! Everyone from the competition worked really hard on their projects and I loved to see all the passion and energy put into their presentations. We also managed to visit some of the most important sights, I will make a post about it once Cristi (who is also a great photographer) will give me the photos.

♪ Lorde- Pure Heroine ♪

Okay, I'm oficially declaring winter as the most dreaded season for blogging! I may have managed it last year, standing in the cold and posing in sheer tops and writing once or twice a week, but things are so different in the last year of highschool! 

I almost didn't go to my cousin's birthday two weeks ago because I had to study for an exam. In fact, I wasn't supposed to go, but it was 00:00  and I wished him a very Happy Birthday (his birthday was on a Friday this year- what a luck!). We started chatting and I suddenly missed him and the city of my dreams (plus I had a really cool gift for him), so at 1 AM it was decided: I would go to his town and surprise him. At 8AM I hopped on a train and spent one night in his town. Best risk I ever took (or maybe the truly BEST risk is yet to come- I don't want to jinx it, more details soon)- I had a blast with his friends, ate the best pizza, saw "Hunger Games 2" and even had some time for shopping. For those of you who don't know, I am obsessed with the books, I read the trilogy in three days and I can say it with all my heart this film is so much better than the first one! I loved it and I recommend it to all my friends.

Back on the blog issues, I've been wanting to show you my new love when it comes to tops, blouses &Co. It has happened to me several times to order things from a site which looked really interesting and then have the items delivered in a poor shape or with a totally different fabric/ shade of color. This is not the case! I'm deeply in love with Front Row Shop ever since I got the package with this perfect blush pink top. The asymmetrical cut, the cool concept of design (that white part of top you see underneath it's actually part of the top, you somehow tie them at the back- so awesome!) and the flawless colors made me choose to wear it to two birthday parties (one of them was obviously my cousin's). If I was to pick my favourite aspect about it though, I would say the fabric: never have I worn a cotton so smooth and comfy, I'd like all my tops to be like this! My honest advise is to consider Front Row Shop next time you feel like splurging online, I'll order for sure again.

♪ Lorde- Tennis Court ♪

My room- or my most important part of it- the work space. You've asked me to do a video tour of my room for years now, it will come someday, but in the mean time I thought I'd share some photos with the most loved corner in my room. The idea came to me this Sunday, when I wanted to show you my new green dress from Persunmall. Of course, there were 0 Celsius degrees, so we weren't able to shoot outside. I was all grumpy and sad in my chair when I thought: "how about taking the pictures inside?".

Now, a little something you should know about my room: 

It's small, too small for two girls to share, and I am sharing it with my little sister (let's hope she won't get mad at me for this post, she always yells at me "it's OUR room" )

I designed it together with my dad when I was 13 and I had to make two major compromises: First, I wanted the furniture to be in one color, that light cream but the brand we chose didn't have enough wood in stock. If I would have waited three more months, it would have been possible but it was summer back when I redecorated and I was in a desperate need of change. Threfore, we settled for the orange combination because I really liked the way they worked together, but now that I'm in my teenage years I'm kind of tired of it. And I say "kind of" because I realized next year I will be in an ugly , boring dorm room and this room will be like heaven compared to it. (I'm taking my LOVE letters with me in college, they can make any room prettier, right?). Secondly, because my room is so small and I wanted such a big desk and we also needed to design a desk and bookcase for my little sister we had to sacrifice the curtains because they would have taken 25 cm in width. You can see the result, I look like I'm sitting in an actual office!

I didn't have any frames on my desk until last week when I found this cute little shop and I just had to buy these two! I came home excited to frame my photos just to discover..I haven't printed a photo of myself in three years haha (maybe I should start saving up for a Polaroid, I've always wanted one).

I use my statement necklaces as room decor, I think it has a pretty neat impact and I always have a hard time deciding which Vogue issues deserve to stay on the desk (I have some stacked in another corner).

So, what do you think about my room?