The One Where I turned 21 !

So I’m pretty sure that every one dreams of their 21st birthdays, the way little girls dream of their sweet sixteen’s and weddings. Well my 21st birthday was nothing short of special and I owe it all to my Howard friends and my loving family.

I woke up slightly woozy from the night before that I had spent with my sister and her friends.         

Y’all should be old enough to know what that means by now. On November 10th at around 11:00 pm I was on cloud nine having the time of my life. I was finally about to be legal, because lets face it at 18 you still can’t do much of anything. Twenty one is supposed to be a whole different experience and I couldn’t wait!! By 12:00 I was slumped but it was okay because

I woke up with stank breath and smeared makeup but I didn’t care because it was MY BIRTHDAY AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I was finally 21, grownt hunty grownt! God blessed me with another year and the celebration was nothing short of amazing. My roommate took me out to brunch before the celebration, which really ended up being first dinner because we didn’t eat until like 4:30 and then we went back to my dorm to get dolled up for my fancy night of shenanigans. 

Now anyone that knows me, is aware of the fact that I’m not really the partying type, but dress me up and feed me at an upscale restaurant and I’m yours. I love getting fancy and going out, its much more my speed. So after my roommate and I went out for first dinner and came back, Tera (my roommate from freshman year) came over and beat my face to the gods and we got ready for second dinner.

Second dinner was held at Maggiano’s which is one of my favorites because pasta is the way to my heart and soul. The dress I picked felt like the perfect style and color for the big 21.

Red has always been a bold statement color and I usually steer clear of it but dammit I was turning 21 and everyone was going to notice if I had anything to do with it! For one day I had stopped crying, dusted myself off, lifted my head high and I truly felt like a princess. To make things even better, all of my friends, even the ones that can’t stand to look at each other anymore. They all came together for me and it was just too cute.

Anyway, my ensemble was a step up from your basic fit. I wore a red bodycon dress that had a giant ruffle/pleat going across the top, all the way around to the back. The zipper stretched all the way from the top of the dress to the bottom which added something special to it. I wore lace-up black heels borrowed from my sister, and vintage leather jacket with a very nice fur collar from my momma. My friends even bought me a crown to wear all night because I’m just that extra of a person.

If you know me, you know that birthdays mean everything to me, from who says is first to who says it last to who I get to celebrate it with. My birthday was one of the best days of 2017 that I had. At the restaurant we laughed, at good food and I ordered my first drink 

 which was absolutely terrible. It tasted like unhappiness with a little sugar around the rim. It was a calm no from me, I’d rather have a Shirley Temple with a jar of cherries piled in… Another nice part of the night was the amount of free stuff I managed to collect by the end. A nice older man gave me $10 to pay for my first drink which was just adorable, and our waiter gave me cheesecake I didn’t order in addition to my birthday cookies. The night was a success and I loved all my friends for it!

I bet y’all thought the night was over after that, nope nope nope. We stood outside while I took pictures in my fabulous fit, freezing to death of course my friends are some real ones for that. Then we all headed back to campus to go our separate ways, or so I thought! Instead when I walked in my room I was greeted with the same smiling faces I had just seen along with a gigantic cookie cake masterpiece made by my friend Sireice, two pretty bottles of wine and a bouquet of roses. IT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER! I’ve never been the girl who gets surprised by anyone so I was ecstatic that my friends went to all the trouble to make me happy on my special day. So my 21st birthday will always be one of my best memories, not because I got deathly drunk but because my friends celebrated with me “Chelsi style” and it was perfect.

#birthday #happybirthday #21stbirthday #Fashion #21 #friends #selflove #food #life #pasta

Did You Mesh Me?

Did you mesh me? I hope so because I have more exciting outfits and things to share with you all. Today we’re talking about the tailgate, how I missed it, and what I wore while I was missing it. You know you always have to look good…

So I woke up probably around 9, and didn’t make it out of my dorm until like 2 pm because this D.C. weather is oh so unpredictable. 

 It was way hotter than I expected and I had to switch up my fit real quick.

For my makeup I kept it simple, I don’t like to wear much when I know I’ll be sweaty and uncomfortable. All I did was fill in my eyebrows, put on mascara and my Ruby Woo MAC lipstick, because who doesn’t love a classic red lip.

Originally I was supposed to wear this with high waist jeans but that heat was too much, my knees would’ve been sweating. I opted for this black mesh overlay dress from Forever 21, black satin bralette $7 from Forever 21 as well. I Paired these with high waist snakeskin print shorts from H&M also 7$ and my Steve Madden clear booties that I absolutely adore.

 What I loved about this mesh dress was that I was as cool as I could possibly be without being naked. Plus mesh is definitely back in, and it feels good to take the trend and make it my own. Plus it flowed so nicely when I walked, just pulled the whole fit together.

These shorts were so so so comfy, and they fit just right. I’m nor sure about the rest of you ladies out there but I’ve been stuck one too many pair of shorts that leave me breathing funny because they’re too tight in the waist but fit great everywhere else. These had the perfect amount of stretch too, I could actually sit down without my skin spilling over.

Now my shoes are a whole different story and I’d be telling a fierce lie if I didn’t let y’all know that I took these off right after these pics were taken. My feet were on FIRE, one because they’re plastic, and two because I love the look of heels but hate the feel and my feet were screaming for help! I never ran so fast too find a cute pair of sandals in my life.  

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post and if you stick around I’ll show you how I wear this same dress in more Fall like temperatures. XOXO ♥

#BlackIsBeautiful #Fashion

Brought Fashion to the Show

Every year my school Howard University throws the gathering of all gatherings for homecoming. There are alumni events, undergrad events and some open to the public. The pep rally usually kicks of a week of fun however there wasn’t very much pep at the rally this year. So let’s fast forward to Thursday, the day of Pulse, the fashion show.

Leading up to homecoming I, along with the majority of bison, couldn’t find anything worth buying to wear for the entire weekend f festivities so we just decided to wing it… My version of winging it was to design and sew my outfit all by my lonesome with a bit of help from my mom. Only problem was that I had one weekend, which turned into one day to make my outfit, which turned into one pair of pants by the end of that weekend and a me making the shirt between classes up to the night before the show.  

Now don’t forget, I’m not even in the fashion show nor are my designs but the fit for the event ALWAYS matters at Howard, there’s no escaping that. So here’s to my stunning, yes quite stunning, fashion show fit with my Diana Ross inspired hair.

I’m not really sure where I got the idea for this outfit but I’m glad it came out the exact way I pictured it, glamorous and elegant as well as colorful and fun. When you look good you feel good and I felt a billion times better knowing that absolutely no one would be wearing the same outfit as me.

As I told you before this look was inspired by Diana Ross and when I think of her I think big glam hair along with perfect accessories to match. So I opted for HUGE wand curls that I brushed out right before I left my dorm. They took about four hours to complete but it was so worth it. I’m not much of a makeup person yet so I did my absolute best with what I had.

I wore at least two layers of  Miss Manga Voluminous Mascara by L’Oreal, NYX Black Liquid liner, Maybelline Fit Me foundation and Sephora microsmooth luminizer “Stardust”. On my lips I wore MAC’s On and On lipstick with their clear Lipglass on top.

And no, the night wouldn’t have been complete without a few Snapchat pics to make the memories last forever.

“It takes a long time to get to  be a diva. I mean you gotta work at it.” ~ Diana Ross

There’s no better time to be a diva than NOW…

#BlackIsBeautiful #Fashion #Hair