Field Trip

I can't believe I forgot to post these photos. They're from the epic Tessa and Ally visit! On this day alone, we rode the Staten Island Ferry, went to The Met and had a little jaunt in Central Park. I'm hoping we can make this an annual tradition. I have so much fun with these kids. Ally is like a mini Kim. She started calling Ally "mini-me." She and Kim were separated at birth. I'd like to think that Tessa is a mini version of me, but she's way cooler and more grounded than I ever was at her age. I didn't dye my hair blue until I was 17;) In other news, I can't believe she has a boyfriend. I don't want to talk about it. AJKSFHJKASFHSFA3iur314891493uuqihr

My outfit details:
vintage blouse
bb dakota skirt courtesy of ModCloth
Rayban new wayfarers
h&m flats
target maryjanes (before I switched into the flats)

Check Kim's blog for more of her photos, and don't forget to check out Bobby's blog - thisfellow.com.

Love love,
Keiko Lynn


EDIT: I removed a portion of this post in order to protect someone dear to me. I'm free game; I willingly put myself on the internet. My friends' and family's best interests are not up for debate, since they aren't active members of this blog and can't defend themselves.

Go Colts!

Starting tomorrow, my little sister Tessa will be a freshman in high school. I know I sound old when I say things like this, but it feels like I just walked her home from kindergarten, yesterday. I cried when she started kindergarten, so you can only imagine how much I'm freaking out about this.

The Colts shirt was passed down from my mom, to my older sister Nicole, to me, to Amanda, back to me, and now to Tessa Marie. It's kind of neat that all of us went to the same high school - and that, as horse people, our mascot is a colt!

Love Love,
Keiko Lynn  p.s. I am lucky to have such a great little sister. When I said that they treat you like young adults in high school, she replied, "But I like being a kid!" I hope she never loses that quality:)

Me and Tessa Marie

Having Tessa here was a dream. I love all of my sisters, but Tessa is my favorite. She's everyone's favorite. If any of my sisters, mom, or grandma say otherwise, they are fibbing through their teeth. My great grandma, at least, admitted her favoritism: "I love all of you girls. I just love Tessa a little bit more." My grandma replied, "Mother, that's not nice! I love all of you girls equally. But Tessa is very special."

It's not just because she's the baby. She's just one of a kind - so genuine and sweet, and 100% her own person. She does her own thing and never seems to be susceptible to peer pressure. She's wildly intelligent and she has a killer sense of humor, to boot. When she decided to dye her hair blue (just as mine was, in college), her dad's friend said "She's just finding herself." When they called her into the room, Tessa replied, "One minute! I'm busy finding myself!"

In short, I love her. I miss her. I miss all of my sisters. It's a shame we're all so different, only because we choose different areas to reside in, according to our own tastes. It does keep the fighting to a minimum, though. Absence makes the heart grown fonder.

Outfit Details:
Elizabeth and James dress - Gilt (click if you need an invitation)
belt - thrifted
cardigan thingy - beacon's?, slightly altered (I just rolled the sleeves and machine stitched them)
Love to Strut heels - courtesy of ModCloth
Carpenter bee bag - courtesy of Spotted Moth

Love love,
Keiko Lynn

p.s. While on the brooklyn bridge, I ran into a lovely reader named Leah (not sure if she spells it that way). It was really cool. Funny that I was having my outfit photo taken!
p.p.s. I realize that saying I have a favorite makes me sound like a jerk. Rest assured, I love all of my sisters. We just all dote on the wee one;)

logical lady

Outfit Details:
trench - c/o Queen's Wardrobe (last year - also worn here and here)
dress - c/o AY Not Dead (also worn here)Foley + Corinna Mid City tote - c/o Foley + Corinna (worn a bajillion times)bow flats - Nine West (worn here and here)glasses - Ray-Banlipstick - Revlon Pink in the Afternoon

I can't believe I never posted these pictures; they're from when Tessa and Ally came to visit. Cheech - as we call Tessa on the streets in my family - was kind enough to take over the undoubtedly silly duty of taking my pictures, while she was here. What a gal. At some point, she decided that Miku is much more important than whatever I am wearing (duh) and shifted focus to her. She's a logical little lady, that Tessa Marie.

me and the girls

I'm working on Makeup Monday at the moment but in the meantime, here are some pictures I forgot to post. I miss my little sister! /broken record

Makeup Monday: Little Sister

I'm a firm believer that teenagers should be allowed to express themselves through whatever crazy hair color, clothing style or music taste they gravitate toward (within reason, of course). Once you finish college and start your career, you probably won't be able to have rainbow tresses or a septum piercing, so why not have fun with it when you're younger? It's not permanent - color eventually fades or grows out and piercings can be removed. However, stay away from tattoos until you're a real adult - and I'm not talking eighteen. If you get a tattoo when you're a teenager, you might end up with a tramp stamp that says "She wakes up lonely." I mean...what? This is an entirely hypothetical situation. I definitely do not have one of those.

Anyway, when I was a teenager, I didn't really wear makeup. I had blue hair, and then purple and red, but I didn't know what to do with makeup without going overboard. And while overboard makeup can be quite fun, it's also nice to know how to enhance your features and disguise blemishes and still look like yourself. Keeping that in mind, I gave my little sis a mini lesson on how to do age/school appropriate makeup. Read on to see what I used and a breakdown of how I did this look!




What we used:
BareMinerals Get Started Kit
Shobha brow pencil in sand
E.L.F. Candid Coral Blush
Milani eye pencil in Espresso
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips Mascara Duo in blue/black (I got it at CVS but not online)
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Estée Lauder Crystal Sand Eyeshadow
Laura Mercier Lip Stain in Hibiscus

After moisturizing Tessa's face, I applied primer all over (we used the one from the BareMinerals kit). Then, using the concealer brush and mineral foundation, I focused on the undereye area and any blemishes. With the bigger foundation brush, I applied the loose powder all over, in circular motions, making sure to tap off excess powder before applying. Make sure to blend along the edges of your jaw line or else you'll get the dreaded mask effect! I went over the more stubborn blemishes again with the concealer brush. When applying concealer on a blemish, tap it on - don't rub.

Next, I filled in her brows with the Shobha brow pencil, using short, light strokes and brushed them into place with a stiff, angled brush (this also helps to blend the color). I primed her eyelids with UD Primer Potion and did a wash of neutral, shimmery eyeshadow all over her lid and then on the inside, near her tear ducts (to get the glowy effect). I used a brown eye pencil along her upper lash line and smudged it for a more diffused, less harsh look. Then, I put two coats of mascara on her upper and lower lashes - first blue, then black (to make a navy that works well with her blue eyes).

The blush I used (E.L.F. Candid Coral) has a built in shimmer and a very sheer color, so I dusted that on her cheeks and let that act as a highlighter. All that was left to do was add a little lip color. Tessa has beautifully pigmented lips and isn't really into lipstick or gloss, so I opted for a tinted stain. I dabbed a little bit of color into the middle of her lips and blended outward with my finger.

Special thank you to Tessa, my beautiful little sister, for being my model for a day:)

Tessa and Ally

My little sister Tessa and her friend Ally came to visit for a week. Even though they only left five days ago, I already miss these girls so much. Tessa is like me; her friends are friends forever. She and Ally have been friends since middle school and even though they went to different high schools, they maintained their friendship. I think they'll be friends forever, especially since most of Tessa's friends have been her friends since she was a toddler or in kindergarten. We consider them family.

I see a lot of Kimberly in Ally. So does Kim - she calls Ally her "mini." I'd love to flatter myself and say that Tessa is a lot like me, but the truth is that she's way freaking cooler. These girls are seriously the coolest teenagers I know.

Random, but I had a dream that they were both smoking cigarettes (!!!) and I was really upset and yelling at them. In the dream, they said, "It's not a big deal. We're just being trendy." I woke up (teary-eyed) and told them about it, making them promise to never smoke or do drugs. The rest of the trip, they kept joking to each other, "Let's go be trendy!" which was always met with an evil-eye from me, and then buckets of laughs. Do teenagers even use the word trendy? No?