hitting the hallways

photos by jordan

So this is it y'all - school starts tomorrow, and summer '17 is officially coming to a close. The last two weeks especially have been a whirlwind. You may have noticed my suspicious silence. (Probably not though) I was hopping on and off of planes, trying to not drown in the Louisiana downpours, and eating copious amounts of gumbo. I was also trying to sort out my class schedule this semester which is wall*claps*to*claps*wall. It may actually cause me to pass out from exhaustion like twice a week. But in the words of the great spiritual master Lil Dicky, that's my niche. 


Here's some well wishes for us all in this coming fall semester: 

- May our binders stay as organized as they are right now.

- May we look first-day-of-school good even when it's middle-of-midterms.

- May the campus-wide wifi never cut out.

- May we make at least one friend in every class who will text us the notes we missed.

- May our student ID's grant us great discounts in places we like to eat.

- May our homework be complete, on time, and more importantly, understood.

- May our instagrams stay poppin' + our twitter feeds full of real words.

- May we enjoy the privilege of education, and use it to better ourselves and the world around us


because lord knows we need some help. 

x Justina

ps. If you're a female undergrad, reading this before September 5th, and you want to hang out with some incredibly successful women on an all-expenses-paid trip to NYC, click here. 


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#soworthit - bts with jcpenney

all pieces from JCPenney

*Commercial male voice* It’s back to school time!

When it comes to back to school clothes shopping, we talk about the latest styles, looking cute for football games, the most stylish shoes. But we don’t talk about budgets, getting dressed half-asleep at 5:30 in the morning, or running across campus several times a day. You know, the reality of being me/a college student.  Put down the pajamas, I’m not saying we sacrifice real outfits, just that we think about this a little differently. Back to school can be affordable, and still cute, which is what JCPenney sent me out to prove.

I picked up the pieces for this cute lil look at my local store, which, *sadly* is not one hosting one of the groovy Girls Night In events styled by JCPenney, (But yours might be!! check it out). I was looking for a few things. Pockets, easy to pull together, and a solid statement piece I can wear a lot, because unique dressing gets harder and harder the closer and closer you get to midterms. Fact. Clearly, I found what I was looking for in this Arizona cardigan. My hope is that the bright colors and a solid cup of coffee can get me through morning classes. The peasant top underneath is also a win-win- it’s comfy, but looks a little more pulled together than a regular t-shirt, perfect for my schedule, which involves dashing from English Lit to the newsroom. 

Honestly, the hardest part about back to school shopping (other than, you know, wearing it all back to school) is getting it done, and this was easy, breezy, and resulted in a beautiful cardigan. 

x Justina 

ps. JCPenney sent me to explore their store, and paid for the trip, but you guys know the deal: cardigans can’t buy my love. 

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time to go back

Full outfit c/o Kohl’s

Everyone likes to talk about the "first day of school outfit". But I want to draw attention to the fact that, since you have to go back after that first day, the "back to school" outfit is arguably much more important. These people are seeing you every day, after all, you can't let it go now. So when Kohl’s sent me out to track down a "Back To School" outfit in their stores, I took it VERY seriously. Like, two hours of shopping and a lot of hypothetical "what-if" scenarios SERIOUS. I also made a list of criteria the outfit had to meet: 

1. Aesthetically pleasing (obviously)

2. Versatile pieces i.e. you could use the stuff with other stuff to create more stuff

3. Situationally appropriate (I love heels, but the miles of halls in my school do not)

4. Comfortable, because why even wear clothes if they aren't

5. Easily customizable to your ~pErSoNaL bRaNd~

For my perfect 40th (nearly half through first semester) day of school outfit, I started with a black boyfriend tee, an easy basic. Then, I went for these very Leslie Knope-esque printed jeans. I snagged (literally) a burgundy cozy cardigan to a.) keep me snuggly and b.) add some color. Then I remembered that I am walking across campus approx. 8480382048 times a day, and how often my shoes are in my Starbucks snapchats, and went for the ultimate classic: white Chuck Taylor’s. This was the BEST sartorial decision I've made in ages. (And they were on sale.)

Now I will admit: I was not a super Kohl’s shopper and so not entirely sure what I was metaphorically walking into when I literally walked into my local Kohl’s. Now, my keen observation skills will be to your benefit. Here is what you will see: racks and racks and racks of things you want as far as your eyes work. Then, baskets, which you will use to collect all of your new treasure. On the racks themselves, little grey boxes of happiness displaying drastically reduced prices that are easily within the "Mum, I could wear this SO MUCH" range. Everything after that is just an enjoyable bout of shopping bliss. The place is an actual wonderland.

Ps: Criteria 6 for outfits: if you can't spontaneously dance in it for whatever vine trend is in right now, don't even bother. 

x J 

ps. friendly reminder: a gift card can't buy my love - Kohl’s compensated me for this, but I, like Drake, don't fake feelings. 

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backpack backpack

backpack c.o. sunny dushanka 

shirt: vintage ralph lauren// short: vintage levis//shoes: keds via teen vogue

It is the strange power of Dora the Explorer that I have only seen one episode in my entire existence and yet know every word of the backpack song

This is just a cheeky little post to show off my snazzy Sunny Dushanka backpack 

and to shamelessly promote the video I made to prove

 how much utterly unnecessary stuff I haul around every day in it.

(watch in 720hd for best hair definition)

I truly adore this backpack though. 

It's a gorgeous color, 

all leather (sturdy), handmade in Greece (sturdy) 

and all the buckles are real metal buckles (sturdy). 

Overall, it's perfect Justina gear

aka it's in it for the long haul

Lately, rucksacks have been calling me. 

Between all the travel, long days, and even longer nights,

 I need a bag that holds more than lipstick and half a stick of gum, ya feel?

Cara D. does.

 Speaking of long nights:

winter is coming.

I'm having serious GoT withdrawels.

But seriously, my two favorite seasons are on their way, 

and with them come some very great things:

my first days of college (!!!)

my birthday

apple picking

my birthday

sweaters

my birthday

all the best holidays

like my birthday

pumpkin spice errythang

Oh and it's my birthday in a few weeks!

 Until then though, 

I have all sorts of good stuff lined up.

Lets just say this backpack 

won't be going into retirement anytime soon.

xx

Justina

 ps. 

I am livetweeting the Emmy's on Monday,

and you should be there.

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video//after school is where the party is at

 

 featured pieces l-r:

knapsack c.o. BAGGU//tshirt c.o MNKR//flannel: arizona jeans//overalls: calvin klein//

headphones: c.o. skullcandy//dress + jacket: romwe//dr. martens c.o. asos//heels c.o. bc footwear

on me:

rings: c.o. stella & bow// shirt: forever 21//pants c.o. living doll LA

I may not go to school,

 but I know a thing or two about what to wear once it's over.

Football games, parties, the occasional mass mud fight...

wait, does your school not do that?

Never mind

The point is, 

out of uniform doesn't need to mean Uggs and sweatpants. 

In fact, no situation ever should mean Uggs. 

So make like Selena Gomez and shake it up a bit. 

Okay that was bad.

In my defense,

 I'm packing and writing this blog post at the same time.

LA,

 I'm coming for ya.

But mainly you Alfred.

I know I said this last time,

 but make sure you're following me on allllll of the platforms (including huffpost teen) 

to witness what will definitely probably maybe 

 be the most epic livetweeting you've ever seen.

And lots of photos of palm trees, 

which we both know is definitely more exciting than red carpet selfies.

xx

Justina

 

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tilt your head and smile

 (shirt: asos|overalls: vintage)

so I had to take my school id photo, and basically

 ughhhh

 

 

"the absolute fact of the matter is that not a single human being on this planet looks good in their student id photo so you should probably just give up"

This is basically what those horrid photographers are actually saying when they say 

"Tilt your face towards the light please! Smiiiiiiile!"

they do not care if you smile

they do not care if you tilt your face to the light

they do not care at all

 

they come and attack your carefully cultivated hairstyle with a little plastic comb that promptly gets stuck and/or snaps into several small pieces

they make you sit in front of the red back round even though you wanted turquoise 

 they tell you it looks "perfect!"

it does not look perfect

it looks like your face is having some sort of attack

but at least you end up with a really interesting id.

heheheh

xx,

Justina

 

 

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