Last Minute Halloween Costumes

If you’re bad at planning in advance for Halloween costumes like me here are some easy last minute costume ideas!

Now don’t get me wrong, just because I didn’t plan a costume doesn’t mean I don’t love Halloween, because Halloween is for sure one of my favorite holidays! Okay, maybe not the scary haunted house spooky ghost side of Halloween (it has been proven that if you take me into a haunted house be prepared for me to squeeze your hand so tight in terror that it will feel broken), but I sure do love the more magical and, well, kid-friendly version. Not forgetting that Halloween means it ‘s finally socially acceptable to watch the best movie of all time, Hocus Pocus! Plus the chocolate. Always the chocolate.

Anyways, back to the whole no costume situation. I love hearing what other people are going to be for Halloween because there are some really creative costumes out there that I would never be able to think of. Additionally, Halloween costumes are a way for your humor and personality to shine, and so it’s always interesting to see what people come up with!

In the past I have dressed up as a witch multiple times (because obviously…and Hocus Pocus), a ballerina (when I was really little), a genie (one of my favorites!), and a cat. Once I even wore all purple and told people I was a grape…not my best idea in retrospect. Since I dressed up as a cat last year and still have the cat ear headband I was considering being a cat again (since it’s pretty easy, all you need is some black clothes, black eyeliner to draw whiskers on your cheeks, and red lipstick if you want to get fancy), but I still wanted to keep my options open so I turned to Google and Pinterest. By golly there are a lot of Halloween costume options!

Here were some of my favorite finds:

The Queen of Hearts: 

All you have to do is wear a plain outfit, preferably black, and cut out red and pink hearts to stick all over you. Add a crown and voilà, you’re done!

Eloise at The Plaza: 

This one is a personal favorite just because I loved the Eloise books and movies. To complete this costume you simply need a white shirt, black skirt, black suspenders and a red ribbon to tie in your hair as a headband.

A Flower Child: 

Another personal favorite (I can’t choose, they’re all too good!) just wear a flower crown, big earrings, and a long flower skirt/shirt combo or dress, and maybe even some face paint.   

A Tourist: 

Ah who wouldn’t want to dress up as the stereotypical tourist for Halloween? Just grab some socks and sandals, a big hat, fanny pack, Hawaiian shirt, a map held upside-down, and a camera to hand around your neck and you’re all set!

Where’s Waldo: 

I think this has got to be one of the easiest costumes since all you really need to wear is blue jeans, a red and white stripped shirt, a red hat and some glasses.

These ideas came from some of my googling finds last night and website articles on easy and creative Halloween costumes, so I’ll paste them down below in case you wanted to check them out!

11 Punny Halloween Costumes:

http://www.hercampus.com/life/11-punny-halloween-costumes

10 Homemade Halloween Costumes You Can Make From Things You Already Have:

http://www.hercampus.com/diy/beauty-style-tips/10-homemade-halloween-costumes-you-can-make-things-you-already-have

10 Easy Halloween Costumes You Can Make With Things You Already Own:

http://www.hercampus.com/diy/beauty-style-tips/10-easy-halloween-costumes-you-can-make-things-you-already-own 

Lauren Conrad: Hocus Pocus:

http://laurenconrad.com/blog/2014/10/hocus-pocus-my-mermaid-halloween-costume/

31 Halloween Costumes that Require Absolutely No Skill:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinalan/how-do-you-use-scissors?crlt.pid=camp.Bt89z7hBia5e#.sra2z4l0e1

  

Let me know what you end up dressing up as this Halloween!

~ Monique ~

Half the Story

Hello again and happy Sunday! This past week has been swamped with midterms and I didn’t get a chance to sit down a write this until now. While this post is a little bit on the somber side I’m going to try and keep it as positive as possible! Today I wanted to touch the topic of positive uses of social media, which is quite a hot topic at the moment but also very important to me.

I’ve spent the last week writing papers on eating disorders and Body Dimorphic Disorder, and while I won’t go all psychology student out on you all I will say that media plays a huge role in influencing these disorders and even simpler every day things, such as how we view ourselves and others. This day in age when we all have multiple accounts of different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., and are bombarded with other peoples ideas on what the ideal life is, it is important to stay true to yourself. This is especially true on Instagram where based on peoples photo galleries it seems as if everyone has a perfect life. However, here it important to remember that the pictures people post have been chosen, carefully selected to create an image of perfection and sometimes even follow a color scheme.

People share what they want to be seen. For instance, if you’re looking at a picture of someone traveling what you don’t see is all the behind the scenes events that went on that day and the feelings that are not being shared. This is good if used in a positive light, but if abused can create feelings of jealousy for others seemingly perfect lives.

If this sounds at all familiar it is because breaking through that social media wall has recently been taking flight in the form of the #halfthestory project. Blogger and Instagrammer @Livinlikelarz recently founded @halfthestory (more can be read on their website: www.halfthestoryproject.com). There is a quote by Larz taken from the website that I would like to share because it encompasses the campaign excellently, Half the Story is a “a social media campaign showcasing the stories we don’t tell,” promoting “social storytelling.”

Personally, I think this is a wonderful project, and so here is my half the story:

 What you don’t see in this picture is all the bloopers it took to actually find the “perfect” picture and the fact that it only looked good in black and white, even though my original purpose for taking the picture was to showcase the beyond beautiful color of the leaves (which I’ll post a color picture of below).  

What you don’t see is the hard week I was just coming down from, the need for sleep in my eyes, and the fact that my hands were still cold from being outside. What I hope you do see and feel from looking at the picture is the joy in my heart I had from walking around outside by myself, listening to Adele’s new song, and finding these marvelous leaves. I wanted this picture to exude the happiness I feel towards the little things in life, such as acting like a little kid and picking up leaves! Hopefully it rubs off on those who look at it.

What’s your #halfthestory? Let me know!

~ Monique ~

October Motivation Playlist

T W I R L  A N D  D A N C E

With midterms in full swing school has basically consumed my life with studying for tests and papers. 

However, it’s always important to take study breaks and dance around for fun! And what’s a dance party without some good music?! Usually when I am studying I tend to pick a song of the day and just play it on repeat until it becomes background noise as I study. 

I know, I know, studies have shown that studying in silence is better than with music, but sometimes I just need some music in the background to motivate me, and my grades are pretty good if I do say so myself :) I remember there was one day last semester when I listened to Ellie Goulding’s “Love Me Like You Do” 129 times while writing a paper because I just had it on repeat!

Since I’m always looking for new songs to add to my playlist I thought I’d share some of my currents favorites with you today!

Here are the songs I’ve been listening to on repeat recently:

Something In The Way You Move; On My Mind- Ellie Goulding

Downtown-Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Confident-Demi Lovato

Fools- Troye Sivan

Ghost- Halsey

Sober-Selena Gomez

Let me know what you current favorite songs are!

~ Monique ~

What Art Means to Me

For those of you who have been following my More Than A City Girl blog and Instagram account from the beginning this will come as no surprise, I am a big fan of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Having grown up in New York City going to the MET was a staple in my life. This included numerous fieldtrips, art class homework assignments, and weekend visits for pure enjoyment! I remember I actually asked my mom once in Middle School if I could skip school that day and just do something fun. And that fun thing I wanted to do? It was go to the MET to see the Temple of Dendur. 

I love art and I love history, these two combined can transport you to another world, open to your own interpretations. Finding that one painting or piece of art that speaks to you is so special in the fact that you can go back time and time again to re visit that piece or art at different times in your life and be transported back to a single moment in time, not unlike listening to music.

Two of my absolute favorite paintings in the MET are by the same French painter, Pierre-Auguste Cot.  The Storm, 1880 and Springtime, 1873 are the two paintings that I always seek out to visit. Maybe it’s their magical quality or aspects of fantastical realism and detail that draw me in. Or let’s be real, maybe it's just the fairy aspect. Either way these two will always hold a special place in my heart.

You know that feeling you get when you walk into an empty room at a museum, when it’s just you and the art? I can’t end this post without at least mentioning that feeling because even if the galleries are full of people I find the museum finds a way to keep that feeling, that kind of personalization to it.

 

Another way to make visiting a museum personal is to make a game out of looking at the art! One of my favorite games it trying to recreate the images or facial expressions of portraits or sculptures. I promise, it’s fun! And even funner with friends!

What’s you favorite museum or part of going to a museum?

Let me know, I’d love to hear your comments!

~Monique~