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Stnkrbug

Fall Clothing Haul!

Fall is quickly approaching, and I definitely have mixed feelings! I am sad to say goodbye to summer, but I love the fall as well so I’m excited for comfy sweaters and pumpkin everything. I think I have started to like the fall more as I’ve gotten older, and since I’m starting college this year, I’m not dreading the back-to-school season as much. 
Throughout the summer – mainly in July and August – I have been getting clothes for the fall, especially at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. I actually really liked getting my fall clothes this way so it wasn’t such a big and stressful event getting clothes for school. So today I thought it would be fun to show you guys what all I got since I’m pretty much done!
Nordstrom
 I love the look of this sweater, and thought the blue roses were really pretty. I also don’t have a lot of blue clothes, so I really liked the color of this. It’s the perfect touch of old lady chic.
The back is also super gorgeous! I love the little cut out in the back and the lace detail. I think it’s the perfect sweater to wear with a top knot!
Nordstrom
 I love this one! The color is so beautiful and it’s on the longer side so it will be perfect to wear with leggings and boots. It’s also thin so it will be easily layered upon.
The detail on the side is really cool!
Nordstrom
I think this sweater is the perfect basic – it will go with a lot, and it will also be nice to layer. Whether I put a jacket on top, or a collared shirt underneath it, I think I will get a lot of use out of it! I think the solid and more transparent stripes give it a little something other than being beige.
Nordstrom
I know this shirt is pretty similar to the longer maroon shirt, but it is cropped and a totally different shape. I think I’ll wear this shirt with skirts and high-waisted pants, or maybe even over a chambray shirt.
I love the maroon and gray shirts – they remind me of Harry Potter haha!
Pacsun, but it’s from the Brandy Melville line they carry.
This shirt may look like nothing special, but ohmygoodness is it soft. There are no words to describe how great this material feels. I want to just live in the shirt. And I probably will be doing just that in college.
Nordstrom
I love sweaters like these so much! They are perfect for throwing over basically anything, and are great for days with cooler mornings but warmer afternoons. I think the tri-color look is so pretty and all of the different ways the stripes are going is really cool.
Forever 21
Again, I think this shirt will be really great for layering. It’s the perfect fall color, and the material is really soft as well. It also fits really nicely!
Pacsun, but from the Brandy Melville line as well.
This. Shirt.
I mean, as soon as I saw it I knew I was buying it. This is the purrfect shirt for me (see what I did there….*insert cringe face*) because I love animals, and of course, cats. I have a black kitty named Angel, so this shirt was just all around meant for me. I’ve also been looking for a “classier” cat shirt, instead of just a shirt with a picture of a cat on it.
You can also see this shirt in action here, where I wore it with an outfit the other day.
Nordstrom.
Okay, this sweater was kind of hard to photograph. I promise it looks more normal in person, haha. I love this color and I think it will be great to wear in the fall when I need a pop of color.
I love the lace detail on the bottom!
Nordstrom
I think I may have an addiction to this color – it’s just so gorgeous! I couldn’t resist this dress, and I think it will be so nice to wear in the fall and winter. It’ll just be a great dress to have in case there are Christmas parties to go to, or any other formal events, but I think it will easily be dressed down as well.
Nordstrom
This dress is super versatile! I actually wore it during the summer, and it was the perfect sundress, but I think it will look adorable with some tights and boots and a big chunky sweater over it. I love the color and the lace at the bottom, and I think I will get a lot of use out of it!
Pacsun, but the Brandy Melville line.
This dress may look more summer-y, but I think it’ll be great for the fall. Again, I’ll probably pair it with some tights and a sweater to give it a fall feel. The print is blue roses, so I think it will be really pretty for the winter time as well.
Forever 21
This skirt reminds me of a pumpkin patch, and I don’t really know why. Haha I think it’s all of the reds and oranges. But this skirt will be really nice to add some color to my darker fall outfits, and the material is really cool! It’s that stretchy, polyester type material I think (the tag didn’t specify what kind of material it is).
Pacsun, from the Kendall and Kylie line.
 This skirt was difficult to photograph as well, but I FINALLY GOT A MAXI SKIRT IN THIS COLOR. If you have read my maxi skirt obsession post here, then you will know that I have been wanting a maxi skirt like this for a while. And, might I add, I got this for a much cheaper price than the Urban Outfitters one, which I am very happy about.
This picture is more true to the actual color of the skirt.
Nordstrom
I have been wanting a pair of green army pants for a long time, and I think these are perfect! They fit really nicely and can be worn as is, or cuffed at the bottom, which is probably what I will be doing most of the time.
American Eagle
I haven’t gotten a pair of ripped jeans in a long time, but I think these are really nice! I love the color and fit as they are actually high wasted, so I will probably be wearing these a lot!
Nordstrom
These are more of a boyfriend-style pair of jeans, and I absolutely love them! I love the cuff at the bottom (it is sewn in) and the color as well. I have a lot of dark wash pants, so I really like this lighter wash.
Nordstrom
I have never gotten a skirt like this one before, but I really love it! It fits so nicely, and I promise it does not look promiscuous on haha! This will be the perfect skirt for parties, but it is also easily softened up with a pretty sweater.
Check out my video of this haul!
What are you most excited for this fall?
Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day! 🙂

OOTD: Cats and the Last Days of Summer

Summer is coming to an end, but these last couple of days have been quite nice. You can usually start to feel the shift to fall this time of year where I live, but definitely not this year. This summer has been a very warm one, which has it’s positives and negatives: I have gotten so much use out of my sundresses, but my jeep has been insanely hot when I first get in it, and the dark seats have basically been burning my legs for three straight months. Overall, I am really glad that this summer has been so hot, but it definitely makes me ready for the coming cooler months!
Anyway, this Saturday I had a relaxing day hanging out with two of my friends since we’ll all be leaving for college soon, so we took a couple of quick snaps of our outfits.
 Shirt: Pacsun (but from the Brandy Melville line they carry)
Shorts: Macy’s
 Bracelet: Forever 21
Watch: Gift from friends, but I believe it’s from Etsy
 Shoes: Pacsun
Okay, yes, I’m posting this outfit to feature my kitties as well, which I thought was fitting since my shirt features a little kitty face. This is Mama Kitty; she adopted us along with her litter of kittens when I was eight, and since I was the one who found them and “helped” them (okay I gave them food and treats and they eventually just followed me home) come to my house because they were living in our neighbor’s barn. We tried calling her different names but they never stuck, so that is how Mama Kitty came to be. Thrilling story, I know. I just love animals so much and a cute mama cat with her little litter of kittens? I just could not resist.
 This is Al, and he is a big moody baby. He loves to be held but he was just not feeling the whole picture thing. His full name is Al Capone since he has black around his mouth that looks like a goatee. He is also from Mama Kitty’s second litter (we did not realize there was a handsome “daddy” kitty hanging around our property, so Mama Kitty had a couple of other kittens, but was promptly fixed after they were weened – and don’t worry they were kindly given to our family and friends).
 
He did not want to be in any of the pictures because he is a stubborn cat, but he’s adorable and I love him.
Alright, there you have it, the first reveal of my crazy cat/animal loving inner self. I think I should just live on a farm when I’m older so I can save all the animals I want and live happily ever after.
Haha…anyway, thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day! 🙂

Small Book Haul

I recently had to order some things online, so I decided to add a few books to my order because I am addicted, and there is really no other good reason haha. I like ordering hard cover books online since they are usually cheaper and I can never wait to buy them once they come out in paper back…so really there isn’t anything else to say, just that I probably need to have a separate savings account dedicated to feeding my book addiction. But hey, kids, reading is good for you.

My family used to have all of the Harry Potter books and my brother and I would trade off reading them, but some of them got lost throughout the years, and/or eaten by our animals. I kid you not, he had a hamster that would chew through books like nobody’s business – and he seemed to have an appetite especially for Harry Potter. So, I decided to start ordering the books that are missing from my collection which gives me an excuse to re-read the whole series…

I read the Starcrossed series by Josephine Angelini, and I really loved it so I decided to give her new book a try. It’s about a girl who has some serious health and allergy issues, attempting to get through high school and win over her long time crush (cliche right?). But one day, she is transported to old-world Salem where she is basically the baddest witch around.
I’ve only read the first couple of pages from the book, and so far I’ve really liked it. The main character is really likeable, and it is really easy to sympathize with her as she struggles to get through high school. I haven’t gotten to the whole transported-to-Salem-I’m-the-wicked-witch part yet, so we’ll see how it goes!

I have been wanting to read this book for a while now so I finally decided to order it! It seems to be well-received from people and so far I’ve really liked it. I’ve read the first couple of chapters and have definitely been engrossed in it!
This book follows the main character, Alexa, as she tries to conceal being a girl in the Prince’s guard. Her twin brother, Marcel, and Alexa herself were taken a couple of years ago, as well as the other orphans from her town, to be either soldiers or, in the girls’ cases, “breeders”, by the king’s men. Marcel wanted to protect his sister so he cut off her hair and she has been posing as a boy ever since.
Okay, and I just wanted to take a picture of the inside cover – how pretty is it?!

This is the last book in the Mortal Instruments series, and I have been dying to read it! The release date was in May, but it was super expensive in stores so I wanted to order it online instead. I have really loved this series, so it’s sad to see it come to an end, but this book is around 700 pages so I still have a little while until it’s really over 🙂
Well that’s it for my little haul! I’ll probably do some reviews on some of these once I finish them, so keep a look out for that! 
Have you been looking forward to any books lately?
As always, thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful day! 🙂

Starting YouTube?!

This seems so crazy to be typing, but I have started my YouTube channel, Stnkrbug! I have been wanting to start my channel for so long, so I finally did! I’ve been watching YouTube for a while and I remember when I put up little videos with my friends when I was 12 and I thought “Wow this is actually kind of fun!” but I never got into it since I was busy with other things. Now, however, since I have been blogging for a year, I decided it would be the perfect time to start my channel, especially since I’ll be starting college soon. I thought it would be really great to have these memories forever, and I have found that I really love making and editing videos!
And a quick note on the name of my channel – I have said before in some of my very first posts that my nickname from my family is “Stinkerbug” so that’s why I called my blog “It’s a Bug’s Life”, but I thought that was too long of a channel name, so I just used “Stnkrbug” instead. Yes, I know it is spelled wrong, but I have always spelled my usernames like that because “Stinkerbug” wasn’t available for my very first email, so I had to forgo a couple of letters, and it just kind of stuck throughout the years, and that’s how I spell all of my usernames. Plus, it usually is never taken so I don’t have to worry about adding any crazy letters or numbers at the end. I know, unnecessary information but I wanted to explain haha.
So, without further ado, here is my very first YouTube video!

Thank you so much for reading and watching, and I hope you have a great day! 🙂

Book Review: Stolen Songbird

Recently I read Stolen Songbird, and I honestly wasn’t expecting that much. I just got it because I thought it would be a quick read that would be entertaining enough for the time being, since I’m waiting to buy some books online.  
Boy was I wrong. 
I absolutely loved  this book! It had everything and more that a great book should: a strong main character, a plot that wasn’t just about a girl slowly falling in love with a boy, and issues that really make you think.
Stolen Songbird  is about a girl, Cecile, who lives with her father, brother, and sister in a small countryside town (probably around the 17th century-ish time period, there isn’t a specific era given, but horses and horse-drawn carriages are the main modes of transportation). She is an aspiring singer and has a very beautiful voice which has been carefully trained by vocal instructors her mother, who lives in the city and is a singer herself, has sent to teach her; however, Cecile’s mother finally feels she is ready to be trained in the city, since she is seventeen.
The book starts out when Cecile is on her way to the main part of town, by herself, in order to get eggs for her last dinner at home, when she is kidnapped by a boy named Luc. He ties Cecile up and throws her on his horse and takes her to the mountain, called Forsaken Mountain, near their town. There, he takes her into mysterious tunnels in order to get to the elusive city of Trollus, a city full of, you guessed it, trolls. 
These trolls aren’t the ones of fairy-tales with hunched backs (although the royal family does seem to have many birth defects due to inbreeding) and green skin, but creatures that look like normal humans, other than their silver eyes. Trollus is under the Forsaken Mountain, and was cursed by a witch centuries ago, causing no troll to be able to escape past the city limits. Humans are free to come and go, many of whom the trolls depend upon to deliver goods and foods, but anyone with a drop of troll blood is not able to get out.
The whole reason Cecile is brought to Trollus is to be bonded and wed to the prince, Tristan. His aunt is known to tell prophecies, and she predicted that the curse will be broken once the prince is bonded to “one of the sun”, meaning a human girl. Cecile has stunning red hair and green eyes, which is a big difference to the trolls’ darker looks. The trolls believe Cecile’s bond (and marriage) with Tristan will break the curse, and are very disappointed when it doesn’t immediately happen. However, Tristan is relieved, which Cecile feels since their bond also bound their emotions together, enabling them to know what the other is feeling.
Cecile goes through the next couple of weeks with Tristan treating her horribly, and soon finds out there is a large group of rebels fighting for half-human half-troll rights. She joins the cause, and also begins to learn more about the curse, and the witch that cursed Trollus.
I loved this book so much, because it was more than a simple cliche “she hates him but loves him” love story; it had depth in the issues within Trollus and showed how corrupt any society can be. The way the halflings are treated is a direct mirror to how minorities in our world have been treated throughout history, and it really shows the courage rebel leaders have, and what it takes to achieve equality for everyone. Danielle L. Jensen really created a world that was believable and complex, and I love her writing style. There was always something interesting going on, and I found myself not being able to put this book down, and would read it for hours each time I picked it up. There are also some really funny and lighthearted moments that weren’t forced at all. 
Overall, I highly  recommend this book to everyone! It’s a great read that entertains you and makes you think at the same time. 
What have you read recently that you have really liked?
Thank you so much for reading, and have a great day! 🙂

New Hair!

I’ve been thinking about changing up my hair for a while now, and I thought now would be the perfect time since I’ll be going to college in about a month! I want to have a fresh start this fall, so this is a great start! 
 
Two of my dogs (Miki on the left and Z on the right). They love sneaking into pictures!
I really wanted to get auburn in my hair, but I didn’t want the change to be too drastic or look really unnatural, so I asked for a balyage look but with red instead of a blonder shade. I’m super happy with the result! I think it adds a little more depth to my hair and I love all the different shades and how gradual it is. 
I really like the front as well – my hair stylist put a couple of red strands higher up to frame my face so I feel like that really finishes off my hair. I feel like the color change isn’t too drastic from the front either, which I really love!
Overall, I’m so happy with how it turned out and I’m really glad I decided to put some red in my hair! I was pretty nervous about it, and it took me so long to finally decide to color it. I’m a super indecisive person and change really scares me, but I thought what the heck, I’m only 18 and I’m going to college so I might as well change my hair – it just makes me even more excited to start this new chapter in my life!
What would you do to your hair if you knew you would have no regrets afterwards?
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a great day! 🙂

OOTD + VloggerFair!

This last weekend I went to Seattle and went to VloggerFair! It was such a great experience and it was so fun meeting vloggers who make such great videos and daily vlogs! The YouTube community is so unique and is so great in that it allows people to be super creative and individualistic with creating videos. Every YouTuber I met this weekend was so genuinely nice and down to earth – it was really refreshing to see they are almost exactly how they are in their videos! There isn’t too much else to say without just rambling about how good it was, so I thought I would share some pictures with you guys!
 Me and Tyler Oakley! He is such a nice person – he stayed an hour and a half longer than he was supposed to in order to meet everyone in line! He even had a flight that he had to catch that night, so it was really nice of him to make sure everyone got to meet him (the line went all the way around the convention center room!).
 These are the Daily Bumps! They have a daily vlogging channel and they are so sweet! Their son, Oliver, is the cutest little boy ever! He’s such a happy little baby, and they are the cutest little family.
 This is Marie from Bits and Clips and her family! She was kind enough to walk through Shay Carl’s meet and greet line (which my friends and I waited in line for three and half hours in! Some people waited four to five hours!!) since people had to wait so long. They are really nice people and their kids are adorable!
 Austin Null from the Nive Nulls! He is such a cool guy, and really nice! Unfortunately his wife and kids couldn’t make it to VloggerFair, but it was great meeting him! 
 
 Judy from ItsJudyTime! She is so nice, it’s incredible! She really spent time with everyone and genuinely cared about everyone in her line! It was so great to meet her.
 Shay Carl from the Shaytards! He is such a funny guy and super nice! He met everyone in his line as well, and his meet and greet went way longer than it was supposed to as well! He talked to everyone in line for at least a couple of minutes and seemed really grateful for each person who watched his videos! His wife, Collette, and their youngest son who’s not even a year old yet, were there as well, but he got pretty fussy so Collette had to go back to their hotel so we didn’t get to meet her 🙁 But hopefully she’ll be back next year!
 Me and Krsitina Horner! She is so sweet as well, and does a lot of book reviews on her channel. It was so cool to meet her because I tend to like a lot of the same books as she does!
 






Cardigan: Aeropostal
Tank Top: Nordstrom Rack
Shorts: Nordstrom
Shoes: Birkenstocks
Temporary Tattoos: Flash Tattoos
 I had such a great time this weekend, and I hope to go back next year!
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a great day! 🙂

My Current Obsession: Maxi Skirts

Hey guys!
So lately I have been obsessed with maxi skirts – they are so pretty and perfect for any weather, and can easily be dressed up or down. I especially love them for summer nights because they aren’t too heavy that they will make you super warm, but they also provide a little extra something if it gets chillier once the sun goes down.

I have especially been lusting over this one (which you can find here)! It is absolutely gorgeous and looks really comfortable.
This one is pretty similar, just with a cute pattern over it which I love as well. It looks so classy with it’s vintage-y pattern! You can find it here.
I love the lace cutouts on the side! The pattern is really pretty, but the cut outs add a really cool look to it, as well as the slit on the side. Find it here!
I have always loved this color – you can easily wear it in any season! The material is also so gorgeous and looks really soft. You can take a closer look here.
I love the flowers on this one! They look really nice against the black background, and are able to really pop. You can find it here. I also found a similar one to this one for a lot cheaper, which can be seen here.
This pattern is really cute as well; it is quite busy, but the colors help it tone down. You can find it here,
Well those are some skirts I have found lately that I have been wanting! I’ve actually been throwing around the idea of ordering the first or second one, I just wish they would go on sale!
Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and have a great day!
Would you spend a lot of money on a clothing item if you had been wanting it for a while?

Top Ten Beauty Hacks

Hey guys!
So today I thought I would share with you some of the “beauty secrets” that I use on a daily and weekly basis that I feel really help keep my skin clear and soft!

1. Drink lots of water and get plenty of rest! This is my number one tip, because if these basic needs are not met for your body, your skin will suffer! Your skin really reflects what is inside of your body, so make sure you drink enough water, and sleep enough in order for your body to be at it’s best! Remember that eight is the magic number: try to drink at least eight glasses of water a day and get at least eight hours of sleep each night.

2. Use a face mask once a week. You can either buy one from the store, or make one at home with simple ingredients in your kitchen already (I’m a huge fan of milk and honey masks). I find that when I put on my face mask every Sunday after a nice hot shower, I can relax so much and my skin feels so great afterwards. It helps you wind down after a long week, and helps your skin out at the same time! I also like to use a mask that is meant for deep cleaning so my pores can “breath”.

3.  Use Vaseline to get longer lashes. Every night I put Vaseline on my eyelashes and right at the base to make them longer. I don’t quite know how it works, but it really does! As a bonus, it also helps my skin at the base of my eyelashes which sometimes gets really dry.

4. Coconut oil can be used for anything and everything. There are  so many great uses for coconut oil – hydration for your hair, mixed with sugar for an exfoliant, and you can also cook with it! It can be used for virtually anything, so it’s worth buying and having around!

5. Exfoliate a couple of times a week. I use the exfoliating face wash from Simple, and the Buffy bar from Lush on the rest of my body to exfoliate. I find that exfoliating a couple of times a week (don’t go too overboard – three times a week should be the max) really helps your skin “glow”, as it gets rid of a lot of dead skin cells. It also makes your skin feel really soft!

6. Use vitamin E oil to get rid of scars. My mom has always done this, and it works really well. We get the vitamin E capsules and poke them open with a needle and use the oil inside to put on scars. Doing this every night for a little while really helps to get rid of unwanted scars.

7. If you have eczema or extremely dry skin patches, use cortisone creme to get rid of them. I get little flare ups of eczema in the form of dry, flaky patches, so I rub some Cortisone 10 cream on it, and within one or two days, it is completely gone. It also helps get rid of stubborn dry patches that just won’t go away.

8. Take your makeup off every night before you go to sleep. I cannot stress the importance of this! It is so  bad for your skin to go to sleep with your makeup still on – it clogs your pores which leads to bad breakouts. If you like not having to do a whole lot before going to sleep, buy some make-up removing wipes to quickly remove your make-up and cleanse your skin.


9. Try and have one make-up-less day a week. I don’t know if this helps a whole lot, but I like to have one day a week at least that I don’t wear any make-up at all. I just wake up, put on some lotion, and wash it at the end of the day, followed by more lotion. I feel that it just gives my skin a nice break, and allows it to “breath” for a whole day.

10. Rub toothpaste on pimples to get them to dry up and go away quickly. I have been doing this for years, and it always works like a charm! Just dab some toothpaste onto the center of the pimple, rub it in, and when you wake up in the morning, it should be smaller and easier to conceal! Sometimes the pimple goes away in a day, but other times I have to do this for another night to get it to completely go away.

What are some beauty tips/hacks that you swear by? 
Thank you so much for reading, and as always, have a great rest of your day! 🙂

Dream it, Believe it, Achieve it

So today I just wanted to write about something that has really inspired me lately: believing in yourself.
I was watching a video the other day (one of the Shaytards video, if anyone watches YouTube videos – you should check them out if you don’t! They are a great family who vlogs their daily life) and Shay was saying how important self-belief is. It basically breaks down to this: if you are trying to achieve something but you think to yourself “Oh, I could never do that” then you never will. If you are giving up right as you begin something, then you will never get far enough to actually achieve it. You have to stay positive and keep telling yourself that you will be successful, and that all of your hard work will pay off in the long run. People like Bill Gates and J.K. Rowling did not become extremely successful by constantly putting themselves down and not believing in themselves; at some point they had to have said to themselves “You know what, I am going to work as hard as I can and make  myself become successful.” I guarantee you they didn’t just sit around and wait for their success – they went out and achieved it themselves, with the help of self-belief and positive thinking.
 I know all of this sounds so cheesy, but the power of positive energy and thinking is extremely important to success. Your mind is a very powerful thing, and can oftentimes be the only thing holding you back. In many cases, you are the person who limits yourself the most with self-doubt, and the belief that you truly cannot do something. If you want to be a doctor, then great, go for it! If that isn’t your cup of tea and you would rather be an artist, hats off to you! Just make sure you don’t doubt yourself, and constantly put yourself down. When you tell yourself that you can’t do something you instantly put a road block in your mind, and in your life. With thoughts like that, you won’t be able to achieve anything because you will start to truly believe you can’t. Your negative thoughts eventually turn into your beliefs, so if you keep limiting yourself with “I cannot’s” then you will never achieve “I did’s.” You have to act as if you know  what you are trying to achieve is going to come true. However, just because you unabashedly believe you will succeed, doesn’t mean there won’t be any hardships. The road to success isn’t a smooth one, but the power of positivity helps make it a little bit easier.
The well known saying “never say never” (ugh, insert Justin Bieber reference here) is known throughout the world because of its truth; you will truly not learn the outcome of all the “what if’s” if you say “never” to all of them. Who knows what you could achieve if you stopped doubting yourself?
I think the reason why this stuck with me so much is because I will be starting college soon, and I’m anxious about my future and what I will do with my life. I still don’t have a solid plan about what I want to study, major in, or even make a career out of. It’s also exciting, though, because I feel as though I am finally beginning my life, and I want to have a positive start. I am one of those people who can’t be negative all the time or I will give myself a heart attack! I am much more productive when I am surrounded with positivity, and I think that is true about most people. Allowing yourself to be positive and have a great outlook on life truly goes a long way. Positive energy attracts positive energy when it comes to the ways of the world, so it is a great practice to always look on the brighter side of things.

What do you think about self-belief? Have you ever struggled with it?

Thank you so much for reading, and as always, have a wonderful day! 🙂