Things I'm Loving: Fashion

I'm loving a lot of things this winter, especially fashion-wise. Here are a few:
1. Cool collars:

from Dorothy Perkins. I got a blouse almost exactly like this on a recent shopping trip!

from Forever 21

2. Sweaters:

from Pinterest

from Urban Outfitters
3. Scarves:

diy from A Beautiful Mess

from Vero Moda. Infinity/circle scarves are awesome!

4. Hats:

from Forever 21

5. Boots with scrunched-up socks:

picture from Etsy

What things are y'all loving this season? xoxo Ife

On Repeat IV

Hi there! The fourth On Repeat is here. I have really been having frun picking songs for you guys. I hope you have been enjoying the songs as well.

Without further ado, here are the songs:

1. Viva La Vida by Coldplay

2. Bennie And The Jets by Elton John

3. Killer Queen by Queen

4. Hey, Soul Sister by Train

5. I'm Yours by Jason Mraz

 xoxo Ife

On Repeat III

The third installment of On Repeat. What did y'all think of last week's songs?

In case you are on mobile:

1. Fix You by Coldplay
2. Hole In My Soul by Aerosmith
3. Misery Business by Paramore
4. Same Old Song And Dance by Aerosmith
5. Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2

I'm scared; I'm running out of songs! Now I have a legitimate excuse to listen to Pandora for hours. xoxo Ife

Notice something new?

I changed my background! The heart background can be found here: http://www.junelily.com/2012/02/01/free-seamless-grunge-heart-backgrounds/. I love this background! This design is definitely in the works. I'm trying to have it done by maybe.. Sunday? We'll see. In the mean time: xoxo Ife

On Repeat Two

More songs! Once again, don't judge just listen.

Enjoy!

 xoxo Ife

On Repeat

Hey! I hope you had/will have a lovely day. Welcome (back) to ATBI!This is a new weekly/biweekly feature here at As Told by Ife called "On Repeat".

 It will just be a Spotify playlist of 4 or 5 songs I can't stop listening to. I've been experiencing a musical enlightment, so don't judge, just listen. Okay? Now that that is out of the way, time for the music!

 I hope you enjoy these songs, I hand-picked them just for you! xoxo Ife

Superstorm Sandy

Hurricane Sandy is scary. I live in Houston, hurricane zone, but I wasn't really affected during Ike. I have a sister in Philadelphia. I know, you're probably hearing about New York and Jersey, but it's still scary. I hope any and all of my readers in the northeast are alright! I just wanted to tell y'all to keep safe. xoxo Ife

My Cup of Tea

I really love green tea right now. In Houston it's getting quite cold, maybe about 60 degrees. That is extremely cold to someone who is used to 90 degrees on most days! Hot chocolate and green tea are my best friends during this time. I really like Lipton Superfruit Green Tea in Black Currant and Vanillaand Swiss Miss Marshmallow Lovers Hot Cocoa. So good! Green tea just tastes so cleansing and refreshing. I like to add cinnamon and nutmeg. As for hot chocolate... I LOVE chocolate in almost any form. Except for dark chocolate. But cheap Hershey's or fancy-schmancy Godiva? I don't care. Just give me chocolate! xoxo. Ife

i haven't given up!

I know I haven't posted in a looong time. I apologize, I just didn't have anything to blog about. And I jammed my finger tossing around a football so it is quite difficult to type. I recently decided to order the missing power cord for my sewing machine.It works now! Hopefully I will have some good posts up soon soon soon. I am going to try to take on the quiet book for my young cousin (duh duh duh). Some of the pages I would like to add are:
-decorate the christmas tree
-road
-mr. potato head
-barn
-fridge
-burger
-noah's ark
-mail
-dress-up
-snowman
-puzzle
These are just my random ideas that I got from various blogs + pinterest. I'm a bit concerned I'll scew it up because 1) children scare me a little, 2) my cousin is six and most quiet books are for three year olds, and 3) I don't really know him that well because he lives thousands of miles away from me. I will still take a crack at it though!

By the way, I am a member of the Amazon Affiliate's program, so if you buy something from one of my Amazon links, I'll get a percentage of the item's cost. Just saying. xoxo. Ife

Photography! (For ultra-beginners)

Disclaimer: I am by no means a professional photographer. At all. These are just some sources I found that have really helped me.
On cell phone photography (and a bit on DSLR): linkbun.ch/immh. Before you get a DSLR, you should learn about macros, depth of field, ISO, et cetera. A great place to do that is camerasim.com:

Sorry it goes off the area for posting, you'll have to forgive me.
On your rights as a photographer: http://linkbun.ch/iron
Great overall sites:

• From my favorite blog: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/photography-tips-and-inspiration.html
• http://digital-photography-school.com/

A few tips:

• Be like me and once you find out about something (like depth of field) that you didn't know about before, search it up! Your current sucky camera or even your phone may have that function. (Especially if its an iPhone which I am in LOVE with. Sigh)
• Before I looked up cell phone photography tips, I didn't even know about the rule of thirds, aperture, ISO, or things like that. If I got a DSLR, like I wanted to, I probably would have been stuck in auto just like with my current point and shoot. 
• Look up different camera types. Not all DSLRs are professional cameras. You might not even need a DSLR, maybe you just need a compact/bridge camera (more megapixels and optical zoom than a point and shoot, no interchangeable lenses and easier to use than a DSLR) or just a point and shoot. Consider your needs and what you'll use the camera for.
• When you decide what camera to use, try snapsort.com
• Get some sort of account on which you can share your photos (Instagram, Flickr, Facebook, et c.)
• Lastly, and the most cliche, have buttloads of fun exploring! xoxo. Ife