life lately & August favorites

Hi lovelies,

I want to apologize for not blogging very much this month. August, to be honest, has been absolutely hectic, crazy, and busy and I've just been overwhelmed! Unfortunately, this meant that my blog had to take a backseat for a little while. I'm hoping now that things have calmed down and I've gotten into a routine, I'll be able to blog once or twice a week. I can't make any promises about a schedule right now, but I will do my best to upload frequently and regularly.

So, August. NYC. Babysitting. School. Swim. Pretty much sums up my month. I started school again two weeks ago, and swimming (I swim for my high school team) started the second week of August. I babysat the entire week before summer break ended. And I took a quick trip to New York City in early August (you can read about it here). I haven't kept a great record of my favorites this month, and none of them are fashion related. That's why this is an informal, personal post. I promise that I'll have some fashion posts up soon. It's hard to do daily outfit posts because I go straight to the pool after school (hey, that rhymed!). But I will work on coming up with an alternative solution.

I have a ton of music favorites this month. I've discovered a lot of new music and many songs that I'd never heard before. One Direction...sigh. I never hated 1D. But I'd also never listened to any of their songs besides the few that make it to the radio. Until this month... Let me just say, I'm obsessed. I'm going to see This Is Us (their movie) this weekend. It's not even worth listing my favorite songs, because the list would have to include all of them. Marry me Harry. Martha Styles... it kind of has a ring to it, don't you think? Anyway, beyond my newfound love for One Direction, I've really rekindled my love for Demi Lovato this month. Her new album, DEMI, and her third album, Unbroken, are amazing. I love Neon Lights, Made in the USA, Really Don't Care, and Warrior from DEMI and Skyscraper and For the Love of a Daughter from Unbroken. I've been listening to a lot of Lana Del Rey, Florence + The Machine, and Ellie Goulding this month, as well. I also love Skinny Love by Bon Iver, Tennis Court by Lorde, and Warzone by The Wanted. And lastly for music favorites, Like a Champion by Selena Gomez. And thanks to Pandora for exposing me to many of these great songs this month!

I haven't been reading as much as I'd like lately. However, I did read a few great books this month. The four Throne of Glass novellas were spectacular and had me in tears by the end. Of course, then I had to reread Throne of Glass. Speaking of which, the sequel, Crown of Midnight, was released this past Tuesday! I might just have to pick it up over the long weekend. I also FINALLY got around to reading Scarlet, by Marissa Meyer (sequel to Cinder). I preordered this book before it was released last February and had been meaning to read it for months. It was amazing and I can't wait for the next book in the series. You can see the cover reveal for Cress here.

I've done a good deal of TV watching this month. The Pretty Little Liars season 4 finale was this past Tuesday, and I can't wait for the Halloween special now! EzrA. I don't believe it for a second. I've also enjoyed the Real Housewives of Orange County three part reunion. And of course, Keeping Up with the Kardashians is entertaining as always. I've also gotten back into Dance Moms this month. I think summer television is the best, and am sad that all the seasons are ending.

In other miscellaneous news...

• I made a Tumblr.
• My one-year blogiversary was August 18th. I was planning on doing a special post, but time got the best of me.
• I saw Mamma Mia! on Broadway in NYC at the beginning of August. It was amazing. You can read about my trip here.
• I toured two colleges!
• I discovered HelloKatyxo. She's my favorite YouTuber of the moment!
• I created an "About Me" page. You can find it by clicking the pink button in the right sidebar. 
• Frozen yogurt was my favorite food of the month. 

18 oz. of deliciousness. Cost me $10, too. 

I hope all of you had a great August. I appreciate your patience and support. Thanks for reading! 

Follow me on Instagram: @marthafab

not all those who wander are lost

Hi lovelies,

I am going to be starting a new post series relating to travel and fashion that will continue through early August. I have yet to come up with a creative name for it, so I decided to call this first post introducing the series, "not all those who wander are lost". This famous line comes from the poem "All That is Gold Does Not Glitter" by J. R. R. Tolkien in his novel, The Lord of the Rings. Also, Jessica Stein from Tuula Vintage (whom I adore) seems to live by this quote, and she includes it in the bio section of her blog and Instagram. I felt it was a fitting title for this post since I will be taking several long trips this summer to very different places. If you have any suggestions for the name of my new travel series, please leave me a comment!

I will be going on several trips within the next month or so, and I want to share as much of my travels as I can with my readers. I can't tell you the places I'm going yet (it's a surprise!), but I have some ideas of what I want to include in this series that I can tell you about now. I am planning on including OOTDs, packing tips, beauty essentials for trips, travel diaries, and posts showing you what I packed. It is very possible that I may add to this list as I go. And not necessarily every post I write until August will be part of this series. I will be sure to indicate whether a post is part of the travel series in the title or by creating a post label for the series. Labels for my blog posts can be found at the bottom of the right sidebar. Some of the posts in the series, such as my personal style posts, will be pretty normal other than the backgrounds and locations being more extravagant since I will be on trips.

I am looking forward to traveling this summer and being able to share parts of my trips with my wonderful readers! I am so excited to start this post series, so be on the lookout for a new travel related post in a few days. I already have another great post planned for Tuesday, so my first travel post will probably be this Wednesday or Thursday. All of these "travel" posts will still be related to or include fashion. If you have an idea for a name for this travel series, I'd love to hear it. Please leave me a comment under this post and I might use your suggestion.

Thank you for your amazing support. I hope you enjoy my new series and your own travels!

If you'd like to keep up with me on Instagram, where I will share even more from my trips, please click here (my username is @marthafab).

Where Have I Been?

Hello lovelies,

I have not posted since the end of September, 2012, and it is now the beginning of March, 2013. October was such a busy month that I had to set blogging aside and when the craziness ended, I just didn't get back into my routine. I apologize for my absence and the significant lack of posts.

To say the least, I have been completely MIA, including from Twitter. For those of you that have continued to follow me, I cannot express my gratitude enough. I will not be resuming my former schedule of blogging; however I have made a goal to blog twice each week, which I think will be manageable. I will announce new blog posts on my Twitter, @fashion_amour. Unfortunately, I cannot predict which days new posts will be up, so just check back here often or follow me on Twitter. My posts may be a little less formal, but I think that will be a good motivator for me to blog more. I am looking forward to posting again, and would love to hear from you!

You can contact me at: fashionamourblog@gmail.com.


Je vous aime tous (I love all of you),

Martha

Posting Schedule

Hi everyone!

I have developed a schedule for when I will be posting. This will go into effect starting on Monday, September 10, 2012 and will continue until further notice. I hope this helps!

Monday- New Post
Tuesday- Check Twitter!
Wednesday- New Post
Thursday- Check Twitter!
Friday- New Post
Saturday & Sunday- Surprise! (There may or may not be new posts. Check Twitter for updates.)

Twitter: @fashion_amour    (Click here to go to my page.)
Email: fashionamourblog@gmail.com

Please feel free to leave a request for a blog post in the comments below, send me an email, or direct-message me on Twitter.

Also, please keep in mind that due to school, posts will probably go up sometime in the late afternoon or evening. If I post earlier, I will tweet about it to let you know. :)

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to check back for a new post on Monday!

Thank you for your patience.

xoxo,

Martha <3

Update!

Hi everyone!

Let me start this post off with an apology... I am so, so sorry that I have not been blogging much in the past week or so! There are no excuses, but I will say that I've been a bit overwhelmed these first few weeks of school, so please forgive me. However, I am so excited to be back and blogging and will try to make this more regular, that way you'll know when I'm posting. :)

If you follow me on twitter, @fashion_amour, then you probably know that I am a member of the Nordstrom BP. Fashion Board, which is such an honor and super exciting! If you're interested in applying for next year, this was the application for the 2012-2013 term, but you can expect something similar for next year! This opportunity is open to high schoolers only! However, if you don't meet that requirement but are still interested in a position like this, Harper's Bazaar magazine has a similar program called Style Ambassadors for ages 19 and up.

The BP. Board also has a blog. To check it out, click here. I am going to be applying this year and only three candidates are chosen. It's a long-shot, but also an amazing opportunity and I can't pass up the chance at such a wonderful experience. I will be working on my sample entry this week to submit by the deadline, September 17.

My next post should be up within an hour, so check back soon! Once I come up with a schedule of days I have time to blog on, I'll post it so you'll know when to expect a new post. Sorry for the temporary inconvenience! Thanks for reading and being patient!

xoxo,

Martha <3