Gift Guide: Stocking Stuffers

November 9, 2016November 9, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ 8 Comments

gift-guide-stocking-stuffers

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It’s that time of year! Has anyone started Christmas shopping yet? Last year I got all of my Christmas shopping done on Black Friday. It was the first time I have ever done that, and it was such a relief! I was able to spend the rest of the weekends leading up to Christmas decorating the house and spending time with family, which is really what Christmas is supposed to be about.

When I was younger, my little sister and I would always get stockings full of little items. My dad worked nights, so he would sleep in for the most part on Christmas morning. My mom would always let us open our stockings to kind of “hold us over” until my dad woke up and we could open the bigger gifts. They always picked the cutest items out, like nail polish, socks, candy. I included some of those items in the gift guide above. These are perfect gifts you can throw in a stocking for your mom, sister, friend or co-worker. All of these items are under $20!

My favorite item on that list is the gold pineapple candle. I have had my eye on it for months, but it was always out of stock! When I found out H&M finally restocked it, I knew I had to add it to this list. The Forever Red Bath and Body Works lotion is my favorite scent by them! My boyfriend got it for me for Valentine’s Day this year, and I wear it every day. A huge trend this year has been the poof ball key chains. I have three so far that I change out on my purse everyday. They are a cute accessory that any girly girl would love to add to her purse or key ring.

What was your favorite stocking stuffer when you were a kid? Let me know in the comments!

Valerie

Velvet Moto Jacket

November 3, 2016November 3, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ 1 Comment

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Jacket: Soft Surroundings // White Tee // Jeans // Choker Necklace (similar) // Clutch (similar) // Boots

I have lived in the St. Louis area my whole life. So when Soft Surroundings contacted me to help them celebrate the 11th birthday of their St. Louis store, I did to not hesitate to say yes! They are headquartered right here in St. Louis.

I just love the atmosphere of St. Louis. There is always something going on every weekend, most of it being free! My favorite spot is The Loop. There are so many restaurants and shops for every occasion. Lunch with friends? Go to Blueberry Hill! Girls night? Go to Moonrise! In the mood to hear music? Check out The Pageant and Delmar Hall! Pretty soon they are going to have a trolley going down The Loop, and I’m so excited to try it out!

On November 11-13th, pay a visit to the Soft Surroundings St. Louis store (at The Boulevard, across from The Galleria), to help them celebration their 11th birthday, and enjoy drinks, treats, and a complimentary make over while shopping!

Soft Surroundings sent me this Velvet Moto Jacket to give you a taste of what they have to offer. They are known for their extremely soft fabrics. This jacket is SO soft and comfortable. The velvet trend is one of my favorites this fall. I paired this jacket with an oversized white tee, jeans and booties. Of course I had to add my leopard clutch! It has become my everyday bag (leopard is a neutral in my book).

What do you love about your city? Tell me in the comments, and let me know if you are going to the birthday celebration at Soft Surroundings!

Valerie

In collaboration with Soft Surroundings. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Styled Muse possible!

P.S.: If you are planning to move to STL, or are just wanting a new house, two of my sorority sisters just got their real estate license! Check out their website HERE.

Fall Accessories + Giveaway!

September 5, 2016September 12, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ 8 Comments

Happy Monday, babes! I hope you all had a relaxing three day weekend. I seriously cannot believe how close to fall it is. This means pumpkin spice EVERYTHING. #AmIRight? Sadly it has been SO warm here, that it doesn’t even feel like fall is near. To get in the spirit, I have been doing a lot of fall shopping. I found the perfect booties, nail polish, and watch. My absolute favorite fall piece is my watch from Jord. It is high quality, and will pair perfectly with my other fall accessories. I love that it is made out of wood, it makes it so unique.

My favorite thing about them? They are from STL! I love supporting local brands. Their customer service team is also amazing. Unfortunately, when my watch showed up, it was somewhat damaged. I sent an e-mail over to them, and they responded immediately with a solution. Afraid that a watch might not fit your wrist? Well they have wrist sizing! Just print out their sizing tape measure, and they will size the watch for you!

Now, can we talk about the box it comes in? Not only is the watch high quality, but the box is as well. It is made of wood, and contains a “pillow” for your watch to rest on while you aren’t wearing it.

Want to give Jord watches a try for yourself? They are giving Styled Muse readers the chance to win a $75 gift card! ENTER HERE! ALSO! Just for entering, you get a $20 gift card (excluding the winner, of course)! How awesome is that? The giveaway ends on 9/25/2016.

Here are a few of their watches that are on my wish list:

Their watches also make perfect gifts. I plan on buying one for my boyfriend for his birthday in January (Shhh 🙂 ). Here are few I was thinking about getting him:

Which one should I get for him? Let me know in the comments!

Now, on to some other things. I know I have been super MIA lately. But, life happens I guess. My boyfriend and I have been having major car issues, and have had to work A LOT of overtime the past couple weeks. By the time I get home and cook dinner, it’s time to go to bed! But things are finally starting to come together, and I will have more time to post! Thank you all for understanding!

I hope you all have a great week! Don’t forget to enter the Jord watch giveaway HERE!

This post was sponsored by Jord Wood Watches. All opinions are my own.

Mens Wooden Watches

Designer Clothes For Less With ThredUP

May 26, 2016May 26, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Top: ThredUP // Pants: JCPenney // Bag: Similar // Earrings: Baublebar // Heels: Charlotte Russe

Happy Fri-yay eve! Do you all have any plans this weekend for Memorial Day? My family and friends and I are all going camping this weekend. Sadly, I think it’s supposed to rain all weekend long! Hopefully it will hold off until we get back :).

Have you ever wanted designer items, but the prices were way out of your budget? Well, let me introduce you to ThredUP! ThredUP allows you to shop for items (used and new) and also sell items! I was able to get this Loft top for $20 with the tags still on it.I love this top because it’s light enough to wear during warm days (just roll up the sleeves) but also warm enough to wear while sitting around the fire on a chilly summer night.

If you sign up using this link ThredUP will give you $10 to spend on your next purchase! There are a few handbags I have my eyes on :). If you order anything from ThredUP, make sure you tag me in your photos so I can see what you purchased!

Since my boyfriend and I will be moving into a new place soon, I decided it was time to downsize my closet (don’t worry, just stuff I no longer wear!). ThredUP will for sure be a big help with this.

Have a great rest of your week, and thank you for stopping by!

Valerie

My Weekend At Go Blog Social

May 18, 2016May 18, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

Happy Hump Day! It feels so good to be back. I know I have been MIA for awhile, but my boyfriend and I were going through a death in his family, and it was a really hard time for him, and I needed to be there. Things finally are starting to go back to normal, and I’m trying to play catch up with my blog! This week I will post a few of my most recent purchases on Instagram (so make sure you are following), and in this blog post I will tell you all about the weekend I had at Go Blog Social!

As soon as I found out that Go Blog Social was coming to St. Louis, I knew I HAD to get tickets. Being an introvert, I was really nervous about attending by myself, so my sister tagged along. This was good for her, because she is in the process of creating her own blog.

The conference was three days long, with days 1 and 3 being before parties, brunches, etc. Saturday was the actual conference. Sadly, I was only able to make it to the actual conference on Saturday. The conference started off with everyone registering, getting our swag bags/schedule and getting breakfast. The breakfast consisted of fruit, yogurt parfaits, and a breakfast burrito bar! The potatoes were my favorite… weird, I know. All meals were catered by 23 City Blocks Catering. The conference was at Lumen Private Event Space in downtown St. Louis. This space is seriously beautiful (you can see the photos below). I am going to keep this place in mind for when I eventually get married :).

Since my sister and I got there a little early (we wanted a good parking spot, haha!) we had plenty of time to check out the brands that were there. This was my favorite thing about the conference. Brands from every niche had a booth set up where you can talk to them about their products (even gave free stuff and coupons away!), give them your business cards and possibly discuss collabs. There was even a booth set up to create flower crowns!

There were a lot of speakers at the conference! My favorite one had to be Bianca Jade. She spoke about video, and how it attracts readers to your blog. She really inspired me to add video to my own blog! So you may see videos soon ;). You can see the rest of the speakers below on the schedule and what was discussed. Towards the end, we even had workshops where we could learn different things, like video tips!

23 City Block Catering provided a delicious lunch! Everything from quinoa salad, buffalo cauliflower, and chicken and avocado sandwiches. Soooo good! I was starving by this time, so I wasn’t able to snap a photo of my lunch, whoops! Here are some other photos from the weekend, including what I wore, and what was in the swag bag!

I learned so much from the conference and I’m really inspired to try new things with my blog. Pretty soon I’m going to be switching my site to a self hosted site, and adding a new theme!

I know I said I had big news to share, well here it is! The first one, I have some AWESOME collabs that will be happening in June, so keep an eye out! The second one, my boyfriend and I will be moving from our small apartment, to a house!!! I’m really excited. It will be a fixer upper, which makes it even more exciting! I have binge watched the show Fixer Upper on HGTV so many times, and now I get to have my own fixer upper! My boyfriend is also letting me take one of the smaller bedrooms and turning it into a closet/blog office! Pinterest will be my best friend over the next few months :).

Have you ever attended Go Blog Social? Let me know in the comments. Also, any tips for fixer uppers would be great, haha!

Mother’s Day Gift Guide

April 29, 2016April 28, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ 12 Comments

Little Things

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Happy Fri-yay, beauties! Hope everyone had a great week. Mother’s Day is a little over a week away, have you gotten anything for her yet? If not, I’m here to help you figure out what exactly to get your mom for Mother’s Day!

A notebook: My mom loves to write down notes for everything from doctor appointments to sermons at church. This one would be perfect for all of that while looking stylish at the same time.

Makeup: If your mom is anything like mine, she needs a makeup update! Right now I’m really loving Milani’s lipstick and blush! They finally started selling it at my Wal-Mart, and I got way to excited.

Jewelry: These Kendra Scott studs are perfect for her to wear to church and out for dinner. You can get her this jewelry tray to store all her rings, earrings, and bracelets when she’s not wearing them!

Picture frame: I feel like the perfect gift you can give your mom is a nice picture frame with a photo of you and her, or your whole family.

Perfume: This Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume smells heavenly! It’s perfect for every mom that loves a flowery scent.

Candle and bubble bath: My mom is constantly on the run. Getting her a nice bubble bath and candle can help her relax after a long day at work.

House shoes: These are probably the most adorable house shoes! The print is perfect for her to wear around during the summer. They also come in purple.

What are you getting your Mom for Mother’s Day? Let me know in the comments!

Valerie

Summer Whites

April 18, 2016April 18, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ 6 Comments

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Top: Similar, Similar // Pants // Heels (similar) // Bag: Similar, Similar // Necklace (use code valeriehelton20 for 20% off!)

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good weekend. Mine was super busy! I went to two Cardinals games, and I’m going to another one tonight. Once baseball season starts, I’m either at the games or watching them on TV at my house, a friends house, or a sports bar. I absolutely love baseball, and have been a fan since I was a little kid. I can thank my dad for that for taking me to my first game when I was little :).

During the summer, my favorite clothing item to wear are my white pants. To me they just scream summer, and are perfect for dressing up or down. I love wearing white on white with pops of color! This top (originally LC Lauren Conrad at Kohl’s, but sold out) has the perfect amount of white and color. You can also wear white pants with a white tank and a bright neon clutch and heels. To dress them down you can pair them with a graphic tee and white converse or sandals.

What is your favorite clothing item to wear in the summer? Let me know in the comments!

Valerie

Floral Blouse

April 11, 2016April 11, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ 1 Comment

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Blouse: (Similar, Similar, Similar) // Jeans // Bag: Similar (splurge), Similar (Save) // Necklace // Heels // Sunglasses

Happy Monday! To me, the weekend usually flies by. I tried to spend this one relaxing as much as I could. On Friday I went to bed at like 7:30, no joke. Training for my new position at work wore me out! It will all be worth it in the end though (hopefully).

First of all, excuse my wind blown hair! It was SUPER windy while we were shooting this. I originally bought this blouse at Kohl’s when I had a few coupons to use (you can save so much money there!). It’s by LC Lauren Conrad. I can’t find it online, so I tagged three similar ones above that are perfect for spring. I love pairing blouses like this with jeans or white pants, heels and a neutral bag. I bought this bag from She Inside for under $25! It’s a dupe to the Chloe bag that’s normally $1,800! I have to say, I’m pretty excited about this find. They also have a few other colors as well! I really want the red one, It’s on my wish list!

I found these sunglasses on the same website as the bag, and knew I had to have them! They are the perfect boho glasses that I can wear in the spring and summer.

How did you spend your weekend? Let me know in the comments! And let me know what other features you would like to see on Styled Muse!

Valerie

P.S.: This past weekend was my 1 year blogiversary! I will be having a post next week celebrating Styled Muse’s birthday, so keep an eye out!

Friday Favorites

April 8, 2016April 8, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ 2 Comments

Friday Favorites (2)

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TGIF! I thought today would never get here. I know some of you already know this, but on Monday I started a new position at my full time job (I finally got a promotion, yayyy!). It’s more pay and a lot more work! I’ve been training all week, and there is so much to learn! But so far I’m really enjoying it.

There are so many items this week that I’m loving, so it was hard to narrow it down to only 5 items! I have to say though, that Jergens lotion is a pale girls dream come true. After the first application, I can totally notice a difference on my legs! It also doesn’t have a strong self tanner smell like other lotions.

I know when you see the price on that Chloe bag you are going to be like “Whoa, girl, I can’t afford that!” Trust me, I can’t either. But I did find a dupe that looks EXACTLY like this for under $25! You can find it here. I fell in love with this H&M lips tee MONTHS ago, but it sold out super fast. Now it is back in stock, and I was finally able to order one! If you sign up for their newsletter, you can get a coupon code that will make it under $15!

These Baublebar earrings remind me of a mermaid! So you know I had to pick them up last week when they were having a sale, and I’m really excited to wear them over the summer with adorable wedges like the ones above. Wedges are back ladies, so enjoy wearing them over the summer (they are seriously the comfiest heels you will ever wear).

Which ones of these are your fav? Let me know in the comments!

Valerie

P.S.: In the next couple weeks, Styled Muse will be getting a HUGE makeover. I will be switching hosts and redoing the theme on the site. What are some things you would like to see on the site? Favorite places to shop? Outfit guides? Let me know! I want this to be a website for you to come and get outfit or beauty inspiration from! 🙂 ❤

Where I Buy My Jewelry

April 6, 2016 ~ styledmuse ~ Leave a comment

When I was little (and still to this day), I LOVED accessories. Whether it be necklaces or purses, I always had a large collection. I have so many purses and necklaces that I’m running out of room in my little apartment to store them all! My boyfriend always tells me I need to donate one before I buy a new one, but of course that never happens. Maybe next year that will be one of my resolutions? I will keep that in mind. 🙂

Since I have a lot of you asking me where I get my jewelry, I decided to give you a blog post dedicated to that. There will even be a promo code for you to use to save a little $$ on your purchase!

The first one I’m going to talk about is ILYMIX! This is where I get a lot of my statement pieces from. I love that their prices are affordable, while also having good quality. My recent purchases are in the photos above. I love the white marble earrings! White marble is a huge trend right now. They also have sunglasses, swimsuits and bags. You can use code Valeriehelton20 for 20% off your entire purchase!

If you are looking for monogram pieces, Sparkle & Whim is the place to go! This is where I bought all of mine from (pictured above). They also have a lot of cute statement and delicate pieces! Right now on my wish list is the Grande Modern Monogram necklace. You can wear it with anything, and it’s so easy to layer with other necklaces.

A few other places that I find good pieces at are Purple Peridot (necklace above, on sale for under $24!), and of course department stores like Wal-mart (white earrings above) and Kohl’s (pink earrings above).

These are the shops that I usually have the best luck finding great pieces at affordable prices. Do you have a favorite place to buy accessories from? Let me know in the comments!

Valerie

P.S.: Do you like the new logo? 🙂