M O N // Summer Essentials

Happy Monday everyone! It's already August, wow I can't believe it! I have been seeing stores all around starting to gear up for fall and back to school (ick). However, I am trying to savor every last sweet bit of summer. Soon enough the leaves will be turning, it will get dark early again, and I will be stomping around campus silently wishing for summer to come back. Today, I am participating in a little campaign with raise.com sharing with you my summer fashion essentials! 
 Raise.com is a really fascinating and cool company that lets you buy and sell gift cards.They have tons of gift-cards discounted in price to brands such as Forever 21, Macy's, Target, Sephora, etc. You could grab a gift card for a friend or yourself as a treat and relish in those summer sales before they end! Also, if you have any gift cards lying around to any store or restaurant that you personally are not going to use yourself, you can sell them on raise.com's marketplace for the price you choose. Be a savvy shopper and a savvy saver that is how I like to shop. Please go and check them out! 

I am super excited to share this with you all because this will be my first ever fashion post on The Bats & Rabbits. I gotta commend all those fashion bloggers out there,getting used to posing in front of the camera is a challenge! 

One of the first things that comes to mind when I think summer is being able to throw on a airy frock and hop outside onto a picnic blanket for a actual picnic or for some casual reading. My first summer fashion essential is a airy dress! It's "easy, breezy, beautiful" I don't even need to think about it. I got this dress in an ASOS sale and I am in love with it! When it's hot and humid and I need to head out and run errands I tend to gravitate towards this piece. I just slip it on and go! 

My next summer fashion essential is a hat. Having black hair or dark hair with the sun beating down on it is not fun at all so I opt for a hat so I can avoid feeling the heat on my head. This super cute hat came from Forever 21 and it makes me feel like a gardener or one of those dudes that push gondola boats in Italy.
My third fashion essential is a pair of boots..Yes I know! boots in the summer is a unusual choice, most people would opt for sandals but I think these boots in particular go under the category of a "summery boot" because they are a pretty cream color that pairs well with any summer ensemble and these also have this "holey" texture that provides some breathing room for my feet. These are also from Forever 21 and are still around in stores and online.

 My last summer essential under the fashion category is cute pair of shades to protect the retina's. Gotta admit..polka dots have practically taken over my life so my sunglasses are also polka dots. These cute shades are from Target. 
As for summery makeup I have been loving my Naked Flushed Palette which you can read about in full here and Loreal's Miss Manga Mascara which I should review soon, and for the lips I pretty much always pop on my NARS Velvet Lip Pencil in the shade Red Sq. 

So..tell me, what are your summer fashion essentials? Leave your answers in the comments below! 

I hope you enjoyed my first fashion post! I hope to curate some more outfits to show and maybe inspire you guys especially as the school season quickly approaches 
( this will also provide me more practice and confidence posing in front of the camera!)Don't worry though I have a good amount of beauty to talk about too. You can keep up with The Bats & Rabbits easily by following me on Bloglovin, Twitter or Instagram for frequent updates! See you all soon! 
                                                           - A 

M O N // Garden Party! (Recap)

This Saturday I held a party celebrating my 21st birthday. I always love bringing together my "Pinterest inspired" party dreams to life.

It's stressful putting together parties, lots of unexpected expenses and thinking on your feet. I even doubted myself the night before the party because the weather was looking pretty grim. By morning though, we were skipping through the emerald blades jovially with the sun shining down nicely on everything. 

Its always remarkable to me how amazing my friends are. All of them joined together into a party team helping shop, construct, bake ( and eat copious amounts of leftover butter-cream icing)  

and clean up  for this party. I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life.

The party was really fun and it felt like summer, drinking lemonade, having a barbecue, making s'mores, lighting sparklers, taking a walk through the woods and having to get close and personal for tick checks - of which there were lots of those little buggers.

Overall, it was a really great day and well worth all the work that was put into it. 

That being said, I am sorry I have been so absent here on the blog. I missed being able to settle down and be on here for a bit and connect. 

I hope to be a little more active on here in the next coming weeks though I will be busy again pretty soon in preparation with my grand adventure with my best friend to California! 

I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far~ 

I will see you all soon.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter and Instagram 

@AllegraShortill + morbidcupcakes

  

- A 

Show and Tell : Collective Haul

  

Whenever I see or watch a haul, my mind harks back to elementary school when we had show and tell. I think that was one of my favorite activities besides story time. I think we all like sharing a part of ourselves with others. The things we buy have reasoning behind them and are catered to our likes and personality. So, I see hauls as a very interesting and positive sharing experience. 

The weather gave us a nice, warm reprieve from snow storms this past weekend.

( aka : opportunity to get outside and also shop around!)

The first batch of things I got are shown in the picture above.

Boater Hat --- Forever 21

"Hipstery Glasses"--- Claires

Tokyo Milk Dark: La Vie La Mort Eau Du Parfaum --- Sephora

It's been a while since I have picked up accessories for myself 

I am pretty sure those glasses have changed my life! 

( I kid! I kid..)

I just really loved how they look on me. No matter how "hipstery" they look I just feel so good and cute in them. They are plastic lenses so they do get dirty quickly but I just never want to take them off my face!

Not soon after, a trip was made to Bath and Body Works where I took advantage of their famous two for $22 deal. 

Raspberry Peach Macaron

&

Renew and Refresh 

( Just two more beautiful smelling beauties to add to my ever growing candle collection.) 

      And lastly, I got two fashion bits!
        These are new stretches for my wardrobe and I love             the two pieces together and separate.
         
    ( Also the burlap bunny garland is also new~ -- Target) 
      
    Navy Polka Dot Cropped Top --- Forever 21
 Grey Striped Button Up ---Target


The end of February is near. 
I can feel some spring like energy underneath the ground and in the air. Birds chirping, warmer winds and a bit more blue sky than normal.
Its all rather exciting!
Hurry up spring! 

I hope you are all doing well.
Have you made any recent and exciting purchases lately?
Let me know in the comments! I would love to hear from you.


-A