Twitter's Role in Consumer Interaction

Ok ladies and/or gentlemen, I need your help for those of you who are interested! For a final group project for my Marketing Strategy class, my group is analyzing Steve Madden's brand strategy. I am responsible for a section about what the company could do better and I am focusing on their use of Twitter as a means to reach and connect with their customers (us!).

So what I would like to hear from you is a response to any of the following questions, or any thoughts you may have that are relevant. It does not have to be specific to Steve Madden, but really just the general idea of a retail company and their interactions with consumers through Twitter.

• Do you follow any of your favorite brands on Twitter?
• If so, why? Are you looking for links to sales, new products, styling ideas, other?
• What is your favorite part about the Twitter content of one of your favorite brands that you follow?
• Do you think a company is more likely to grab your attention with certain sales or products if they are utilizing Twitter to reach out to consumers who chose to follow the brand?
  
• Are there any things that companies do that you would like to see less of on Twitter?

Feel free to chime in with any of your thoughts, I really appreciate it!

Throw Some Glitter, Make it Rain

This is what happens when you dye Easter Eggs AFTER you spend two hours at Happy Hour on $3 Thursday:

1. You don't make it to Hobby Lobby before they close to get intended decorating supplies, like feathers for making cute little birds.
2. You forget that last year you had TWO tablets of each color and accidentally water down the dyes too much.
3. You end up COVERED in glitter.
4. Or, in Kelly's case, you fall asleep and never even make it to the egg dyeing/glitter shower.
   

Adventures, as per usual. Here are some pictures of what we DID end up with:

Hey Lauryn, I don't know if you got enough glitter...

Jenna and Alex egg productions.
To quote Jenna, "I'm Jewish so I need special assistance."

See that egg in the middle on the left? We call that the Ke$ha egg. Mostly because it turned out all sorts of weird looking colors and we really had no idea what to do with it, so Lauryn just covered it with glitter and ta da... Ke$ha egg.

Lauryn's eggs.

Jenna was clearly exhausted from all the egg dyeing.

I've seen a few other posts about egg dyeing and everyone had some really cute/unique ideas! Did anyone else do anything really fun or crazy for egg dyeing this Easter?

The French Ballerina

I guess the combination of the black and white stripes and all the tulle and ribbon just make me feel like a French Ballerina in this dress. It has become one of my new favorites since I found it at TJ Maxx a few weekends ago at home. They had some REALLY cute dresses when we went in, and I got another for only $20 that I might wear for graduation. Oh my goodness, graduation, THAT IS SO SOON!

These pictures are from a few weeks ago, back when I actually bought the dress, and I have worn it again since then but have been thinking I already did this post. Oops! don't know where my head has been lately but it's not on this planet. (Come to think of it, I feel like I'm always saying that... hmmm.)

Outfit
Dress: Pretty Good via TJ Maxx
Leggings and Wedges: Old Navy

It drives me crazy because the dress is "hand wash only," and I sure don't have the patience for that... but I think in the long run it will be a good thing that keeps me from over wearing it. Does anyone else have this issue? I feel like I'm always finding an item that I absolutely love and then wearing it to death before it gets to have a long productive life!

Spring Shoe Frenzy

You all know how much I love shoes. And you also probably know how much I love trying to pawn awesome shoes off on you guys when I can't afford to buy every single pair that I want. Target has a sale going on sandals right now, but aside from that they also are carrying the Dolce Vita for Target line AND have a really great knock off of the Dolce Vita Pela wedge. So let your mouth water on behalf of your feet (and my wallet), these are my picks right now:

Dolce Vita for Target: Cork Wedge Sandals
$29.99

(These remind me so much of one of my favorite pairs of flat sandals from Old Navy, and they come in A LOT of colors, including metallics!)

Dolce Vita for Target- Rope Wedge Sandals
$29.99

Mossimo Pilar Strappy Wedge Sandals $29.99

(These are the Dolce Vita Pela knockoffs, and I have been drooling over those for practically a year. Plus, I have it on good authority from Miss Joanie that they are super comfy! These also come in about a million colors: everything from neutrals to pink!)

Xhilaration Thierry Ruffle Flat Sandal (Floral)
$14.00

Mossimo Wauna Braided Flat Sandals
$14.00

(Also available in multiple colors!)

Ok. I have to be honest here. I started this post this afternoon and after my night class I had to run to Target to pick up a few things. I ended up coming home with the Pela knockoffs in Brown. My first choice was obviously black, but I have way too many black or black-friendly shoes as is, so I really wanted to do something different. I was interested in the Nude, but they didn't have those in store, and I really have been wanting some brown comfy but cute shoes for the summer. Joanie was not lying- they are SO comfortable. They're probably close to 4 inches tall and I don't feel like I'm wearing heels at all!

Do you have any Spring/Summer items you're drooling over right now or absolutely must have?

Birthday Outfit Post

As we speak I am currently uploading the 200 pictures from Little 500/birthday week to Facebook. Not excessive at all, right? I'll try to pick some of the best to share sometime this week. Here's what I ended up wearing out the night of my birthday:

Outfit: Dress, sandals: Old Navy Belt: Forever 21 Flower: Won in a giveaway Bracelets: Charlotte Russe

The bangs got thrown back for the night because they had just been getting toooo hot this week!!! I can't decide if I want to grow them out of maintain them for the summer. Hmmm.

I think this was one of the best birthdays I have ever had to date. On top of the roses from my dad that I can home to Thursday morning, my crazy crazy friends set up this whole "scavenger hunt" with all sorts of little props and tasks to do throughout the night, but unfortunately most of them got left at Jenna's on accident on the way out. I still remembered the little jar of bubbles, though, and was blowing those around all night long! Big thanks to everyone who made the birthday part of this week so much fun... I have some REALLY wonderful friends! (Including Katelyn who drove two and a half hours and randomly showed up on Friday to visit for the weekend! Wonderful surprise!)

Thanks Mom & Dad...

For making me! Well, and... you know, putting up with me for the last 22 years :-)


I'll be doing the birthday/Little 500 thing all weekend (who am I kidding, I've been doing it all week), but I think it should result in some pretty post-worthy pictures. See ya next week!

Goodbyes to Cold Weather

The weather has been teasingly darting around between being REALLY cold (for the Spring state of mind, anyways), perfectly Springy, and something like you would expect in the middle of June. This outfit is likely one of the last you'll see with a really "cold-weather" feel to it... it's almost time to pack up the heavy sweaters!

Outfit
Dress: Gap, hemmed
Cardigan, Leggings: Old Navy
Headband: Forever 21
Ribbed socks: Target
Necklace: Italian blown glass
Boots: Durango, RCC Western

In other news, my camera decided to randomly break (literally nothing traumatic happened to it and the lense cover went all crazy and in trying to fix it a spring was lost) so it looks like it's a new camera instead of cowboy boots for my birthday after all. The next few posts will still be catching up from the old camera, but I'm looking forward to trying an outfit post with the new one. It's a really similar camera, just newer, and I think it does better with different levels of lighting without flash. We'll see!

(I'm still hoping to get the cowboy boots as a graduation present, so those should be along sometime in the next month or so! Wait, did I just say graduation? Oh my goodness)

Love: Sephora Collection

As mentioned in the last post, several of the makeup products I was wearing are new and have become some of my new favorites/daily staples! All three are from the Sephora Collection.

I'll start from left to right:

1. Sephora Collection, Lip Attitude- Star in Capricious Red. ($12) The website describes it as being a mixture of lipstick and lip gloss, and it is a perfect combination of just that. I like that it's more subtle than most lipsticks due to it's glossy/sheer color and has the perfect amount of shimmer to not be overwhelming. I love this color because it really compliments the coral-red colors I have been wearing a lot lately.
   
2. Kohl Waterproof Eyeliner in Keep Black. ($9) I had read about Korres eyeliner on a blog around Christmas time, but never saw it anywhere when I thought to look. It caught my eye again in Sephora last weekend, but it was placed strategically close to the Sephora Collection Kohl Waterproof Eyeliner, which was significantly cheaper. I like the idea of anything that's waterproof that's around my eyes, because they're nothing worse than "bleeding" eyeliner or mascara due to swear, tears from eye irritation, or anything else. I am SO glad I bought this- it goes on SO easily and SO smoothly, and it STAYS on. When I wore it out the night in Chicago, any other eyeliner would normally have been long gone by the time I got home, but it took a shower AND a good scrubbing with makeup remover to come off, which is a huge benefit as far as I'm concerned. Since then I've found that just that makeup remover works best so as to not totally traumatize the poor skin of yours eyes. ;-)
3. Sephora Collection Colorful Mono Eyeshadow in Creme Caramel (Matte). ($12) I am always looking for new neutral colors that can be incorporated into "going-out" makeup or just worn on a daily basis. I LOVE this color, because it is actually a little warmer than the picture above, and it is just about the same color as my skin, so I can even use it as an extra little layer of concealer under my eyes when needed. I LOVE using this when I'm going for emphasis on eye-liner/mascara and when paired with the lipstick to keep things toned down and not over the top. The different shades come in matte, glittering, or metallic shimmer, and definitely are long lasting. I am looking forward to trying new colors in the future.
   

I think overall all three of these products have made me realize that you can find makeup that you don't have to spend a FORTUNE on that is still really high in quality. They were all slightly higher priced than most comparable products I have used in the past, but so far have proven to be worth every penny! Do YOU have any favorites from the Sephora Collection you would recommend trying next?

Katelyn and I both in the Capricious Red lipstick.

Rockin' and a Rollin'

The reason we were in Chicago last weekend was more or less based on the fact that a band we used to go see all the time in high school was having a Reunion/Farewell show. Much the Same was based in Chicago but did tours stopping in Evansville pretty frequently, and were certainly one of the staples of the Evansville "punk" scene. (No, I was never really "punk" by any means, though we did go to plenty of show. I'll try to find a picture to attach of the girls back then.)

After the show at Reggie's Rock Club in South Loop, we were heading up to Lincoln Park to see a band that one of my dad's coworkers is in. The plan was to head out to the bars in Wicker Park after that, but we were three tired girls (and sick, in my case- thanks allergies!) so we just high-tailed it home with my dad after the second show. Here's what I wore for the night:

Outfit:
Vest: Forever 21
Boots, Bracelets, Earrings: Charlotte Russe
Skirt/Sequined Pocket Shirt/Leggings: Old Navy
Purse: Carlos Santana, TJ Maxx

**Hopefully a post will follow in the near future highlighting the makeup seen in these pictures, as several of the products I picked up at Sephora have become my absolute new favorites!


Some of our guy friends from Evansville who were also in town for the show. Cute faces on their part, I know.

"Holding" Phillips glasses while he was busy doing the "mosh pit" thing.

And, as promised, here's an attempt to capture what we looked like back in the "scene" days. Definitely not punk by any means. Note the band shirts, reddish highlights on black hair (though believe me, that changed plenty of times), rainbow raver kid bracelets, rubber band necklaces, gauged earrings, etc etc etc. I don't really know what we thought we were doing!