blogger secret santa

Hello friends, and Merry Christmas!! This year I did Blogger Secret Santa hosted by Cathleen and Abigail for the second year in a row, and it was so fun!! My secret santa was Kenzie of Sincerely Kenz. She put together the cutest lil present for me!

Kenzie wrote me such a sweet note, it seriously made my whole day when I got the package. She also gave me a TON of little stationary things from dollar spot at Target and adorable fuzzy socks. There were some super cute pens and post it notes, which I'm so excited to use.

She included 3 "Provocalips" liquid lipsticks by Rimmel which I LOVE. It's a two step process where you apply the color and then a gloss over the top to help it stay. The colors she gave me are just beautiful and they stay on your lips for so long!!

One of the things I included on my wishlist is that I'm a complete and total history nerd, and Kenzie found this awesome book about World War II for me, which I'm so so excited to read! I was flipping through it the other day and it looks super interesting. 

If you want to check out Kenzie's awesome blog, here's all of her info:

Blog: www.sincerelykenz.com

Instagram: @kenzienegron

Twitter: @kenzienegron

Pinterest: @kenzienegron

Finally, I have a little announcement to make. If you remember my post on Thanksgiving, I announced that Beauty & Blazers would be integrating with my photography business in the new year. Well, friends, that time has come, and this will be my last post on B&B. The posts that are here will stay here, but will not be moving over to the new site, which is dixiemariephoto.blogspot.com. I've been thinking about this change for a long time, and while I am sad to be leaving B&B behind, I'm so so excited for what's to come with Dixie Marie Photography. It has really been picking up in terms of business, and I can't wait to continue doing what I love. In addition to the blog being moved over, all my social media will be integrating. My Twitter is @dixiemariephoto and my Instagram will also be @dixiemariephotog. My Instagram is kind of funky, because it will stay on the same beautynblazers account, just with the DMP handle. Thank y'all so much for hangin' out with me on B&B, and I hope you'll enjoy the content to come with my new ventures. 

Have a blessed Christmas!

black & white look ft. simply gold accessories

It's feels like forever since I've done an outfit post on the blog, but today I've got this cute black and white look and a special coupon code just for y'all, courtesy of Simply Gold Accessories. Hannah reached out to me a couple weeks ago about being a brand rep for them, and I'm seriously so excited about it! I purchased two items from them - the Stone Pendant and the Howlite bangle (which is no longer for sale), and I love them!!

Top: Target

Jeans: Old Navy

Boots: Diba (similar)

Necklace: Simply Gold Accessories

Now for that discount code I promised you, use "BEAUTYNBLAZERS15" at checkout for 15% off your purchase from Simply Gold Accessories!

Have a great day, friends!

Follow me on:
Twitter: @beautynblazers
Instagram: @beautynblazers
Pinterest: Alison H. (@beautynblazers)
Facebook: Beauty & Blazers
VSCO: alison_h

Contact me at:
beautyandblazers@gmail.com

*Disclaimer: I was compensated in the form of a discount for this post, however all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.*

christmas gift guide for the photographer

IT'S REALLY OFFICIALLY ALMOST CHRISTMAS AND I'M TOO PUMPED. Y'all for real though, I put up all my Christmas decorations last night and I'm a little hyped up on the sheer number of Christmas lights and candy canes I've seen in the last 24 hours. In celebration of that, it's time for my first gift guide of the season!!

As a photographer, I'm always tryna get new gear, so this post is a compilation of things I have and love, and things I'm hoping Santa will drop on my doorstep this year if his elves somehow magically win the lottery ;) Some of the things in this guide will be on the pricier side, simply because photography equipment is generally pretty expensive, but I'll also include some more reasonable prices for those shopping on a budget.

one // a cutie camera strap
The camera strap I use was actually a gift, so I'm not sure where it's from, but there are TONS of adorable camera straps out there to choose from. I think it's really important to have a sturdy and comfortable camera strap because photographers have ALWAYS got their camera around their neck. Sometimes the ones that come from Nikon or Canon get worn down and gross, and they aren't exactly the greatest for comfort. For the photographer that moves around a lot and carries around a lot of gear, spring for something nice and functional like this strap, but if you're looking for something a little on the cheaper (and cuter) side, Etsy always has awesome straps like this one.

two // a prism
Y'all, I bought a prism this month and I'm obsessed with it!! I haven't had too much opportunity to shoot with it yet (I'm so excited to bring it to my next portrait session), but these are really neat because they bring a lot of light into photos and make really awesome lens distortions which make your photos super unique and interesting! Plus, this one from Amazon is only $16!!

three // a nice camera bag
I have a pretty nice camera bag - it definitely does the job I need it to, but in the future I would definitely like to invest in a bag that's a little bigger, and a little more stylish. Some of the bags I've been coveting lately are the Lola Rose bag from Gatta Bags, which is actually a pretty good price for the quality, but is also a smaller bag, and the Leather Capri bag from ONA Bags, which is a far stretch for price, but is HUGE and beautiful.

four // reflector set
This is another pretty pricey gift, but if the person you're gifting is a portrait photographer and they don't have reflectors yet, I can almost guarantee you they want some. These are super helpful because they bounce light onto the subject of the photographs which helps speed up post processing. The set I've been looking at is the Westcott Reflector Kit which I've heard about through Amy & Jordan's blog. Again, it's a pretty penny, but definitely worth it for a portrait photographer.

five // instax polaroid camera
I know, it's kind of basic to want one of these cameras, but they're seriously so stinkin' cool. Plus, they're not too bad in terms of price at around $60 from Target. These are a lot of fun, easy to carry around, and they're really nice quality.

six // cool vintage photography equipment
I'm kind of an old lady, so I love looking around old antique shops, and one of the things I find most interesting to look for is old photography equipment. Most often, it doesn't work, but it's still really interesting to look at, and is generally not too pricey, so this could definitely be something fun to pick up for your friend that likes displaying stuff like that in their home! Plus, it'll make for a fun trip through the antique store ;)

seven // prints of their favorite photographs
I LOVE getting my photos printed and framed, and one company I've really been loving lately for that is Parabo Press. It's super easy to get the photos from them and their prices are fantastic!! They also offer gift cards, so if you're not sure what photo they would want printed, just get them the gift card and they can pick it out themselves!

I really hope this little gift guide was helpful for y'all!! What other gift guides would you like to see in the future?

Have a great day!

Follow me on:
Twitter: @beautynblazers
Instagram: @beautynblazers
Pinterest: Alison H. (@beautynblazers)
Facebook: Beauty & Blazers
VSCO: alison_h

Contact me at:
beautyandblazers@gmail.com

*Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored or endorsed in any way and all opinions expressed are my own.*

the importance of thanksgiving + what's coming up next for beauty & blazers

Happy Thanksgiving, amigos!! I love Thanksgiving because it’s totally acceptable to have a giant food baby and eat a million rolls (real talk though, I ate 6 rolls last year). On a less materialistic note, I also love Thanksgiving because I get to see all my family and it gives me an opportunity to remind myself to be thankful.

I’ve talked about gratitude a couple times before on the blog, but I really want to reiterate the importance of recognizing all the good things in your life and being thankful for them. I believe especially that people deserve recognition for the good they do, and that we should always, always be saying thank you.

I believe that we should tell people thank you for every little thing. I believe we should tell our friends “Hey, thanks for being my friend, you’re really cool,” on, like, a daily basis. I believe that we should say thank you to that one barista at Starbucks that always makes really good drinks. If you’re happy about something, if you’re thankful for something, just tell someone!

On the flip side, if you are on the receiving end of the thanks, acknowledge that! And, if you do something good, don’t expect that you’ll be thanked, but do it anyway.

As a believer, I also stand by that we need to be thankful to Christ, and to tell him that through prayer. Thank God for the really big things like your friends and family, but also remember to be thankful for the little things like the chicken nuggets you ate for dinner last night, or the hug your friend gave you when you were having a hard day.

Aside from all the Thanksgiving stuff, I would like to take this opportunity to tell y’all a little bit about the blog. FAM. It's been a hot minute since I've blogged, and to be honest, I had to force myself to sit down at this computer. I truly do love blogging, but I think the problem lies in that my blog as of right now is no longer a reflection of me. Beauty & Blazers was a beauty and fashion blog a little girl in 8th grade created so she would have something to fill her time with, but now I find as a junior in high school that I don't want to focus my blog on only beauty or fashion, and I have plenty of things to fill my time with, including a full scale photography business that I have to blog and do social media for in addition to this blog. That's why, in the new year, Beauty & Blazers will be undergoing a massive rebrand in which I'll be combining the blog with my photography stuff. I'll still blog about a lot of the normal topics I cover here, but the blog will have a new look, a new name, and a lot of photography based content. I'll also be combining all of my social media accounts so there won't be so many to handle at once. I'm really excited about this upcoming change, and excited for y'all to see it!!

november goals

I missed the very beginning of the month, but we out here today to go over those November goals!! I'm really excited for November - we've got Thanksgiving coming up, which means a week off of school (!!!) and then it's CHRISTMAS. I'm so ready. But, before we can get to Christmas, we have to get through November. Here's what I'm hoping to accomplish this month. :)

First, a quick recap of my October goals! My biggest goal was to establish a daily Bible reading plan that I actually followed. I made a super cute little graphic for a 30 day Isaiah reading plan, which I did well with until about halfway through. I'd like to try to read more this month, but with a less structured approach. There have been some random chapters and books that have come up in discussions at church, and I'd like to kind of work my way through some of that. My next goal was to improve my photography skills. I definitely worked on photography stuff a lot and learned a TON this month (@ my photography people, check out Jessica Whitaker's videos if you wanna learn a bunch). I'd like to get some more practice in this month to continue on that growth! Finally, I wanted to step up on my piano game. I was very disappointed in myself for most of the month in that I hardly even touched the piano, but in the last week or so I really got on it and I've made a lot of progress practice wise! I'm hoping to continue that into this month, especially since I've got a recital coming up.

one // finish my current book
Y'all. I've been working on the Constitutional Thought of Thomas Jefferson for MONTHS. I'm seriously loving it, but I'm ready to finish it up and move on to my next read (the Federalist Papers, because I'm a nerd). I'm only about a third of the way through, but I think if I really buckle down, I can finish it up, and hopefully write a review for y'all!!

two // work on driver's ed
I was supposed to have my license by the end of 2016, but there's seriously no way that's happening, so the new goal is to have it by the end of the school year, ideally by March-ish. I'm hoping I can have it sooner rather than later, but I'm trying to keep the timeline realistic. For this month, I'd really like to finish up the written portion on the computer, start studying for the written test, and go driving with my dad on a regular basis.

three // focus in on yearbook
Surprise surprise, we're already late on our first yearbook deadline. If you read about any of the drama from last year, you'll know that my yearbook staff missed literally, every. single. deadline. I'm trying as hard as absolutely possible to avoid that this year, but we've already missed deadline 1 by about 3 weeks. However, I'm hoping to have ALL of my spreads for that deadline done by this week. It's a bit of a stretch, but I'm getting close. In addition, I want to get deadline 2 planned and assigned right after I finish deadline 1, and while the other staffers get started on deadline 2, I have to edit and go over deadline 1 with my advisor. In summary, there's a lot to do.

What are you up to this November? Tell me all about it in the comments!

Have a great day!

Follow me on:
Twitter: @beautynblazers
Instagram: @beautynblazers
Pinterest: Alison H. (@beautynblazers)
Facebook: Beauty & Blazers
VSCO: alison_h

Contact me at:
beautyandblazers@gmail.com

*Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored or endorsed in any way and all opinions expressed are my own.*