Friday, November 29, 2019

Afternoon Photoshoot || TheCandidMara

I’ve been into photography since I started my fashion blog, and I love it. Capturing and creating moments is truly magical, and I want to share them with the world. Lately, I’ve wanted to get more involved with photography by taking different pictures and learning more about my craft but never could with the school year. Hence, I had to schedule some time during the week and devote it towards a photoshoot session. Once I did one of my friends who modeled down below, I found spots around our campus to shoot at and then captured what looked best. We didn’t have a concept for our pictures as we were working with our cameras and finding the best angles, but we did pretty well. I shoot with the Canon Rebel T3i, which is deemed a beginner’s camera, but I like it because it’s easy to manage, and the quality is fantastic!

Model One

The first model and I wanted to get some basic shots of her outfit and the scenery in the background. Since we were restricted to our campus, we could not go anywhere better suited for her outfit, but we found some spot near a table and brick wall that worked well. Here are a few of the photos down below.

Model Two

For the second model, we based our various photoshoot locations on the color of her shirt. Since it had a lovely salmon color to it, we opted to shoot in a pile of leaves and a seating area surrounded by brink walls as the color of the brick went well with the color of her shirt.

In all, I didn't know what I wanted to shoot going in, but the outcome was still great overall.

To share my photos and reach more of an audience, I made an Instagram page called TheCandidMara to display my work. I always wanted to make my photography page, so now that I have created it, hopefully, it can inspire me to develop more concepts to capture the world.

Samara

Monday, November 04, 2019

Room Tour | 2019

I was obsessed with dorm room tours in high school because I saw people making their room theme from scratch. I couldn't wait to do this because my room at home already had a set theme, so when I got to college, I knew I could decorate it however I wanted. With that being said, this is my third year doing a room tour, and I wanted to change up my look quite a bit. My room last year had much more of a preppy vibe with the tassel decorations and the color scheme, so I kept my room more neutral, and Pinterest inspired this year.

At first glance, my room might seem relatively small, to which it was smaller than my room last year, but once you are in the room and look at it longwise, you will see that there is more than enough room.

My closet is the same as it was last year from the outside. The inside is the same, but I set it up differently because I seem to have way more stuff to store inside. Anyone else ever has this problem where you have seemed to have brought more things than you did last year? It happens to me every year, and I don't buy much.

Onto my bed, I love how my bed is set up. I wanted my colors to be white, black, and grey, so I kept the same comforter as last year, bought grey sheets, and hung up this beautiful tapestry from Five and Below. Then on the top, I just draped a fake, green vine for added effect. The bed reminisces a cloud, and I would essentially be floating on it as I travel the world, if that makes sense.

Under my bed, I have a storage area where I keep my bins and drawers. This year I draped a black fabric to act as a bed skirt, so it does not show any storage underneath my bed.

I like to call this my entertainment area as this is where I would come and sit down to watch TV. With the same idea as last year, I set up my TV on top of my storage bin to act as a TV stand, and on the other side, I placed my chair to sit in. I made an effort to decorate my chair more according to the room's theme, so I found a white throw blanket from the dollar store and a grey throw pillow from Walmart and placed them on the chair. It adds a level of coziness as well.

As for wall decoration, I wanted to do the Pinterest-inspired leaf wall design, so I found fake green leaf decorations on Amazon and hung them on the wall vertically to add more life and a friendly vibe to the room.

With the way my room was set up, I had a nice little space in front of my bed to put my desk. I soon realized afterward that I could make this into my own office space. So with that, I decorated my desk to my liking by placing marble countertop paper and putting my desired items on top. The countertop paper adds more definition to the desk and room overall. Then I put up sheer curtains for the aesthetic. I always wanted a curtain in my dorm room, but I wanted to be light and airy to go with the room theme, so sheer was the best way to go. Then I placed my black mirror and hung up two items, one which is just my canvas and says Tres Chic, and the other frame that I spray painted matte black that way I can write on it with chalk.

Now with all of the combined elements, I find that it does resemble an office. I like to use this space to plan and write blog posts, do homework, make lists, and so on.

This year has to be my favorite year as far as me decorating my room. The color palette is very neutral and more grown-up, and I get inspired to work once I am in this space.

I will still be decorating my room as I am always looking for ways to improve my room, so maybe I will change it up in time for Christmas or even the spring semester; who knows.

Samara

Thursday, October 10, 2019

What I Wear On Campus | OOTW

When I was in high school, I remember dressing up all the time and treating the hallways like they were my runway. It is not as easy as sometimes I have to walk across campus in the brutal, ever-changing Georgia weather. So with the weather and the no-dress code policy here, I have developed my college sense of style that I can still be trendy and accustomed to the weather outside and the temperatures in the classrooms.

In this post, I have gathered some photos of OOTDS that I have taken these past few months because I always forget to take pictures every day to break down what I usually wear for each day.

Monday

Mondays are usually the days I can dress up a little because, on top of having four classes that day, I typically have club meetings afterward, so I want to put in more of an effort. On this day, I wanted to make a fashion statement, so I opted for a denim on denim look. Fun fact, my top is a dress from Old Navy that I just tucked into my boyfriend-inspired Capri shorts from Old Navy as well. I then paired it with some white converse shoes just so my feet do not hurt while walking around campus.

My favorite part about this look is my hair, as I tried this cool bobby pin design on my blown-out, side-swooped hairstyle.

Tuesday

Tuesdays, I have one class, and I tend to go to the library to work on any projects I need to do, so I keep my outfit pretty casual with jeans and a T-shirt. Most days, I wear long sleeves to roll them up outside and roll them back down in class because my classrooms are very cold. I also pick out any jeans I want to wear; this day, I wore these dark-washed jeans from Macy's and paired the whole look with white converses again to stay comfortable.

Wednesday

I have four classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I like to dress up more again since I will be out more, but on this particular day, I had no idea why I wanted to pose wearing a turtle neck with a jeans jacket. I did look cute as I liked my outfit, but the heat didn't, and I immediately went back inside after taking these photos.

I just wanted to point out my jacket real quick. My outfit is the typical jeans and T-shirt look, but I usually tie a jacket around my waist to add another element to my outfit and wear it when I am in class. I got this jacket from H&M for $12, and it was one of the best purchases I have ever made. It would help if you always had a good jean jacket in your wardrobe.

Thursday - Sunday

I will condense the rest of the week down as I wear a variation of this outfit all four days. This photo was taken before the rest of the photos above but is still very accurate to what I wear these days. I will find a T-shirt and pair it with any loungewear bottoms that I can see, like sweat pants, sweat shorts, leggings, etc. I try to balance it by wearing a nice shoe like these Puma's I got from Ross to make it look like I tired.

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There you have it. This post is what I would look like walking around campus. It does change from time to time as sometimes I have to dress up for presentations or look nice for a big event, but I like to dress most of the time comfortably. I want to try and dress up more, but it may have to wait until winter when it's sweater and boot season, then I will go all out with the fashions.

Samara

Monday, September 23, 2019

Being Motivated to Blog Again

Blogging has been a roller coaster throughout the past six years, especially now that everything has been off as I am back in school. The school has been very hectic, and I can not even get into the swing of things, and because of this, I have not been able to blog at all. I have been trying to get back out there by setting dates for when I would post again. It was initially September 6th, then it changed to September 18th, and I kept changing it because it would feel like when I would finish on task or homework assignment, something else would pop up. My schedule is still very hectic, but I have realized that I would have to set aside some time and find my motivation to blog again. Below are just a few things that made me do so.

Buying a new theme

When it comes time to re-brand or start a new chapter in my blogging career, I always buy a new theme. I believe a new theme because it is my way of starting fresh. I did love my old theme, but I wanted something different that I never had before. This new theme seemed much more professional, and I can see myself using it after my college career.

Buying a domain

This one has been on my list since forever. I wanted to have a domain name to establish credibility for my brand. I thought I would have to switch websites from Blogger to WordPress to buy a domain, which I would do, but it was way too much money. On Blogger, I was able to buy my domain through them, and I will kind of use this next year to see how I like it.

Taking pictures again

I was highly discouraged to take pictures again because it has been so hot here in Georgia. I eventually had to deal with it and get back out there again. Despite the humidity and heat, which can be a struggle to be out in taking pictures again was fun and excited. There is nothing like posing and feeling good in your gear. I mean, look at the photos below. I was trying to hit some significant poses. Also, Fall is here, so hopefully, it cools down soon!

Finding an Instagram theme

I like my Instagram to be cohesive, so I have been trying to put a theme together. If you look at my timeline, I think I have three themes that I have used, but they constantly changed due to the content I produced at that time. So I have heard a lot about Lightroom presets, and I bought a few from Etsy to see how they would look, and so far, I like the results.

Getting more photography equipment.

Last year I received the Canon Rebel T3i for Christmas, and over the summer, I bought two new studio lights to help with the brightness of my indoor photos. I have only used them a few times, but I am excited to use them more.

I am so ready to start this new chapter in my blogging career. Along with fully rebranding and transforming my blog, I have also sat down and thought of some fantastic posts that I can do that will be helpful and intriguing.

Finding the strength to blog again has been challenging, but the journey and the outcome will be so worth it. I encourage you all that if you are in a blogging rut or a rut in general, do not be afraid to mix things up and remember why you do what you do.

Samara

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Six Years of Blogging

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog.

This is a different type of blog post because I don't have an outfit to showcase or a trip to talk about, but instead, I am just speaking about what has been on my mind lately.

Throughout high school and some of my college career, I have told people that I am a blogger, and I took great pride in that because where I live, there are not many bloggers. I was the only blogger that I knew in my area, so I wanted to do my best because starting my side hustle in high school made me different from the rest, plus it was about fashion which is what I had a passion for. As high school went on, my school work got harder, but I always tried to get a blog post up to stay consistent despite whatever I was going through. I wanted to stay consistent for two reasons: consistency is critical when growing something, and two because blogging is a side hustle profession I love to do.

I have been behind on blogging because of school and because I don't like the looks of my blog or the photos and posts that I come up with. When I look at my blog, I see so many corrections I want to make because I'm pretty tired of my blog's layout, I feel like my pictures can be of better quality, and my name "The Marshall Wardrobe" does not represent me or what I do and stand for anymore. I came into this blogging wanting to be a fashion blogger, but I can't always afford new clothing pieces; then I changed to a lifestyle/college blogger to help others in my position, but to reach others, you need an audience which mines have declined over the past few months. It's hard because I was proud of some of my last posts and thought they would do good, but I was wrong.

Most of the people who made it to the top would say to keep going and that you have to continue to learn and grow if you want to succeed, but I can't keep going in the direction that I am going. Everything is kind of at a standstill now. I want to reach new audiences and connect with different people, but I feel like I am not doing that despite my efforts. So I feel like this is when I have to stop, turn around and go in a different direction. From a blogging standpoint, this means I have to rethink/revamp everything. I have wanted to do this for a while now, but I want to hurry and do it now before I get bombarded with tests since I am in school.

This post will probably be my last time writing under the name The Marshall Wardrobe, but it's all for the better.

Thank you all who have stuck by me throughout this journey. The future is more prominent, brighter, and better!

Samara

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Traveling to Connecticut and New York + Her Conference 2019

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog.

In early May, I started planning an impromptu trip to Connecticut, visiting my family, and having some fun this summer. Last-minute plans usually don't go according to plan for me, but this trip has been one of the best trips I have ever been on.

I was out of town from June 15 to the 23rd, and with an entire week in Connecticut, I was worried that I would find myself getting bored because I've heard there wasn't much to do in Connecticut, but there is plenty to do, it just depends on what you make of your time.

Some of the days I spent up north were nice and chill, so I will highlight some of my favorite moments for this post.

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I got to Connecticut on Saturday and settled in and chatted with my family the rest of that day and Sunday. On Monday and Tuesday, I went to a few stores and the movies, where Wednesday was where I could do a little sightseeing.

Wednesday

I was able to go to charming Downtown Hartford. Hartford is smaller than Atlanta, but it has its charm. One of my favorite buildings was the gold building pictured above, which is very aesthetically pleasing. I don't know what company owns this building, but the outside is just gorgeous.

The streets in Hartford were not that bad, so I was able to take a few OOTD pictures without anyone passing through.

Later that day, I went to Cirque Du Soleil, which was a fantastic performance. I haven't been to a circus since I was five or six, so this was a treat.

Thursday

Around nightfall, I went to The Sugar Factory for the first time, where my dad and I got the food below. Their food was delicious, and their shakes were terrific!

Saturday

Saturday was Her Conference day, and I was beyond excited for this event. Last year I wanted to go, but I thought it was impossible. I soon realized that it wasn't impossible; I just needed a plan. Since I was staying in Connecticut, I could drive to New York, and I worked a lot before school ended, so I had money saved aside just in case.

My plan went well because I made it to my first Her Conference!

Before getting into more details about the conference, we have to talk about the fit. I had to step up my game a little and try something new. I bought this button-down maxi dress from H&M and paired it with a mustard yellow blazer from Ross. I thought the blazer was a nice touch for a more professional look and the fact that it's yellow makes it stand out. Lastly, I have some heels from Rack Room Shoes which is a discount shoe store. Fun fact: These shoes were on sale for $20, but I got them for $12!

Her Conference was/is a great event for many college women. Some keynotes and panels talked about us as women empowering each other to make it out in this world. My favorite part was the panels, as we could attend any panel of our choosing for each panel block period. I choose a panel about social media and government, PR and marketing, and one about side hustles because they interested me the most. I took tons of notes because there was a lot of valuable information I could use later on in life.

As for the keynotes, each keynote was an extensive discussion about topics each guest was passionate about. I only attended two out of the four. The first was Olympic Gold medalist Michelle Carter and the second actress Jessica Marie Garcia from popular shows of Liv & Maddie and On My Block. I enjoyed both keynotes because they talked a lot about being confident and going after your dreams even when they seemed impossible.

Her Conference gave me the nudge I needed to keep pursuing my dreams. Seeing all these other women be in the position that I am in now of being confused with what they want in life to come out and be successful has truly been inspiring. Plus, I met so many girls with the same mindset as me, so I truly felt that my true self shined throughout.

Once the conference was over, the plan was to go back to Connecticut, but I would not leave before taking a little tour of Manhattan. My grandfather met up with me, and we walked up 42nd street; it was the busiest street I have ever walked. It was nice to see the lights, billboards, and street performers. Hopefully, next year I will have more time to enjoy all New York and Connecticut offers.

Until Next Time,

Samara

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

How To Get Back On Your Grind

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog.

I recently took some time off from blogging and social media because I felt overwhelmed and stressed due to school and my final exams. I stayed up past midnight studying and working as much as I could because I wanted good grades and earned some extra money before I break for summer. Now that it's all over, I can say proudly that I passed all my classes, and the late-night studying paid off.

When I got home for the summer and unpacked my belongings, I soon fell into laziness, and that was ok. I worked so hard during the school year, so I deserved some time off, so with that being said, for the past two weeks, I just took my time, got some rest, and took care of my health. It was great because I did not have to worry about getting up for a class for the first time this year or going to work; instead, I just slept and relaxed.

Now that two weeks have passed, I realized that it is time to get back to business. This summer, I made a few goals on how I want to grow my blogging and social media platform, and I can't embark on them if I am sitting around and wasting valuable time.

At first, I didn't know how to get back into the groove of things because it honestly felt better to sleep in, but I have roughly three months of vacation and don't want to waste it. So after doing some research and looking at what I have done in the past, I compiled some tips of what works for me and what I think could work. Hopefully, this can inspire anyone in my shoes and just had a rough period and took some time off but now wants to get right back to work.

It's all about the mindset.

Above I stated that when I came back home for the summer, I didn't want to do anything because I wanted to relax and get some sleep which is ok to do after a long and stressful period, but I knew I had to soon snap out of that. If I were to continue to be lazy, I would not get any work done.

So to get my mind in the right spirit, I had to figure out the mindset I needed to have because if I don't have the right attitude, then I won't be able to get anything done. I need to be determined and focused mainly because before when I had an excellent idea for my blog/social media, it always fell through because I wasn't focused and soon got lazy. This summer, I hope to keep my goals active.

Gotta be productive

Now to go along with having the right mindset, I also want to talk about being productive. I said above that I made a few goals that I want to achieve this summer which I think that if you have dreams or things done, you need to make them your goals and plan to achieve them. Upon making plans to achieve your goals, you have to plan it out step by step to progress while working your way up slowly.

Working on your plan to achieve your goals is a lot, and many factors in your day can determine if you get work done. For me, if I wake up late, I feel like my day is almost over, and I used to wake up around 11:30 AM-noon, and by that time, breakfast is over, and you only have about seven or eight hours of sunshine. So to make sure that I am taking full advantage of my day, I will wake up around 9 or 10 AM, shower, get breakfast, and get right to work.

Motivation/Inspiration

Motivation and Inspiration might be vital to getting back on your grind because you can have your goals and plan, but you need that motivation/inspiration to keep going.

I feel like to start on something new; you need to find something that inspires you. This Inspiration can fuel you in the beginning and make you want to work. When I blog, I am always inspired by many other bloggers and other girl bosses worldwide. I find it amazing how many women are out there just doing their thing and making big moves, so this inspired me because I want to be my boss.

Now for motivation, this is what keeps you going. You can have your goals written out with your plan ad inspiration to start on your journey, but you need to have some motivation to keep you going. What I usually do is think about where I want to go. What's my end goal? What do I want to learn from this? How can I/this project help others?

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That is all I have for this post. I hope I inspired you all to get back out there and work hard on your own goals. Comment down below what inspires you to continue what you do.

Until Next Time,

Samara