Summer Workout Playlist

So I like to go on runs to the lake. Okay, that’s a lie. I do go on runs to the lake, it’s just not an experience that I necessarily like all the time. I’m assuming that I’m not the only one that groans at physical activity. I’m also assuming that I’m not the only one that thinks listening to a great playlist helps ease the pain of working out. Here are some of my favorite workout songs (as of now) to get me excited about maybe looking good this summer.

1.       The New Workout Plan by Kanye West

2. Work Out by J. Cole

3.       Fancy by Iggy Azalea

4.       Wiggle by Jason Derulo feat. Snoop Dogg

5.       Take a Walk by Passion Pit

6.       Settle Down (EMBRZ Remix) by The 1975

7.       I Wanna Get Better by Bleachers

8.       Hands Are Clever by Alex Clare

9.       Come A Little Closer by Cage the Elephant

10.   Hold My Liquor by Kanye West feat. Chief Keef

11.   Sing by Ed Sheeran

12.   Head.Cars.Bending by The 1975

13.   Paris by Magic Man

14.   No Lie by 2 Chainz feat. Drake

15.   Bonfire by Childish Gambino

16.   Miss Teen Massachusetts by SKATERS

17.   Dolce and Gabbana by Riff Raff

18.   Fake You Out by Twenty One Pilots

19.   It’s About Time by Young the Giant

20.   Who Gon Stop Me by Kanye West and Jay Z

21.   Fall In Love by Phantogram

22.   R U Mine? By Arctic Monkeys

23.   Waiting All Night by Rudimental feat. Ella Eyre

24. Drunk In Love (Diplo Remix) by Beyonce

25. Giants by Bear Hands

- Leah

Elie Saab Spring 2014

Out of all of the lines that premiered during Paris Fashion Week in 2014, my favorite was hands down Elie Saab’s Spring 2014 Couture Line.  Saab is a Lebanese fashion designer who has been developing his line since he launched his own fashion line when he was only 18 years old. Some big fans of the designer includes celebrities Blake Lively, Taylor Swift, Mila Kunis, and Katy Perry.

Every single dress that was featured on the runway were absolutely beautiful, each one unique to the other but still felt like a complete collection. Saab focused on pastels, with dresses ranging from pink, light blue, and lilac – but remained dynamic with reds, blacks, and whites. It was nearly impossible having to narrow it down to my favorite dresses, but here’s my top ten. 

And finally, below is my favorite look from Saab:

Check out the rest of the collection here!

- Kristin

Men's Shoes

I am a firm believer that outfits should begin from the bottom up, starting with your feet. Every night before I fall asleep, I like to think about what I will be sporting for tomorrow’s attire. Shoes play a valuable part of any outfit. Unlike some of our female counterparts, most of us males do not share the same obsession as some women have of shoe shopping. I myself would like to have seven to eight pairs of shoes but I have to make do with the five I have.

Last year I made my first long term investment: Allen Edmonds Oxford in Walnut Calf from Nordstrom. I heard praises about the brand, and they are very well known for their calf leather. As much as I love them, I do not like to flaunt around in that specific pair. They are for now reserved for weddings, interviews, and any other times I have to “dress to impress”. My other shoes include Sperry Boat Shoes in a milk chocolate, Nike Free Run in red and grey, and my spring summer sneaker are Onitsuka Tiger Vintage in off-white leather, faded navy, and light grey. Lastly, I have a pair of suede desert boots from ASOS; the color was originally a very light tan, but now they have wonderful dark tan color which took all of last spring, fall and the harsh winter to attain.  Having a variety in style and color allows for me to generate a new look every time.

For example the following:

My best friend since the grade school has a wonderful pair of brogue shoes. Those shoes have a lot character, meaning, and a wonderful backstory: the story he told me was that they were going to move and while picking up boxes of old shoes he discovered a pair of dress shoes. He asked his father who the shoes belonged to, and he replied, “they were mine from my father but since my feet are a bit too wide I don't seem to need them.” So, as what any classy person would do, he continued the lineage; a tradition of men in which an article of clothing, such shoes, is passed down from one man to another. The next day he went to local shoe repair, got them resoled, cleaned up, and polished. Now after a year later, without having to move, we became closer to fashion by identifying and correcting fashion flaws and became the “fashion police” within our group of friends.

In the outfit below he told me, “you obviously told me to wear these shoes, next came the sock, moving up came these pants, then onwards to the button-down shirt and finally the sweater.  Alongside came the denim jacket, moved up to his earrings, and last but not least (he had no time to fix his hair) the paperboy hat. For a better perspective you have to zoom in to realize that each specific article compliments one another and matches. In a different perspective, like a jigsaw puzzle in which tiny pieces are put together to form the big picture, in turn gives you a marvelous ensemble.

One thing I love about my shoes is that I can wear anything from my closet and still feel confident, comfortable, and bit different from other people at union station, on the “L,” and on campus. In all of these pictures I felt stylish, unique and I was trying out the colors I loved and the styles I was displaying. Allowing yourself to have more than the basic three pairs of shoes can increase you chances to develop a well-built wardrobe.

The best way to display our inner self is to utilize a mementos such as necklaces, rings, dresses, or even this case shoes. These objects, nay prized possessions, help us redefine our exclusiveness in this mashed up world of fashion.  (Shoes, jeans, hats, and any accessory defines your uniqueness, but an outfit always start from the bottom up.)

- Danish

Piper, A Local Boutique

With spring here, you might be looking at your wardrobe and thinking you need something new. Well, lucky for you, DePaul is surrounded by some great, and sometimes more than affordable, boutiques.

Skip that train ride and take a nice little walk down Belden East and you’ll hit Halsted. If you haven't seen Halsted before, it is jam packed with shops from lululemon to BCBG Max Azria. I stumbled upon many little privately owned boutiques and what caught my deal searching eye was how affordable the store Piper actually was. Just on one block, I walked past a chalkboard in front of Piper saying “75% off all jewelry” and “50% all sale items."

So far, Piper Boutique has been one of my favorite finds in Lincoln Park. It’s a small shop located at 2136 N. Halsted and it’s barely a 15 minute walk from the dorms. I was immediately greeted by an extremely helpful young girl and a table full of jewelry.  Earrings, bracelets, and popular statement necklaces of any color for any outfit. Here are a few of my favorites from their website.

$48, but on sale for 75% would be $12. 

Already on sale from $66 to $39.

The shop has an array of stylish clothing including skirts, tops, dresses, and more. Follow @PiperBoutique on Instagram for their newest clothes and some great outfit ideas!

So take a little walk down to Halsted and check it out! If it’s still too cold for you, you can head over to piperboutique.com and with the promo code PIPER10, you can get 10% off any jewelry purchase!

- Mona

Oldies but Goodies: 81 Songs You Forgot Existed

Last weekend I found myself on the Amtrak train without Wi-Fi, exploring my ITunes library. One thing led to another, and I was suddenly listening to old Avril Lavigne. This inspired me to find every song I knew all the words to but forgot existed. Bear in mind, half of these songs I’m embarrassed to have ever listened to, but it definitely provided entertainment for my train ride. This playlist is meant to somewhat remind you of those awkward junior high dances, mixed with random tunes you also may have listened to, enjoy the flashbacks!

1.     Temperature - Sean Paul

2.     Take You There - Sean Kingston

3.     Too Much - All Time Low

4.     Get Over It - Avril Lavigne

5.     Cyclone –Baby Bash ft. T-Pain

6.     The Funeral – Band of Horses

7.     I Can Walk on Water – Basshunter

8.     Sexy Bitch- Akon

9.     Halo - Beyonce

10. I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas

11. The Great Escape- Boys Like Girls

12. It Ends Tonight –All American Rejects

13. Womanizer – Britney Spears

14. Thunder (Acoustic) – Boys Like Girls

15. Break the Ice – Britney Spears

16. Fire Burning - Sean Kingston

17. All I Ever Wanted – Basshunter

18. If You Seek Amy – Britney Spears

19. Every time We Touch – Cascada

20. Right Thurr - Chingy

21. With You - Chris Brown

22. I Can Transform Ya- Chris Brown

23. Nobody’s Home - Avril Lavigne

24. Good Girls Go Bad - Cobra Starship ft. Leighton Meester

25. Accidently in Love – Counting Crows

26. Gasolina – Daddy Yankee

27. Crush –David Archuleta

28. Memories - David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi

29. Red Light – David Nail

30. Homesick (Acoustic) – A Day To Remember

31. All I Do Is Win – DJ Khaled

32. 2 Step – DJ Unk

33. Get It On The Floor – DMX

34. Lean Like A Cholo –Down 

35. Snap Yo Fingers – Lil Jon

36. Tonight ft. Ludacris – Enrique Iglaisies

37. Love Drunk - Boys Like Girls

38. Tired of Being Sorry – Enrique Iglaisies

39. Here’s to the Nights – Eve 6

40. Between You and I – Every Avenue

41. Low – Flo Rida ft. T-Pain

42. So I thought – Flyleaf

43. I Don’t Wanna Be In Love (Dance Floor Anthem) –Good Charlotte

44. Stanky Legg – GS Boyz

45. Freaky Gurl – Gucci Mane

46. She Gotta Donk – Soulja Boy

47. Jump – Flo Rida ft. Nelly Furtado

48. Wasted – Gucci Mane

49. Cool –Gwen Stefani

50. Halo – Haley James Scott

51. When We First Met – Hellogoodbye

52. Wish You Were Here - Hey Monday

53. Come Clean – Hilary Duff

54. Battlefield - Jordan Sparks

55. Wake Up – Hilary Duff

56. The Mixed Tape – Jack’s Mannequin

57. Down – Jay Sean ft. Lil Wayne

58. Imma Star – Jeremih

59. Disaster – JoJo

60. Tattoo – Jordan Sparks

61. Pretty Boy Swag – Soulja Boy

62. Love Lockdown – Kanye West

63. Best Days of Your Life – Kellie Pickler

64. Let It Rock – Kevin Rudolph ft Lil Wayne

65. Day N’ Night – Kid Cudi

66. Alejandro – Lady Gaga

67. 6 Foot 7 Foot- Lil Wayne

68. Bottoms Up – Trey Songz ft. Nicki Minaj

69. Lollipop - Lil Wayne

70. All The Way Turnt Up – Solja Boy

71. FireFlies – Owl City

72. Hotel Room Service – Pitbull

73. Like We Used to be – A Rocket to The Moon

74. Lean Wit It Rock Wit It – S Club 7

75. She Wolf – Shakira

76. Party Like a Rock Star- Shop Boyz

77. Turn My Sawg On – Soulja Boy

78. Sidewalks –Story of The Year

79. Hey, Soul Sister – Train

80. Say Aah- Trey Songz

81. Where’d You Go – Fort Minor

- Kirsten