shopping when you're 4'9"

Being only 4'9", I am often approached with the same question, "where do you buy your clothes?" and it is typically by another petite girl who is no stranger to my struggles. My struggles with clothing usually arise when I am looking for dress pants, jeans and shoes and is extremely frustrating.

So here are my tips for my fellow petite girls looking to buy cute clothes and shoes that fit:

Dress Pants

When I was an undergraduate student, I had to complete an internship as a graduation requirement and I was faced with the challenge of finding dress pants that were not a mile too long. And after walking around the mall, I quickly came to the realization that clothing stores do not typically carry a large variety of petite sizes in stock so they have to be ordered online (but they do exist!).

To date, I have found three stores that carry dress pants for us petite gals: Express, New York & Company and Banana Republic.

Express and New York & Company offer their petite customers a "short" size in their dress pants which is convenient because it takes about 2 inches off their standard sizes. The only problem that I have come across from these pants is that the leg width is often rather big but other than that, they fit rather well. In addition, both of these stores often offer great sales and coupons!

My favorite store to buy dress pants has to be Banana Republic because they have a separate clothing line designed for petite women in mind. As opposed to purchasing dress pants in a "short" size, Banana Republic's petite dress pants are specifically made for women who are 5'3" and under. If you do decide to purchase pants from Banana Republic, take the drive to one of their outlets as you can typically save up to 50%!

Jeans

Similar with my dress pants struggle, I had a difficult time of locating the perfect pair of jeans that I was not stepping on. My favorite jeans are found at American Eagle and while the short size are still a little too long for myself, they always shrink in the dryer. If I am unable to find jeans at American Eagle, I turn to Abercrombie Kids. Yup. While they are considered a children's clothing store, they are one of the few stores where I can find a simple pair of jeans that fit perfectly.

Shoes

Here's my pet peeve about shoes, people think that because I wear a size 2 shoe, my shoes are cheap. Sure, if I want to wear light up sneakers or sandals with butterflies on them they might be cheap but come on now. While I never seem to have difficulty finding cute sneakers to wear thanks to Nike, finding casual shoes has been a nightmare ever since I can remember. Once in a while I would come across a cute pair of flats or sandals at Famous Footwear, Payless or even Target but I could never find cute heels to wear to work or out until I came across Cinderella of Boston.

Cinderella of Boston is a shoe store that specializes in providing petite women with fashionable footwear. More specifically, Cinderella of Boston offers sizes 2 to 5 1/2 in both medium and wide widths in adorable styles.

I strongly recommend checking the size chart prior to ordering as a kids size 2 is equivalent to a size 3 1/2 on their site and even then, I ordered a half size up and the shoe fit perfectly.

I hope these tips help and if you have come across any stores that I did not mention, please let me know!

twitter 411

So you just joined Twitter and you are ready to tweet your little heart away but you're not sure where to begin. While twitter may seem confusing at first, especially if you're a loyal Facebook user, it really is not difficult at all and I am here to help!

Here are some twitter basics and tips to get you tweeting like a pro:

140 Characters
Each "tweet" on twitter must be made in 140 characters or less and if you go over, Twitter will not allow you to tweet. I know for myself, that going over the 140 character limit is rarely an issue unless I am trying to tell a quick story. If you do go over the 140 character limit, here is the time to become creative and and use abbreviations or symbols to get your point across.

So here are some tips to keep your tweets under 140 characters: 
take advantage of symbols such as: &,%,$,# etc.
use contractions
ignore grammar basics but ensure that the tweet is still understandable
remove any pictures that are attached since they tend to use a large amount of characters
be creative with words and use numbers to substitute words such as: before= be4 or even b4, today=2day

Retweet
Find a tweet that you want to share? Retweet it! Retweeting a user's tweet will allow those that follow you, see the tweet that you found interesting. You will also see tweets on your timeline that are retweeted by those you follow. If you decided that you do not care to see retweets, you are able to disable the feature and it will remove all future retweets from your twitter feed.


Favorite
Come across a tweet that you like? Favorite it! Just like "liking" someone's post on Facebook, favoriting a tweet on Twitter will let the user know that you liked their tweet. All favorite tweets can be found on your page and can be viewed by others.


Twitter Feed
Similar to your News Feed on Facebook, your Twitter Feed will show you all recent tweets and retweets made by those you follow.

Hashtags #
While browsing on Twitter, you will see the hashtag symbol (#) followed by a number of characters such as a word, string of words or an abbreviation such as #TGIF, #laborday, #football and so on. Hashtags are a way for users on Twitter to express themselves in such a way that can be searched on Twitter and when a hashtag becomes popular on Twitter, it will be considered to be "trending". These trending hashtags on Twitter represent popular topics and typically revolve around world events, popular television programs, holidays and so on.

So here are some tips to best use hashtags:
Keep them simple, hashtags that contain a large amount of words can be hard to read
Be creative & unique
Use trending hashtags to join a discussion

Common Hashtags
Throw back Thursday #tbt: this hashtag appears on Thursdays and is usually followed with either an old memory or photo. This is one of my favorite hashtags, I love both posting and reading them!
Follow Friday #ff: Like the previous hashtag this is specific to a day of the week and Follow Friday gives users the chance to reccomend to their followers, which users to follow.
Now Playing #nowplaying: This hashtag usually follows a band, singer, song, radio station and other musical designations to state what the user is currently listening to.
One of my Followers #oomf: The use of this hashtag lets the user tweet about one of their followers without specifically identifying them. Why? I have no idea, I have never used this hashtag but it is rather common.
To be Honest #tbh: My #tbh would be that until two weeks ago, I had no idea what it stood for and I had to google it after I saw it reoccurring on my twitter feed.
Shaking my Head #smh: Yet another hashtag acronym that I had to google in order to understand what it had meant. #smh is typically used after the user comes across something they normally would not agree with or that they are disgusted by. Either way, it is a way to further express themselves.


@ Symbols
The second most popular symbol that you will see on Twitter is the "@" sign. The use of the @ sign desingates a user on Twitter and the @ sign is used directly before the username, such as @twitter, @postsecret, @jimmyfallon and so on. If you would like to directly tweet to someone, you would tweet the user's name before your tweet and if you would like to mention a user, place their name within the tweet itself.

So now you're ready to use Twitter, but who do you follow?
I recommended following a news outlet such as @cnn, @cnnbrk, @nbcnews, @msnbc or @foxnews and consider following your local news stations for weather and area updates. Consider following your favorite celebrities to see what they are up to, my favorite is probably @jimmyfallon as he is hilarious. And here's a tip, follow your favorite stores as the often tweet coupons, deals and sales. Victoria's Secret is known for the "show this tweet to the cashier and save 10%", not bad! If you're in college or a recent graduate, follow your college for upcoming events and updates. Follow your favorite sports team or even specific players, you will receive up to the date sports updates and see exclusive photos. Still having trouble? Use the "Discover" tab on the bottom of the Twitter Application and search for those that share your interests. And if all else fails, follow me! @alilee89!

off to school...

After spending the past six years of my life in college, I have learned a thing or two on my own and some of which I wish I learned sooner. So here it is, my tips for surviving college:

GO TO CLASS!!

 

While this may seem quite obvious, it is very easy to skip class in college as you are not being monitored like you were in high school. Now everyone will tell you to go to class because of the obvious reasons such as you're paying for it (and a lot too!), to learn and to take notes. Now I believe that it is a good idea to go to class because of that one annoying, obnoxious student (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!) who's life goal is to find out what is on the exam before the exam is given The best part about these students is they succeed 99% of the time and you want to be there when the teacher spills! This way you can study exactly what is on the exam (and not the night before!!). Another benefit of going to class on a regular basis is to meet classmates that can help you outside of class. I can not tell you how often I would text or even receive a text from someone in class regarding material previously covered. Not only are these friendships helpful, they help you determine which students are "group member worthy" because there is nothing worse than having a terrible group member.

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Do not procrastinate!

Yes, after the end of your college career you will become the master of procrastination and you will learn how much unnecessary stress that it causes. While it can be quite overwhelming when a project is assigned and while due date is months away, there is no motivation to begin. Take it from me, the sooner you start the project, the better off you will be. Even if you make a short and quick outline or even just "googling" ideas, it will get the ball running. There is nothing worse than waiting to the last minute as you will be more concentrated on how stressed you are than the project on hand. Learn from my mistakes!!

Make friends!

Making friends is what will make your college years a blast (do people even still use that saying??)! Your college friends will be able to relate to you better than anyone else and they will help you de-stress on the weekends and even make class more fun!

Use breaks to your advantage

There is nothing more annoying than having an hour break in between classes, especially if you're a commuter student like I was for six years. There is not enough time to go home or even leave campus and you do not have a dorm to retreat to so, where do you go? Depending on the day and my work load, I would go into the campus center and eat a snack and take time to re-organize to make sure that I was aware of all upcoming assignments and exam dates. Then I would take the remaining time to prepare for my next class such as looking over previous notes or reading the assigned material (okay, I skimmed it!). Trust me, these breaks turn into lifesavers throughout the semester!

Use an agenda

Or an even a mobile app to keep track of due dates, group meetings, and events on campus that you might not want to miss. This will keep you from missing due dates and will allow for you to plan accordingly for major projects or exams. Besides, the prettier the agenda, the more likely you are to use it!

Go to office hours!

Who wants to see the professor after class? I know, it might be awkward to see the professor one on one but do not be afraid to approach them during their designated office hours as they can help you with not only their class but even your career! Remember: professors can write awesome recommendation letters and besides, ya might learn a thing or two.

Check your school e-mail

And check it on a daily basis if not more frequently. Your school e-mail is your lifeline to the college and ya never know, there might be a class cancellation and the last thing you want to do is go to a cancelled class. Not only that but information regarding campus events are often sent to your e-mail.

Get your Zzzz's

I know, I know, easier said than done but sleep is important! You cannot properly concentrate in class if you're more concentrated on keeping your eyes open and your head from nodding forward. You will feel more refreshed if you are able to get your body on a normal sleep schedule. Try and go to bed the same time every night, trust me, it will help!

Create good study habits

Such as highlighting in text books, using flash cards, taking notes while reading or joining a study group. It is also beneficial to find a place where you find that you can best concentrate such as a corner in the library or an area in your room. My favorite place to study was anywhere that allowed me to spread out. I would have books, paper, note cards, highlighters and pens all scattered but it was how I found that I best studied.

 Participate in an internship

This is CRUCIAL!! As a pain in the neck as it might sounds, obtaining an internship is an awesome way to not only boost your resume but it allows you to gain experience in your desired field. When you graduate from college, future employers want to see actual field experience that proves you can apply what you have learned in the class room. If you’re having difficulty locating an internship, do not be shy to contact your academic adviser or a professor!

Good luck and remember, have fun!