March 2020 Favorites + Happenings

Face, Fashion, and "Finding Myself"

Today quite honestly feels like the 96th day of March. Between an abrupt end to my freshman year, moving back home, and everything else the Coronavirus has flipped upside down, it’s safe to say that the feelings I previously had towards the month of March (aka my least favorite month ever) remain the same, if not even stronger than ever. Seriously….. what the heck is going on these days?!?!?

I’m going crazy over here and yet enjoying the downtime all at once. Thank GOD for this platform or I truthfully have no idea what would be keeping me going each day. And while the beginning of this month feels like a different lifetime, today I’m sitting down, as per usual, to round up my monthly favorites and happenings.

FASHION 

At the beginning of the month, I was obviously still at school but truthfully I wasn’t in love with anything I was wearing on a day to day basis. I was in the midst of packing up as many clothes as possible to bring home over spring break in order to give myself some room in my drawers at school. Then we found out we were being sent home for a month, and then the rest of the semester so needless to say, I spent the majority of the month wearing sweats and just hanging out during the madness before coming home for five months. Once I came home I was able to get all of my clothes in order and find (almost) everything a new home which finally has me feeling like I have access to everything in my closet.

While I have definitely been wearing my fair share of matching sweat sets from Boohoo as I laze around for hours on end, I’ve found that getting dressed and ready each day is literally the only thing keeping me sane. I’ve finally gotten the chance to style new pieces that have been piling up for months now. I’ve been wearing something new practically every single day experimenting with all kinds of new styles and trends. Lots of belle sleeves, western vibes, tie-dye, and these cropped flare jeans that I grabbed in five colors this month.

It’s definitely a change of pace but I really am enjoying the freedom of wearing whatever I want each day. I’ve been taking advantage and am totally feeling that “all dressed up with nowhere to go” saying at a whole new level.

As for outfits specifically styled for blog posts, these were a few of my favorites. It’s funny because while at school I was getting so excited to come home and shoot content and now that I’m home I miss being at school for the sake of the photoshoots. Compared to here, there are so many easily accessible places to snap photos around Kent which made blogging at school so much fun. The western fringe was by far my favorite outfit of March and I’m so glad I was able to snap a few final photos in front of the train before coming back home.

Some other favorites of the month are dressing jeans up with a pair of heels, smocked dresses, and this light green jogger set. The more oversized the better so I don’t have to feel bad about my (unhealthy as heck) quarantine diet. I’ve also been really big on white shoes this month. Whether they are running shoes, chunky sneakers, or mules I’ve loved wearing them. I just got a pair of heels in the mail the other day and already photographed them with five different outfits! They will definitely be featured in my April favorites.

ACCESSORIES 

Now obviously I haven’t had anywhere to go these days but I’ve had so much fun accessorizing my outfits. I clearly don’t wear a purse and heels around my house each day but when I go to snap my photos at the end of the day I’ve been breaking out some of my favorite accessories.

This cow print clutch is currently one of my most prized possessions. It comes with a chain and can be worn as a purse too if you’d like. I think it’s the cutest western piece and adds such a fun pop to a look. This gold chain belt from SheIn is another favorite. I’ve been seeing these all over my Insta feed and finally hopped on the bandwagon! They change the whole dynamic of your look in no time. Oh, and now that I’m back home I’ve been reunited with my cowgirl hat so I’ve been breaking her out every chance I can get, duh. And other than that, just western belts, in general, have been a favorite. I have tons of them from SheIn and Romwe and they dress up a simple outfit so easily.

WORKOUT WEAR 

I’ll be honest, since being home the only “working out” I’ve been doing is walking around the neighborhood and even that is only happening every few days. It makes me sad because at school I was grinding it out, heading to the gym almost every single day. I just cannot seem to find the motivation to work out here—I literally have no interest in laying on the ground to do a few sit-ups and push-ups; needless to say, I miss the stepper big time right now!

While I was at school though I was loving longer, cropped sports bras. Not only are these super comfortable but they look cute too. It was starting to warm up a bit so I was able to leave the house in just that some afternoons which was a nice change of pace. Here are a few of my favorites (from left to right): 90 Degree By Reflex, Joy Lab from Target, SheIn.

BEAUTY 

I’ve been keeping things pretty simple around here since life seems to have changed so drastically all of a sudden. I’m still putting makeup on each day but I’ve been keeping it pretty simple. Just a few favorites this month.

  • Maybelline Tattoo Studio Brow Pomade: I truly never knew how much I loved this product until I finished it recently. This brow pomade is a drugstore dupe for the Anastasia one and honestly, I like it a bit better. I haven’t had a chance to get to the store and pick up a new one so I’ve resorted to simply penciling my brows in with an Essence brow pencil I found lying around. In all honesty, my brows look atrocious right now so I owe all my good brow days to this pomade.
  • GSQ by GLAMSQUAD Volumizing Texturizing Spray: I was sent a PR package from GSQ this month and this spray came in it and oh baby does this deserve all five stars. I seriously can’t get enough of this! Unlike other texturizing sprays, this doens’t make your hair wet; it’s got more of a hairspray consistency but it gives your hair insane volume. My hair is fairly flat so using this has been a  game-changer. I love spraying it in my hair after curling it and on Day 2+3 hair for some extra body.
  • GSQ by GLAMSQUAD Travel Dryer: I started blow drying my hair a lot this month as I’ve found that going to bed with wet hair is just no longer an option for me. I got this travel-sized blow dryer and it’s been getting the job done + I’ve felt that my hair doesn’t always need to be styled after using it.

ENTERTAINMENT 

Gosh, how excited I was for baseball to start up last month! I’ll be honest, I was devastated when this college season was canceled. I was having a ball keeping up with all of my friends and was so upset knowing I never made it to a spring season game at Kent’s Schoonover stadium. Oh well, I suppose there will always be next year. However, with no baseball means I’ve needed something else to occupy my time.

I’ve been watching a lot of tv these last few weeks. With not a whole lot to do, and a constant need for background noise I started watching The Ranch on Netflix. I hated the first few episodes but started to get really into it and ended up loving the show! I have one episode left of the eight season series to finish after I write this and I’m so sad to see it end. I’m thinking about switching over to YouTube for a week or so before finding another show to start.

As for music, I’ve fallen in love with Jon Pardi’s California Sunrise album! I’ve always loved a handful of songs from it but Lucky Tonight and California Sunrise have been my go-tos lately. Maybe one of these days I’ll make a Spotify playlist to share with you all.

LOOKING BACK ON MARCH 

March always brings along the prom content from me and I had so much fun getting posts up each Friday as part of my Prom 2020 Series. I have one more post going live this Friday and then this year’s content will be coming to an end. I was hoping to collaborate with a few more designers this year but with all the Covid-19 craziness, most companies have placed a hold on their Prom content. My heart hurts for everyone whose dance was canceled—prom was seriously one of my favorite nights of high school. Regardless, I had such a blast shooting prom content and was so happy to share such beautiful gowns across my platforms this month.

I was really hoping on hitting 7K this month but that also didn’t happen. I had some pretty stagnant growth in the first half of the month but with endless time to spend on my phone these days, things are finally picking back up for me. There’s always next month I suppose, right!? I have had amazing growth on YouTube this month though, gaining almost 350 subscribers in just three weeks! Woohoo, 2K here I come!

LOOKING AHEAD TO APRIL

In all honestly, I have no idea what to expect out of April. The world is a crazy, unpredictable place right now and with the state of Maryland currently being on lockdown until further notice, I’m not able to leave my house to shoot content. I have about two weeks worth of content pre-photographed but you’ll definitely be seeing some mirror shots, indoor photos, and outfits styled in the backyard (which was a habit I was trying to break this summer!). I suppose my biggest goal is to just keep this platform going. With things changing day by day it’ll be interesting to see which direction things go. In the meantime, it’ll be business as usual around here. I’m going to be using this time to allow my creative juices to ~flow~,  styling new pieces and trying out fun styles.

This month I’m hoping to hit 7K on Instagram, continue posting as much as possible on the blog, hit 2K YouTube subscribers, and maybe even host a giveaway once I reach those milestones. The last two weeks I’ve tried to be better about taking time out of my day to read other people’s blog posts as well which is a habit I’m planning on maintaining in April.

MY MONTH AT A GLANCE 

March was sad. The second semester came to such an abrupt end that I don’t even remember all that went on those last days altogether. All I know is that I miss the routine and structure of college life— being on my own and yet constantly surrounded by my best friends. You don’t realize how much you take your current situation for granted until it’s ripped away from you.

For instance, it’s such a blessing to be home and healthy with my family during this time and yet in the current moment, all of our visions seemed to be clouded by the inconveniences. Things have been slow around here and it’s driving me nuts. Not having 300 things to do each day is making me sort of crazy but I’m also realizing that perhaps all of this craziness is God’s way of giving us time to reevaluate ourselves and center us on what truly matters in life. I’m praying that come May 1st we will have awoken from this nightmare but for now, I suppose all we can do is pray and try our best to make the most of the current situation. Time to shift my mindset to a positive one regarding this current situation. Happy to have you all along for the ride.
With love, McKenz

THIS MONTH ON STYLEDBYMCKENZ

  1. Angela says:
    March 31, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    It’s definitely a crazy time now, considering how we all started the month compared to how we’re ending it! As long as we all do our part and support each other, we’ll get through and hopefully be able to get back to a sense of normalcy 😊

    Reply
  2. tonispinkdays says:
    March 31, 2020 at 7:57 pm

    I always love reading your recap posts!

    Reply

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