Paint It Black

Some days just call for black... and lots of it.

I personally can't get enough of all-black looks because I love the contrast against my platinum blonde hair. I was especially excited to break out this jacket again. I scooped this Zara faux leather moto jacket last winter but accidentally had it shipped to my place out in Arizona, meanwhile I was back in NJ for winter break. Doy. By the time I got back from break, the worst of the Arizona winter was over. I unfortunately only ended up wearing it for about two weeks or so. Tragic. While going through my storage unit, I pulled out my fall/winter clothes and swapped them for my spring/summer ones. I was swapping out my shoes as well when I rediscovered my loves from last winter. I got these Chloé "Suzanna" dupes from Tobi for such a good price. I've seen similar ones at Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe, as well. I'm a firm believer in finding cheaper alternatives that are still good quality, but one day I will have the ability to finally buy the real deal.

Jacket: Zara

Top: Forever 21

Jeans: American Apparel

Boots: Tobi

All photos by the eternally lovely Alee Rose

This shoot was also on our last day together for awhile since I have moved to Colorado. She bleached my roots for me and even did my make-up. She spoils me, I swear! Thanks, Alee, for everything that you do.

Until next time...

XO

Stay Golden

My boyfriend Alex and I have successfully moved into our new place! We had our parents here last week to help us get settled in and now that we pretty much have all of our furniture put together and set up, I figured it's a good time for a blog post. This is only the start of our adventure, and I'm very excited to share the experiences with you all.

If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen some of these photos on my feed. These were all taken on my iPhone during our trip to beautiful Golden, Colorado. We're lucky to be living in a place that is only a few minutes from both the city and the mountains. It only took us about 15 minutes or so to get to Golden and I unfortunately started the day off with an episode of altitude sickness. It would figure, right? I was able to fight it off eventually after we walked alongside the creek all afternoon and later on I stumbled into this awesome antique shop where I got this really ornate German beer stein for my grandmother. I was hoping to find some cool knick-knacks for our new place, but nothing really jumped out at me demanding to be bought. We were heading home when Alex's dad suggested this one mountain, so we took a detour and drove up what is now the tallest mountain I've ever been on. I kept getting these waves of altitude sickness on the drive but it was so worth it because the view was insane. I'll admit I was pretty nervous on the drive down, it was a really narrow road and we were so high up, but Alex is a champ and everything was fine. My altitude sickness was finally done, I genuinely hope I never have to experience that again.

To keep up with my shenanigans, follow me on...

Tumblr: feralblonde.tumblr.com

Instagram: @daniellerosecastano

Twitter: @danidelionnn

An All-Black Affair

Hello, loves!

I'm pretty exhausted from these past two days of travel... I feel like I'll never want to be in a car again after this trip. Don't get me wrong, the ride altogether hasn't been so bad, but the rainy weather we hit today really affected my hips and being cramped in a car all day didn't exactly help my case. That being said, we decided to call it a day once we got into Topeka, Kansas (which is where I'm currently blogging from!)

This photoset is a little bit out of place, chronologically-speaking. I actually shot this look the same day I shot with Mike Matos (you can view the post here) – you'll notice that I'm wearing the same bodysuit. I threw this look together within five minutes or so (not that it's hard to match black with black, lol) and honestly it took about the same amount of time to shoot it. We had a bit of a photoshoot marathon that day... there were two other models being shot by both Mike and Alee as well, so we all were switching in and out of outfits. It was a little chaotic, but from what I've seen of the other photos, all the shoots came out wonderfully.

 I know you're all probably sick of seeing me and this damn oversized fedora but it's honestly become a very vital role in my overall appearance. I can't even begin to explain to you guys how often I wear it... although I'm sure I wouldn't have to go into too much detail considering how many photos I post of it on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and well, here. Hats are somewhat of a security blanket for me, but I'm also very picky about them. I swear that I do have other hats, it's just that this one just so happens to fit me perfectly so I refuse to retire it. I'll probably wear it until it's destroyed... maybe I should invest in a back-up?

All photos were taken by my good friend Alee Rose:

Hat: Missguided

Bodysuit: American Apparel

Shorts: Tobi

Shoes: H&M

Thank you all for reading! I can't wait to be blogging from Colorado!

XO

Money Power Glory

Hello to you all!

I have a very busy couple of days ahead of me as my boyfriend Alex and I embark on our journey out west. Alex is planning on getting into the medical marijuana industry, and I'm just down for the adventure. I'll be documenting our journey and plan to do a series of blog posts to keep you all up to date on what's going on in our world. 

Be sure to check my Instagram account for updates as well!
@daniellerosecastano

 Now, moving onto the reason for this post... I had a final shoot with Alee Rose (well, for now) this past Thursday and we managed to bang out my absolute favorite shoot thus far. I have a few "in between" posts that I wanted to post before this so as to be chronologically correct, but I honestly couldn't wait to share these photos with you guys. I don't know how we managed to pull it off considering Mercury is in retrograde and the blood moon had us both feeling some type of way... but things ended up working in our favor, so yay!

Alee showed me this gorgeous Calvin Klein coat the last time we were together and decided we needed to do a shoot. Because I either wear things that are oversized or undersized, I figured why not do both together and paired it with a little black dress. Lucky for me – and I mean really lucky considering 5.5 is not a common shoe size – her aunt let me borrow these gorgeous red lace-up heels to act as a little bit of a kick (ha, get it?) for such a dramatic black outfit. It was a particularly windy day, which just added to the drama of the coat because as I was walking it would swoosh up behind me like a cape. I've never looked more badass, and the oversized fit made me feel like an Olsen which is never a bad thing!

I already made a sappy post on Instagram about how blessed I am to have met Alee, but I'll reiterate a little because I owe it to her. She's been an absolute pleasure to work with. It's not very often that you find someone who inspires you and stimulates your creativity, and I am lucky to be able to call her a friend. This summer has been a dream for me and I'm glad we went out with a bang.

As always, thanks again to my good friend Alee.
All photos are courtesy of her.

Thank you all for reading!

I very much look forward to sharing my westward experiences with you all so definitely be sure to check back for updates!

XO