Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Happy birthday to the greatest big brother! Wish I could be celebrating with you!

High School Graduation

Family Time

More Family Time

(Like that random clip-art there? That was my lame attempt at covering Jake's 

not family-friendly hand symbols, which pretty much just made it a lot more noticeable.)

Vacation

Pre-Big Sister's Wedding Family Time

I hope your partying it up down in Florida, regardless of the horrible weather that is going on there right now. Don't get into too much trouble!

(P.S. I was going to write some super-nice-journey-down-memory-lane stuff here. But then, I realized that he will probably never read this. Oh, well. At least I thought about it.)

Love you Jake!

Good Decisions

Blazer: NY & Company; Top: Old Navy; Jeans: JC Penney;

Shoes: Charlotte Russe; Earrings: Forever21

Story Time: 

I bought this blazer in 2006. I saw it on the clearance rack at NY&Co., assumed it wasn't my size and walked away from it. But, I couldn't stop thinking about it. So, my mom and I went back in so that I could admire it some more, and had a little heart attack when I saw that it was my size. So, I happily walked back over to the check-out line and made this little baby my own.

And then I never wore it. Until now.

Every time I put it on when getting ready in the morning I felt a little too doctor-y. So, I always put it back and opted for a colored blazer or cardigan instead. I knew that if I included it in my 30 (27) items I would have to wear it. And I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with that decision.

Also, I'm in love with these earrings. I forgot to bring them to SC with me and almost considered driving an hour to the nearest F21 to get another pair.

Have you ever fallen in love with something in a store and then not worn it for years?

xoxo

Shirt Love

Top: H&M; Skirt: Target; Belt: NY & Co.;

Shoes: Target; Earrings: Target

So, if you remember, the other day I mentioned that I had a top I was going to add to my 30x30 items, bringing the total to 28 pieces right now. I fell in love with this top when I saw it on Hayley last month, and had almost forgotten about it until I saw it on sale at H&M a few weeks ago. And, I've probably worn it about 300 times since then. I'm in love with the colors and how amazingly soft it is. 

But, enough shirt love for now. I can't believe this is only day 4 of 30. Technically it's really somewhere around day 8, but there is no photographic proof of that because I'm lazy, the weather here sucks, of one reason or another.

Alright loves, I'm off to a fun-filled afternoon of cleaning and doing laundry.

xoxo

Items 26 & 27

Cardigan: Sam's; Top: NY & Company (exact); Skirt: NY & Company;

Belt: NY & Company (similar); Shoes: Target; Earrings: Local Fair Trade Shop

I've realized that this 30x30 might take a while, but I'm still really excited about it. I'm adding this top and skirt to my items, which, I think, brings me to 27 pieces. I have another top that I'm thinking about adding, that you'll probably see tomorrow.

I got back to MI on Tuesday to two days of storms and a house with (literally) no food and a weird smell coming from a wall near my closet, and the sound of a critter running around in another one. So, hopefully the pest control people will get out here soon because I would really like to be able to go near my closet without needing to hold my breath & suffocating myself with huge amounts of air freshener. 

On a happier note, I went to the craft store on Sunday and got some fabric to make a skirt that I will probably add to my 30x30 items assuming that it comes out at least semi-decent (I'm winging it. No pattern or anything, so we'll see how it goes). 

Hope everyone's having a great week so far!

xoxo

Father's Day

June 2011

October 2010

I'm a little bummed that I can't spend Father's Day with my pops this year, but I'm thankful that I got to spend the last few weeks with him. And, when I called him earlier to wish him a happy father's day he was at Lowe's, and I had just gotten back from Home Depot, so it's almost like we spent the day together (kind of, not really). 

Thanks for everything you've done for me, especially the things that I know you really didn't want to do:

Prom dress shopping (several years in a row)

All the times you've gone shopping with me, even though you know it is going to take a million hours

Putting up with my insane friends that never seemed to leave our house for more than five minutes at  time

Being nice to boyfriends brought home during high school

College Tours

Sorority Parent's Day

Driving to and from campus to help me move because I had too much stuff for my car to handle

Helping my move all my junk to MI (again, two vehicles)

Being open minded to trying the vegetarian meals I make so that we didn't have to eat different meals every night

Supporting me in the decision to move to a state where I knew no one, at only 18 years old

And so much more...

So, thanks again! I can't tell you how much I appreciate everything you've done for me!

Love you Dad!

And happy Father's Day to all the other dads out there as well!

xoxo

The "Half-Dressed" Girl

Dress: Target; Shoes: Charlotte Russe;

Belt: Dad's; Earrings: Target

See? I told you today's pictures were going to be (somewhat) better than yesterday's. I wore this out to a fantastic brunch with my Mom & step-grandma (S.G.). I swear this dress was longer when I bought it a few weeks ago, so apparently it shrunk when I washed it the other day. But S.G. approved and said the I had good legs, so I could pull it off. She also said that the other women in assisted living were going to ask who the half-dressed girl was. I didn't quite know how to respond to that.

 Hope you're all having a great weekend!

xoxo

An Awkward Start...

Dress: American Eagle; Scarf (worn as belt): Givenchy;

Shoes: Target; Earrings: Target

So, these pictures are not the best way to start the 30 for 30. The ones for tomorrow are better. This is what I wore yesterday to pick my mom up from work and then run to the mall with her real quick. It wasn't real quick. By the time we left it was after 9:00 at night and our feet hurt so bad we could barely walk.

So, I decided I would just recreate it today for pictures.  But, then I picked it up and it was all wrinkly, I couldn't get the bow right (because I'm impatient), and there was no one to take pictures...so yea, here you go crooked, wrinkly pictures.

And if you want to know how awkward me and my Mom really are...

That's me. At my Mom's office holding a sign that says "I haven't 'bean' to the bean." Like the bean statue in Chicago. Which is ridiculous, since I drive through Chicago several times a month, and since I grew up around here. My Mom's office has people coming in from 

Atlanta, and my Mom is going to make them take pictures like this. She likes to embarrass people.

30 for 30 - Items

Top: (L to R) Target (Exact), Kohl's (Exact), Target

Bottom: Charlotte Russe, Target, Target

(L to R) JC Penney, JC Penney, Tommy Hilfiger

 (L to R) Forever 21 (Exact), Target (Exact), American Eagle

(L to R) Target, NY & Company

Top: (L to R) Calvin Klein Performance, Old Navy, J Crew, Target (Exact), It's Fashion

Bottom: Hanes, J Crew, Target

(L to R) Sam's Club, NY & Company, Target

I'm finally getting around to starting this season's 30 for 30. I guess a few days late is better than never. I'm not super thrilled with some of the pieces I've chosen, but I've been away from my closet for a month, so I didn't have much to chose from. I only have 25 items picked out so far. I'm waiting for a pair of shoes to come in the mail, a jacket to be shipped from my dad's house (along with all the other things I couldn't fit into my suitcase yesterday morning), and a skirt that requires me going to the store and buying the fabric to make it (my car's in the shop). If those don't work out (because who knows when my dad will ship that box, and when I'll get around to going to the craft store), I'm hoping that I'll find a few things in my closet when I get home that will work well. If not, maybe I'll attempt to do this with only 25 items. We'll just have to wait and see.

Are any of you taking part in the 30 for 30 this season? I'd love to see what you've chosen & how you're remixing it.

xoxo

30 for 30

Just a quick update to let you all know that I am going to take part in this seasons 30 for 30 that Kendi is hosting. I'll be traveling all day today,so I'll be back tomorrow (or maybe really late tonight) with pictures/a list of my items and a little bit about the 30 for 30 for any of you who don't know about it. See you then!

xoxo

Finding the Perfect Pair of Shoes

Cardigan: Target; Shirt: Old Navy; Jeans: JC Penney; Bag: Vintage;

Earrings: It's Fashion Metro; Bracelet: Tiffany & Co.; Shoes: Kohl's

Sorry I've been gone for another week. I'm also sorry that this is the outfit that I'm returning with. But guys, blogging on vacation is a lot harder than I expected it to be. Shopping for graduation presents/dresses to wear to those graduations and hanging out with my long-lost best friend have taken up a lot of my time, and the rest of the time there was no one around to take pictures. And maybe there might have been a few times that I just didn't feel like putting on anything but running shorts and a t-shirt. 

If you follow me on twitter, you might have read that I found the perfect pair of nude pumps. This happened at literally the exact same moment the sandals I was wearing broke. I'm pretty sure that was a sign that there is someone looking out for me. I've been looking for a great pair of nude pumps for over a year now, and I couldn't be happier now that I've found them.

Hopefully I'll be able to post more often during the rest of my vacation now that there is someone around to take pictures for me. And hopefully I'll be wearing something that involves some sort of thought. But it is 90+ degrees here and I'm not feeling particularly happy with the clothing I packed, so I'm not making any promises.

Hope you're all having a good week!

xoxo