why don't i live here again?

Every time I visit Wilmington, North Carolina I always end up continuously asking myself why I don't live here. The answer is simply because I would never leave!  Even though it hasn't reached over 60 degrees (which because I have developed a high cold threshold in the past four months, is pretty toasty), there has been plenty to do and the atmosphere alone relaxes every bone of my body.

As soon as we arrived Sunday night we were taken over to The Fuzzy Peach, an awesome frozen yogurt place that could probably stand against TCBY and, my book, Pinkberry.  I know Pinkberry is tots the best hun-cal fro yo, but does Pinkberry have red velvet flavored soft serve?  Didn't think so. 

 Yesterday, we ran into Nikki's Sushi Bar to discover the best sushi I've had along with a menu full of burgers, chinese food, even peanut butter and jelly for those really picky eaters.  After hanging out at the beach for a while and some of the surf shops on Wrightsville Beach, we went to my favorite store of all time, Hallelu.  I know you guys have heard me talk about my love for this store multiple times.  Simple solution: go shop here.  Of course, every single item in the store I wanted to buy.  That's not a lie.  Luckily I held my self control or they would have needed to restock everything. 

Even after being stuffed for lunch, we hit up another fantastic eat at one of the best kept secrets in Wilmingon, Sweet & Savory.  It was a combination bakery and deli and it was phenomenal.  Finishing the night off with some more red velvet, this time in the form of a cupcake, I was completely satisfied with my life and would've been happy dying at that very moment.

 To finish off this long and probably unnecessary post, I will simply say there's no question I will one day be living in Wilmington.  There's no way I can resist.

When I get home (sad) and upload my own pictures, I'll be sure to do another post!  

 

i hope i don't jinx it

Considering I live in a town that last year, got more snow than parts of Alaska, it probably is a little too early to be excited for spring, but I can't help it.  And if I'm getting too excited God is encouraging it because this same town that got all that snow last year was running balmy 67 degrees yesterday!  This morning I couldn't help but break out my very summery boyfriend pants (my only pair with holes in them).

I sadly could not get a shot of my entire outfit before I left this morning but here are a few more things I'm excited for this spring...

Getting all my colorful keds, oxfords, and flats out-- I'm okay with putting my boots in the trunk for a while.

 All the spring magazines and catalogs that just came in that I can read on the beach, and start my spring shopping lists.

 My favorite picture of spring break three years ago, which will hopefully prove as a model for how this spring break is going to shape up!


Last thing, here's a few pictures from a couple weeks ago (I ended up leaving my camera at home. oops.) I'm also excited to spend some time with the crazy family for a couple days.  So much to look forward too!

I'm definitely going to try to get a full outfit shot in before I leave for spring break at the end of the week.  It's been way too long.  Until then, Happy early spring!

life on the red carpet is good

No, I did not attend the Golden Globes-- that's next year that I'll be nominated.  However, I did receive an invitation to a semi-formal which one of the roommates was also going to.  Our only wish was that our honorary roommates and the other roommate could have gone with us.  Still, we were treated like celebrities getting our hair and make up done.  Best part, it was FREE!  This is simply due to the fact that our friends are just more talented than anybody else's.  Sorry anybody else.  We didn't get too many shots but here are a few of the final outcomes.


Although I continued to joke the entire night that I personally dyed the fabric and sewed it together to make my dress, I sadly did not.  It was another find from a local boutique in Boone, The Lucky Penny.  It is the best.  Because I have never particularly loved asymmetrical or at least felt that it looked good on me, I didn't expect to like this when I pulled it off the rack.  And being a lover of color, I had to find some way to put some in this outfit too.  Enter firetruck red lipstick.

**Awesome tip from our personal make up artist: put a bit of foundation on your lips and let it dry before putting on any lipstick.  Or you can just go over it with clear gloss and it will give you great nude lips.

  [dress: The Lucky Penny, bracelet/cuff: borrowed, shoes: borrowed]

Cheese, Cheese, & Cheese

As I'm sure the rest of the blogs of the world are doing, I've come up with several things that I am going to attempt to complete/ do over the period of the next 365 days-- or I guess 364 days.  I guess I better step on my list. 
Last year (2010) I did a couple new things, some that worked out great, some not so much.  These things included but were not limited to:

1. transferring to Appalachian State University (worked)
2. dying my hair brown (didn't)
3. dying my hair back to blond (worked)
4. started a blog (still working on that one)
5. started running
6. moved into my own apartment with some awesome roommates (i hope it worked)

So my list for this year (2011, for those of you who forgot the year as their attention was more focused on watching Snookie like a hamster inside the clear plastic dropping ball of the MTV New Year) includes but once again is not limited to the following:

1. run a half marathon (that's 13.1 miles, people)
2. get a summer internship in the fashion industry- if anyone wants to help me out on that one, I'm open to anything
3. go on a road trip with just my sister and brother
4. read 20 new books that I haven't read yet
5. go to new york

happy list

Hello all! 
I continue to make exuses for not posting in the past week or so.  What can I say?  It's summer.  I actually feel like going back to school will be less stressful than right now.  Of course, I say that and in two months I will probably be complaining about how jam-packed my life is.

To stop myself before I complain anymore about my amazing summer, I have an activity for anyone who might be interested.  I was in Wilmington the last 3 days, visiting my old roommate Kristen, who's the bomb.  As I was looking around her room at all the magazine cut outs that formerly covered the cenderblock walls of our dorm room, I noticed a list she had posted of natural highs in life.  I later ran into a similar list on two of my favorite blogs.  Deciding this was a sign from God, I've created my own list as a reminder of the wonderful little moments in life that make it good in this crazy world.

1. getting things in the mail, especially magazines.  and shoes.

2. watching all of The Lord of the Rings movies and remembering how amazing brilliant JRR Tolkein was.

3. singing Disney songs at the top of my lungs in the car.

4. finishing a run.

5. looking at old pictures.

6. pine knoll shores beach.

7. catching someone looking at you differently.

8. dancing and performing in front of anyone.

9. thinking about how much life I still have left to live.

10. listening to a really awesome new song.

11. playing with my doggy.

12. eating fudge tracks ice cream.

13. laughing so hard you don't need to do crunches.  and your cheeks hurt.

14. watching people open presents.

15. waking up from a good sleep with the sun coming in.

16. knowing God has an awesome plan for me.

17. licking cake batter off mixers.

Definitely a good reminder for those gloomier days.  Anybody else have some additional happy moments?  Feel free to share (:

free will, will, will

Has anybody else noticed how difficult life is? I'm sure that sounds like the dumbest question. But seriously, there is so much to think about in a day, and it really never ends, especially when you're pursuing your dreams. Whenever my dad has to do anything (I mean anything: grocery store, chores, work) he always makes a list with little boxes to literally check each item off. He writes them all down on note cards, punches holes in them, and stores them in a spiral bound notebook, which is getting pretty thick. This list just keeps growing and growing; everyday there's something new to check off or add to the list.
I realized people, as in me, segment their lives, constantly looking forward to something coming up. When you get to that place you've been thinking about going, that event that makes you want to turn on Five Years Time (Noah and the Whale) so you can dance in your excitement for it, is the climactic point of your own personal book. It's Harry winning the battle against Voldermort who's attached to the back of Quirrel's bald head. But wait a second, aren't there six more books? All of which are about three times as long as the first. Just like Harry Potter, our lives continue after Voldermort is defeated for the first time, and actually the last time for that matter.
I guess my point is that it gets pretty daunting, life, that is.

Yesterday, a little 8 year old girl Ellie Botvin, passed away after a two year battle with cancer. I only met her once, but she was the best friend of another amazing girl, who I consider my family. When I think about the kind of struggle that Ellie's been through and the fact that she doesn't get to continue her story for six more sequels, I can only feel so blessed that God has allowed me my own story here on earth.
I really don't mean to make anyone feel guilty or bad about the life they want to live. I mean, that's why we have a little something called free will. I only think about this as a reminder to live the life I've been given with purpose. I will continue working towards my goals, my dreams. I will maintain my friendships past that exciting cruise trip. I will love my family when I kinda strongly dislike them. I will marry Ron Weasly! (Too many Harry Potter references?)

ipod in africa?

Random title, I know. To not make this story too long, essentially, I was trying to sell my ipod touch and buy a ipod classic on amazon. I'm not exactly 'savy' in the online buying and selling world, and of course, because its me, the guy I ended up selling the ipod to seems to have actually been someone simply trying to get money out of me. Thankfully, I didn't lose any money, only my pride, while my old ipod touch is somewhere in Nigeria at this point. Yep, Nigeria. Who knows if this was a scam, but I can safely say, I'm not dealing with Craig's List again.

On the complete opposite side of things (the happy, no ipod stealing side) I did receive more than a few exciting packages in the mail!

1. new pair of vans

2. noah and the whale cd

3. vampire weekend cd

4. my new ipod classic

Now looking at this list, I almost feel bad for complaining.

Of course, I'm still on my quest to get my dream job at teen vogue! My mom agreed to teach me how to actually sew. Sure I've sewed ribbons on ballet shoes, or hemmed a dress, but now I'm literally piecing together the different parts of a skirt. There will be no label reading 'H&M' or 'XXI Forever'. Now my only hope is that it actually turns out well. I've also been doing so much research in my pursuit of dream teen vogue job. So I shall end this this post with some of the amazing shots I've found from photographer Patrick Demarchelier, truely inspiring!

As seen in Vogue China

I didn't even realize this was Selena Gomez! I just loved all the colors ♥