Picture Post- Bloomington Bars meet 21 Year Old Alex.

Well, last night was just as good as I had expected it to be. I have some amazing friends that made the night absolutely wonderful. AND I DIDN'T LOSE OR BREAK ANYTHING! Great success, if you ask me. I was feeling it this morning, but I'm absolutely fine now aside from being pretty tired. Think I may try to sneak in a nap before dinner at SUSHI BAR! Kelly, being the wonderful roommate she is, made me cinnamon rolls this morning and added the "hair of the dog that bit you" remedy by making a round of lemon drops. Haha. So here is a recap of pictures. I thought that would be best.

(Birthday outfit! Ended up trading the glad's in favor of flats... probably wise on my part)

(Nick's at Midnight!)

(The whole gang at The Vid... Pineapple Upside Down shots!)

(Sink the Biz at Nick's)

(Dancing on the booth at Kilroy's to TRICKY!)

(My AMF- Adios, indeed.)

Made it out alive! Hooray. Now let's hope I can say the same for Vegas.

***Disclaimer: I'm fully aware most posts resulting from this week and next (Little 500. World's Greatest College WEEK. Period.) are going to make me look like a raging alcoholic. I promise I'm a fully functioning responsible citizen most of the year... and now a legal one too! ;-)

Birthday With the Family!

From the time this posts, I will have exactly 12 hours until I am 21, and hence a member of the legal drinking world. THANK GOD. I've been waiting for this since I was 4 years old and running to grab my dad a beer when he got home and looked like he'd had a hard day at work, or when I was 12 and drinking Shirley Temples, or 15 and drinking sparkling grape juice out of champagne flutes at Thanksgiving. Bare with me, this may be a long one. Feel free to skip through the pictures.

(Forever 21 Dress, Old Navy Cardigan, Steve Madden Taylas)

So first, here are me and the beautiful mother and father of mine who brought me into this world 21 years ago:

Over the weekend I went out to dinner with my family at Bonefish Grill.... YUM! That means delicious steak and even more delicious BANG BANG SHRIMP. One of my favorites, of all time. They also brought these cute little chocolate-covered strawberries with a candle in the whipped cream, which was nice since we had cake waiting at home!!!


That cake I speak of? Strawberry cake with Cream Cheese frosting from Donut Bank in Evansville/Newburgh, IN. SO GOOD. Almost TOO sweet, you can only eat a little bit!!! My mom even picked out that cute martini design for the top.


Then it was time to teach my 17 year old brother how to be my new bartender (See here), since this was typically my job when my dad was entertaining friends. Now that I'm legal, his turn to take the reins. Also time for presents!!!

My parents gave me the Kathy Griffin book (!!!!! LOVE HER!!!) and two Lolita martini glasses: '21' and 'Celebration'. I also got two really cute bracelets (The green one in this picture below). Well, plus the new phone: a Blackberry Bold which I am now IN LOVE WITH and desperately needed (but that was free through my dad's office, and he and my brother both got phones too, so it wasn't so much a present, specifically). The main present is the trip to Vegas this coming weekend, which is probably the best present I could EVER ask for.



THIS picture is from today when my roommate Kelly was going through my closets planning outfits for me for tomorrow night/the weekend in Vegas. I haven't seen her much lately thanks to school/traveling, and I MISS HER! But I'm excited for all these outfits. ;-) You'll have to stay tuned in to see which one makes it out tomorrow night!


So, as my Marketing Research professor says, so long for now. I'll try to bring myself to recap tonight with what I can only imagine will be a very hungover post tomorrow. (My bar guide for the night, Annissa, wants to end the night at a bar called The Upstairs that serves a drink called the 'AMF'.... Adios MotherF*&*%#... I'm sure that will do me in if the rest of the night doesn't.) And you can be damn sure that next week will bring a FABULOUS Vegas update with lots of good outfits.

(And again again thanks so much to everyone who's been visiting/commenting lately! You guys always are so sweet and I love hearing your stories about things too!!!!)

Toms: One Day Without Shoes

Whether you can go barefoot for a whole day, an hour, or even just fifteen minutes, this is really a great cause to raise awareness for. Something as simple as going barefoot in a place you would otherwise be wearing shoes causes people to question it, and learn about the cause. We really take for granted the fact that we CAN walk around barefoot in this country without contracting parasites or other diseases.

The story that really got me came from my Creativity and Communications teacher, who was relaying a story of a woman who had just been given shoes for her children from Toms. She had three children, and between them they only had one pair of shoes to share. Their school required shoes, and so each child could only go to school every third day. Upon the donation, the woman began crying because it wasn't just shoes the kids were getting, but a whole life change from the ability to get an education.

I'm well aware it's unlikely that any of us can single-handedly cause a whole lot of change in this world, but it's hard to pass up something so simple. Toms is a great company with the one-for-one business model, providing a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair bought, and every little bit of awareness counts.

www.Toms.com

www.OneDayWithoutShoes.com

Playing Dress Up!

And here are the pictures of the new dresses! Just realized I left my camera charger at home over spring break so the camera JUST lasted long enough to get these pictures (Yes- spaciest person EVER award definitely goes to me. Particularly because my mom had to mail my camera back to me, and I just now realized two weeks later I forgot the charger, too). The one of the coral Delias dress isn't that great, but the camera died, so it had to suffice!!!

The shoes I'm wearing in all of these pictures are my Steve Madden Fiesstaas. Still haven't had anywhere to wear them out to, because they're so darn tall that I've been waiting for a good occasion that also won't require much walking.

Dress 1: Forever 21 Splattered Paint Strapless with a tie in the back. This was the one I bought in Chicago over Spring Break a few weeks ago. I may, however, add some kind of halter straps to it, because I hate constantly worrying about keeping strapless dresses up! We'll see.

Dress 2: Delias "Jess Knot Dress"... and these sunglasses are also the Jennifer Sunglasses I ordered from Delias as well.

Dress 3: Delias "Sharona Knit Dress" in Coral. This is the one that I think I'm going to add a liner to (the bottom half anyways) if I ever get my sewing machine fixed. Hopefully taking that in next weekend when I go home for my birthday with the family.

Also- Owl/Cosmo Painting giveaway still going on (here).

and

New Red Velvet Cake Recipe up at Wonderland Kitchen!


Hope everyone is having a good weekend- the weather here is GORGEOUS! Actually hit 81 earlier today!!!

Picture, Recipe, and Outfit Posts all rolled into one-Five Day Recap?

It's always something... and lately my internet has been "On the fritz", as they say. So that would explain my five day absence. That and the fact that most of this weekend was spent out or in bed, and today was spent on too much homework and group meeting time than a no class day should call for. I did however go to the gym on Lauryn's guest pass with her and Kelly, and I know I'm going to hurt like hell tomorrow (In EVERY muscle, including those I didn't know existed, thanks to the awesome variety of machines at the Y) but I know it will feel SO awesome at the same time. I can't wait until I can start going regularly.

So for the pictures from the last five days, we'll just so a "Picture Post" sort of deal, followed by pictures of MY NEW GREEN (turquoise) SWEATER! I'll also warn you that there are a few pictures of some pretty good (I guess I'm biased but everyone else said it was good too!) food I've made the last week, so if you're hungry, you might want to come back later!

(This picture is actually from LAST LAST friday when I mentioned we went out for Sushi. Finally broke out the Target dress with my ribbed leggings, black booties, and purple bomber)

Made some delish lasagna and hosted a mini dinner party with Betsy, John, Todd, and the lovely Kelly roommate.

Went out, and took good pictures, with some of my favorite ladies :-)

Woke up to shoes spread ALL over my room after an indecisive dressing before going out.

(I've been trying to follow a minimalistic route with the makeup lately)

Hung out with the girls (AND GUYS!)

Put shoes on our heads?

Played Quarters. Should be noted that this game requires skills I certainly don't have.

Made Sausage Spinach and Sun-dried Tomato Pepperoni Pizza

Made one of MY best Chicken stir frys so far- still perfecting that recipe!

So finally, the green sweater! I've actually worn it one or two other times, but this was the first time I took any pictures. No big surprise, but I love it just as much as the orange sweater! I really like how it looked with the black v-neck pocket T (Old Navy) because the two different colors in the knit stand out really well against it. It also makes my eyes look really green, which I guess I figured out this weekend that they are. Strange thing after growing up knowing your eyes change color but thinking they are predominantly blue. My hair was also very haphazardly thrown together and back in a headband after a wake-up call a bit early for my tastes, so disregard.

Sweater and Headband from American Eagle. V-Neck from Old Navy. My best guess is that the necklace is from For Love 21, but who knows!!

Finally Finally the Christmas Picture Post.

I know it's a bit late but I'm finally getting around to sharing some of the goodies I got this year. It's occurring to me that I have several posts I meant to do somewhere along the lines of break and just never got around to, so maybe the next few snowy days will help me get around to it.

The MUCH ANTICIPATED Steve Madden Merriees. They fit like a GLOVE and I am absolutely in love with them. And especially in love with the fact that I managed to find them for a great sale price (for my mom- I guess I basically did my own Christmas shopping this year).

Steve Madden Fiesstaas. Also long awaited. These are going to take a bit getting used to because they're a little higher than my usual heels, but I absolutely love them as well.

Vera Bradley Weekender!!! I had originally wanted the small duffel, but they were sold out in the pattern I liked, so I ended up with this instead- and I think I love it ten times more! More pockets/zipper compartments, and it will be the perfect airplane carry on!

Lolita Lolita Lolitas! I think I've mentioned these before (Martini ornament from the Christmas Decor post), but they are truly my favorites! My aunt got me the "Five O'clock Somewhere" wine glass and my Dad got me the "Zebra" martini (We got him the Indy and Chicago martini glasses). Excited to add them to my collection!
They've got all sorts of great things that make perfect presents- check them out here. You can usually find a lot of their stuff at Hallmark's as well.

Of course I don't go any holiday without adding to the DVD collection. This year, The Hangover, Public Enemies, and Inglourious Basterds. All WONDERFUL movies. I also picked up Wedding Crashers, Red Dragon, The Prestige, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose (brand new for the used price, and buy three get one free!) with a gift card from Coconuts in Evansville, IN, where they sell used movies, guarunteed of course.

The domestic side of me was also fulfilled with an 8" Chef's Knife (ONE OF MY FAVORITES!), wine glasses, an apple corer, and Torani Caramel Syrup and a Paring knife from a gift card I won at Evansville's Kitchen Affairs.

This is a series recommended by my mom's hairstylist Mindy, and I thought it was pretty decent. It's essentially about a "Vampyre Finishing School", but also kind of portrays Vampires to be magical in a sense. It really just seemed like what would happen if Twilight and Harry Potter produced an offspring. They seem to be written towards a younger audience, but they were fun to read, and only too about a day each. There are also two more in the series I have yet to pick up.

I really liked/needed all of my presents this year, so I'd say it was a very very good Christmas! (Yes, even the Chiefs shot glass and bottle opener that my dad and brother used in an attempt to make me a Chiefs fan). What was YOUR favorite present this year?!