Two For One: Kelly Alex Outfit Post.

First thing's first: KELLY'S NEW CAMERA IS AMAZING! It takes SUCH good pictures even in the most horrible lighting. So we took advantage and took a few pictures before we left on our errands today.

(We even managed to figure out some way to do timer pictures in the back yard area, despite neither of us owning a tripod!)

Outfit
Dress: Old Navy
Ribbed Leggings: Target
Boots: Trusty old Uggs
Purse: Nine West
Belt/Necklace: I don't even remember!

We didn't quite make it to all of our destinations for errands, since my Sudafed was wearing off and I felt like I was border-lining death, but we did at least make it to brunch (more like dinner at that point), JoAnn's, and Wal Mart. As always, I bought way more than necessary at JoAnn's. They always have way too many cute scrap booking things on sale, so I bought a few new pages for Dane's Senior Memory Book, a few for my continuing scrapbooks, and some embellishments, as well as a mini 12-page book to do for my best friend Emily's daughter's first birthday. I have so many cute pictures of Lily, and those mini scrap books are so fun and easy to do! I'm sure I'll have trouble keeping it within the 12 pages!

At Wal Mart I finally picked up the frames for the Lady Gaga photo shoot in Elle, and I really like the way they turned out! The close up picture was a 2 page spread, with the other page mostly just consisting of her hair and background, and I thought it would be cool to do a split-frame of that in 2 frames. However, the "crouching" picture was on the back of the second page, and I REALLY liked that one, so I just settled for the 3 separate pictures. I think she is just absolutely fascinating and bizarre, and the pictures were really fun. I like them above my desk much more than the previous poster of Times Square that had been hanging there.

I've still got a few more little decor projects I want to do for my room. I'm in the market for some kind of black bookshelf, or I guess just one I can even paint black, because the current space I've got for books just isn't cutting it! I've got a little shelving unit that is actually an entertainment center which I think I'll take home to my room at my parents house if I can find something good to replace it with, just for the sake of not overcrowding my room. It drives me crazy when there is too much furniture!


It's been hard for me because of the way it is set up (and the fact that my bed wall is painted as a focal point, above) makes it hard to do much rearranging of furniture, which I'm used to doing at least every other month normally! I suppose I'll just settle for re-organizing and re-doing wall decor, and maybe adding some curtains in the near future. ;-)

AMERICAN EAGLE CLEARANCE!!!!

So I woke up at 8 o'clock this morning with my throat practically closed up and as sore as it could get, thanks to this ridiculous little cold or whatever it is I've picked up the last few days. This, naturally, would happen on the day Kelly and I had plans to brunch, run about a million errands (WalMart, JoAnns, Job Hunting, Sam's, etc etc etc), and go to the gym. Luckily Sudafed combined with advil and some pretty strong coffee have severely reduced the unpleasantness, and now I'm just pretty stuffed up... so I think we will at least be able to do a (VERY) late brunch and run the errands. I'm hoping this sick stuff with straighten itself up by tomorrow, or it may just have to deal with the fact that I'm going to the gym anyways.

However, much to MY delight, we were discussing Kel's American Eagle thermal and decided to get on the website and see if they had any on sale... AND THEY HAVE SOME AMAZING CLEARANCE SALES RIGHT NOW! Unfortunately no thermals, but I did order a cardigan, a fleece sweatshirt for lazy days, and another sweater.

The best part is that with 3 items or more, shipping is free, and I also managed to find another 15% off code on Promotion Code! (The code is 56079843, but if you plan on using it get on it because it doesn't specify when it expires!) I've really become quite a fan of googling the websites that give you good discount codes for all types of stores! That website was particularly nice because it gives the dates the code was last said to work based on user feedback, as well as the average amount saved by users!

In the end, all of these ended up each costing only $17, which is a pretty good steal for things that were originally $30-$50! I have really been in need of some more sweaters and a cardigan, so to say the least I am REALLY excited! I'd really recommend checking out the sales if you have any interest in AE, because they've got everything from pea coats to underwear to hats and necklaces on clearance!

Now I'm off to attempt to make my sick self look somewhat presentable so Kelly and I can be functioning members of society today. Since she's back AND has a brand new camera, maybe we'll have a 2 for 1 outfit post later!!!

The Very Opposite of Hat Hair.

My hair, when straight, is quite suitable for hats (though I think my head is kind of big). However, when I've got the wavy/curly thing going on... it's a bit difficult. When I ventured myself out of the house earlier today to clear off my car and go get coffee (any excuse to get out), I figured a hat and scarf would be appropriate.



I broke out my purple scarf I bought while in India two summers ago and paired it with my AE hat that I think I got back when I was a freshman in high school, or maybe even younger. (complete with fuzzy balls on top!) I really don't wear hats all that often because I've got so much hair that it usually just sticks out from under the hat in a desperate escape attempt, so you'd think the hat was bought this year. Actually I think the most it's ever been worn was the week I got it, around Christmas, and I wore it for practically a week straight, only taking it off to sleep or shower.


My car turned out to be much easier to free... it really just needed a MAJOR dust off because luckily there was no ice involved. It was still a bit of a (freezing) process, but didn't take much effort. After getting coffee I went for a little drive around Bloomington, and I drove down by Griffy Lake. The lake was COMPLETELY frozen over and there were a ton of people out ice fishing on it! I know this is something people around here frequently do in the winter, but I personally don't know if I'd be quite so daring. Haha. The woods were really gorgeous with all the snow though, so it was a really pretty drive!!!

(Ice Fishers!)

Now, my darling roommate Kelly is FINALLY almost home, and we're going to the IU Basketball game against Illinois tonight. My guess is we'll lose, since we're ranked second to last in the Big Ten (Actually 11, and potentially 12 if they add Mizzou! By the way Purdue, sorry for your loss today.... PSYCHE! My cousin IS one of their top players, but I go to IU and that is precisely where my loyalties lie!). Either way, it will be fun to go to a game, since I've really only gone to maybe one since freshman year.

"Snowed In"

Ok, so I'm probably not REALLY snowed in. But my car IS buried in what I imagine is somewhere around 6" of snow, and as I said before, even if I manage to dig it out, the chances of it getting out of the parking lot are slim. Plus, I guess I don't really have anywhere to go anyways, besides perhaps a quick trip to Wal-Mart to get some frames (Lady Gaga in Elle, with some really cool pictures I want to put in cheap frames for my room), and that's on the complete other side of town so I just don't really see it happening.

It is STILL snowing, pretty much continuously for going on 36 hours or so now. Last night the snow looked like glitter sprinkling down from the sky and was just gorgeous, and it's a shame I didn't have my real camera to get a picture of it. That in and of itself is another story, as it is FINALLY back to Best Buy from getting fixed, but I of course am not in town to get it, so I guess I'll have that back next weekend when I return for Lily's first birthday party.


Today has consisted of watching way too much TV (Though our HBO channels have some really good movies on that I've got set to DVR!), giving myself a manicure and pedicure, and working on my little brother's Senior Memory Scrapbook. He's only a Junior, so he's got over a year until it's due, but if his is anything like mine (and it's looking like it will be), it's better to start early! I ended up with two HUGE scrapbooks, and I think his will probably be one huge book or two smaller books. Thanks to the hectic schedule of last semester, it's been a while since I've done much scrap booking, and it's been a bit difficult to get myself back into the swing of things. I got a few pages done but mostly just spent a while looking at all the pictures I have together for it. Dane, my brother, was seriously the cutest little kid ever!!!


I think I'm getting ready to pop open a bottle of The Little Penguin Pinot and order a pizza or something unhealthy like that, because I certainly cannot start this year's diet without one last go at one of Bloomington's fine pizza establishments. That being said, I'm SO ready for Kelly to get back so we can get in the habit of regularly going to the gym!!!! And just so she'll be back, because I've missed her so very much and haven't REALLY seen her (Aka as much as two people living together should) in almost two months now! Nothing about that is ok.

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?!

BACK TO BLOOMINGTON!!!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, that mess above is what I drug in out of my car upon arriving back in Bloomington yesterday afternoon. Do I pack too heavily? Most definitely. Especially upon considering that I didn't use half the stuff/clothes I brought home. But you know what? I was gone for a month, and it's better safe than sorry when it comes to having the proper attire! I even managed to make myself unpack EVERYTHING last night, which normally doesn't happen for a few days.

At first I was questioning my early return back, because I found out we were FINALLY supposed to get close to 3 inches of snow at home, but much to my delight the forecast here was 4 to 6 inches. I think at this point in time we've got around 3, and it's still coming!!! I know this isn't a lot for those of you in most wintery places, but I LOVE snow and it's the first big one of the year, so I'm very excited about it! I went to the grocery when I got home yesterday to make sure I was ready for a few relaxing days in. I think I'll start working on some more of my brother's Senior Memory Scrapbook here in a bit. Right now I can't even keep myself from looking out the window every five minutes.

Luckily I'm like a five year old on Christmas morning, and I couldn't keep myself asleep for long this morning, because they started bright and early shoveling the sidewalks and plowing the parking lot. Honestly, I don't think it would have normally woken me up anyways, and it's so nice to live in a complex where they do that and do it WELL! Last year they mostly just succeeded in making the parking lot and sidewalks one big ice skating rink, and I could hardly get my poor little Mustang (NO traction on any snow or ice of any sort, hell, even rain) out of the parking lot most wintry days.

I'm also enjoying the colder apartment, because my family's house gets a bit warm. With no overhead fan, or fan of any sort, to move the air around it can get a bit stuffy and difficult to sleep. I'd much rather it be cold and pile myself under layers and layers of blankets, which is exactly what I did last night! Now I believe I'm off to bed with my coffee to watch some movies and stare out the window, because upon my last inspection I discovered the snow is coming down EVEN HEAVIER now! Hooray!!!! I think I definitely need to live somewhere with more frequent snowfalls when I get out into the real world :-).

Going a bit political.

So is anyone else aware that the father of the man responsible for the attempted terrorist attack came forward with concerns about his son prior to the incident, and that other red flags were present?!

Obama himself says: "This was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failue to integrate and understand the intelligence we already had." Seriously? The mans father comes to us, we know from other sources the guy is working with this group who we know plans to attack, and we still can't do anything about it?

I'm just really baffled. It seems as though every time something like this happens there was prior knowledge of some sort of threat. It really makes you wonder what kind of idiots (Democrat AND Republican) are running this country (Not the president, but rather others).

Either way, what a relief that I can't bring a 3.5oz bottle of perfume on a plane but it's perfectly ok to sneak large amounts of explosives on in your underwear.

NYE Outfit post.

There really aren't many details from New Years Eve to go into, certainly not any I WANT to go into. Small gathering at my house turned into a LARGE amount of drama. Thank goodness if it was going to happen it happened at the turn of the year, an optimal time to leave the past in the past. I couldn't resist, however, posting outfit pictures!

Sequin Bow Headband: Target
Dress: Forever 21
Heels: Steve Madden, of course!!!

Christmas summary post coming soon!!! Of course I'll be shamelessly throwing out there a few more pictures of my new Steve Maddens which I'm sadly obsessed with, along with a few other domestic goodies I got. And Happy New Year to everyone!

New Years Resolutions.

Yes, I know these are infamous for not being followed through with. Yes, every year I say "Oh no I think I can really do it!" and forget them within a month. But I wanted to get this down, in writing, in hopes that maybe they'll work out at least a little! I'm not aiming for achieving goals, but really just kind of redirecting my life in a new direction.

1) CUT DOWN ON THE DRINKING! I honestly just don't even enjoy being ridiculously drunk anymore. And I definitely do not enjoy the hangovers that have become commonplace with every night out. So aside from wine, and casual cocktails, I want to cut back on this, at least until my birthday on April 14th.

2) BECOME HEALTHIER! I want to join the Y and start going with Kelly/Lauryn to do the elliptical. I know for a fact that if I can just get myself on a regular track of going, then it will be easy for me to stay motivated and lose weight quickly and just feel better overall.

3) GET A JOB! Lord knows I've been trying this one for the last year, and hours and hours of job applications have turned up nothing. However, with the fact that I only have classes two days a week this semester, along with me likely being in Bloomington this summer, you would think my availability would be too good to pass up. I'm dying for some financial independence!

4) GET THE GRAD SCHOOL THING FIGURED OUT! I'm almost pretty sure I want to go directly into grad school once I graduate, and this year I need to really focus on looking at schools, applying, taking the GMAT, and getting all my other ducks in a row for this to work out.

I've also got a few others that are a BIT more personal that I'll just keep to myself, but I think these four are more likely to happen with a hard copy reminder for some motivation. Does anyone else have anything big they're aiming for this year?

2nd Annual Bros and Ho Ho Hoes Outing

I am not sure why this event even originated, but I think it was some ploy of our guy best friends to get us to go to a strip club. Now, as trashy as this may sound as it is, make that an 18+ strip club in Evansville, IN and you can only imagine how the trashy factor multiplies exponentially. Regardless, it's always been a hilarious event and provides the opportunity to dress and do our makeup HOWEVER we want because regardless of what we're wearing, we're bound to be classier than someone, and I actually really liked the outfit I ended up wearing. We ended up getting around 20 friends together, guys AND girls, and it was a total blast. In this town sometimes it's nice to just get out and do SOMETHING, as unfortunate as it is that a strip club is one of the only options when half of us are still waiting on our 21st birthdays! (Picture above is my best friend Steven and Me)

It had been FOREVER since I wore my Steve Madden boots, and they went perfectly with my lacy leggings from Target, so I brought those out of the closet (Or more accurately, the trunk of my car, which has long since served as an extension of my shoe collection). I paired it with the Black/Pink Target dress (Above) which I unfortunately couldn't get a great picture of without a real camera, but I think that's been in at least a few other posts so you get the general idea. I think it's kind of just become my go to dress when I'm not sure what else I want to wear with leggings.

I got a little wild with the eyeshadow and used a new turquoise Color Girl pressed powder shadow on most of the lid, with thick black liner, black shadow on the crease, and blended white along the top. For eyelashes I believe I started with Rimmel London Lash Flirt (love IT! Perfect for long but not too thick lashes) and then added my Lash Blast on top of it for a little extra volume. Pardon the horribly dark eyebrows in the next picture, it occurred to me I took the picture before I powdered down the filler color!! I really liked the overall effect of the shadow once it wore in a little bit because it made my eyes look so blue, which is nice when they're usually busy trying to decide whether they're grey, green, blue, or hazel!

I was even more pleased with how my hair turned out- which brings me to another tip I've been dying to share and just haven't gotten around to it. I actually read it in People magazine from one of the hairstylists (I think) for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. To get the look they use for hair, they recommend using a curling iron and curling each section of hair the opposite direction as the section before it to prevent it from all going together. Once it's all curled, just brush it out/run your fingers through it a few times, and you get the relaxed curly look! I also put a little shine serum on it after I've brushed it out a little to reduce any frizz.

This tip was a lifesaver for me because my hair has always tiptoed the line between wavy and curly, so it's nice to have something to do with it that isn't too hard but makes it look ok. I've also found that the longer you've gone since curling it, the better it looks! (Opposed to curling your hair and it going flat/coming together and looking awful, which tends to be the case with mine) I'm sure this tip would work even better if you've got longer hair. I've been trying so hard to grow mine out for so long, and I'm pretty happy with the length it's at right now. The headband it's thrown back in above just kind of helps tame it when I get sick of it being in my face, a problem I have sometimes when my bangs are at the length they are now.

I'd love to know if any of you with shorter hair try this and if it works out! I think it could create the super cute 20's looking hairstyle of a loosely curled bob, so I'd love to see the results.

Hopefully I'll be getting a Christmas post up within the next few days- it was a very good mellow Christmas here at the Hoover house! I'll also have one with lots of pictures from a little "Reindeer Game" get together a few friends and I had last night- complete with gingerbread houses, reindeer costumes, and more! I also hope Santa brought those of you who celebrate Christmas everything you wanted this year ;-)