Merry Christmas!

And by that I mean I hope you all HAD a Merry Christmas since that was two days ago. To be completely honest, this is the first time I've been on an actual computer since probably Wednesday or Thursday of last week. I only had two days off for the holiday so I made every attempt to take advantage of that with family and a little bit with friends. It was definitely a much needed break! This morning I woke up at 8am (REALLY early for me) to drive back to Bloomington and work a 1-6 shift, but they ended up needing someone else for the floorset this evening so I got another 4 hours in. Now, I am clearly one tired girl and have every intention of vegging out and watching a movie or two. MAYBE unpacking, but we'll see.

Here are two mobile pictures from this weekend, plenty more to come when I get around to it in the next few days. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and the opportunity to spend it with loved ones, and I hope Santa brought you all everything you deserved! ;-)

(Started as a white Christmas for the first time in years...)

(And quickly turned into a red Christmas with Hawks jerseys all around, IU gear, new UGGs, We Love Colors tights, and Angostura Rum!)

Pattern Mixing.

This outfit was from... uh... last Friday. Yeah, you know how great I am with getting things up here in a timely fashion. Sometimes it just seems like I have all the motivation in the world to get stuff up, and others it takes a bit of time. My friend Claire and I went out bar hopping for another friend's 21st, and really I think this dress in some form or another is becoming the "go to" outfit for the winter when I really can't think of what else to wear. Thank god for scarves and accessories.

Found this sparkly silver/white eyeliner in my makeup draws and used it on the inner rim of my eye, but I don't think you can really tell in this picture.

Outfit
Scarf: H&M
Dress, ring, belt: Forever 21
Vet, leggings: Old Navy
Bomber jacket: Target
Bracelets: Charlotte Russe
Boots: UGG

Starting her off with a tequila shot!

("Friends in Low Places")

Sometime early next week I should have a Christmas crafting post up after I've given all the presents out, as well as a few new cookie recipes and maybe some others. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!!!

This Year's Christmas Card

I was SO excited to finally do a Christmas card this year with my roommate Kelly. I have always wanted to do these, at first as a family when I still lived at home, and then with roommates. When they came in the mail I was literally jumping around squealing with excitement like a kid on Christmas morning. We ordered them from Vistaprint.com when I came across an amazingly good deal on cyber monday. They had a lot of cute cards, but this is what we came up with.

A little background info: we refer to our apartment as 'The Jungle' (both a Guns'N'Roses reference as well as an appropriate name based on the number of live plants we have for a couple of college students, haha) and this picture was taken with her brother on one of the nights of Halloween weekend. We thought it was appropriate :-)





I always loved getting Christmas cards with pictures from family, friends, and even distant relatives when I was growing up and was glad to be able to do the same this year! Did any of you do any cute Christmas cards? I'd love to see them!

Hurry, Santa!

This December has been unusually... winter-like? Temperatures seem to be much colder more regularly with more steady snowfall, and this has led to some COLD FEET! I know Santa will be bringing me these this year, mostly because I picked them out myself and was there when he bought them (Thanks Dad!), but I sure can't wait 'til I can get them back on my feet.

GAP Faux Fur Trim Slipper Booties

Is there anything that you are looking forward to finding underneath the tree Christmas morning?

I Love Rock n' Roll

...So put another dime in the juke box, baby!

Last night was the semester end History of Rock Professors' (Andy Hollinden and Glenn Gass) show at the Bluebird Nightclub and my dad came in town for the occasion. My cousin Megan, upon seeing my outfit, said 'Who are you trying to be, Joan Jett?' Not really a comparison I'm offended by. We started off with dinner at Nick's English Hut with my friend Betsy and her boyfriend Paco and then progressed to the Bluebird to meet up with Lauryn and Nathan.


A good time was had by all, with the exception of my feet which currently hurt from dancing in heels. I can only imagine how Lauryn's must feel... hers were a good two inches taller than mine! I truly think that the entire club singing along to the professors playing "Like a Rolling Stone" will be remembered as a favorite moment from college. I can't wait until next semester when my roommate Kelly is finally 21 and can join!

Outfit
Skirt: Old Navy (hemmed)
Leggings, Sequin Pocket Shirt, Old Navy
Boots, Bracelets, Ring: Charlotte Russe
Vest, Necklace: Forever 21
Purple Bomber: Target

Home-decorated Ornaments

This was a really fun but easy craft that could be done with kids or friends of any age!

I picked up the paper mache stars from Hobby Lobby... the small ones are 2 for $1.00 and the large ones are only 99 cents. I used acrylic paint, "glitter glue", and puff paint to decorate mine, but you could use just about anything and everything. They both come with a small gold string attached that could be sufficient for hanging but they twist up and make it a little difficult so I hot glued some ribbon on instead for the large one.






I think I might have to go back and grab some more to make for our tree and to throw in with other Christmas presents. Has anyone else been doing any kind of holiday crafting?

Oops!

Today, I accidentally bought 40 stamps. Yes, 40 CHRISTMAS stamps that aren't just "holiday" in theme but specifically say Christmas on them. I guess I should have asked the man how many came on a sheet, but I saw 12, did not realize there was a back, and bought two of them. I was wondering why they were so expensive, but it all made sense when I realized how many of them I had.

On the bright side, I finally got my stocking swap package sent out (Although I'm not sure if we were supposed to include an ACTUAL stocking with the goodies? If so I kind of messed that one up...) and am just waiting on the Christmas Cards to come in so we can send those out. I'm so excited that we finally got around to doing them this year!!!

So, if you live in Bloomington, IN and need to buy some stamps, I'm your girl. Otherwise, I'm going to be mailing bills and other holiday cards with Christmas stamps for MONTHS. Anyone else pulling some holiday oopsies this week?

Crafting post up sometime tomorrow, I hope!

Guess Who Put on Real Clothes!?

It's really about time I put some effort, if even a little bit, into what I was wearing. I guess I have worn actual clothes a couple of times in the last week but with this whole sick thing having run its course (for the most part) I feel like all I have worn in weeks is sweat pants or my work clothes (All black and an apron, not that I'm complaining in the least bit).

I actually only wore this for a couple of hours. I had a meeting tonight and then dinner with some friends for a fundraiser, but I still wanted to wear "real" clothes. I'm REALLY becoming obsessed with these boots, particularly now that they're relaxing a bit and much easier to get on. They're so comfortable to wear around, which is saying something for heeled shoes.

Threw on the scarf last minute since it was something like a whopping 12 degrees outside today.

Detailing of the dress hem: I ordered this dress for REALLY cheap and no shipping, and it was definitely too long. I messed the hem up a little bit, and the fabric was too heavy causing it to kind of flip out at the bottom. It sort of turned into a happy accident when I noticed that and just hemmed it up to make sort of a ruffle along the bottom.

Outfit
Dress, Leggings: Old Navy (hemmed)
Bracelets, Boots: Charlotte Russe
Scarf: H&M
Necklace: Forever 21

I'm trying to include some new household scenery in pictures, which might be easier if I ever got around to taking pictures in the light of day. The light in our apartment is awesome when it's reflected off all the snow we currently have, so maybe tomorrow I'll try to get my act together and take advantage of that.

Perfect December Weather

This weekend largely consisted of being sick, recovering, working, decorating, and volunteering. Ok, and I'll admit... maybe a little shopping. It started snowing last night around 11pm and kept going through most of today, and Bloomington is a Wintery Wonderland! If it's going to be cold, I LOVE snow. Here are a few pictures to hopefully keep you interested while I piece myself back together from this cold and get something more exciting going on in my life to talk about.

Amazing homemade Chicken Noodle Soup from my darling Lauryn :-)

Thanksgiving Picture Post

As can be expected every year perfectly in time for the end of the semester and finals, I have picked up some dreadful little sickness. I'm assuming it's just some awful head cold, because that's what it usually is, and I've been keeping myself in a steady daze of a variety of cold medicines, allergy medicines, and advil. Basically I'm telling you this because it explains why this blog has been so boring lately... no good outfits or cooking going on in this neck of the woods!

We did have our first snow the other day, and I woke up to maybe a half inch on the ground. It's always that much better when you're not expecting it! Tonight/tomorrow we're supposed to get up to "2 to 4" inches of accumulation (Those meteorologists, always right on the dot!) and I hope it hits four! I LOVE SNOW!

We've been finishing off our Christmas decorations today, and it occurred to me I never shared pictures from Thanksgiving. Only food, of course. I basically wore pajamas the whole day and didn't put on a dash of make up since we didn't go anywhere. But the food is definitely worth posting about, my dad is an AMAZING chef, and my mom and I aren't half bad either!

My wake up call at 10am Thanksgiving morning. Thanks, dad!

"The Best Turkey Yet", as we all decided.

Seriously the most amazing stuffing I've ever had... Herbed french bread, Italian Sausage, Chives, etc etc, SO GOOD!

Miss Penske is never far when meat is involved.

Sweet Potato Casserole. Trying to get this recipe up in the near future. Also looking forward to making it into a more "pie like" version over break.

I hope no one else has caught this wave of sickness that seems to be going around, but if you have, I'll hope for a swift recovery for all of us! Enjoy any holiday decorating going on in your neck of the woods!