The College Graduate

I guess this is a little outdated, as I graduated a few weeks ago, but I originally wanted to wait until I could provide a little more insight into the whole 'how it feels to have graduated' thing. Almost three weeks later, it still doesn't feel that different. Everyone keeps asking me how it feels, and so far I haven't had that much to say. I do think it started setting in a bit when I opened my first graduation card and realized that I should be putting most of the money into savings for when I have to starting renting and furnishing a new apartment in Chicago.

My degree is in marketing, but the plan for now is to do as many little "assisting" or "shadowing" jobs as possible this summer in the field of corporate event planning, starting with an opportunity in mid June. By the end of July I will be living in Chicago full time and hopefully working full time as well. I met with a family connection in the field the week after graduation to talk to her a little more about what the field entails, and the meeting ultimately made me even more excited about following that career path. I knew I didn't want to do anything "typical" for a marketing degree, and corporate event planning utilizes a lot of the same creative and communication skills tailored more specifically to my interests. I'm not completely sure what the near future holds for me, but I know I am looking forward to it!

My brother, Dane, and I before graduation.

My wonderful parents!

My 'fake' degree. I guess the real one should be coming in the mail sometime now that they have confirmed that I did, in fact, pass all of my classes.

Did anyone else graduate this spring, whether it be from High School, College, or even Grad School? If so, congratulations! What are YOUR plans for the future now that you're done for college or career choice?

Little Bug a Boo

I finally got to meet my cousin's son, Luke, last weekend when family was visiting for my brother's high school graduation. (Oh wait, graduation, about that... I guess I forgot to do a post about MY graduation, so that will be coming soon!) Luke is 12 weeks old now and just the sweetest little baby. He was a real trooper with getting passed around from person to person the whole weekend!

Crazy eyes!

How cute is he!?

Love: Summer Rain

...And playing in it with Kelly.

For My Mother:

"Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible."
~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul

Happy Mothers' Day to the wonderful, beautiful, Jennifer Leigh!!! I love you mommy :-) You have always gone above and beyond to make sure we are happy and taken care of, and you are much appreciated! (Even if Dane doesn't always show it... he'll come to eventually!)

As a matter of fact, Happy Mothers' Day to all the Kramer women! (My Aunt Mary, Aunt Jody, Cousin Andrea, and Grandma! Aunt Susie not pictured, but to her too!)

And last but certainly not lease, a Happy Mothers' Day wish to one of my very best friends who managed to give me one of the best little nieces in the whole wide world:

May Flowers

My last outfit as a college undergraduate! Thursday I had my last final in History of the Blues and then Kelly and I were off to Nick's to meet my dad and his friend Dan for dinner and drinks to celebrate. This floral dress and necklace just arrived from Forever 21 and I am absolutely in love with them both. The little owl necklaces were only $1.50, so Kelly and I both got a gold one and I also grabbed a silver one as well... too cute!

Outfit
Dress, Necklace: Forever 21
Bracelets, Earrings: Charlotte Russe
Shoes: Target

Dad and I at Nick's

Happy Cinco de Mayo: Patron time!

Self Control or Shoes

Remember that time I mentioned Target's awesome spring shoe collection, and the Mossimo knock-offs of the Dolce Vita Pela's that I have been dying to own for a year now? And then remember how I ended up going out and buying them before I even got around to getting the post out to you with birthday money that I technically had not even received yet? Well, here are those wonderful little (or not little at all) shoes put to work.

Outfit
Dress: Forever 21
Bracelets: Charlotte Russe
Clutch: Coach
(Compliments of Kelly's closet for the day)
Belt, Shoes: Target

And I'm not at all ashamed to say that I love them so much that I went out and bought a black pair today to wear for graduation... and every outfit this summer thereafter. It's a good thing they only had the two colors in the store, because chances are I might have come home with a nude pair on top of the other two. Self control and shoes are mutually exclusive in this brain.

(I will address the fact, for sake of full disclosure, that depending on where they hit on the back of your heels, that part can be a little uncomfortable. My solution is simple: leave them just a tiny bit unzipped at the top and this problem is eliminated!)

New York and Co. Dress Sale

While scrummaging through my closet in an attempt to figure out what I'm going to wear for graduation on Friday ("Business Casual"... but if you know me at all you know that means I'll just be trying to find a dress that could wiggle its way into this category), I came across a dress I got a few years ago from New York & Co. We don't have one in Bloomington, so it has been a while since I have been and I hopped on over to the website to look around.

They have SO many dresses on sale right now! There are a couple I may consider if I get any graduation money, just because they are so cheap and so cute! One of them looks like it would fit exactly like the dress I already own and love, so it is really tempting. I think the best part is that their style in some of the dresses is something that could easily translate to business casual whenever I do enter the working world.

Animal Print Wrap Dress: $37.06

Sleeveless Tiered Dress: $34.96

Streetwear Short Goddess Dress: $21.47 (50% off!!!)

Sleeveless Floral Cotten Voile Sundress: $41.96

Click any of the pictures to get to the page for that particular dress. All prices listed reflect the online-only dress sale they have going on.

Also- if anyone has a minute and would care to leave an opinion on my previous post, "Twitter's Role in Consumer Interaction", I would really appreciate it! It is for a group project for my Marketing Strategy class and I am just looking for some blogger input on the subject. Thanks so much!

Twitter's Role in Consumer Interaction

Ok ladies and/or gentlemen, I need your help for those of you who are interested! For a final group project for my Marketing Strategy class, my group is analyzing Steve Madden's brand strategy. I am responsible for a section about what the company could do better and I am focusing on their use of Twitter as a means to reach and connect with their customers (us!).

So what I would like to hear from you is a response to any of the following questions, or any thoughts you may have that are relevant. It does not have to be specific to Steve Madden, but really just the general idea of a retail company and their interactions with consumers through Twitter.

• Do you follow any of your favorite brands on Twitter?
• If so, why? Are you looking for links to sales, new products, styling ideas, other?
• What is your favorite part about the Twitter content of one of your favorite brands that you follow?
• Do you think a company is more likely to grab your attention with certain sales or products if they are utilizing Twitter to reach out to consumers who chose to follow the brand?
  
• Are there any things that companies do that you would like to see less of on Twitter?

Feel free to chime in with any of your thoughts, I really appreciate it!

Throw Some Glitter, Make it Rain

This is what happens when you dye Easter Eggs AFTER you spend two hours at Happy Hour on $3 Thursday:

1. You don't make it to Hobby Lobby before they close to get intended decorating supplies, like feathers for making cute little birds.
2. You forget that last year you had TWO tablets of each color and accidentally water down the dyes too much.
3. You end up COVERED in glitter.
4. Or, in Kelly's case, you fall asleep and never even make it to the egg dyeing/glitter shower.
   

Adventures, as per usual. Here are some pictures of what we DID end up with:

Hey Lauryn, I don't know if you got enough glitter...

Jenna and Alex egg productions.
To quote Jenna, "I'm Jewish so I need special assistance."

See that egg in the middle on the left? We call that the Ke$ha egg. Mostly because it turned out all sorts of weird looking colors and we really had no idea what to do with it, so Lauryn just covered it with glitter and ta da... Ke$ha egg.

Lauryn's eggs.

Jenna was clearly exhausted from all the egg dyeing.

I've seen a few other posts about egg dyeing and everyone had some really cute/unique ideas! Did anyone else do anything really fun or crazy for egg dyeing this Easter?

The French Ballerina

I guess the combination of the black and white stripes and all the tulle and ribbon just make me feel like a French Ballerina in this dress. It has become one of my new favorites since I found it at TJ Maxx a few weekends ago at home. They had some REALLY cute dresses when we went in, and I got another for only $20 that I might wear for graduation. Oh my goodness, graduation, THAT IS SO SOON!

These pictures are from a few weeks ago, back when I actually bought the dress, and I have worn it again since then but have been thinking I already did this post. Oops! don't know where my head has been lately but it's not on this planet. (Come to think of it, I feel like I'm always saying that... hmmm.)

Outfit
Dress: Pretty Good via TJ Maxx
Leggings and Wedges: Old Navy

It drives me crazy because the dress is "hand wash only," and I sure don't have the patience for that... but I think in the long run it will be a good thing that keeps me from over wearing it. Does anyone else have this issue? I feel like I'm always finding an item that I absolutely love and then wearing it to death before it gets to have a long productive life!