New Year Bucket List 2012

Every year I make New Year's resolutions and I stick to them for a few months (weeks... days...) and then I get bored and move on.  So this year, I'm making a bucket list instead.
1. Travel outside of the country - Milan in June!!!!
2. Get my Bachelors degree
3. Finish my tattoo
4. Learn to shoot
5. Finish a 5K - Color Me Rad in March!!!!
6. Learn to drive stick
7. Watch the sun rise (preferably on the beach)
8. Buy a real bed - the whole mattress on pallets thing is too college
9. Buy a homeless person a full meal
10. Get a grown up job
11. Vodka gummy bears
12. Read all of the books on my Pinterest Books board
13. Go offroading - I'm gonna nead some help with this one... Somebody with a truck/fourwheeler please?
14. See Luke Bryan and Chris Lane Band in concert<
15. Go paddleboarding
( I might add more later... But I'll definitely cross stuff off as I do it!)

Color Me Rad 5K: Training

It's official! I'm training for my first 5K! The Color Me Rad 5K in Greensboro, NC in March.  I'm seriously beyond excited but I don't run ever so this is going to be a challenge.  I figured if I paid the $30 registration fee I'd be more motivated to train for it. So here goes nothing!

I'll try to keep this updated with how my training's going now that I have a less ridiculous schedule!

Wish me luck!

Mugswap!

In September I participated in a Coffee Mug Swap hosted by Yellow Umbrella and Pointing Up.  We "stalked" other bloggers on their blog, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter accounts to find out a little bit about them and then used that information to buy them a coffee mug which we felt symbolized them.

The other day I received mine in the mail and I could not be happier with it! It's a personalizable tumbler from Starbucks!

Remember those black pages with rainbow underneath that you scratched off to make a design? ( I used to play with them all the time when I was in elementary school... they're AMAZING!)  That's what's inside the tumbler.  So, not only do I save 10 cents every time I take my mug to Starbucks, but I get to design it myself!

Plus, Falen from UpwardNotInward, included a Starbucks gift card!  Seriously, the best surprise EVER!  I see a lot of Pumpkin Spice Lattes in my future!

Thank you Falen!  Have a good weekend all!

UPDATE:  I decorated my mug!

Insta- Week

The Duke Energy Building was Rainbow

I cooked dinner for 12 people... I was more excited about being able to wear my apron :P

How does my cat find this comfortable?

New Camo phone case!!!! I'm obsessed <3

Anything that supports the troops is amazing in my book <3

Hope ya'll have a good weekend!

Saturday is Craft Day

I've been so busy lately I haven't been able to do anything crafty and, honestly, I missed it.  So today I took a trip to Hobby Lobby (and spent way too much money.). 

This is the result of my craftiness for the day.  An inspirational quote which is now hanging on the wall in my bedroom.  It needs something else but I can't decide what?

I painted the canvas purple then put down some letter stickers.  I painted the black over all of it and then peeled off the sticker. I should've taken step-by-step pics but I forgot until half the canvas was already black (Sorry!)  Any suggestions for something to jazz the blank space up a little are greatly appreciated!

Now I'm trying to teach myself to crochet.  We'll see how that goes!

Happy Weekend!

Yay for Working Internet!

So I'm finally back! I guess I should probably explain why I've been MIA for the past month or so... When I first moved into my new apartment (back in August) I was stealing internet until I could get to the store to buy a router.  Once I finally bought a router, the internet worked but it was slow so I went and bought ANOTHER router thinking that that was the reason for the slowness.  For the past 3 weeks the internet has been getting progressively worse to the point that I couldn't even do school work in my apartment let alone blog.
BUT now I'm back.  My internet still isn't wonderful but it's better than it was.  I know you all missed me... just kidding.

Now that I have working internet I'll be able to post more often though! Trust me I have TONS of back-logged projects that need to be posted so stay tuned!

Have a good weekend!

Insta-Week

When Life Gets Busy...

I disappear.  It's horrible.  I would much rather blog than do homework but 6 classes leaves me very little time to be creative or  think of things to write about besides classwork.

BUT I'm loving my History of Costume class.  It's my two favorite things combined together! History and Fashion.  We actually have an assignment to create a historic costume from recycled materials.  How amazing is that?  I can't wait to get further into class!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! I'll try to get better at posting this coming week!

10 Ways to De-Stress Your Life

1. Disconnect - turn off your phone, social media, etc. for an hour or so and do something.  It's so much easier to focus when you aren't checking your phone every 5 minutes.

2. Treat Yourself - It doesn't need to be something expensive (or even cost money).  Have a cup of coffee or do something you love and usually wouldn't have time for.

3. Exercise - Exercise releases endorphin's. Endorphin's make you happy! ("And happy people just don't kill their husbands!" -- Legally Blonde)

4. Talk it out - Pretty self-explanatory right?  Just don't talk to too many people... Too many views on a subject can just stress you out even further.

5. Get creative - Put your stress into something productive that you can be proud of after it's finished.

6. Have a dance party - Put on some music and dance around for a little bit... Happy music makes you happy.

7. Sleep - Being exhausted can make everything seem 10 times worse than it actually is so sleeping makes your life much less stressful.

8. Listen to music - Music impacts your mood more than you think.

9. Do nothing for 2 minutes - Click Here

10. Get organized - Having an organized life makes everything simpler and, therefore, less stressful.

My Week in Pictures (& a video)

Uptown Charlotte from my friends Balcony before we went out to dinner Sunday night.

I bought my school books ( I still need one). $450 later...

Boys sucks so we had some Pumpkin Spice Lattes to make it better... This addiction will break my bank account.

9-11: There's no forgetting what happened all those years ago.  It used to be just another day... until 2001 when our lives changed forever.

I finally got my ring in the mail from Ireland!  It's not as pretty as my old one but I bought it myself so I'm super proud of it!

My cat is crazy (She was attacking a pebble).

Happy Friday!

First Week of School

Ridiculous... that's all I have to say.  Seriously, I have never been more exhausted in my life. Clearly my body was not prepared for waking up at 6 am every morning.  By today my body was so ready to just sleep forever and I still had to be up at 7:30 this morning.  Luckily, I'm off tomorrow and can sleep as late as I want (watch me wake up at some ridiculously early time...)

Add in a whole bunch of drama that I really didn't need to be a part of and I literally just want to close myself into my apartment for the entire weekend.

So, that's why I disappeared for the week... I'll try super hard to make my blog posts better next week!

Have a good weekend!

My Week in Pictures

I bought myself a ring... just because.

I got my first pumpkin spice latte of the season!

My cat actually cuddled with me the other night (She doesn't usually cuddle... she usually just lays nearby)

Cotton ball & Qtip holder in a Mason Jar with a votive holder on top.

The store I work in is under construction.... We get to look at this pretty wall for 2 months. Yay! (Not)

I organized all of my crafty stuff into bins... So many crafts, not enough time.

And I bought this super cute little surge protector.  LOVE!

Have a good weekend!

The Long Awaited Apartment Pictures

Dining Room

Kitchen (Valentine's themed hand towels anyone?)

Living Room (I know I need curtains... they're on my shopping list for next paycheck)

My Room/Wall of Scarves and Study Area

(Not uploading a picture of my bed 1. because it's not made and 2. there's a picture here)

 Closet Space & Storage

 Vanity

 Shower (The ribbon holding up the shower curtain is my favorite!)

What I Want Wednesday

Grey Quilted Ballet Flats from Target - I NEED these!

Monogrammed Koozie -  So cute!

Tiffany & Co. Key Necklace - Honestly I would be happy with any skeleton key necklace.

Kitty Cat Ring - So I can be a true cat lady (as if I'm not enough of one already)

Fabric Covered Corkboard

We were in desperate need of some stuff to jazz up the boring white walls in our brand new apartment.  Conveniently, my roommate had a corkboard she didn't want anymore and gave it to me!  Plain cork is incredibly boring though.  So, I used extra fabric from our throw pillows and some push pins to make the board a little less boring.

It could use some notes though right? I hung it on the wall in our dining room near the front door. Hopefully I can find a use for it soon, but until then at least its a little LESS boring.

Cost of this project : FREE!

Don't you just love free projects!

Happiness in a Cup

So everyone has something they turn to when they're in a bad mood or upset about something or just need a little pick-me-up.  I call it a "happy-maker" (makes me happy... get it? Creative right?) Starbucks is my happy-maker.  

So today, I was bored and lonely and in desperate need of a happy-maker to fix my mood.  Luckily, Starbucks officially has their Pumpkin Spice Latte back.  Seriously, it's like a little piece of Heaven in a cup.  I once told my roommate that I needed it in a continuous IV so I never had to do without it. (She told me that meant I'd never be able to taste it though which created a problem... She's smart.)

So needless to say, my Pumpkin Spice Latte (mixed with the fact that Toy Story is on TV right now) has vastly improved my mood.

Catlady SideNote: I know I write about my cat way more than necessary so I'm going to start labeling it so people don't have to read about her everyday.  Her right eye has been watering way more than usually lately (almost like she's crying) but it doesn't seem to be bothering her (She's not itching it or anything).  Anybody with cats know what the cause could be? Or better yet, how to make it stop?

Hope everyone's having a safe and happy holiday weekend!

My Week in Pictures

Woke up to this Sunday morning - Thank you to the guys who fixed my table Saturday night! We finally have a dining room table to eat at!

My friend won't quit calling my cat a princess... As if she's not spoiled enough already! 

Coco finally came out for longer than a few minutes and found a new hiding spot inside the TV stand! I told you she's rotten.

I take way too many pictures of my cat but she's adorable so it's ok. Right?

These boots are my newest obsession but they're $170... worth it? I think I need them!

I drove uptown to hang out with my friend from school.  I miss the lights uptown but I don't miss walking around uptown at night.

There is a Stella & Dot sale going on all weekend.  20% off everything on my website through Monday. (Shameful self-promotion... Sorry!)

Have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend!