Fall Festival

Oh my goodness.  I deeply apologize for my lack of keeping up with posting.  Life gets a bit crazy sometimes.  Shall I catch you up on what's been going on in my life? First of all, it's my absolute favorite time of the year, fall!! Autumn always brings a new spirit with it that I cannot describe to you.  I have a moment that I wake up each new fall and just know that it is going to be a wonderful season.  I've noticed that I always gather up quite a bit of new music around this time, friendships seemingly flourish out of the joy that surrounds fall, and I am always extremely thoughtful and write considerably more than I do during the other months of the year.  I also drink a rather substantial amount of coffee and hot chocolate, which I'm sure my bank account is not a fan of.  I feel it's more the atmosphere and ambience than simply the coffee.. Another story for another day. 

So with Autumn comes my incessant craftiness.  This year my friends Megan and Elizabeth decided it was necessary to have a "Fall Festival".  A Fall Festival in our eyes consisted of sappy romantic, cozy movies, lots of sweet treats, delicious comfort soup, and of course fun DIYs.  With this night of fall also came a spontaneous adventure to find the location of the chanting that was echoing through the neighborhoods of Stillwater.  Come to find out, it was only a game of Humans vs. Zombies going on around campus.  It added a bit of excitement to our Fall Festival. We started out with acquiring all the necessary materials from Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby.  

I have always wanted to try the project where you staple paint-filled balloons to a canvas to create a lovely explosion of color by throwing darts at it...which in our case was forks, and when that didn't work, knives.  I'm sure the neighbors weren't frightened at all. Tip: Before you decide you don't need to look up how to accurately fill up balloons with paint, think again, you will get paint in your mouth...

After we did had our adventure with balloons, we ate soup and puppy chow, and Megan began to make the Pumpkin Gems.  Pumpkin Gems are a sort of cupcake/muffin yumminess with yellow cake mix and pumpkin mix.  She even made icing from scratch to put on top of them and the adorable festive cupcake wrappers. The next item on the agenda was pumpkins of course! Our obsession with Pinterest led us to find a really neat way of waxing a pumpkin for a unique decoration.  After taking the wrapping off of a crayon, you hold a lighter up to the crayon and let the wax drip over the top of the pumpkin.  You can get all fancy and even let the wax drip by holding the lighter a certain way for a different effect.  Here's how ours turned out! 

The last project of the night was making a fall wreath with a foam ring, colored yarn, and tulle! I thought these turned out very nicely.  Though, I'll be honest, Megan and I were a bit challenged at wrapping yarn at first without getting it tangled... 

Overall we had a lovely Fall Festival, and I think we are planning on some sort of Christmas/holiday Festival as well!  Hopefully, I can begin to blog more, but forgive me if I fail once again. 

A Lovely Thing: Sunshine & Carousels

Last Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to work with the lovely Erin Wilson and her fall line for Sunshine and Carousels.  She makes handmade bows,  headbands, flower bows, shoe clips, and wedding accessories.  Her line is absolutely adorable and is filled with beautiful pops of color for the coming season!   Her style has a vintage flare with a unique, chic, and funky vibe.  I adore the accessories we wore all day long!! Check her blog out here and follow the links to her etsy! It was extra exciting because I got to take pictures with the lovely Miss Jessie, my Big, Caramie and my best friend Sarah. Also, Erin made this beautiful display of treats for us to eat during the long day of shooting! How cute is she? Go look at pretty things!

Word of the Day: "Ailurophile"

Today's word is appropriately "ailurophile".  It means "cat lover", or "cat fancier".  I, however, am not a fancier of cats, kittens, or things that meow. I don't necessarily have anything against the cat, but I am highly allergic to them. I chose this word for today because I vacuumed lots of cat hair up at work.  At my job in the mornings I sit at a desk in which Feather the cat love to sit upon.  Feather enjoys walking across the keyboard, standing right in front of the computer screen, or sitting atop the printer as I try to retrieve a document.  Feather also enjoys trying to attack my hand with her paw as I move the mouse at my desk. Maybe you are a cat lover, and that is swell, but they make me sneeze and itch.  I feel as though they are extremely high maintenance.  Now I sound like a cat hater, which I am not, they are simply not the pet for me. I hope you've enjoyed another word from the list of "100 most beautiful words in the English language."

A Lovely Thing: A Scene

There is a fantastic little movie called "Away We Go" directed by Sam Mendes that I adore.  It's just an incredible journey of a couple who is about to have a baby and where they should go with their lives.  I don't feel like revealing more than that because you should just watch the movie.  However, there is an amazing scene in the middle of the movie of the couple and two of their friends they meet up with.  It takes place in a restaurant over a plate of pancakes.  The character Milo gives a noteworthy monologue that is all based around metaphors.  He builds upon a pile of pancakes which represent the foundation of a house.  Next, the toothpicks represent the people in the house, then sugar cubes are the roof over the house, and lastly the maple syrup embodies the underlying love of the household.  The basic message of his whole monologue is, "Love is the glue that holds it all together."  It may not sound epic or as endearing as I felt it to be in writing, but the way Sam Mendes captures the moment is absolutely heartfelt and thoughtful. I could not find a clip of this particular moment, but many claimed it would be a Oscar-worthy scene.  Go watch now!!!  For your pleasure, here is trailer clip of the movie.
P.S. The whole movie's soundtrack is done by Alexi Murdoch. Also a favorite of mine. 

SYTYCD: This Weeks Picks

This week had some incredible dances, however it was easier for me to pick my top three this week for some reason. This first one is absolutely beyond beautiful and tells such a powerful and heartbreaking story revolving around a lightbulb.  It's amazing to me how such emotion and storytelling can be portrayed through movement and dance. I wish I could do this with a partner. Any takers? 

1.  Skin & Bones

2. Piece of My Heart

3.  That's Life

Isn't this just so true? Start saying that about the things that happen in life and see if you become a more positive, uplifting individual. We're only here for a little while. Make the best of it. 

That's life. 

Darling Dolls: Pattern Play

Patterns are just so much fun and make any outfit look unique.  I'm seeing lots of African and Indian-ish prints that I loveeee. Of course, everyone who knows me knows that I'm a sucker for florals too. I won't show you my closet... Anyway, here are some patterns on fabrics that I can't get enough of! Man, working in retail with awesome pieces isn't making me any less of a clothes-lover, or helping my bank account. 

 I like the little pattern on the edges of her sweater. 

 Show me a good scarf and I'm in!

 This dress is magical!

 I'll admit, I really just like how this guy dresses casually, but it had a pattern on it, so I couldn't resist sticking it in here. 

 Yay patterned leggings! (We have floral pants coming into the store for fall... I might die.)

More fun leggings! And paired with a fun geometric top!

Patterns make me more excited for fall!!! 

A Lovely Thing: Silhouettes

This is just so beautiful and really interesting.  I'm curious how long it took the choreographer to figure everything out! Very cool.

Embracing Who Everyone Thinks I Am: The Dik Dik

Upon going to the zoo with some friends, I discovered what animal I am.  We decided that while we were there, we would all find exactly what animal we each embody.  Mine just so happened to be the dik dik. Yes, you heard me correctly.  The dik dik is almost like a small deer. I think they felt I resemble this creature because of my huge, brown eyes.  Take a look! Do you think this is my animal? :)

This one likes to sing. Laaaaa.

A Lovely Thing: Harry Potter

Oh my goodness, I am beyond excited about the last Harry Potter movie coming out in just a few short days!!! It will be epic!! I would like to put one of my favorite scenes from the last movie (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1) on here.  The music is "O, Children" by Nick Cave. It is a beautiful and perfect song.  I hear that David Yates spent a lot of time finding the absolute best fit of a song for this dance.  I'd like to think I have amazing friends that would do this for me if I were in that situation. It's such an amazing moment in time. Anyway, please enjoy this moment by going here.  I can't embed it on here because of copyright stuff, and I didn't want to put a low quality video of it on here.  Go watch!! It'll make your heart happy!

The Dance

A Lovely Thing: My Yellow Dress

So, I told you all awhile ago that I got to visit Elsie at Red Velvet, and I couldn't leave without having a lovely vintage piece from her shop!  I got this adorable yellow 60s dress that I'm absolutely adore! At first I thought it was a dress, but it's actually shorts!! So fun! These are really terrible pictures, but I just wanted you to see the dress! :) I paired it with a lovely little brightly colored scarf on my head. Someone told me I looked like Twiggy that day. I really need a tripod so my phone isn't in these...

 

SYTYCD: This Weeks Picks

Here are my picks of the top three dances of this week! Enjoy!

1.  I LOVE this concept. So beautiful. Kind of eerie at the end too.
"Belong"

2.  I just love them as a couple. They work so well together, and it's basically perfection.
"I Got You"

3. This was incredible. And so difficult with the rope... I think I would have gotten all tangled up!  

"With Every Heartbeat"

Those are my top 3 for the week, but if you're looking for something upbeat and fun, watch this one! :)

A Lovely Thing: The Guitar

Oh my goodness I'm finally learning the guitar!!! (Cross that one off the bucket list.) I'm really excited! My fingers feel funny, but that's a good thing right? I thought I'd share a few songs that I'd like to be able to play one day.  Don't expect greatness in the next month! I've been playing the piano more frequently too. I wish I had a full length keyboard at school so badly. I wonder how I can break into the Seretean piano labs at OSU... I'll have to look into that one! :)

Darling Dolls: Crop Tops & Oversized Tanks

I absolutely love crop tops for this summer! I bought a couple that I adore... (my favorite is my Pink Floyd tank that I got from Krista at Terri's).  Look at these pretty ones!

I love lace.

 My roommate convinced me to buy a little denim crop top like this one. :)

 Oversized tanks are so comfy and effortless. You can dress them up or down.

 This one is fun!

Love. Love. Love. 

Things I Want To Do This Summer But Have No Time For

Oh, there are so many things in life I want to do! While I love my internship, I would really love to have time to go do some really fun things.  Of course I also have no money to do these things either, but they should happen anyway. So here is a list of things that I would like to do this summer but have no time for. 

1.  I want to go on a hike...but I'm going to some caverns in Springfield, MO soon, so I guess I'll count that. (Maybe I can stop by Red Velvet again too!) Fail... I just realized this is a ride through cavern trip. Someone will take me on a hike...

2.  I want to fly a kite. No one would ever let me because they said I'd fly away. I think flying might be fun...

3.  I want to go to the lake. Like, right now. Seadoo!!!

4.  I want to lay in a field on my quilt under the stars, listen to good music, and have a good conversation.  Any takers?

5.  I want to rollerblade.  It might be tragic, but it looks like a good time.

6.  I also want to longboard.  I need to find someone with a longboard...

7.  I want to go to a music festival (Lolla).  Sadly I'll be working..

8.  I want to work on lots of projects I have.  Too much inspiration going on in my head. Need to put it into action.

9.  I want to swim!! It's hot outside!!

10.  I want to take pictures. I'm currently saving up to buy a big girl camera.  I can't wait. I love taking pictures and taking pictures with friends. Again, too many ideas with that I need to put into action as well.

That's a peek into some things I'd love to do this summer. I hope you're doing something exciting and lovely!