[Instagram] Books, Books, and More Books...

Over the past week, I have accumulated quite the amount of books. Despite the fact that I already own almost 1,000 books already (how did that happen??), I just can't seem to stay away from book sales. Half Price Books was having a warehouse sale where everything was $2 or less. Of course, I went on the first day right when they opened and found a glorious amount of books that I just couldn't live without. I didn't even spend that much money! I walked out of there with 14 books for myself for only $9. I got another 6 for my mom for only $3. How could I pass up on a deal like that? I also couldn't resist finally buying Isla and the Happily Ever After from The Book Depository. I have been dying to read the book and after seeing it posted on so many book blogs and Instagram accounts, I finally gave in and ordered myself a copy. It's finally in my hands and I can't wait to start it!

Aside from my exciting trip to the Half Price Books Warehouse sale and receiving my book mail, I spent the weekend watching some Outlander and running a 10k. The 10k was hosted by Panera, which means that there were some delicious Panera bagels, sandwiches, and cookies at the end, which I ended up devouring. I finished the 6.2 mile race in only 47 minutes (an average of a 7:30 min/mile pace), coming in second place in my age group (by one minute. So close, yet so far…). I was beyond happy with my time and couldn't have been happier with my cinnamon crunch bagel at the finish line. As for Outlander, how steamy was The Wedding episode? I mean, I already love Jamie, but now? Totally swooning over him. I already want to watch that episode again…

It was definitely a busy, yet incredible weekend. With books and running, what was there not to love?

[Instagram] I Gotta Go Back..

Is it just me, or does everyone want to start singing "Back to School" from Grease 2 every time they head back to school? No? Well too bad I sang it to my sister every time she even mentioned school to me in August. But seriously, back to school time is here and I've survived my first week as a college senior! Not much as changed since junior year except for I have a killer turquoise room and some new fun classes to do a copious amounts of homework for…

Of course, I had to take the first day of school picture on my last first day of school as a student. I forgot how hot August was when I have to walk to and from class everyday…Maybe that's why I spent almost all of the Labor Day weekend cooped up in my room watching and finish up Gossip Girl. I had about 17 episodes left of the series starting Friday and finished up the last three yesterday. I've been working my way through that series for months now and I'm so sad it's over. What do I watch next?

Last weekend, I made sure to stop by the local library and it was so nice to be back there. It's so much smaller than my public library at home, but the small size makes it feel so cozy. At the library I picked up some movies to watch this weekend when I wasn't watching Gossip Girl. I only managed to get through Rebel Without a Cause and An American In Paris, but I hope I can find sometime this week to squeeze in a couple more of them. Hopefully I don't have too much homework! 

Myrtle Beach in Photos

Hmm, I wonder what I did during my week at the beach…Read. Eat ice cream. Read some more while eating ice cream. My family has gone to Myrtle Beach for the past four years and it never gets old. We've found our favorite places to go for lunch and to get ice cream. We hadn't even checked into our condo before we went to Painter's and I got a cup of my absolute favorite Red Velvet Cake ice cream. The ice cream had actual chunks of cake and cream cheese frosting! Can it get any better than that? 

I spent many, many hours lying on the beach, soaking up the sun. This year was the first year my family decided to coordinate our outfits and take family pictures on the beach. I think they turned out very nice and my picture with my sister is definitely my favorite. It's already my Facebook profile picture! Of course, I took tons of more photos and posted them to my Instagram account. I'm sure everyone who follows me was sick of all of the pictures of the beach, but I couldn't help myself! In a place as beautiful as Myrtle Beach, who wouldn't want to take a million pictures? 

Overall, it was an amazing week and I already can't wait to go back next year. I'm already craving some fried creek shrimp and red velvet ice cream…why can't it be next summer already??

Summer Books and Fishing Trips

How is July already almost half way over? Seriously? It feels like just yesterday I was celebrating the Fourth of July and now it's already the 17th? Wow. I've been spending my days working, working, and, oh, working some more. Haha, at least I'm making some money! When I'm not working, I'm running every morning and reading outside with my sister and puppy. I've received and read some pretty awesome books lately. Rainbow Rowell is one of my favorite authors, so I was beyond excited for the chance to review her latest release. Summer is the best time for reading, so I've been sure to get through as many books as I can!

A couple of weeks ago, my family surprised my mom with a fishing trip and it was one of the best mornings of summer so far. We spent around 4 hours fishing where we used to go all the time when we were little. By the end of the trip, I had caught the most fish out of everyone in my family, which I was definitely proud of! The trip brought back so many good memories and now I can't wait until the next time we can go out and enjoy some quiet time fishing as a family. 

My sister also received her second Ipsy bag and it was fun! I loved the pink bag with scalloped edges, as well as the lip crayon and eye shadow. However, we definitely didn't need the bronzer and tanning oil. I laughed when we saw the bronzer because my sister has such fair skin and she made sure to mention that on her Ipsy survey, yet they keep on sending products for more dark skinned people. Oh, well! It's still fun to get a surprise every month. A little brightness in the nice, relaxed month of July. 

Princess Birthday Cakes and Cat Flats

Wow, is it really already the last full week of June? Summer is just flying by and I have no idea how it went by so fast! Over the past couple of weeks, I have been having the best book mail arrive for me! I won a giveaway where I received a super cute tote bag and the movie tie-in edition of The Fault in Our Stars. I absolutely loved the book, so I was excited to win the wonderful giveaway! I saw the movie earlier this month and bawled my eyes out. It was so good! I don't know if I could ever put myself through that emotional experience again, but everyone should definitely go out and see it!

Along with my TFIOS giveaway, I received Rainbow Rowell's new book, as well as Miranda Kenneally's new book! They are two of my favorite authors, so I am extremely excited to read their latest releases.

Oh my gosh, have you guys tried Tim Horton's frozen hot chocolate? It is officially my favorite summer drink. My sister and I love getting a large to share to cool down on these hot summer days. Oh, and isn't that Rapunzel cake the cutest? I went to a birthday party of our family friend's 3-year-old daughter and she is obsessed with all things Disney princess. I definitely want a cake like that for my birthday next month! You can never be too old for Disney, right?

[Instagram] Simply Summer

-If it isn't obvious already, my sister and I are obsessed with Krispy Kreme. So when their new batter donuts were released, we knew we had to try them. We each got a cake batter and a brownie batter donut. The brownie batter was definitely the best!

-I started work on Tuesday and I absolutely love it! Little kids are so adorable and I get to work with them all morning/night long :) My favorite part is definitely being able to color some Frozen pictures with them. 

-Rosie is not feeling this heat. Haha, she loves to hang out either in or kennel or on top of the vents for the air conditioning. 

-So much reading now that it's summer! I love it! 

-With summer comes my crafting bug, and I finally did a mason jar craft! I decided to paint the inside of some jars, so make sure to look out for a post detailing that craft soon!

-For Memorial Day, we made a brownie fruit pizza that turned out to be the perfect dessert to our cookout. 

-My sister, mom, and I went to the Memorial Day parade in our town on Monday morning to watch our dad drive a veteran in his Corvette. The only downside? No one gives 20 year olds candy :(

-Half Price Books was having a 20% off sale for Memorial Day! You bet I went and scoped out the sale. 

-I rode in a Memorial Day parade on Saturday with my dad and it was a lot of fun! Great bonding time and I even got some delicious cinnamon chip pancakes from Bob Evans for breakfast :)

[Instagram] Summer at Last

It hasn't even bee summer break for a week yet and I've already been having the best summer yet. 

-First thing I did when I got home was go to the library and pick up some YA books that have come out and I haven't had the chance to read yet. I can't way to finally read them!

-After giving up chocolate for Lent and having to put my girl scout cookies away until Easter, I completely forgot about them until I moved out of my apartment. I finally opened up the box and at them up. 

-I made some macaroons with my sister and they turned out so good. I made them purple with green frosting and they're a huge hit with my family! 

-My sister and I just discovered Nordstrom Rack and it's amazing. I got a pair of Sperry's for only $33! I can't wait to go back!

-My new Voxbox came and this one is definitely the best one I've ever gotten. It's sports themed, which is perfect for me! Keep your eye out for a post about it!

-I celebrated the end of finals with a delicious Orange Mango smoothie from Starbucks. 

-My family has been trying out a new pizza place every Friday and we tried out Carlucci's this past Friday. We got a White Pizza and Stromboli to share and it was delicious. Definitley my favorite place we've tried so far!

-My puppy has, as always, been so adorable every single time I look at her. I can't wait to spend the next three months with that cutie!

[Instagram] Life Lately

-All of my Easter candy is officially gone! I saved my delicious chocolate monkey from Anthony Thomas for last.
-I made some caramel apple cupcakes for my very last film studies film viewing and they were so good. Who knew Pillsbury boxed cupcake mix and frosting could be so good? They really tasted like caramel apples!
-My mom made me the cutest little quilt of a cat sleeping on quilts. I hung it up in my room ASAP.
-Spring means the most beautiful flowers have bloomed all over campus. I get to walk past these beauties everyday. Moments like those remind me why I love Miami.

-So many books waiting for me at home, as always. I'm so excited because I got some books by some of my favorite authors! I can't wait to dig into those.
-Three Words: Frappuccino Happy Hour.
-My dad got me, my sister, and my mom awesome Disney workout shirts from Active Apparel and I am obsessed with my Mulan shirt. I wore it to my last day of classes and it was a hit!
-As always, this little cutie was excited to see me when I came home. I can't wait to spend the entire summer with her once exams are finally over on Tuesday! I can't wait :)

[Instagram] Spring Break Has Come and Gone...

-My sister took her STNA test over Spring Break and passed! Now, she can work as a nursing aide this summer! I'm so proud of that girl. Doesn't she look so cute in her scrubs?
-More snuggle time with Rosie! I think this past week has been the most time I've ever spent with her. Normally, she just lays on the floor or upstairs by the window. I guess she just missed me so much that she had to lay on top of me for hours :)
-Yes, more of my puppy. How could I not want to capture that gorgeous face?
-Rosie has been scratching herself a lot, so my mom had to get new medicine for her that made her stop itching, but also made her so sleepy! The first day she was on it, she slept through the entire morning and didn't come out of her kennel to see us until around lunch time.

-On Saturday, my sister and I stopped by Gigi's Cupcakes to surprise our parents. We got Red Velvet, Wedding Cake, Midnight Magic, and Carrot Cake. The cakes were okay, but the frostings were so good. I could eat a whole bucket of those frostings…
-My sister and I were in charge of dinner each night, so one night we made Italian Wedding Soup! Yum!
-We also made some Broccoli Cheddar Soup for lunch one day. Mmmm, we made some pretty darn good food this past week!
-After my sister took her STNA test, she picked up some Five Guys to celebrate. I got the little burger and we split the large fry three ways (with my dad)…it was still so much food! But oh so good.

-While I was home, I had a huge urge to watch Grease 2, but I had left my copy at school! So the first thing I did when I got back to my apartment yesterday was pop in the DVD and rock out to the songs while I unpacked.
-So many pretty dresses! I brought some more dresses back to school and I can't wait for the weather to finally warm up so I can start to wear them! I bought the black and white striped one from Target on Saturday and am already obsessed with it. I can't wait to wear it!
-See how excited I was to run 11 miles? Haha, I got up earlier on Saturday to knock out those 11 miles and ended up running it in 95 minutes. Half marathon, here I come!
-My sister and I decided to watch Armageddon together while we were home. We had seen it a ton as little kids, but we barely remembered it! So we spent Wednesday afternoon watching Bruce Willis pretending to be the father of the woman he was actually dating in real life...

[Instagram] Sweet Spring Break

Happy Spring Break everyone! The beginning of my Spring Break was pretty darn good. I never have big plans for break except for to hang out with my family and spend some time catching up on movies and reading. My sister and I saw Divergent on Saturday and I'm still obsessing over how awesome it was. That was definitely a great way to start out my break. We're planning on going to a couple more movies this week and I have a huge pile of books I'm hoping to get through. I recorded some of the highlights of me weekend on Instagram (as usual…). 

-I made these to die for butterscotch pudding cookies with butterscotch chips. They turned out to have the perfect crunchy outside with a soft, pillowy inside. Mmmm time to grab another one…

-Vera Bradley was having a sale with 60% some of their colors, so my sister and I both got a large laptop tote. I, of course, had to go with the pink pattern :)

-To celebrate my 10 mile run Saturday morning, my sister and I grabbed some Krispy Kreme before seeing Divergent. The maple iced creme filled donut was so good. Oh, and the store was packed with little kids! I guess Krispy Kreme is the place to go on a Saturday morning. 

-We've been letting Rosie up on the couch and she has become quite the cuddler. She'll get up on the couch and scoot over until she's basically in my lap, then plop down on it, even if I have my computer or book with me. What a cutie. 

-We got some Sweetart jelly beans…again. And finished them in two days…

-My gold card came from Starbucks! Woo hoo! I can't wait to start using it. 

-We also got Fruit Loops with marshmallows from the store. Marshmallows are definitely a great way to start out a day. 

-We also stopped for ice cream at Handel's yesterday after we went shopping with our mom. Banana Cream Pie is delicious! 

-More cuddle time for my puppy…but with my sister this time! We definitely fight over whose turn it is to cuddle with the puppy. 

Literally not even 10 minutes ago Rosie was sprawled out across my stomach, snoring away while I was watching TV with my dad. I was literally sitting cross legged on the couch blogging with my computer in my lap when she decided to nudge her way in. I had to put my computer down and give into her cuteness. Haha, when she wants to cuddle, she'll cuddle. I see a lot more quality time being spent with that little girl for the rest of my break...

Chocolate Kitties and Starburst Jelly Beans

Holidays are my favorite times of the, but for some reason I was even more excited for Easter to come. There's just something about having the whole family together and celebrating with a ton of candy that makes me so happy. Not to mention I got to see my sister again for the first time in four weeks. I was so happy to finally be home and I absolutely couldn't wait to see what goodies the Easter Bunny was going to bring me this year. Needless to say, I had a fantastic weekend with the family and I couldn't have asked for a better Easter...

-My sister had decorated the house right before I came home on Thursday because it was her spring break, so the house was nice and festive when I walked through the door. That means pastel colored easter eggs, stuffed bunnies/ducks, and anything else Easter related was everywhere!

-Rosie was so adorable and SO SOFT. Seriously, I didn't remember her being so soft, but she was and I couldn't keep my hands off of her for the entire weekend. 

-On Friday, me and my sister were quite the bakers and made chocolate chip banana bread, healthy wheat chocolate chip cookies, and a healthified strawberry pie as our Easter dessert. We had so much fun baking and licking all of the bowls :)

-SO MUCH CANDY. Seriously, I was in chocolate heaven when Easter morning finally arrived. I even got a chocolate kitty along with a chocolate bunny. How adorable is that? I'm going to feel bad eating it, but at least it'll look cute as I'm enjoying some delicious chocolate. 

-Don't even get me started on the jelly beans. I poured them into a mug last night to keep in my room and I can't stop munching on them every time I pass by (which is a lot considering my dorm room really isn't all that big). Why are they so addicting??

And that was my long Easter weekend. Oh, and I finally got to drink Diet Coke! I've been craving it pretty much from the first week that I had given it up for Lent, so it felt like little drops of heaven when I finally drank some after early mass on Sunday. It's so nice to have it back into my life. And the Game of Thrones season premiere last night was AWESOME. There was just so many amazing things all packed together yesterday that I couldn't have asked for a more perfect holiday with my family. I'm so sad it's over, but the happiness has definitely carried over into today! I'm in such a good mood and I hope that lasts as I go back to class and reality. 

I hope you all have a fantastic Monday!

Instagram Christmas

I had such a fantastic Christmas with my family! There's absolutely nothing that can compare to the feeling of waking up on Christmas morning and seeing all of the presents under the tree. Here's a little peek into my fantastic day! 

1. Our Christmas tree! We color coordinate all of our wrapping paper so everyone is a different color. That way, handing out the presents is a piece of cake! 

2. All of our stockings are hung by the chimney with care :) Normally, we open up our stockings first and the move on to the rest of the gifts. 

3. My brother gave me all 8 Harry Potter movies! I've wanted them for a while, but never wanted to spend all of that money on the set. He got them when they were on super sale at Walmart, so the whole set cost under $20! I also got Pride & Prejudice and an Audrey Hepburn movie pack, which includes Roman Holiday, Breakfast At Tiffany's, and Sabrina. I can't wait to watch these movies!

4. My sister is amazing and got me a Squirrel Mug from Modcloth (one that I had posted about on my Modcloth Wishlist) and a journal for when I go on my trip to London this summer! I can't wait to use my mug and write in my journal this summer. 

5. Santa brought me two totally cool books: Literary Knits and Les Petits Macarons. The first one includes 32 knitting patterns inspired by literary classics. It is such a cute book and I can't wait to try out some of the patterns. The second one is a maracon cookbook that includes a ton of fun macaron recipes. I have wanted to make some macarons for so long and now I finally have a cookbook to do so! 

6. Santa also brought me a 50s retro hot chocolate maker, an Iron Man spatula, and Snow White Cookie Cutters! My kitchen is definitely going to be a lot brighter thanks to Santa :)

7. More and more baking for me! We have a million cookies to eat and there's even more I want to make. So much baking, so little time!

8. At my cousins' give exchange, I went home with this awesome mixing bowl, red rubber spatula, and two scone mixes! I was so excited when I opened the box and found these goodies. I've never made scones before, so I guess we'll see how they turn out! 

Instagram Weekend [9/7-9/8]

1) Every Saturday there's a farmers market at the downtown area of Oxford (we call it Uptown) and they had these AMAZING Apple Turnovers! I'm definitely going back next year for another one. I can sense that fall is officially here :)

2) I finished an adorable crocheted tea cup! I'm thinking that they'll make fantastic Christmas presents this year! 

3) I got a book base last weekend when I went home and I finally had time to put it up! I am so in love with it and I finally have space to put all of my books in my dorm room!

4) My first article was published in the student paper! Woo hoo!!!! I was so excited to finally be able to write again and seeing my name actually published made me so happy :)

So I'd say it's been a pretty good week/weekend! I'm so excited because I'm baking something super yummy tomorrow morning and I'll be sure to share it with you all! And I've been working on some fun knitting projects, so hopefully I can finish those soon! I'm determine to make this a productive weekend, so we'll see how much I accomplished by Monday! Hope you guys have a great rest of the weekend as well :)

Instagram Weekend

1) One of the first things I did when I got back to school was check out the good old library again! I got a couple of classics I've been wanting to read for a while. Hopefully I can finally get to them!

2) The view out the window of my dorm :) I love it here in my new room!

3) Knotty Knitters poster! We had a ton of people sign up at our club fair, so I'm thinking it's going to be an awesome year for us knotty knitters! Spreading the knitting love <3

4) Being back at school means sooooooo much homework. There's always something that needs to be done! Hopefully I can get used to the workload and get back into the groove of blogging more often!

And that's what's been going on in my little corner of the world! Hope you guys had a fantastic weekend! I know tomorrow's Monday, but it's just another chance to start off a week right :)

Instagram Weekend

Hello all! It's monday, but I'm trying to stay in a good mood because this week is exam week. Bleh, I need to keep my head up! So why not reflect on what a fun weekend I had? 

 

1. On Saturday I spent time team bonding with the Quidditch team, who I LOVE so much! We handed out awards and I won Most Improved! Woo hoo! I was excited :) I had changed to the Beater position halfway through the year and it's honestly the best position EVER! My teammate found this awesome tumblr with a bunch of quidditch memes and it's just fantastic. 

WHEN OUR TEAM KEEPS BLUDGER CONTROL

We watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, ate pizza/cookies/chips/pretty much any junk food, and voted on new positions for exec next year. And guess what? I'm co-chair for programming/fundraising! Ahhh I was so excited I got it! So Saturday was a pretty awesome day :) 

2. I started my 30 day journaling challenge! I'm using prompts from Oh Shoot and it's so much fun! I look forward to writing something new everyday. I'm pretty sure the prompts are meant for art journaling, but I'm not much of an artist so I'm just writing about each one of them each day. I love being able to have something new to write each day! And the notebook I found at Walmart (it was only $3!) is just so cute! 

3. I got up on Sunday and ran 6 miles, then ran 3 miles this morning! I love running so much now and that's all thanks to my half-marathon training. I decided to start training in January and now I couldn't even imagine going even three days without running. It's become part of my routine and I've gotten into such good shape! Since January, I've lost 15 pounds all because I've ran every day and started to eat healthier. Isn't that awesome? The half-marathon is this Saturday, so hopefully that goes well! I can't wait! 

4. After my run this morning I got a strawberry banana smoothie and it was sooooo good! Seriously, I could probably live off of them. 

5. I made a schedule for blogging today! I saw that a lot of other bloggers do this and though, why haven't I thought of that before??? I actually have a notebook at home that's PERFECT for keeping my blog organized, but I don't go home until Friday, so I just made a temporary one. I'm already really excited about actually making the posts I planned. Yay for being organized! 

6. Ahhhh the dreaded finals. My first two are tomorrow and I'm going to start studying as soon as I'm done writing this post. You wonder why it's so long....haha but I'm not too worried about my tests tomorrow. What I'm dreading most is waiting until Friday to go home! A ton of people get to go home tomorrow or Wednesday, but of course I have two tomorrow and ONE on Friday, so I'm here all week. But after that it'll be SUMMER!! Yay! Okay, well I'm going to leave now so that I can stop boring you all and actually do my homework. Hope you're all enjoying your Monday!